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This Sunday, we begin a new series on Christian stewardship and leadership. Join us as we examine what it means to be a leader in God's church. Reverend Daniel shares the word with us today.

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We are beginning a sermon series for today and for the next few weeks on the topic of Christian stewardship and leadership. And it's also a timely period because we are approaching uh AGM, and I think it's good for us to look at scripture and to see what is the standard, what are the first principles that is commanded in God's word so that we have a better sense about what we are entering into and as a church together. So we will look today and next week at what it means to be a leader in God's church today. Perhaps when we talk about leadership, all of us, many of us have many uh questions, right? Even in our own minds, our perspective of who is fit to be a leader, who is not fit. And oftentimes when we do that, it's based on what we see outwardly. For example, uh a leader must be, should be someone who serves in the church. Maybe one ministry is good, two ministries better, three ministries is uh uh lucky best, right? That means the person is active, serving the Lord is good. Not only that, a leader not only must serve in many ministries, but the leader must also be uh regular, perhaps in some of the weekly meetings, for example, prayer meetings, you know, that would indicate that the person is spiritual. Or we may have other requirements as we go along. So all those are outward um requirements that uh we are not defaulting on them and saying that they are not required. It has a time and place, but I believe scripture alone has a certain first principles, a certain standard that it comes in as almost like first principles, that if we don't have this in place, whatever activities, whatever outward uh uh ministries, or even attending prayer meetings or uh or doing other things that may show the person's spirituality, uh, it still will not meet uh the requirement of the first principles of what uh scripture calls for. Right? And uh and our constitution under 4.3.2 uh states that uh we are coming to a time where we are today onwards we are nominating uh candidates for to the PCC. So it states that the nominee should be recognized to fulfill the qualifications as taught in the Word of God, especially 1 Timothy chapter 3, Titus 1, 5 to 9, and Acts 6, verse 3. So I believe it's good for us to, for this week and next week, just to have a look, not very much like a Bible study, but key areas of uh of a leader's life. Uh look at those areas and I hope to bring all of us together uh on the same page on the issue of being a leader in God's church. However, the call to leadership need not be confined to the PCC as God calls us, all of us, in fact, even if we are not nominated or we do not intend to nominate someone, all of us, in some way or another, take uh leadership in our homes, in our workplaces, and wherever God places us. So we do lead in uh various contexts, and I hope that what I share uh will be useful for us. So Davis Mathis, in his book, Workers for Your Joy, offers a vision of Christian leadership, which I believe uh is quite a recent writing, and I believe is helpful for us as we consider leadership. He looks at leadership uh according to 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, 5 to 9, in three areas uh of a leader's life which are uh pivotal in the life of leading or being involved in leadership in the church. And these three areas are firstly the leader before his God, so a leader's uh devotional life in God. Secondly, the leader before those who know him best or know her best, so his or her private life. And then lastly, the leader before the watching world, watching church and the world, which is his public life. So this will be a framework for us to explore uh what leadership is really about, according to 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, 5 to 9. So I will speak of the first two points uh this week and the last point the leader before the watching church and the world next week. Right, in it's important for us to know that Christian leadership actually all of our life in God flows out of our devotion to God and our life in Him. So everything begins and flows from our life and our heart in God. And analogy of a well, a well on a farm would illustrate this point. Those of us who used to live in kampong areas or have lived with a well in your home in in the olden days uh will realize that a well on a farm will keep filling up uh with water. As water is being drawn from the well, the well will keep uh filling up with water. Uh this is because the well is fed by underground streams of water. When water is being drawn out, more fresh water will flow in. However, once you stop drawing from the well over a period of time, you realize the streams of water uh that were that were flowing underground will start to clog and we saw and it will close with time. So eventually the well will dies, will die because it requires a drawing out of water so that fresh water can come in. So our devotional life in God is likened to a well on a farm. The streams of water flowing into the well is our life from God, life