The Problem of Leadership, Part 2

We've been talking about the problems in Proverbs. Churches have all kinds of problems, but the biggest problem is the lack of leadership. That is the biggest problem.

It is the biggest problem in your family, a man, a husband, a father, unwilling to lead God's way, rebelling against the authority of God in his life, not wanting to do what is right. It's the biggest problem in our government. It's the biggest problem in our schools.

It's the biggest problem in your workforce. Somebody who can't lead, not because they don't have the credentials, it's because they don't have the character. See, it's a problem.

It is a major problem, and we need to know how to handle it. We need to know what the Bible says so that we can become the leaders that God wants us to be. Solomon learned a lot about leadership, so he writes about it in the book of Proverbs.

I'm gonna give you qualities that Solomon gives that we might understand how it is we are to lead. Number one, loyalty, loyalty. The verse, Proverbs 20, verse number 28.

Loyalty and truth preserve the king, and he upholds his throne by righteousness. Loyalty. Number two, veracity, truth.

Loyalty and truth preserve the king. You wanna be a great leader? You gotta speak the truth. You gotta live the truth, right? Charity, that's the third quality, charity.

Nevertheless, Proverbs 16, verse number 15 says this. In the light of a king's face, his life and his favor is like a cloud with the spring rain. When the king shows favor, it's like spring rain, it's so refreshing.

Charity, acts of kindness, love, that's what the king does. And when you are a man of charity, you will serve your fellow man compassionately. That's what Jesus did.

Number four, integrity. Proverbs 29, verse number 14. If a king judges the poor with truth, his throne will be established forever.

That's the man of integrity. Solomon says, if you wanna lead, you gotta have the quality of integrity. Remember Joseph, way back in Genesis chapter 39? The Bible tells us that Potiphar's wife came after him.

It says in verse number seven, and it came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph. And she said, lie with me. But he refused and said to his master's wife, behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house.

He has put all that he owns in my charge. There is no one greater in the house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God? That's integrity.

A man of integrity refuses to disobey his God. That's simply as succinct as I can put it. A man of integrity refuses to disobey his God.

How can I do this and sin against my God? Folks, that's the kind of leaders we need. That's the kind of fathers we need. That's the kind of husbands we need.

So important. Over the years of my ministry, I'm only 48, so it's only been, shoot, maybe 25 years of ministry, but the bottom line is this. I've come to realize that there are many women who want their husbands to do many things, and they never do them.

We have a couples retreat every year in June. If I was able to tell you about all the women who have said to me, I wish my husband would take us, it's sad, but he won't go. There are other women who long to go to Israel, and they say, oh, it's my husband, he won't go.

He just won't go. So I always tell them, go without him. Leave him behind.

You might not ever get there. You see, there are so many women who just looking for their husbands just to take the initiative and lead, do something, to somehow provide an example, to somehow do the leader thing, and unfortunately, we live in a society where men are becoming weaker and weaker and weaker to the point where a lot of them are just impotent. They're unwilling to take the step to do anything spiritually, relationally, financially, and therefore, their families suffer greatly.

It is the biggest problem in the church, a lack of leadership in the home, which translates itself over to a lack of leadership in the church. See, I would think that if I was in the church and my pastor was speaking on leadership, I'd be there. Wouldn't you? You'd think that.

If I wanted to be a better husband, if I wanted to be a better father, if I wanted to be a better leader in the church, if I wanted to be stronger, I'd be there because I wanted to learn what are the biblical principles of leadership, what are the problems of leadership, and how can I overcome them? You'd think that would be the case, right? Think again. See, if you come and you're here, you gotta either change or not. Better not to come and know what you're doing wrong and live as you are than to come and take the challenge to change.

I think that we ought to give this tape to all the men on Sunday. Just give it to them for free as they go out the door. Hey, you might want to listen to this.

You'll say, why? You're on it. See, I'm at the point, I'm not very old, but I'm just old enough, just old enough to know that the only thing that matters is what God says. Nothing else matters.

What you think of me does not matter to me. I don't care. I don't mean that negatively.

It just doesn't affect me. Doesn't change what I'm going to say. Doesn't change what I'm going to preach on.

Doesn't gonna change how I'm gonna live my life because I'm only accountable to my God in heaven. I do that through the elders of our church. I'm accountable to them.

That demonstrates my fact that I'm accountable to my God who is in heaven. But you see, one day I'll be held accountable for the things that I say, how I live my life. When I stand before the throne of God, you're not gonna be there with me, holding my hand, saying, you did a good job, Pastor.

We were with you all the way. No, it's just gonna be me and my Lord, that's it. That means it's only gonna be you and your Lord, too.

I won't be there with you. The quality of the leadership, loyalty, veracity. Charity, integrity.

Number five, sagacity. Sagacity, S-A-G-A-C-I-T-Y. It's a whole aspect of wisdom.

Sage is a wise man. Sagacity is wisdom. It's the opportunity to put into practice those things in which you learn.

We need leaders who are wise. The Bible says in Proverbs 28, verse number two, these words, by the transgression of the land, many are its princesses. But by a man of understanding and knowledge, so it endures.

