Raising Leaders Part 2 – Lawson Perdue

Raising Leaders Part 2

Raising Leaders Part 2 with Pastor Lawson Perdue. In this study of 1 Timothy chapters 2 and 3, discover how God is our first priority and family is our first responsibility. In today’s episode you will gain a revelation on Godly goal setting.

Raising Leaders Part 2 Transcript

Praise the Lord, friends, I’m talking today about raising leaders. We’re gonna be in first Timothy two and first Timothy chapter three. It’s great information. We’re gonna be talking about godly goals for leaders. These are goals that I taught my children. These are goals that I’ve taught other people, but one of them is God is our first priority, family is our first responsibility. Open your heart and receive the word of God. Praise the Lord, friends, and welcome to the program. I’m so glad that you’ve tuned in today. We are talking today about raising leaders, and we’re talking from first Timothy. We’re gonna begin today in chapter two. We talked a little bit yesterday from chapter one, where Paul calls Timothy a son in the faith. Now I’ve studied and taught Timothy for years and years in Bible school, and as I taught it, I came up with this. Paul talks differently in Timothy than he talks in Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, in the book of Romans. In Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Romans, Paul’s really talking about the foundation of the gospel. And the foundation of the gospel is grace, faith and righteousness. But in Timothy Paul writes to Timothy as a son, and he’s really talking about an application of the gospel. In other words, he’s saying son, if you don’t do this, you’re not gonna make it. And it’s somewhat like me teaching in church, primarily when I’m in church I teach on the foundation of the gospel. Probably 90% of the time when I’m teaching in church I’m talking about the foundation of the gospel. I’m talking about grace, which is what God did for us in the person of Jesus, when he died and rose again. I’m talking about faith, our positive response towards the gospel about believing God, trusting God, putting our confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I’m talking about righteousness. Righteousness is a result of the gospel, and we’ve been made righteous when we put our faith in God’s grace, in what Jesus did on the cross for us. But in Timothy Paul talks about you know what, Timothy, if you don’t do this, you’re not gonna make it. So this is more like I told my son, “Sons, you gotta do this. “If you don’t do this, you won’t make it.” And we need to, we need to have an ongoing relationship with God where faith, grace, and righteousness become a reality, and the gospel becomes an active force in our life. Now in chapter one we talked about knowing who we are, knowing what we believe, knowing who Jesus is, knowing who we’re, who we really put our confidence in, and finally putting our trust in him, praying first. Now we’re gonna go on in first Timothy chapter two, and begin in verse nine, where Paul begins to talk about our relationship with women and our attitude towards women in the church. He says in like manner women adorn themselves with modest apparel, with shame facedness and sobriety, not with broided hair, gold or pearls or costly array. Now I wanna say something really quickly. It’s not wrong to wear gold, to wear pearls, to have nice clothes. It’s not wrong to fix your hair. Thank God I fixed mine today, or it would look awful right now. But he’s saying those are not the major things. What he’s saying is the major things is a relationship with God. And the major things he says we need to have, he talks about this in first, Peter chapter three, having a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God a great price. And so he says adorn yourselves in modesty. So I would say that modesty is a good policy to have in the church. I remember years and years ago Barbara and I went to minister at a church in south Texas, It was a very large church, and after we ministered at this church, we met with the board. They had a large board, I think there were about a dozen people on the board, if I remember correctly. And I remember there were 11 men and one woman. And so she asked me a question. Now this was years ago, it was down in McAllen, Texas, Mission, Texas, right there on the border of Mexico. There was a large Hispanic following in the church, and so this lady asked, she said “What do you think about a woman “wearing pants in the church, “a pant suit?” I said “Well, as long as it’s modest, “I think it’s fine.” And that woman was very, very supportive of Barbara and I in that situation. I think she liked my answer because it wasn’t religious. And at that point in time the culture was, in old Mexico, and a lot of that carried across the border that if a woman was in church and on the platform, she had to have a dress on. And that was just the culture. Now I think as we’ve moved forward in time that culture is somewhat changed, but modesty is a good policy, and that’s what I brought up. I said “As long as it’s modest, “I don’t have a problem with it.” He says, he says these things are becoming to women who profess godliness with good works. Then he says let the woman, now, as you study this out in verse 11, the actual Greek word here for woman is wife. Let