from God that flows into us. Once we stop drawing from the life of God, something in us dies. So it's so important uh for a leader to maintain a rhythm of inflow from God. God is not looking for a perfect leader, he's looking for a leader who understands that he or she needs the life of God flowing in him or her daily to sustain life and ministry. So from our devotional life in God, God's life will flow to our private life and out to the public arena. So my first point, the leader before his God. What does a leader before God look like? Uh one word that kind of summarizes this idea of who we are as leaders uh before God is the word humble or humility. Right? One word to describe what a leader before God looks like is the word humble or humility. Titus 1 verse 7 reminds us that an overseer as God's steward must not be arrogant. So there are three word pictures in the qualifications of a leader that kind of paints our inner life with God and describe what humility looks like. In other words, when you talk about humility in leadership or in a place of influence, what does it look like? So there are three uh areas. One is being sober-minded. Sober-minded. So sober-minded is one of the first traits given for church leaders and their wives. We see that in 1 Timothy 3, verse 2 and verse 11. Older men are also to be so sober-minded, taken from Titus 2, verse 2. And it's also one of Paul's most pronounced charges to young Timothy. He says this, as for you, Timothy, always be sober-minded. The NIV translates this sober-mindedness in a very memorable way. It says, keep your head in all situations. So this is uh needed in leadership. We do need leaders like this who keep their head, whatever the circumstance. To be sober-minded is really about having a right measure of oneself. Romans 12, verse 3 says, By the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. So to be sober-minded means to have a right view of yourself. Uh, and because of that right view of yourself, you are able to be balanced and not take extreme positions. Um, so we were not, we are not called to think of ourselves too low, and that's false humility. You know, when everything when we are approached, people approach us, even though we have the capability, we say, no, no, no, I'm I'm useless, I'm nothing, I can't do anything good, I'm a dumb person. You know, so that is self-depreciating. It's not it's false humility. You have the ability, but you are denying that. Neither is it uh neither do we see ourselves too high. You know, uh you think that we can do everything. Uh with me, you know, I can do anything, no problem. Uh just hand it to me and I'll get the job done. Not that it's a bad thing, but it may be seeing ourselves a bit too high, right? And that will lead to pride. So Romans 12, verse 3 gives us a picture of what sober-minded really is about. It's to see ourselves in the right way and the right perspective in God's eyes. So to be sober-minded is to have a right measure of ourselves, and that's humility, right? Humility in a sense of not going uh under too much or over ourselves too much. So, some questions to consider regarding uh sober-mindedness. Are you often self-depreciating? Uh, often looking down on yourself and not uh rising up when God is calling you to leadership. Another question to ask is Are you willing and ready to admit faults? Right when you have done wrong or when made a mistake, just say I've made a mistake, I've done wrong. Right? So that is also a sign of a right esteem, uh, sober-mindedness, a person who has a right esteem of himself or herself. Are you regularly angling uh with words to build yourself up in others' minds? Right? So trying to gain uh popularity votes or trying to look good before others. Do you give plain evidence of thinking of yourself more highly than you ought to think? Right? So these are all just questions for us to consider. So sober-mindedness is it seems to be a trivial quality, but it's very much needed in leadership, right? Uh, someone who is dependable, can be trusted, uh, someone who is balanced. The second uh quality under the bracket of humility or being humble is the ability to consider others better than ourselves. Paul writes to all Christians in Philippians 2, verse 3 to 4 uh with a charge that is especially pressing for church leaders. Philippians 2 verse 3 to 4 says, Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility, in humility, count others more significant than yourself. The church will be a much more lovely place when we consider others better. You know, when we don't stand in judgment over others and allow God to judge them, right, in his time. So the church will be a much more wonderful place if we do not do anything out of rivalry or conceit. And in humility, consider others more significant than yourselves. It goes on to say, let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Considering others better and more significant than ourselves cuts to the heart of the pastoral calling and to the heart of the humble walk required of leaders and followers of Jesus. There's no place in the church for fat egos, someone once said. We need leaders who show a genuine desire and love for the church and who would pave the way to lead in a spirit of considering others better. So Paul sets the pattern