Biblical Foundation
1 Thessalonians 2:7-12
God wants to use you to touch the lives of those around you—your family, your friends, the people in your church, the people at your job and those in your community. If you can embrace this fact that God wants to use you, then you will be all the more motivated to keep your promises and commitments.
It is out of empathy with men like you and out of my own struggles with the pressures work, family and community that my search for ten core principles of leadership was born.
As I studied the Scriptures, I discovered the healthiest church in the New Testament was the Church at Thessalonica. This is the only church we read about in the New Testament that manifested the three qualifying attributes of maturity: faith, hope and love. Paul praises the church for its “works of faith, steadfastness of hope and labor of love.” This church had it all!
Think about it! These believers had mighty works of faith. They just didn’t talk about their faith. They lived it! Paul says, “They turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,” and that “from them the Gospel went throughout the entire world.” These people were movers.
What kind of “works of faith” are you experiencing personally? What specific prayers has God answered recently? What kind of miracles has He manifested in your life? I don’t just mean physical healings (though God still is about that). But, what relationships have been restored, finances provided, insights from the Word of God gained, new godly habits formed?
Second, they had a steadfastness of hope. Because they believed God, they knew He would work out any problems they had. So, they didn’t quit. They didn’t give up in the midst of their trials and even their persecution. They had an eager expectation that God would work it out.
How is your hope factor? Do you find yourself overwhelmed by the pressure around you? Are you more of a victim or a victor? How are you handling your stresses? Are you winning or losing here? Are you coping or conquering in the midst of these challenges?
Third, these believers manifested a “labor of love.” This word, labor, is interesting. It comes from the concept of kneading bread, or “working” the dough. This is hard work. So, by the way, is love. The people of Thessalonica desperately and practically loved one another. This wasn’t a sentimental type of love. It was proactive and deliberate. They sacrificed to care for those around them. They met the needs of people and built a radical community of “lovers” who together manifested biblical unity.
The Thessalonians weren’t committed to unanimity (thinking the same) or uniformity (looking the same) or union (being in the same group). They were committed to and manifested UNITY—a oneness of spirit. Don’t get me wrong. They had their problems just like you and I do in our relationships. But they worked through them. They didn’t deny them or let those problems overwhelm them. They dealt with them.
When they needed to weep with those who hurt, they wept. When they needed to admonish a deliberately sinful member, they did so. When they needed to care for the needy, they cared. And, in so doing, they built a unified body of believers known for their oneness of spirit—which is biblical unity.
Well, how about you? How is your “labor of love”? Do you radically love others in your home and church in such a way that there is a spirit of unity? Are all conflicts dealt with appropriately and deliberately? Do you meet the needs of your wife? Do your children get what they need? Do outsiders see a spirit of unity in your church?
If you struggle personally in your application of the Big Three qualities of maturity in the New Testament (faith, hope and love) you are, again, in good company.
In fact, just look around your own home and church and ask how well these qualities are manifested. You see, we have lost sight of what God wants to do in and through us. So, let’s get back in line. How do we do it? By learning how this transforming life came to the Church of Thessalonica.
Why did these believers manifest such a dynamic and powerful lifestyle? If we study the text carefully (and we will do just that together), we see it had everything to do with the leadership of those who built the church initially.
Three men, Paul, Timothy and Silvanus, moved into the city and spent some months pouring their lives into these people. These distinctly different men (Paul, the aggressive leader, Timothy, the timid teacher and Silvanus, the servant administrator) all manifested ten core leadership traits.
That is what made the difference in the Church. It worked then. It will work today. If you and I manifest these qualities consistently, we can see the same results in our homes, churches, businesses and communities.
By the time you finish studying the Taking the Lead materials, we will have considered these ten core qualities — each one of which can help us be effective husbands and fathers, workers and neighbors. Take a minute now and read through 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12 (below). See if you can find the 10 qualities, which will provide a framework for the attitudes and actions that ought to be reflected in your life more and more in the days to come.
7 But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children.
8 Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.
9 For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
10 You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers;
11 just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children,
12 so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. (NASB)
Core Qualities of Leadership
- Team Orientation
- Disciplined Life
- Gentle Spirit
- Fond Affection
- Effective Communication
- Personal Openness
- Servant Leadership
- Hard Work
- Godly Model
- Caring Confrontation
The Taking the Lead Study Kit will unpack each of these 10 biblical principles and provide extremely practical steps for putting them to work in your ministry, at home, and in the workplace.
If you apply these principles for Christian living to your own life, you will become the Christian man God wants you to be!
