The Lion Within Us - Leadership for Christian Men 

554. Philippians 2:7 - Spiritual Kick Off

• Chris Grainger

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What if everything you've learned about leadership is backward? While the world promotes leadership as gaining more influence, followers, and status, Jesus offers a completely different path - emptying yourself. This counterintuitive approach doesn't mean becoming passive or mediocre. Rather, it's about intentionally pouring out your gifts, time, talents, and resources for others without expecting anything in return. 

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Chris Grainger:

Welcome to the Land Within Us, a podcast serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders God intends you to be. I'm your host, chris Granger. Let's jump in. All right, boys, spiritual kickoff time and I must be. I'm just going to just full disclosure. I love the SKOs. I think they're so fun. The conversations with others, the interviews that's cool. Definitely enjoy that Fun Friday. That's always just a fun thing to do. But there's something about the Spiritual Kickoff that is just really special to me that I absolutely love.

Chris Grainger:

I put a lot of just hopefully you can hear the heart behind the message. And again, we do the Spiritual Kickoff Monday through Friday in the community. So if you enjoy the SKO episodes this is all free, by the way, boys, just go check out thelinewithinus, click on that daily spiritual kickoff and get started and maybe you can be part of a Monday through Friday spiritual kickoff. That's exclusive. We don't put that content anywhere else. We're not trying to do anything with the content. All that is is reading scripture and applying it to our lives. So if you enjoy this, I just want to ask you to go check that out.

Chris Grainger:

All right, but the scripture we're going to look at today is Philippians 2, verse 7. And it kind of picks up mid-verse. It says but emptied himself by taking the form of a bondservant and being born in the likeness of man. Okay. So now, first thing we need to understand because we're not going to skip anything in the line is where is Philippians? You know where? That is right. So, philippians, where is that? Well, it's in your New Testament, okay. So just chill out. It's in the New Testament. If you go past Ephesians, okay, and before Colossians, so you have to go through your Gospels and 1 and 2 Corinthians and all that stuff and Romans and all that stuff. Get past all that. Then you get to your epistles here and this is where you find this letter from Paul. And there's so many things for this verse we can look at.

Chris Grainger:

But obviously we want to look at it from a leadership standpoint, from a Christian man, and there's leadership books out there all over the place. As a matter of fact, I guess we're going to talk to this week. This is what he does. He kind of edits these types of Christian authors and books and they're out there. There's books out there around growth and intelligence and influence and effectiveness and all that stuff, right. Then you have podcasters out there and coaches trying to help you refine your vision and sharpen your habits, or just, you know, swim in the blue ocean Right. The blue ocean strategy.

Chris Grainger:

And all that has a good reason, too, for us to consider from a Christian man standpoint, because we're called to lead, we're called to rise up and we're called to make an impact for the kingdom in our homes, in the churches that we visit, and with the communities that we live in and in our careers. We're called that. And then Jesus comes in with this blueprint that's radically different from anything you'll read in any of those books, and it's simply this Empty yourself. And man I don't know about you, but I just hear those two words that empty yourself. It just hits. It just hits harder.

Chris Grainger:

And when you start thinking about what? What he did, the son of God, so let's think about that Fully divine. Ok, could do whatever he wanted to do, whatever he wanted to do it. However he wanted to do, it chose not to assert his status or have any demands. I mean, let's just face it, he could have had demands, but he didn't. He didn't want to even elevate his name. Quite often, several times, he said look, don't tell anybody about this. Instead, what did he do? He emptied himself. He took on that form of a servant. He do? He emptied himself. He took on that form of a servant. He wasn't worried about climbing any ladder. Are you kidding me? No, he descended a ladder. And the crazy part is I can't get my head around this one. He, he descended it on purpose.

Chris Grainger:

And that's where the conversation has to start, because that's how we can break the mold as leaders out there, because too many of us and I've had this training too you're taught that leadership is about more, and that could be more influence, it could be more impact. The social media world we live in today. Think about this. It's more followers, right, or more results. But Jesus flips it 180 and says it's not really about more, it's really more about less. So less of me, less of that pride, less of that. I got this. Less control how about that, fellas? Less control, less noise Okay, and that's a radical move.

Chris Grainger:

And, fellas, here's an encouragement part to you If you hear anything, please hear this. It don't happen overnight. No, no, no. This is a day to day to day growth. Right, this means we got to serve. When it's it would be easier just to say something, right, do something. Or this means we need to listen, uh, when we'd rather just get out front and just do it ourself, right? Or this means we need to release some outcomes instead of trying to to to force them in, because what what the world often likes to do is to equate leadership with, like the spotlight, like the guy who's on the stage and like he's the front man, and Jesus is saying like, oh, I'm going to show you how to put the towel in the basin and do something that you ain't even thought of.

Chris Grainger:

And, at the end of the day, emptying we have to clear this up doesn't mean giving up on excellence. Okay, because it's not about being passive. Jesus did not teach us to be passive. He didn't teach us to be mediocre or disengaged. No, no, no. What he's showing us is the intentional choice to pour out our gifts, our time, our talent, our treasure for the benefit of others. That's it. And without any quid pro quo type of thinking.

