Guest Speaker Kerry Tilley | Characteristics of a Dynamic Leader

For more information, visit amarillofellowship.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Wow, good morning, Amarello Fellowship. What a delight it is to be with you today. Thank you, Pastors Richie and Pam, for the invitation to minister to the congregation today. It is indeed an honor for me to stand here. Okay. After that introduction, I was waiting just a few minutes to see if anyone got up and left when they heard a former pastor who's now a lawyer. And sometimes that may be a little hard to grasp. And it was for me too. When God first began dealing with me to make that transition, I tried to reconcile. God, I don't know a lawyer that's a Christian, let alone a lawyer that's a preacher. But God continued to work on me and uh convince me that he had a plan for my life. It's an honor to have my family with me today. My lovely wife Reva, my daughters Morgan and Megan. A big shout out to my number one son-in-law, Chauncey, who can't be with us today because he's at a conference. But he did text me just a few minutes ago and said that he was watching online. So we'll we'll check with him on that. My niece and her husband, a good family friend of ours that are is here today. Uh I'm I'm appreciative of my family and my friends. They've always been my biggest support. In 1981, I graduated high school, barely. And I enrolled in uh Texas Tech there in Lubbock. I enrolled in 13 hours that first semester, and I passed three. And they put me on academic probation. Um as the Lord began to work in my life, and I felt a call and a change, a direction in ministry to pursue the law. Nine years later, I went back to tech, was going to enroll again and continue my education, and I was still, after nine years, I was still on academic probation. And that discouraged me. I pursued the ministry, started in the ministry in 1985. In 1988, I was pastoring a small church here in Amarillo. There were three events that took place in 1988 that God really began to use to formulate this vision in my life to pursue a ministry, if you would, in the law. One of those events was a case out of California where John MacArthur, some of you may know him, where he was being sued because of a former individual in their church that he had counseled had committed suicide. Another big lawsuit that happened that year was the lawsuit between Jerry Falwell and Larry Flint. And another event that happened that year that was really, I think, the one that God really began to work in my life was a case out of Oklahoma, an article published in Ministry Magazine that year, uh, and I believe the title was The Church Discipline and the Courts. It was about an individual in the church that had been disciplined and wound up suing the church. And I began to feel that there's a need for Christian lawyers to stand up and to work with churches and individuals and take a stand and a lawyer from a Christian worldview. And as I mentioned earlier, it was hard for me to reconcile that. And it took me a while to come to grips with what God was was calling me to do. To encourage and motivate, once I established that that was what I was going to do, that God had set that vision for me. I would order catalogs from law schools. Now back then we didn't have the internet, and and and some of you may remember those old days. And so I would order a catalog from a particular law school that I had interest in. I had about 13 catalogs. They'd lay there on the side, the table on the side of my bed, and I'd look at that stack, I'd read through them, I'd dream of the day I could go to law school, and then I would get discouraged. I'd get frustrated because it wasn't happening as quick as I wanted it to happen. And I would take that stack of catalogs and I'd throw them in the trash. And miraculously, a few days later, they would appear back where they were on the table next to my bed. And my wife would go and she would dig my dream out of the trash. And she would put it back there in front of me so I could see that vision, so I could be encouraged and motivated and inspired. And in 2008, that vision was finally fulfilled. Twenty years later. It took me 20 years to get to that point. And I hope that as I assimilate a little bit of my life, a little bit of my testimony into the message this morning, as we extrapolate some biblical truths, some timeless truths out of God's Word, I trust that it will be an inspiration to you, a motivation to you, an encouragement to you, that even though your dream may feel or seem like your dream may never come to pass, you'll keep pursuing it. You'll keep moving forward. You'll keep pursuing what God has in store for you and his purpose. And so this morning I want to talk to you about something that I believe is important to everyone's life. It affects every individual, every family, every home, every community, every church. And that's leadership. Because you all are leaders. God has called you as a leader if you're a parent leading your children, a grandparent leading your family, a business owner leading employees, a community volunteer leading those you work with, whatever you're involved in, whatever your vocation is, you are a leader where God has planted you. Sometimes we get frustrated where we are. We get frustrated with what we think. God, this is all you have for us, and we get discouraged about