for us again in Philippians chapter 1, verse 23 to 26. The whole posture of Paul's life as an apostle and as a minister of the gospel was living his life in such a way that it is really for the benefit of the people he served. Listen to his words, Philippians 1, verse 23 to 26. He says, I'm hard pressed between the two. Paul is in jail in Philippi. Uh uh, he was in jail. Um and uh he was sorry, he was not in Philippi, he was in jail. He's writing to the believers in Philippi, and he says, I'm hard pressed between the two. Because his impending death, he may actually die or he may be released. So he doesn't know. So he said, My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But he goes on to say in verse 24, but to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again. So Paul lives in such a way that if he continues in his earthly ministry, it is just for the purpose of being an encouragement to the body. He says, I will remain and continue for your progress and joy in the faith. So a leader is called to build up the community of God, is called to serve, not out of self-interest, but to consider others and to stir them up to serve the Lord. So the last uh quality in this uh category of humility or being humble, a leader before God, is that he or she must not be a novice. Novice meaning uh a new person, a new convert. Because 1 Timothy 3 verse 6 says, uh, in a qualification for leadership, he must not be a recent convert, or he may be become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. The word recent convert uh means literally newly planted. New plants in the world of uh uh when you study plants, uh new plants haven't yet had time to sink their roots down deep and stretch them out wide. New plants, whether transplanted or from the seed, are much easier to uproot than trees that have grown into the soil over a matter of months and years rather than days and weeks. So there is wisdom uh in not being so quick to appoint new believers or new converts because our human fleshly nature works against us. It may foster pride instead of humility. So elsewhere, when Paul addresses the formal appointing of pastors and elders, he charges Timothy and the churches, do not be hasty in the laying on of hands. 1 Timothy 5 22. This principle of patience in appointment to office applies not only to pastors but also to elders and deacons. 1 Timothy 3.10 says, let them also be tested first, then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves to be blameless. Right? So these are three uh qualities that are really important uh in leadership when we talk about humility, who we are before God, being sober-minded, considering others better, and not being a novice. Let me move on to the second point. Uh, secondly, the leader before those who know him best. What does a leader before those who know him best look like? Again, I just want to use one word to summarize, and that is the word whole or wholeness. Wholeness, a leader in his private life, uh, needs to be whole. And wholeness is about a private life that matches the one on display in public, meaning that what you see is what you get. You know, what the person is in his private life, he also is in his public life. So that is wholeness. That means God desires us to be whole. God doesn't desire us to compartmentalize our lives such that we are one person at home, we are another person in the public arena. So five words, pictures that describe what this wholeness looked like. The first word is self-control. Self-control is the culminating fruit of the spirit in Paul's list of the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5, verse 22 to 23. And one of the first traits required of leaders in the church, 1 Timothy 3:2 and Titus 1.8 say that a leader must be self-controlled. Proverbs 25, verse 28 likens a man without self-control to be a city broken into and left without walls. So remarkable is this virtue that as Paul gives various instructions to older men, older women, younger women and younger men in Titus 2, he need give only one directive to the last group. He says, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Biblically, self-control or the lack of self-control goes to the deepest part of us, it goes to our heart. It begins with the control of our emotions and includes our thoughts as well. Self-control is often paired in scripture with the idea of sober-mindedness. And in several places, the language of self-control applies to our mind, our thinking. So God desires leaders who have a certain self-control in approaching life and ministry. The second word picture is a one-woman man. A one-woman man. And uh 1 Timothy 3 2 tells us a leader must be the husband of one wife. Titus 1 6 also repeats that. So clearly, a one woman wife applies to married men. In faithfulness to the marriage covenant, the married man is to be utterly committed in mind, heart, and body to his one wife. Being a one woman man has implications for where. We go as married men, how we interact with other women, what we do with our eyes, where we let our thoughts run, what we assess on our computers and smartphones, and how we watch movies. It's also relevant for married men in the positive sense, not just the negative. A married man must not be a zero-woman man, living as though he isn't