Chris Grainger:

Okay, so if you're maybe a business owner out there right now, it means seeing the people that work for you as not as tools, right, but as people to be shepherded. How can you shepherd them better? Or, if you're creative. You create stuff. It's not to make your work which you worship, but I'm sorry, it means to make your work and act of worship, not some way to just feel like you're validating yourself. Right, if you're. If you're a husband, it means choosing presence over being productive. Ok, even if no one recognizes it, bro, ok, that's what it's all about.

Chris Grainger:

And there's a tension there when you start thinking this way, and there's a tension there when you start thinking this way and you can. The tension lies between wanting to do something significant and staying surrendered to god in his timing, his will, you know, and that desire to build something that matters versus to call to trust god in seasons of, like you know, silence when he's quiet. Uh, that can be tough, it's, but the reality is, ambition is not the enemy, fellows. Selfish ambition is okay and really it comes down to posture. Don't, don't overcomplicate. This One says right, here, go. Uh, god, here's what I'm going to do, I'll go wherever you send me, even if no one notices. And the other one says God bless what I'm building. Did you hear that nuance? Right?

Chris Grainger:

And Jesus didn't reject purpose. No, he fulfilled it perfectly. But he did it by laying down everything, and that started with his rights, his role, his reputation. So here's something to ask. Here's like a little checklist to go through Diagnostics, if you will. Are you being more focused on being seen or being faithful? Do you treat leadership as a spotlight or stewardship, okay, and would you still obey God?

Chris Grainger:

Probably this is the most salient one. If the outcome looked kind of small or it took a long time, and here's the thing we start asking questions like that. Or it took a long time, and here's the thing we start asking questions like that. You're not losing your leadership, you're refining it Really, you're redeeming it, and what comes is peace and clarity and that intimacy with God, because, again, jesus didn't come less. When he did that, he became the ultimate example for us to learn from, particularly from a humility standpoint, and he called us to that directly, not by chasing the winds that the world would call, but no, but walking in obedience to what he's called us to each and every day.

Chris Grainger:

So I'm telling you, the most radical leadership move that we can ever make as Christian men is not very glamorous, because being a servant is not very glamorous, but I'm telling you, this thing will echo for a long time if we choose to lean into it, and that's my encouragement to you. If we choose to lean into it and that's my encouragement to you it's just to lean into it, and this has been something that I've had to learn throughout my career. But I can tell you this the more and more that I have taken the focus off of me and try to put the focus on God, the more that I've experienced blessings. And again, this is why we call this the lion within us. This is not the lion within Chris. I'm just a vehicle that he's using, and when we start talking about our masterminds and stuff like that, I'm reminding the guys that a lot Like look, this is going to work, one because God called us to it, but two because this is not built around me. This is going to work, one because God called us to it, but two because this is not built around me. This is much bigger and that's counterintuitive to the way most people operate. There's lots of successful podcasters and coaches and things like that out there and their whole model is built around themselves. I'm telling you we're not going to do that. It's a lie. We're not going to do it and hopefully you know.

Chris Grainger:

You're seeing that in the content that comes out and the resources that we provide and I'd love to talk to you about it more and also, by the way, this whole idea of emptying himself. We need to remember one thing when Jesus left heaven on that rescue mission for you and for me and for the entire world, that's exactly what he did. He emptied himself because he was in heaven and he chose to come down here to be the savior that we needed. And I just need you to know something. First of all, I'm sorry that the world is the way it is and that maybe you're in a difficult season, but know this it wasn't that way at the design, because when God first designed everything and he created everything and he created man in his own image and Adam was face to face with his creator after he breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, it was awesome, it was perfect.

Chris Grainger:

And then sin entered the world and that separated us from God. And unfortunately, bud, the reason that you're having these struggles, these areas, these setbacks in life is because of the sin that is in the world. It's not because you know some, you know just bad misfortune. No, it's because of sin, and that sin separated us from God. So we have to find a way. Okay, what can we do to overcome that?

Chris Grainger:

This is where most people go wrong, right? They think, well, you know, if I'm just a good person, right then that should be, I'm good, like I'll, I'll cover that gap. I'm like, wait a minute, bro. Like you're trying to tell me you're thinking that the work that you're going to do are going to overcome the, the, the sin problem you have. Well, yeah, it's gotta be a good person, can't I just help little old ladies cross the street and give money and just kind of just be nice to people? And I'm like, wait a minute, man, wait a minute. What's the standard then? Like, who are you comparing yourself to? Because if you compare yourself to your neighbor, you may be okay, you know, if you compare yourself to people on death row, probably feel a little bit better about that. What if you compare yourself to a holy and righteous God? How do you feel about that? I'm going to tell you how I feel.

Chris Grainger:

I fall short big time. Here's the reality. We all do. So if you're listening right now and you're feeling like man, there's just no way. You're right, there is no way on your own. We all fall short of the glory of God, because the reality is we needed someone to come do for us what we can't do for ourselves. We didn't need a coach to make us better. We needed a Savior to step in and just take over. And that's what we got with Jesus. He came on that rescue mission for you, for me and the entire world. He was born of the Virgin. He fulfilled all the prophecies. This is Jesus Did all the miracles, the teachings, and the most salient was when he chose to go to the cross to pay the penalty for our sins, that he did that intentionally.