it. But if you would stop for just a few moments and consider this is where God wants me at this time. This is where I'm planted at this time. God, what kind of leader can I be for you? Several years ago, researchers studied what set extraordinary leaders apart from just regular leaders. And as they conducted this research, they looked at World War II combat performance. And they found that while many officers would lead their troops from behind the lines in a safe position, that the officers in the U.S. Army's 88th Infantry Division chose to stand with their soldiers where danger was the greatest. And the researchers concluded that this courage and frontline presence helped produce maximum combat performance for the soldiers. Years later, when asked why his unit kept advancing against impossible odds, one young soldier answered and said, Because our leader was right there with us. Think about that. He wasn't influenced by title or rank or status. He was influenced and encouraged and motivated because someone was standing right there with him in the heat of battle. Picture with me, if you would, this morning. A few fishermen. They fished all night. The story you can find it, I believe it's in Luke chapter 15, Luke chapter 5, I believe. They fished all night and they haven't been successful. They're tired, they're weary, they're discouraged. They get back to shore, they take their nets out, they clean their nets, they wash them, they prepare them to put them up. They're ready to go home. And a man walks up to them and says, Hey guys, I want you to take your nets. I want you to launch back out into the deep and let your nets down. What an absurd request. We've been there all night long. But Peter said, Nevertheless, because you're telling me to, we're going to do that. And they launched out, they let their nets down. And if you're familiar with that story, you recall that they caught a net full of fish, so many fish, that the boat began to capsize. They called their friends over to help them. And at that moment, that miraculous moment, Peter fell down before Jesus and he said, Lord, I am a sinner. Depart from me. Now often we may feel the same thing when we find ourselves in the presence of God. But I want you to notice what Jesus said as he looked down at Peter. He told Peter, he said, Peter, from this day forward, you will catch men. You see, Peter didn't know it at the time, but Jesus was embedding into Peter's spirit a vision. He was planning into his life a vision of what he wanted Peter to do, of what he wanted Peter to become. And I want you to look with me this morning in your Bibles at 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 1 through 4. 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 1 through 4. And it says, And now a word to you who are elders in the churches. I too am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ. And I too will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world. As a fellow elder, I appeal to you. Care for the flock that God has entrusted you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly, not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don't lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. And then if you'd skip over to verse number 10, it says, After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. Would you pray with me this morning? Father, I ask that you would add your blessing to the reading of the Word and to the ministry of the Word today. I ask God that you would anoint our spiritual ears, our spiritual eyes, our spiritual hearts to hear what the Spirit would speak to us today. In Jesus' name. And everyone said, Amen and amen. Peter writes this passage of Scripture about 30 years after Jesus has ascended. And he's not writing it at this time as a young fisherman. He's not writing it this time as someone who's reactive. He's writing it now after becoming a seasoned minister. He's had decades of ministry and experience. And also, Peter's writing it from the perspective of his own experience with Jesus Christ. You see, we've all, most of us, I pray that all of us have had a personal experience with Jesus Christ. And Peter, although he was a disciple and spent three years with Jesus, there was this one defining moment in Peter's life. Remember, just before Jesus was crucified, Jesus was talking about how people were going to abandon him, and Peter stood up full of zeal and he said, Not me, Lord. Everybody else may leave you, but I will never leave you. And within hours, Peter had denied Christ three different times. After Jesus' resurrection, if you recall this story where Jesus is talking to Peter, and he asks Peter three times if he will feed his sheep, if he would feed his flock, if he would tend to them. And we find that at this moment, I think Peter recognized and realized this was a restoration moment in his life. This was a moment where the trajectory of his life was going to be changed forever. And now, if you look at the passage of scripture we just referred to you, Peter is encouraging his readers to take care of what? To take care of the flock. You see, the same vision that Jesus had embedded in Peter's life when he said, From this day on you will catch men. He built upon that vision when he told Peter to feed his flock. And now after 30 years plus, Peter is passing that vision on to his readers. And I stand before you today to pass that