There are many people who seek to rule when there's transgression in the land. Everybody wants to be a leader. But the man of understanding, the man of knowledge, he'll endure, he'll stand the test of time.

And the Bible says in Proverbs 24, verse number three, these words, by wisdom a house is built and by understanding it is established and by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is strong and a man of knowledge increases power. Your house is built, gentlemen, by wisdom.

Not your own wisdom, not a demonic wisdom, not a wisdom from below, but a wisdom from above. If you wanna build a home that lasts, it must be built on wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. The only way to be a great father and a great husband is to be a wise man, to be a knowledgeable man, to be a man who understands the word of God.

That's the only thing that matters in your home. That's what makes your home what it is. And every great leader seeks to know the mind of God.

That's wisdom. To understand what it is the Lord wants for them. Does that mean you know everything? No, but does it mean you seek to know the answers to the things you have to deal with every day? Yes, asking God to show you, to give you wisdom, to open your eyes that you might grow in your walk with the Lord.

We need men of wisdom, wisdom. They need to know how to handle conflict in the home. They need to know how to handle a rebellious child.

They need to know how to answer the questions their children are asking them. They need to know how to lead their families in the ways of God. You know how to do that.

That's leadership. That's getting people to follow your direction. You're leading them closer to God.

By knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches, lasting memories, great attitudes. Are the rooms in your home filled with lasting memories? Are they filled with pleasant riches? Because you've led with wisdom. Number six, authority, authority.

All leaders lead with authority. Not dominance, not dictatorship, but there is a sense of authority. That's why Paul told Timothy in Titus chapter two, verse 15, speak and rebuke with all authority.

Our authority is based on what? The word of God. There is no authority without the word of God. And so you speak with authority because you speak the words of God.

You live a life of authority because you are accountable to the God of the universe. And people know that that is your accountability and they realize that you are a man who walks with strength, who lives with strength, a man of authority. Proverbs chapter 19, verse number 12, says it this way.

The king's wrath is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass. The king has authority. And when he roars like a lion, oh boy, look out.

But when he shows favor, it's like that sweet dew on the wrath, on the grass. Proverbs 20, verse number two, the terror of a king is like the growling of a lion. He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

See, there's something about leadership that is equated with authority, but yet that authority is only as good, listen, that authority is only as good as that individual's intimacy with God. And as he walks with God, he lives a life of authority because he's under the supreme authority, right? So the person with authority is going to reflect godliness because he relies on God. And that's a person who's well-respected.

Authority is a part of leadership. Someone has to lead, someone has to make decisions, right? See, one of the worst things we do is not make a decision because to not make a decision is letting someone else make it to lead all the way back to Genesis chapter three, right? The silence of Adam, the silence of Adam killed us. Signs of the first man killed us.

Literally, it killed us. He said, nothing, fellas, speak up, say something. Say the right thing based on what the word of the Lord says.

Don't sit back and let your kid just run all over you and say nothing. Don't sit back and let your wife run all over you and say nothing. Say something.

Lead, lead with the authority of the word of God. And what do you say? You say, I know how you feel. I know what you wanna do, but this is what God says, so this is what we will do.

Just think of Adam when he said that to Eve, where we'd be today. We'd be in paradise. Eve, I know what you said, I know what you wanna do, but God said this, therefore, this is what we'll do.

But the man being with her partook of the apple as well. He said nothing. Nothing.

Silence is a killer. Next, they've made the numbers bigger in the back for me, I see, for my eyes, so we don't go over. Tenacity, tenacity, Proverbs 25, verses one to three.

That tenacious spirit, that holding firm, that persevering spirit that never quits. Tenacity, Proverbs 25, verses one to three, reads as follows. Verse two, it is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable. Take away the dross from the silver, and there comes out a vessel for the smith. In other words, in other words, a person with tenacity is one who, number one, sifts out evil.

He sifts out evil. He searches out the matter, doesn't quit, and he stays the course. That's a person of tenacity.

He sifts out the evil. He takes out that evil, he gets rid of it. He searches out the matter.

He gets to the bottom of it, and he never quits. He stays the course. Our Lord Jesus, when he was on earth, he says, my food is to do the will of him who sent me.

Over and over again through the Gospel of John, he says, I am here to do the will of my Father who is in heaven. He stayed the course. He never veered to the right nor to the left.

He stayed the course. Men, you gotta stay the course. You gotta search out a matter.

You gotta sift out the evil to make sure good reigns supreme. That's a man of tenacity. Next, a man of sensitivity and humility.

A man of sensitivity and humility. Proverbs 21, verse number one, reads this way. The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord.

He turns it wherever he wishes. Sensitivity to the direction of God requires humility of spirit, right? And as kings, as leaders, as people in authority, whether you're at home or at work or in the church, as God begins to direct your heart, you become sensitive to his leading and you humbly follow that direction. You must be a man of sensitivity and humility.

Number eight, stability. Stability. Proverbs chapter 29, verse number four, reads this way.