the wife learn in silence with subjection, but I suffer not a wife. Again, it says woman in the King James, but the Greek is talking about a wife to teach nor usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence for Adam was first formed, or he says to usurp authority over her husband. Ultimately the man there is actually talking about husband, for Adam was first formed in Eve. For Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Now that really tells us when man sinned, right, and Adam came, when God came walking in the cool of the garden in Genesis chapter three and said “Adam, Adam, where are you, “and what have you done?” And he said “Did you eat of the tree “that I told you not to eat of?” And he said “Well, the woman you gave me,” so immediately it was not Eve’s fault. Eve, she was wrong, but she was deceived. Adam knew what he was doing. Now he says not withstanding she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith and love with holiness and sobriety. So being stable or stability. So he says there’s some good things here, and I think we can receive from him, talking really about humility, talking about love, talking about holiness and stability. We need all of those things. We need not only women to walk in humility, we need men to walk in humility. We need not only women to walk in love and holiness and be stable, we need men to walk in love and holiness and be stable. Stability is a good thing. So when we look at this, if you begin to understand that in verse 11 and verse 12 he’s really talking about the husband and wife relationship. So he says we need to have a proper respect for women in the church, right, and for our wife, so on and so forth. In fact, it taught me, it took me a while as a young man to really develop a very, very healthy respect for my wife and her role. But I have a very healthy respect for my wife, Barbara, and her role in, in our family relationship. And I also have a very healthy respect for women and their role in the body of Christ. Now, my dad taught me as a young man to respect my mother. And you know what, we need to have respect in the church for women, also for men. We need just to have a, a general attitude of humility and respect in the body of Christ. Now, when this says that he suffers not a wife to usurp authority or teach, but to be in silence, it’s actually talking about a wife not overriding her husband as a place of authority. In another place, in Titus chapter two, verse four, the scripture actually says that the older women are to teach the younger women. And so it’s not wrong for a woman to teach. It’s not wrong for a woman to minister. In fact, as you study the Bible, you will find out that Deborah was a prophetess in the Old Testament. You’ll find out there was a prophetess Anna that prayed over the Lord, Jesus Christ when he was dedicated. And these are, and women have held some of the very highest offices, if not the highest offices in the church. So God certainly doesn’t have a problem with women in the ministry. In fact, if I’m correct there’s neither man, nor woman in the spirit. But we all need to understand authority, and we need to have subjection and humility. Not only women, men. I myself am submitted to godly authority, and I have people that I have submitted myself to. Years ago I went to Andrew Wammack, and I said “Andrew, if you ever have anything “that you wanna tell me, “I want you to know that I am here, “and that you can speak into my life “anytime that you want to. “I’m here to listen anytime “that you wanna speak into my life.” And he said “Lawson, I already know that.” I said “How do you know that? “I’ve never told you that.” He said “I know because of the attitude “that you conduct yourself in.” So we all need to have authority in our lives, and we need to have people that we have submitted ourselves to, not only saints in the pew, but ministers in the pulpit. Praise God. Not only women in the ministry, but men in the ministry. This is good for everyone. Now as we go forward Paul begins to talk about leadership in the church. And you say “Well, how do we understand this “when we’re talking about raising leaders, “raising children or spiritual leaders, “and this is really talking in the first “15 or 16 verses or 14 verses, “talking about bishops and deacons “or overseers and servants in the church.” Well, you know what, we need godly leadership, and I believe these things that he’s talking about, which are godly goals for overseers and servants in the church should be godly goals for us as leaders. Now I raised three sons, I think a lot of these things that Paul says that he wanted to have for the overseers in the church, and for the servants in the church are things really that I taught my children. And that I think these are good goals, not only for leadership, but they’re good goals just in life, to be good leaders in life. And so he goes on and says here in chapter three, verse one of first Timothy this is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a Bishop or overseer, he desires a good work. An overseer Bishop must be blameless, the husband of one wife. That actually in the Greek means one wife at one time, means vigilant or watchful, sober or stable. He says of good behavior given to hospitality and able to teach. Now one major difference in the qualifications