vision on to you from God to take care of his flock. And you might say, well, preacher, or you might say, lawyer, one or the other. God hasn't given me a flock. Well, I want us to take a look at this passage and look at what Peter is really speaking to us and what the Holy Spirit is speaking to us because the people you influence, if you would, the people you influence, those people are your flock. Your children, your spouse, your employees, the people you work with. Take care of them. Be ministers to them and lead them. And that's what I want to talk about this morning. I want to talk about becoming a dynamic leader and what the characteristics of a dynamic leader are. The first characteristic is to have divine vision. A dynamic leader has divine vision. The Bible speaks to us multiple times, at least twice, about the vision, specifically Proverbs 29 and 18. Where there is no vision, the people perish. You may be familiar with a passage of scripture in Habakkuk, where Habakkuk writes in chapter 2, verse 2, write the vision and make it plain upon the tablets that he may run that reads it. If you're going to be that dynamic leader that God has called you to be, then ask God for divine vision. See, vision isn't just about dreaming big, it's about alignment. It's about aligning with God's purpose. It's about aligning with what God has planned for you, the same way that Peter aligned his life eventually with God's plan for him. And I say eventually because all of us have our own ideas about what we want to do, about where we want to go. And sometimes we struggle with that. We wrestle with that like Jacob wrestled with God. We wrestle with where do we want to go as opposed to where God wants us to go. It's the same wrestling match that I had with God when He called me to make that transition from pastoral ministry to a ministry, if you would, of a legal ministry. And when I I had to reconcile what God was calling me to do. And sometimes we wrestle with God, but I'm here to tell you today, friend, that God has a vision for your life. He has a plan for your life. And you have to dig in and get a hold of that vision. Nehemiah chapter number two, we find where the children of Israel are going back to Jerusalem to rebuild the city. And when Nehemiah walks up, along with the crew, with his flock, his flock, his crew, they see broken walls, a destroyed city. But Nehemiah saw a beautiful city. He saw big walls. See, he had the vision. And I believe he wrote it down plain so they could see it. And they succeeded in building those walls. Parents need vision for leading their children. Grandparents need vision for leaving a legacy. Employers need vision for their employees. Church leaders need vision for their church. Whatever position and status you find yourself in today, you need vision. If you're an employee, ask God to give you vision to help build your employer's business. Wow, what a novel thought there. Let God give you vision to make an impact on people's lives. We need vision. How do we get that vision? Well, real quickly, let me suggest to you two things that you might incorporate in your life to build that vision. First of all, spend time with God before making your plans. It's amazing what happens when you just surrender yourself to God and spend time with Him and ask Him, God, what direction do you want me to take? Where do you want me to go? And second of all, write down what you believe God is leading you to do. It's amazing that when you write it down, you're more likely to see it happen than if you just keep it in your head. Vision tells us where God wants us to go, but eventually every leader must decide whether or not we'll have courage to implement that vision. That's the second characteristic of a dynamic leader is to have courage. In verse 2, Peter talks about being eager to serve God. And see, being eager to serve God, being eager to do what God has called you to do, being eager to be obedient to his word, being eager to fulfill that vision is going to require courage. During World War II, a young army medic named Desmond Doss refused to carry a weapon, and he refused to take another man's life. This decision was made because of his deeply held Christian faith. He had a conviction not to take up arms, not to take another life. And this decision caused him a little anxiety. Other soldiers mocked him, they made fun of him, they said, You don't deserve to be in the army. You don't belong in the army. Yet Doss never wavered from his conviction. It takes courage not to waver from your conviction. And he never wavered from his conviction. Then came the Battle of Okinawa at a place known as Hacksaw Ridge. Some of you may have seen the movie that Mel Gibson produced. It was one of the bloodiest battles of the war. As the fighting intensified, Doss's unit was ordered to retreat. But dozens of wounded soldiers lay out there in the field. And while all the other soldiers retreated, Desmond Doss, the one who had the courage, the conviction not to take another man's life, not to take up arms, charged out into that open field where gunfire was happening and where uh artillery was exploding. And he grabbed a hold of one of the fallen soldiers and he picked him up and he carried him back to safety. As he put him down in a safe place, he turned around and he said, God help me save one more. And he returned and he saved 75 soldiers' lives before