The king gives stability to the land by justice, but a man who takes bribes overthrows it. A man can only give stability if he himself is stable. And a man of stability is not a double-minded man.

James speaks of the double-minded man who's unstable in all of his ways. And why is he double-minded? Because he has half of his mind in the world and the other half of his mind in the word. And when you have your mind in the word and in the world, you don't know what decision to make.

You become unstable, not in some of your ways, but in all of your ways. That's what James says. The king needs to provide stability.

Gentlemen, do you provide stability for your home? Is your home a stable place? Is your home a secure place because of your leadership? That's important, isn't it? And lastly, purity. Purity. Proverbs 22, verse number 11, says this.

He who loves purity of heart, whose speech is gracious, the king is his friend. Purity, holiness, godliness, a pure and holy life. Wherewithal shall a young man keep his way pure.

Psalm 199, by taking heed to the word of God. This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality. God wants his people to be pure and holy before him.

And if you're going to lead God's people toward a holy God, that requires a pure and holy life. Robert Murray McShane, who died at the age of 29 as the pastor of Dundee Church in Scotland, who wrote these words. Do not forget the culture of the inner man, I mean of the heart.

How diligently the cavalry officer keeps his saber clean and sharp. Every stain he rubs off with the greatest care. Remember, you are God's sword, his instrument.

I trust a chosen vessel unto him to bear his name. In great measure, according to the purity and perfections of the instrument will be the success. It is not great talent, God blesses, so much as great likeness to Jesus, a holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.

I wonder, are you an awful weapon in the hand of God? Are you used of God? Those are the qualities that Solomon gives to us, 10 of them, that provide a barometer, a measuring stick for our lives. How about you? Where do you fit? I look at those things and I say, boy, I got a long way to go. I got a big road ahead of me.

I got a long traveling ahead of me, but I'm bound and determined to follow what the word of the Lord says, are you? What's the quest? The question, the qualities, the quest. Where are we going? Where do we go? Proverbs chapter 24, verse number 23, we'll set the tone for our quest. Here it goes.

These also are sayings to the wise, to show partiality in judgment is not good. He who says to the wicked, you are righteous, peoples will curse him, nations will abhor him, but to those who rebuke the wicked will be delight and a good blessing will come upon them. Here's your quest.

If you want a good blessing to come upon you, I don't think there's anybody here who would say, I don't wanna be blessed. I just wanna live a life of depression, defeat and disorder. I don't really care if anybody blesses me.

No, you wanna be blessed, right? Here's your quest. Number one, the quest is object to partiality. As a leader, you show no favorites.

As a leader, everybody's the same. To show partiality in judgment, the text says is not good. So you object to partiality.

Deuteronomy chapter 10, verse number 17, Moses says this, for the Lord your God is the God of God, and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and awesome God who does not show partiality. God has no favorites. God does not show partiality.

He doesn't treat somebody better than somebody else. Some might say, well, wait a minute, God's blessed this person over here and he hasn't blessed me. Let me tell you something, God shows no partiality.

Just because he decides to bless someone one way and you another doesn't mean that he has shown partiality to them because the Bible's very clear about that. Second Kings 19, seven, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, warned the judges to rule without partiality because he said that God himself has no part with partiality. Romans 2, nine to 11, says that God is impartial in all of his judgments.

Your quest is to begin by making sure that you object to partiality. Everybody's the same. Treat them all the same.

Number two, operate with integrity. Text says, verse 24, he who says to the wicked, you are righteous, peoples will curse him and nations will abhor him. You can't say the wrong thing.

You can't be deceptive. You gotta operate with integrity. That's your quest, to make sure you speak truth, you live truth because you serve the God of truth.

You operate with integrity. And then, here he goes. Here's the hardest one.

Are you ready? Oppose all iniquity. Text says in verse 25, to those who rebuke the wicked will be delight and the blessing comes upon that man. You oppose all iniquity.

You who love the Lord, the psalmist says, in Psalm 9710, hate evil, hate evil. That's your quest. If you wanna make sure those qualities are part of your life you must object to partiality, you must operate with integrity, and you must oppose all iniquity.

Our God is a pure and holy God. In him is no darkness at all. And our quest is to be like him.

Now, your quest is to be able to say, Lord, this is what I wanna do. I wanna be able to put these things into practice every single day of my life. If I was you gentlemen, I'd write them all down.

I'd put them on a piece of paper in my Bible, put it in my pocket. And I'd have a checkpoint every night before I go to bed. Did I do this? How did I do here? Where was I in this aspect? Am I fulfilling these qualities? And then here's the greatest of all challenges.

Are you ready? As you got that list, at the end of the week, sit down with your honey and say, sweetie, I want you to grade me one through 10 on how I did this week. And be honest with me. And then you're on your way.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word and pray, Lord, that our lives would be extremely challenged. I know mine is.

I am so convicted of where I fall short on these qualities. And I ask as the pastor of these people, Lord, that you would give me wisdom to operate in a way that brings glory to your name. And I ask for all of us that by the grace of almighty God, we would be able to put into practice the qualities of leadership as outlined in the book of Proverbs.

In Jesus' name, amen.