or the goals for a Bishop or overseer, and the goals for a deacon or serving the church is they must be able to teach. He says not given to wine. Now, if you study this out in the Greek, it means something like not addicted to wine, no striker. In other words, you’re not fighting, you’re not beating people up, not greedy of filthy lucre, not greedy of money that’s gained in the wrong way, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous. He says, in other words he says one who rules well his own house, having his own children in subjection with all gravity, or with all respect. And so he says we need to rule our own house. Not everybody else’s house. I don’t wanna rule everybody else’s house, I have enough challenges dealing with the challenges in my own house. And so he says one who rules his own house well, having his children in subjection with all respect. And so this is something that we’ve taught, and I really believe if we’re gonna be leaders, and I’ve taught my children, God is our first priority. In other words, my number one priority is God and the Lord, Jesus Christ, the holy spirit, but family is my first responsibility. I have a responsibility to my wife. I have a responsibility to my children. In fact, when we moved here to Colorado Springs, we were taking on a whole new area of ministry, it was very difficult in the beginning financially. And as we were being challenged, difficulty, different challenges were there, so on and so forth, as we were dealing with this issue, so on, so forth, issues, I told God “Listen, God,” I told God, that’s funny, but I did. I said I’m gonna honor you, I’m gonna take care of the church, so on and so forth, my relationship with you is first place, but I’m gonna take care of my family. Now, I don’t believe that’s wrong. I believe that’s an attitude that godly leaders, especially husbands, men need to take their responsibility to say “I’m gonna take care of my family.” Now, husbands and wives can work that out in a different way, so on and so forth, in their marriage relationship. But that’s just a decision that I made that I’m gonna take care of my house. I’m gonna take care of my family. He says for if a man doesn’t know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God? Not a novice, right? Not somebody that’s just young, just starting out, wet behind the ears. That’s less being lifted up with pride, he will fall into the condemnation of the devil. So before you’re gonna be an overseer of maybe a number of churches, so on and so forth, you need to have some experience in your life. Moreover, listen to this in verse seven, he must have a good report of those on the outside, lest he fall in reproach in a snare of the devil. Now, here’s something I wanna talk about just briefly. It’s important for us as godly leaders to pay our bills. And I found out when I was young in the ministry that ministers have a reputation many times of not paying their bills. In fact, when I pastored in Kit Carson, one of my good friends, one of my mentors there in the financial arena, business arena, he said to me when he was a young man that the banker spoke to him, and said “Listen, I don’t loan money to preachers, “teachers and policemen, “or I don’t like to loan much money “because it seems like if they ever get behind “they can never get ahead.” So preachers are number one on the list for not paying their bills. And that’s really a bad testimony in the world. And so he says “Listen, if you’re gonna be an overseer, “you need to have a good testimony financially. “You need to have a good report of those on the outside, “on the outside of the church, “lest you fall into reproach and snare of the devil.” Now, when we went and pastored in the first town where we started the church in 1988, Barbara and I, small Eastern Colorado town, did you know, people that seemed like that weren’t in our church, and we just started with about five families from the local community, they would almost walk on the other side of the street to get away from us. They didn’t wanna talk to the people from that church, right? Those Pentecostals, so on and so forth. But as we were there we gained the confidence of many people in that community. And many people from other churches would come to me for counseling, they would speak to us. We had good relationships with people. We were very involved in the community. In fact, when the Lord spoke to us about moving the mayor of the city called me, and he said “What are we gonna do? “We don’t want you to leave. “What are we gonna do in the school? “We love you. “We love your children.” And my children had a good testimony in the local school. My children had a good testimony. We had a good testimony in that community. The head coach at the school, which is a major leader, he coached football, he coached track, he coached basketball. He worked in all the areas. He called me up and said “Lawson, what are you doing moving away? “We heard you might move away.” I said “Listen, the Lord Jesus has called us “to go to Colorado Springs, “to go to another area.’ He said “W`e don’t want you to leave, “Jesus told me you’re supposed to stay.” Well, praise God, we did obey the Lord in that situation. But you know what, we need to have a good report. So what I’m saying is when we started out in that community, we didn’t, maybe people were a little standoffish because they didn’t understand the full gospel, they didn’t really understand who we were, but as we were there and we lived among them, and did business among them, so on and so forth, they, we gained respect in that community. My children gained respect in the school. Barbara and I gained respect in the community. We entered into business, God blessed us there. And you know what? We tried to do what we said. A man’s word is his bond. I know a lot of preachers that say one thing and do another. Their word is no good. And, listen, if you say you’re gonna do something, you need to do everything in your power to do that. And if you’re not gonna do that, you need to go talk to the people that you said you were gonna do something, and say why you’re not doing it, and not just make lame brain excuses, right, for ungodly living. And so we need to have a good report, not only of people in the church, but people on the outside of the church. We need to have a good witness and a good testimony in the world. And so these are some good things that I’ve taught my children. Now, I don’t want you to be drinking. I really warn my children about alcohol. Now, do you say “Pastor Lawson, do you think “drinking alcohol is a sin?” Well, for me it would be because it would offend my conscience. I could not drink alcohol in a good conscience. However, when Jesus turned the water into wine in the Bible, I believe it was real wine. And you know what? So, I believe Jesus, I believe that was real wine, so I can’t say that that’s absolutely a sin. However, and Paul actually tells Timothy later, “Timothy, drink a little wine,” which may have been grape juice, but different people have different opinions for your stomach’s sake and your often infirmity. So if you don’t have good water, maybe you need to drink some grape juice in case it might be wine, if it’s been around for a while. But at the same point in time, I personally do not drink alcohol. However, the book of Proverbs says wine is a mocker and strong drink is raging, and whoever is deceived thereby is not wise. And so I’ve chosen to live by Proverbs. In other words, I think these are just some good principles that we can live life with that will help us be successful in life. So I’m gonna be right back, and we’re gonna talk about some godly goals for servants in the church, and how we can train our children in the ways of God. Praise the Lord, friends, I am so excited to be sharing with you this great teaching I’m sharing from my series on first and second Timothy on raising leaders, part one and part two. Also my wife’s series on “Unless the Lord Builds the House.” And then we have a special edition “Faith That is Taught and Caught” by my wife, Barbara. And you know what, we are making these things available to you because we know the principles in these will help your family just like they’ve been a blessing to us. And we’re not talking about something that doesn’t work. We’re talking about something that we have proved in our own family, that we have proved in our church for years and years, and years. You know what, the word of God is true, and when you live your life and conduct your family by principles of the scriptures, you will find the blessing that God promises in his word. So we want you to call us today and get this product. Thanks. Praise the Lord, friends, I’m glad you stayed tuned. We’ve been talking about investing in leaders, and how we can raise leaders. We talked about having the proper attitude towards women in the church, and having a healthy respect for women. We talked about godly goals for overseers in the church, and training our children. Really You can be leaders. And so we talked about being, having, being stable, good behavior. Not given to wine or addicted to wine, being patient, not a brawler, one that rules his own house well. Take good care of your own house. God is our first priority, and our family is our first responsibility. And then we talked about having a good report of those on the outside. Pay your bills, have a good testimony. Do what you say. Your word is your bond. Now he goes on and talks to, to deacons or servants. He says, likewise, but to the deacons or servants, be stable or grave, not double tongue. Don’t say one thing and do another. Not given to much wine. Now in this, if you study the Greek, he says don’t even look at it. In other words, don’t give yourself to that. Not greedy of filthy lucre or money gained in the wrong way. He says but holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. Again, in Acts 24, verse 16, Paul told, Paul says this. He says “I’ve exercised myself “to have a good conscience towards God, “and toward men. He says “Let them first be proved “and let them use the office of a deacon, “being found blameless.” Now, if we’ll prove ourselves faithful in serving in the church, maybe we can move up to being overseer in the church. And the only, the major difference between a deacon or a servant and an overseer is the ability to teach, and then one who’s not a novice, one that’s more seasoned taking on that leadership role and overseeing others. Now he says even their wives must be grave or stable, not slanders, stable, sober, faithful in all things. He says “Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife.” Again, we don’t