Chris Grainger:

It didn't catch him by surprise. No, he intentionally did that. They nailed him to the cross and he died on the cross. He didn't pass out, he didn't fall asleep, he died. They laid him in a tomb, they closed it up and guess what? Three days later, that bad boy is empty. So it's kind of like Airbnb for the weekend. That's all Jesus needed for that tomb. That was it. He didn't need it for a long-term rental.

Chris Grainger:

No, this is not it, and that is why we celebrate as Christians. It was because we worship a living Savior, not some dead guy somewhere. Now we're not going to a funeral. When we go to church. We're going to celebrate because we live, because he lives, we live, and that is what we, that's the promise that we have. And he told us some very salient things. I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. That's pretty blunt, and I'm sorry that Oprah's wrong. I wish she was right, but she's not.

Chris Grainger:

So look, if you've never had that moment in your life, bo, where you accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, I implore you, don't put off what he's calling you to do. Man. Don't Conf what he's calling you to do, man. Don't Confess him as Lord. Take the time to confess him as Lord and Savior. Repent. Turn from your ways, turn to him. You can't repent from chewing the back of the cigarettes, right? No, I'm not going to drink bourbon, I'm going to turn to beer. It don't work. I'm talking about turning from whatever the sin is in your life and turn directly to him, because he's right there waiting, and then you'll experience something that it's the rarest commodity on earth Not gold, not oil Peace of mind. If you're living in a constant state of chaos and you're looking for that peace that passes all understanding, it starts when you surrender your life to the Lordship of Christ and I pray you just make that decision today.

Chris Grainger:

Listen to a podcast to surrender, and you might be like, bro, I can't do this to a podcast. I'm telling you, bro, I can't say that I can't do this, let's do a podcast. I'm telling you, bro, I don't know how God works. I just know you're here for a reason, you're having doubts, you're feeling the nudge from the Holy spirit and you know you need to do it. So I'm gonna pray with you right now and I hope that you do confess him as Lord and for this opportunity to come to the line and to share your word, to share encouragement to others and to just to simply share the gospel too, father. So I pray for that one listener who they've been trying to do it their way for far too long. It hasn't been going too well. So I pray you just give them encouragement, give them wisdom, give them discernment, let them know right now is is when you've called them to make this most important decision. Then I pray you just put people in their path. It's going to encourage them, it's going to walk alongside them. Maybe the lion can be part of that, where we can just equip them and just so excited that they made this decision today to surrender and to follow you. It's in your name. We pray Amen, all right.

Chris Grainger:

So look, if you just surrender your life to Christ, touch down, let's go. Hit me up, send me an email, okay, chris, at thelinewithinus, I'm going to send you some free resources. We have like 10 scriptures. We have three ways to read the Bible. We got like a habit devo. There's a bunch of things we can just hook you up with directly to get you started. I also love to find out where you're at, because we have resources all over the country. We may be able to try to help you at least identify and look for what you need to start so far as selecting a church if you're not in one. So I want to get you connected there and I also just want to give you a high five, just a virtual high five, a fist bump, and just hear more of your testimony and just see if there's anything I can do to encourage you in your walk. So, chris at the Lion Within, dot us is how you get all that stuff, ok, so thank you guys. Thanks for listening. Come back on Wednesday. You're going to really enjoy.

Chris Grainger:

The conversation on Wednesday is a fun fun. We've already recorded that one, so I'm super pumped to get that one out. The Lion Within dot us we talked about the daily spiritual kickoff. We talked about the community. Already we've talked about our leadership mastermind. All that is at the lion within dot us. To get started with any of those resources, fellas, if you're on the bible app, open up the bible app right now. Well, not right now, as soon as this podcast finishes, open up the bible app. Search for the lion within us. Tons of resources right there for you, buddy. All that stuff is right there at your fingertips. All right, have a great day, fellas. Get after it. Thank you so much for listening. Give us a rating and review and just keep listening, not keep listening. Keep unleashing the lion within. I've got something big to share.

Chris Grainger:

We're making a major shift because we know the battle is real and it's time more men had access to the support they need.

Chris Grainger:

For too long, guys have been trying to carry the weight alone pressure at work, tension at home, wounds from the past in a world that demands strength but offers no place to rest. We see it, we've lived it, and that's exactly why we built our community. It's a stronghold, a place where warriors can find rest, truth and a band of brothers standing beside them. And starting now, we're making it easier than ever to step in. We've lowered the barrier to just $15.99 a month. That means for less than the cost of a drive-thru lunch, you can join a brotherhood that's centered on Christ and built for growth. Inside you'll find access to our daily spiritual kickoffs every Monday through Friday, our Lion Lunches, our Bible Studies, our Friday Forge Gatherings all that and so much more. Every man needs a stronghold, and you don't have to fight alone. If you've been waiting for the right time to jump in, this is it. Go to thelionwithinus and join the community and see for yourself what happens when iron truly sharpens iron.

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Chris Grainger

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