married, neglecting to care adequately for his wife and family. If you are married, faithfulness to the covenant, marriage covenant requires your interests being undivided and only to the one woman in your life. However, the challenge to be a one-woman man applies not only to married men, but also to unmarried men who are considering leadership. Some questions, searching questions, are you a flirt? Do you move flippantly from one dating relationship to another? Do you enjoy the thrill of connecting emotionally with new women without moving with intentionality towards clarity about marriage? Long before they marry, someone once said bachelors are setting and displaying their trajectory of fidelity in every season of life and every relationship, however serious, they are preparing themselves in a Christian context to be a one-woman man. And this is indicated by how they engage with and treat the women in their lives. So if you are married, what is your reputation? Do people think of you, your speech, your conduct, your body language as joyfully and ruthlessly faithful to your wife? Or might there be questions? Are you known for demonstrating self-control publicly and privately for the sake of the purity and fidelity of your marriage? For the unmarried, what do your friendships and relationships look like with the opposite sex? Do you genuinely treat other women as sisters in all purity? Are you dabbling with uh pornography, trying to stop, but still allowing room for it? Or have you been tragically, tragically desensitized to impurity because of the boundaries being crossed by what you watch in the movies? In your thought life on the internet, in your interactions, are you a one-woman man waiting for your one woman? So scripture has high standards in marriage fidelity, the husband of one wife. And we'll see why all this is important in Christian leadership. Uh thirdly, a leader must not be a drunken, right? It's repeated twice, once in 1 Timothy 3 verse 3 and Titus 1 verse 7b. 1 Timothy 3 8 also says, Deacons likewise, not addicted to much wine. So, not a drunken, of course, to qualify this, does not mean no alcohol, whatever. That means it doesn't mean that we shouldn't drink alcohol, because uh scripture does affirm the use of alcohol for pleasure and when there's a need to do so. So Psalm 140 14 to 15 celebrates God's good gifts in his created world, including bread and oil and wine to gladden the heart of man. John the Baptist chose the lifestyle of an ascetic while Jesus came eating and drinking, both with the wise and the righteous. For his first miracle, of course, if you remember, Jesus made water into wine. And Paul even instructed Timothy to use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailment ailments, sorry, from 1 Timothy 5, verse 23. So Paul was not against drinking, but he was against a pattern of excessive drinking which can make one become a drunken. The scripture doesn't say do not drink, it says do not be a drunken, because a drunken will often lose control of his senses, thereby resulting in not being sober-minded nor self-controlled, which are important traits in Christian leadership. In other words, what controls you shouldn't be the spirit, the wine, but it should be the Holy Spirit. So if you lose control all the time to wine, then you are not filled with the spirit. So a leader must not be a drunken. Fourthly, a leader must not be a lover of money, nor greedy for gain. 1 Timothy 3.3 tells us not uh overseer must not be a lover of money. Titus 1.7b says, or greedy for gain. Of the 15 qualities listed in 1 Timothy 3 for church lead office or for leadership, uh not a lover of money may be the most conspicuous when compared to other lists. Uh the synonymous attributes, not greedy for gain, appears both in Titus 1 verse 7 and 1 Timothy 5, verse 2, as well as for deacons in 1 Timothy 3 verse 8. So again in Hebrews 13:5 is uh repeated for the whole church, keep your life free from the love of money. Someone once said uh Jesus talked about money more than any other temptation in the gospels, more than sex, more than power, more than heaven and hell. Uh something to prove, something to further research and see. But I've been hearing this. If you look at the Jesus in his writings, he talked about money more than anything else. Some of his best known words in his most remembered, remembered sermon strike right at the heart of the polar reality, deep beneath all the practical shades of gray. He says in Matthew 6, verse 24, you cannot serve God and money, or you cannot serve God and mammoth. Jesus' point for his people is plain, to be rich towards God, which means handling money in such a way that we show God not money to be our greatest treasure. Or to put it negatively, do not lay up yourselves treasures on earth, but be on your guard against all covetousness, for which Jesus gives this penetrating rationale. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. The last quality is uh someone who is called to leadership in his private life must be a good manager of one's household. 