believe in having multiple wives, right? Not more than one wife at one time. You know, I know one Pentecostal church they wouldn’t even let somebody pray in the church if they have a divorce. Well, you’d have to eliminate about half the body of Christ if you eliminated people that had had challenges. And a lot of times people, we don’t know this situation, we’re not God in every situation. And so I don’t believe that eliminates somebody from ministry, but we need to do the right thing towards our wife, so on and so forth, he says ruling their children and their houses well, for they that have used the office of deacon well purchase themselves good degree and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. If you serve well in the church, you’re gonna have, you’re gonna have a good degree, great boldness in the faith in Jesus. He says these things I write to you, hoping to come to you shortly. Now he begins to talk about our behavior in the church. And he says this, but if I Terry Long that you may know how that you ought to behave yourselves in the house of God. Look at this, first Timothy three verse 15, which is the church of the living God, the pillar of the, of, and ground of the truth. Listen, we have a lot of people today call themselves Christians they don’t even show up at the house of God. They don’t even show up at the church. You say, well, my body’s the temple of the holy ghost. Well, you still need to get connected in the local body. You know, the Bible tells this, tells you this in Hebrew chapter 10, verse 25, it says do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is. Now, maybe you, fellowship somewhere, online, so on and so forth, but you still need to have good godly relationships that you’re accountable to in the body of Christ. Acts chapter two verse 42 talking about the early church says they continued in the apostles doctrine in the word. And they continued in fellowship in church, and in the breaking of bread, in relationships, and in prayers. And I believe that is a pattern for a healthy church. That is a pattern for success in life. Acts 2:42, they continued in the word of God in fellowship, in the church, in the breaking of bread, in relationships and in prayers. And he says without controversy great is the mystery of godliness, and he begins to talk about who Jesus is. God is manifesting the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into the glory. In fact, I believe that Jesus is God, amen, the son. And you know, I had a guy tell me one time “I wish you wouldn’t call Jesus God the son, “I wish you wouldn’t call Jesus God manifest.” And I showed him the scripture, I said “God was manifest in the flesh.” I believe Jesus is God the son. Well come to find out this man was being challenged with the message of the deity of Jesus Christ. Now, if you don’t believe in the doctrine of Christ, if you don’t believe in the deity of Christ, that Jesus was God manifest in the flesh, the Bible says that, that is a doctrine of devils. The Bible says that essentially, that doctrine itself will separate you from God and eternity. And so if you don’t believe that, you need to get that corrected, amen. And you need to believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ, that Jesus is God manifest in the flesh, that he’s justified in the spirit, he did no sin, he was seen of angels. That’s at his death and resurrection, preached onto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into the glory. Jesus ascended into heaven, and sent the holy spirit, and the church was born. So here’s some godly mentalities that we can teach our children, that we can teach leaders that we’re raising up. Number one, have a healthy respect for women, and really a healthy respect for everyone in the body of Christ. Number two, look for godly goals to be a leader. Praise God. Take good care of your family. Be stable, be sober, and keep a good relationship in the body of Christ. Thanks so much for tuning in friends. If you need prayer, give us a call. God bless you. We appreciate you.

[Narrator] What does it take to raise godly children? In this package containing “Unless the Lord Builds the House,” “Faith that is Taught and Caught,” and “Raising Leaders parts one and two,” you’ll learn spiritual principles and practical advice to help you raise up the next generation. You can get this special package for $49 when you call 719-418-4000, or visit charisChristiancenter.com.

Friends, I’m Pastor Lawson Purdue, and I love church. And I’m excited about church. You know, Jesus said “I will build my church, “and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” And I wanna invite you to come to church, whether you’re in Colorado Springs or wherever you are in the world, you can connect with us online Sundays at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m., or you can just get on our website and watch us at charischristiancenter.com. Blessings.

[Narrator] Thanks for watching “Grace for Today.” This broadcast has been made possible by our faithful partners. If you would like to become a partner, need prayer or have a question, please call us at 719-418-4000, or to partner online go to CharisChristiancenter.com/give. You can write us at PO box 63733, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80962. See you next time on “Grace for Today.”