Spiritual Leadership - Chapter 1: An Honorable Ambition

Posted on July 1st, 2008 by Brian Sparks.
Categories: Spiritual Leadership.

“To aspire to leadership in an honorable ambition” (I Timothy 3:1, page 11).
“Should you then seek great thins for yourself? Seek them not” (Jeremiah 45:5, page 11).

“Has not ambition cause the downfall of nuerous otherwise great leaders in the church, people who fell victim to ‘the last infirmity of noble minds’?” (page 11).

“When our ambition carries out a burning desire to be effective in the service of God - to realize God’s highest potential for our lives-we can keep both of these verses in mind and hold them in healthy tension [refer to first two verses]” (page 12).

“Rewards for the work of leading the church were hardship, contempt, rejection, and even death. The leader was first to draw fire in persecution, first in line to suffer” (page 12).

“Phonies would have little heart for such a difficult assignment. Under the dangerous circumstances taht prevailed in the first century, even stout-hearted Christians needed encouragement and incentive to lead. And so Paul called leadership an ‘honorable ambition’” (page 12).

“Paul urges us to the work of leading within the church, the most important work in the world. When our motives are right, this work pays eternal dividends. In Paul’s day, only a deep love for Christ and genuine concern for the church could motivate people to lead. But in many cultures today where Christian leadership carries prestige and privilege, people aspire to leadership for reasons quite unworthy and self-seeking” (page 12).

“Desiring to excel is not a sin. It is motivation that determines ambition’s character. Our Lord never taught against the urge to high achievement, but He did expose and condemn unworthy motivation” (page 13).

“Ambition which centers on the glory of God and welfare of the church is a mighty force for good” (page 13).

“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all” (Mark 10: 44).

“True greatness, true leadership, is found in giving yourself in service to others, not in coaxing or inducing others to serve you. True service is never without cost. Often it comes with a bitter cup of challenges and a painful baptism of suffering. For genuine godly leadership weighs carefully Jesus’ question: ‘Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?’ (Mark 10:38b).

“The final estimate of men shows that history cares not an iota for the rank or title a man has borne, or the office he has held, but only a quality of his deeds and the character of his mind and heart” (Samuel Brengle, page 14).

Because we children of Adam want to become great,
He became small.
Because we will not stoop,
He humbled Himself.
Because we want to rule,
He came to serve. (page 14)

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