1 Timothy 3 verse 4 to 5 says he must manage his own household well with all dignity, keeping his children submissive. For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? The qualification to manage his own household well forges a special relationship among the other requirements between church leadership and our day-to-day domestic husbanding or fathering. Why must a leader be one who managed his household well? Because Paul says, logically, if someone, you cannot even manage your own household, how will you care for God's household, which is God's church? So why are all these five qualities important? In it's all hidden, right? Someone's, a leader's private life, you say, don't have to throw it out in the open. No one knows what whether you love money, whether you are drunken, whether you have lack of self-control, or all these qualities, how you treat your family at home, whether you are faithful to your wife. I mean, come on, these are not sellable qualities. You don't see it out there. You know, we always see something more visible, like what I say, how many ministries a leader serves, you know, whether the person shows himself or herself spiritual by being present uh in uh prayer meetings, or even whether the person has the right personality, uh, extrovert, introvert, the ability to get things done, uh a doer versus a thinker, and so on. So all these things naturally is what we go to. But scripture seems to tell us more than all that, first principles are first principles. And if this foundation of leadership is not set, then you set a person for disaster when the person uh takes on leadership because his foundation is not strong. And the foundation is in two areas his devotion to God and also his uh his life before those who know him best, his devotional life and his private life. Because why self-control is important? It's my private life, my I lack of self-control. I mean, who cares? But if you don't have self-control or you lack self-control, very soon that will be manifested publicly, right? One day you have a uh a loose cannon or you just uh just uh just shout at a member, maybe uh that goes, maybe disunity, something will happen. So lack of self-control, you may think it's a small thing, but when it comes out, uh it's a big thing. So also a one-woman man, one nothing less than private, will in time strike public notes. You know, uh, I mean, I I don't need to elaborate on that, but I guess we all see how important faithfulness is. Because in a Christian context, uh it is uh it's a ministry together. Uh it's not just working in a circular world where you just get the job done, but we are fellowship a community. Our wife matters, our husband matters, we are in it together, right? So what was whispered in quiet rooms will come to be proclaimed from the rooftops. Those who love drinking and money, drunken or the love of money, will in time give public evidence of it. So will good management of the home, right? So all these things will come out outwardly in our lives, and it's it's so important for a leader to have the right foundation in his or her life. So these are traits uh that speak of more the inner world, our devotional life, and our private life, but they are so important because the Bible holds up to that standard, right? And also another reason uh is because when Paul was writing to Timothy, the leaders there were the exact opposite of what he said. That means they were lovers of money, right? They were rough, they were not gentle, they were doing everything that they are not supposed to do, you know, that were the negative of what is being mentioned here, right? So they were probably have excessive drinking, love money, quarrelsome, uh, lack of humility. So all these qualities, Paul says, yeah, you when you appoint leaders, you cannot have them like that. Right. So let me recap. The leader before his God, so important, our devotional life, our life in God. Everything flows from there. You know, it flows out of our private, our personal uh devotion to God, the life in God. And and the more we walk with God, uh, the more humble we will be. And that's why uh humility is so important in leadership. Because it's the number one requirement, you know, in some way. Because it is our posture before God and others. Right? The leader before those who know him best, our private life. We are looking at wholeness. Who we are in the closet in our homes, it must be who we are in the public arena. So two words are live with us, humble and whole. Humble and whole. A leader before God, humble, a leader before those who know him best, whole. So three word pictures to describe what humility or being humble looks like. To be sober-minded, to have a right esteem of your capabilities and who you are, considering others better, looking at others' interests, thirdly, not a novice. Five word pictures to describe what wholeness looks like in our private life, self-control, a one-woman man, not a drunken, not a lover of money, not greedy for gain, a good manager of one's household. So may God help grow leaders in YCCA who are both humble and whole. And the Lord's great desire is really for his life to flow into our lives and out of his life flow out to our family, our private life, and out into the areas in which we serve him.

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We pray that you've been ministered to the Word of God today. If you'd like to know more about the Eastern Christian Church, please visit our website at ycccanglican.com. Have a blessed day.