Dare Great Things For Christ

Many books have been written about leadership, looking to know what it is.  The Bible has its own opinion.  For St. Paul, leadership comes from the inside and is destined to changing the inside of those who listen.  This idea of leadership is revolutionary for how we conduct ourselves in our own world and sphere of influence.

For many Christians business is a challenge.  After all it is about making a profit.  It’s driven by coefficients of productivity and therefore moves much more according to justice than to mercy.  And yet at the same time business is an essential part of life as is the world of work.  How did St. Paul interrelate with the world of business and what does that teach us about our own way of looking at it?

We’ve been looking at St. Paul‘s life and the lessons his life gives us about leadership for some time.  But now we need to speak about what’s at the heart of his leadership.  The heart of his leadership is Jesus and his relationship with Him.

None of us like conflict.  And to be honest a lot of see conflict as a sign of failure.  When we read the life of St. Paul, however, we see him constantly in conflict and sometimes in very violent situations.  How did he handle it?  What is God asking of us?

Anyone involved in sales knows that the customer is always right.  If this is the case then why did St. Paul seem to bother his customers so profoundly and irk them so regularly?   What was it that St. Paul was proposing that was so earth shattering to his customers?

Leading our families and leading our businesses entails taking our people to places that are new.  When we do that conflict almost always ensues.  New ideas, new relationships force us to confront old ways of thinking and bring about change.  A lot of people don’t like that.  St. Paul the apostle also dealt with conflict – and here is how he overcame it.

I don’t think any of us have any doubt that leadership can be lonely.  It’s like they say, “It’s lonely at the top.”  St. Paul knew this from the inside and at times in his writings even mentions how hard it was for him to be alone.  And at the same time St. Paul cultivated friendships and had deep and profound relationships.   This becomes a model for us – the lonely, befriended leader.

Nobody doubts that leadership can be lonely at times.  And yet even the greatest of leaders had friends.  In the story of St. Paul and his leadership in Acts, St. Barnabas plays an essential role.  Why would God have wanted St. Paul to have a friend like St. Barnabas?  What role does God want our friendships to play in our lives as leaders?

All of us like to lead when we know what we are doing.  But when foundations are shaken or assumptions that we hold are questioned, it can be difficult and challenging to persevere in leadership.  St. Paul had the same challenge.  In today’s talk I would like to examine with you how we can persevere in leadership even in uncertain times.

I’d like to share about the leadership of St. Paul.  This man’s incredible passion and drive changed the Church.  But like so many great men he had a past.  How did Paul deal with what he had done towards God and God’s people?  How did his past shape his future?  And what can we do when we realize that we too are guilty of doing wrong?  How does it affect our leadership?