If you’re a leader, for God’s sake, lead.

Steve Brown:
If you’re a leader, for God’s sake, lead. Let’s talk, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
If you’re sick of guilt and manipulation, and if you’re looking for an honest and thoughtful presentation of Biblical truth, you’ve come to the right place. This is Key Life with the founder of Key Life Network, Steve Brown. Keep listening for teaching that will make you free.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. We’re back to Philippians. Wasn’t that great yesterday? I love spending time with Bishop Holcomb. I think I mentioned on the broadcast that he was a former student of mine. I remember when his hair was down to his belt. And even then, I thought, this young man is going to be used by Jesus in a wonderful way. And now, he’s become the Bishop of the Central Florida Diocese of the Episcopal Church, and serves as one of the voices of Key Life. Now, if you’ve been listening, we’ve been talking about arguments and divisions in the church. We’re looking at two verses in the fourth chapter of Philippians, in our study in Philippians, verses two and three. And it’s kind of a passing comment, and I thought we’ll move on to something more substantive. But as I looked at it, I began to realize there’s stuff here that can be helpful when there are divisions in the church. Now, we have noted the principle of potentiality. Because you’re a Christian and the Holy Spirit is in you, you can do what God, now you might not, and he’ll still love you, but you can do what you’re called to do. We saw the principle of superiority, ego. The principle of objectivity, it’s hard to understand an argument when you’re in the middle of it. I want to show you another one. It’s the principle of commonality, to wit, everybody who belongs to Jesus belongs to everybody who belongs to Jesus. And we talked about this a little bit yesterday, and I’m going to talk about it just a little bit more here. There, one time, there is a parable that came from Soren Kierkegaard. He was the first existentialist. He was a Christian. Most existentialists are not either today, but he was. So, that whole movement was founded by Kierkegaard. And he had a parable about a country peasant who traveled to the city to earn some money. He did so well, for the first time in his life he was able to buy shoes and socks. He had enough money left to get drunk, and in his drunken state he fell asleep in the middle of the road. A horse drawn wagon came down the street and the driver yelled, Get out of my way or I’m going to run over your legs. The man, kinda groggy from the booze, looked down at his new shoes and socks. He forgot that they were his. And then he said, go ahead, they aren’t mine. That’s the church. They are yours. You’ve got to read Paul to I Corinthians about the body of Christ and how much we are a part of one another. And an argument that takes place in the back pew always affects the front pew. Because we’re so much a part of each other, and it’s been created that way, that peace and unity within the church is a big deal because when it’s not there, it affects the whole church. Every major church split that I know of, began with an argument between two people. Every major split, I’m saying it again, that I know about took place as an argument in the beginning between two people. What happened? Well, we’re so connected that two people can’t just have an argument in the church without it affecting four people. And then 50 people, and then 100 people, and then the entire church. It happens all the time. And so, the principle of commonality is important to remember. Everybody who belongs to Jesus belongs and is a part of everybody who belongs to Jesus. And what happens to them happens to you. And what happens to you happens to them. That’s why leaders are so important, and that brings me to something else that Paul is saying in this particular text. I want you to note not only the principle of potentiality, superiority, objectivity, and commonality. Notice also the principle of conformity. In other words, leaders have a tremendous effect as models to those who follow. In Philippians 4:3b, Paul mentions a name, and there’s no reason for him to mention a name. He’s talking about these two women fighting, he pleads with them to settle the argument, for the reasons we’ve talked about. And then out of the blue, and it’s kind of a surprise, he says, along with Clement. Who in the world is Clement? He’s a leader. And Paul is bringing up Clement because of the impact of leadership on the church. I’ve often said to students in seminary that the church is going to look the way you look. Sometimes they’re going to talk the way you talk. Sometimes they’re going to believe what you believe. So, you have to be very, very careful. And so, Paul is affirming the principle of leadership. He’s bringing up Clement because this is a man that everybody respected, that everybody loved, and that everybody followed. And leadership is very important. Do you know why our children sometimes drive us up the wall? Because they remind us that we’re the model and they’re turning out just the way we turned out. They’re, they’ve got the downside we have, and they have the upside we have. And that’s why leaders are so important in the church. We need to be models of what Christ would have us be and do. There’s a poem by Longfellow. I don’t even remember the name of it, but let me quote some of it.

Lives of great men all remind us we can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints in the sand of time; Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o’er life’s solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again.

That’s true. If you’re a leader in the church, and I’m not just talking to pastors, if you’re someone that people look up to, you have an important responsibility. And Paul says, you can’t be involved. I think I’ve told you that I’ve been through one building program when I was the pastor of a church. And let me give you a principle, never take advice from any pastor who’s been through more than one building program because there’s something wrong with that man, something wrong with that pastor. It was a really, really hard time. And at the beginning, I decided I’m not, I’ve heard horror stories about building programs. And I’m going to stay out of it. So, I got a committee together to pursue the subject. And they had meetings all over the town. And the church got divided. And I called my friend, my late friend Jim Baird, and I said, You know, this is awful, this building’s never going to be built unless something happens. And I said, what should I do? And he said, Steve, get involved and get involved right now. I did, and we built it, and I’ll never do it again. But he was right. Leaders in the church are very important. People in the church who’ve been there a long time and have been looked up to are very important when division takes place in the church. And for God’s sake, don’t just sit on the sidelines if you’re a leader, get involved. Let me show you something else. And I’ll just mention it and we’ll talk more about it tomorrow. I want you to note, not only the principle of potentiality, superiority, objectivity, commonality, and conformity. Notice the principle of priority, to wit, listen up, big visions make for small arguments. That’s so good, I’m going to repeat it. Big visions make for small arguments. Look at verse 3b.

Help these women who contended at my side in the cause of the gospel.

You see what Paul is doing? Paul is reminding them that they’re a part of something that is a lot bigger than they are. And he knew that when they saw that, the arguments would dissipate. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thanks Steve. Today, we resumed our study of Philippians, taking an especially close look at Philippians 4:2 through 3. We have all come across arguments in the church, probably have been part of one or two. But thanks to these insights, we now have some wisdom about how to handle these challenges. More good stuff tomorrow, do join us. Well, recently on Steve Brown Etc. we spoke with Chad Bird. He’s an author, a Bible teacher, and not that this is important, has a truly epic beard. Well, on the show, we discussed Chad’s classic book called Your God is Too Glorious. It’s all about the idea that even if your life is pretty ordinary, God still wants to use you. We put that show on a CD that we’d love to send to you for free. Can we do that? Yeah? Then call us right now at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to ask for that CD. Or to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Again, just ask for your absolutely free copy of the CD featuring Chad Bird. And finally, if you’re blessed by Key Life, would you help share that blessing with others through your giving? Giving is easy, just charge a gift on your credit card, or include a gift in your envelope. Or simply text Key Life to 28950 and then follow the instructions. And as always, if you can’t give right now, hey, zero pressure, zero guilt. But if you think about it, if you have a moment, please do pray for us, would you? Thanks. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And as always, Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.