Sermon Tone Analysis
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Into
Leaders come in all sorts of personalities.
Some have used leadership principles to grow evil while others try to propagate good in the World.
Here are a few leaders that are considered some of the best in history books.
Alexander, the Great
Alexander the Great, often known as the “Man Who Conquered the World,” is widely regarded as the greatest military leader of all time.
His leadership style, great presence of mind, battles, and vision is still being praised in the books of history.
He was born in 356 BC and controlled the greatest empire in history by the age of 33, stretching from Greece to Egypt to India.
He was the King of Macedonia, and he was maybe the finest military leader that ever lived.
He accomplished the great feat of uniting numerous Greek city-states.
He was unbeaten in combat until he died of malaria in 323 BC
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a revolutionary personality of the historic times whose life has been romanticized by the famous William Shakespeare himself through his works.
He is arguably the most popular Roman politician and a reputed writer of famous Latin prose.
His legacy can be estimated from the fact that his name is synonymous with leadership, and the month of July is named after him.
Winston Churchill
Regarded as the savior of democracy, Winston Churchill was the great mind behind the victory of Britain from the Nazis.
Born in an aristocratic family, he served the national army of Britain and then, later on, became the Prime Minister in 1940.
Amongst his many honors, some are being elected as a PM again in 1951, Nobel Prize in Literature, etc.
Abraham Lincoln
Known as the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln was a revolutionary leader who ignited the ‘free nation’ spirit in the USA.
He was an award-winning lawyer who later on chose the path of politics.
Words like democracy, liberty, equal rights, etc are often used as synonyms for his name due to his inspirational journey of leading the country to victory in the Civil War.
Each of these leaders have something in common.
They were passionate about their pursuits, they refused to back down against their enemies, and they rallied others around their mission.
It’s no small feat to convince others to pursue the goals you desire to achieve.
Yet, every great leader in history has changed their sphere of influence and rallied people behind their mission objective.
Often, the leader is in need of a cause that is worthy of followers pledging loyalty.
Or, individuals need to know why what their leader is asking them is worth their time.
And, in some cases, the person is in desperate need to see the potential they have deep within them.
The leader packages the message and goal so that their followers can unlock their potential.
They convince others the cause is worth their time, resources, and energy.
In the 1989 movie Dead Poets Society, Robin Williams plays a teacher named John Keating.
In this story, Keating is doing his best to inspire his students to look at poetry through the lens of authentic knowledge and feelings.
Here’s a clip demonstrating the leadership of Keating.
Every man is called to leadership and each of us has a responsibility to learn how to lead well.
Yet, the question remains:
How do we lead well as ordinary men?
Today, we are picking up in 1 Thessalonians to discover the art of leading well according to Paul.
Contextual Highlights:
Paul is writing to the church in Thessalonica during his 18-month stay in Corinth.
Paul is on his second missionary Journey
The Thessalonian church was positioned in the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia and had a population of over 100,000.
Acts 17:4 places Paul, Timothy, and Silas as preaching in the Synagogue.
Yet, Jewish opponents of the missionary team forced them to leave early and we see this in Acts 17:9-10.
Paul sent Timothy back to the Thessalonian church to check on them and upon his return to Paul and giving him a report of the people Paul wrote to them.
Paul opens his letter with a word of praise and encouragement to the the Thessalonians.
He praises them for their conversion from Pagan idol worship to worshipping the one true God.
Which leads us to our passage today,
Paul establishes two things before outlining good leadership.
the first is that the Thessalonian church knew him and the gospel’s effectiveness through him.
the second is that the Thessalonians witnessed the boldness of Paul after suffering for the message he brought to them.
These two points are the evidence Paul uses to jump start his explanation of how God desires his leaders to lead.
Paul gives us eight ways to lead well:
1. Good leaders are not deceptive.
Paul explains their heart behind their mission with three negative statements all dealing with deceptive motivations.
a.
They didn’t come with a bad message.
b.
They didn’t come with impure motives.
c.
They didn’t come by way of deceit.
If Paul and his missionary team had come into the city and shared a message that was easily proven false.
They would have lost their credibility.
The message that they brought then would be easily undone and they would be proven to be untrustworthy.
Yet Paul brought a divine message with pure intentions.
Good leaders always have pure intentions and do not deceive others to get what they want.
At the time, the region was filled with people earning a living off their wits and peddling of “wisdom” in the hellenistic marketplaces.
Paul wanted no association with these individuals because he was bringing the Good news of Jesus Christ Crucified and raised from the death for our sins.
Illustration:
Dwight D. Eisnhower said, “In order to be a leader a man must have followers.
And to have followers, a man must have their confidence.
Hence the supreme quality of a leader is unquestionably integrity.
Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, on a football field, in an army, or in an office.
If a man's associates find him guilty of phoniness, if they find that he lacks forthright integrity, he will fail.
His teachings and actions must square with each other.
The first great need, therefore, is integrity and high purpose.”
Paul was no different, he need those who followed him to recognize he followed and was merely the servant of the most High God.
We men should always lead a life of integrity and avoid all forms of deceitful dealings with others.
2. Good leaders are not people pleasers.
Paul did not concern himself with those who came against him.
As mentioned before, Paul new his message was truth, from a pure heart, and was trustworthy.
Because he knew his intention, he did not concern himself with those who came against him.
His mission was to please the Lord in all aspects of his life.
He sought to live faithfully according to his calling from God.
Paul wasn’t a servant of people but of the Lord.
In Galatians 1:10, Paul expands on this thought,
Paul recognized that if his primary concern was to seek the praise of people then he would never please God.
So his focus and attention was set on please God first and foremost.
Now men, this is not an excuse to be harsh or short with others.
We are called to winsomeness and kindness.
Paul walked that line well.
He cared deeply for people but never compromised on Scriptural faithfulness or his calling to serve God in all aspects of his life.
Not only are good leaders not deceptive or people pleasers.
3. Good leaders are not greedy.
I love how The Message paraphrases this verse:
There is nothing more irritating to me than someone who wants to butter me up.
I don’t even like it when my 4 and 6 year olds do it.
Archer the other day, my four year old, was at the dinner table and randomly goes “you are the best daddy.”
I’m on cloud 9. My heart filled with joy.
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