he himself was injured. He was the only person in history who was a conscientious objector to receive a special reward and a congressional medal of honor. Now, I agree most of us are not going to be out on a battlefield like that. But we have our own battlefields. The marriage is falling apart. The children have wandered from God. The business is failing. My health is failing. We have our own battlefields. And we need courage in those moments. Just as much as Deadmond Doss needed courage to save another soldier, we need courage to stand up before our family, to stand up before our friends, to stand up before our workers. We need courage to tell them and let them know that Jesus Christ is there to bring restoration to their life, just as he brought restoration to Peter's life. Whatever battle you find yourself in today. Will you stand by your convictions? Will you be firm in what God has called you to do? You might say, well, how do I develop this courage? How do I get this courage? Well, know God's word would be the first thing I would suggest to you. Joshua was making a transition from being Moses' protege to leading the children of Israel. And here's what God said to him in Joshua 1 and 9 be strong and courageous. And see, if we can know God's word, we can find that strength and courage in our own battles. And the second thing I would suggest to you, and getting that courage, is don't walk alone. See, one of the the greatest strategies that Satan has is to isolate us. If he can get us alone. We have problems, we have struggles, we all do. I do. Sometimes we want to keep it inside, and sometimes we want to get along by ourselves, and we don't want anybody to know, so we don't hang out with anybody. Hey, thanks for hanging out with us today. It's not a coincidence that you're here. God has something special for you. Don't let Satan isolate you in your battles. But find some community. Join a small group. Talk to other people. Get involved. Because when we do that, we can find courage from someone else's courage. And so I encourage you today, let God give you vision. And then ask God to help you develop the courage to implement that vision. And the next characteristic of a dynamic leader is unwavering faith. You see, courage gets us started. But courage alone won't sustain us. We have to have that unwavering faith so that we can endure, so that we can get to the end. Just like Paul when he wrote and he said, I've finished the course. But he also said, I've kept the faith. Oh, and what else did he say? I've fought a good fight. Peter tells us there in chapter 5, he says, Don't lord over the people assigned to your care, but lead them. And when we're leading people, they need to see the unwavering faith that we have in God. See, many people start well, but fewer finish well. Which part will you be, which of those will you be part of? Will you be the ones that start well but not finish well? Or will you be one that starts well and with God's help finishes well? Now, remember, Peter denied Christ, but he had that moment of restoration. God restored him. And when Peter was able to look back and see what God had done, in some moments, I'm sure Peter, he was human. I'm sure throughout his ministry he felt some frustrations. We all feel those frustrations, but we have to understand and realize that God wants us to remain strong and firm and steadfast. And now, nearly 30 years later, Peter understood being firm better than most people. Once a man who denied Christ, now a man who was restored and doing great things for Christ. And he writes now as a man with that experience, and he's passing that vision on to his readers. He's passing that vision on to you. To have unwavering faith. And when we have that unwavering faith, we can lead those around us well. I think Joseph exemplifies that probably better than anyone. The story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. Let me just share this with you real quickly. He was betrayed by his brothers. He was sold into slavery. He was falsely accused. He was forgotten in prison. Yet through every disappointment, Joseph remained faithful to God. He didn't know how God would fulfill his promises, but he trusted that he would. And I suggest to you today that most of us, if not all of us, we don't know how God is going to fulfill that promise and that vision in our life, but he will if we will remain faithful. And you see, in Joseph's life, that's what unwavering faith looked like. Now, most of us won't face a prison time like Joseph or persecution like Peter, but we will all face seasons that test our faith. Parents who are dealing with a wandering child, teachers at school who are struggling under the intense pressure that they have today as they're teaching their students. Some of us at this very moment are facing a crisis in our life that we don't want anyone to know about. But God knows. And He's here to bring restoration and completeness into your life. You might ask, well, how do I establish this unwavering faith? I'm going to suggest two things for you to consider. First of all, remember God's faithfulness. A lot of times we remember the good things, the good times. But when we can look back and see where God brought us through a hardship, where God brought us through a devastating diagnosis, where he brought us through a bankruptcy, where he brought us through a failure in our marriage. When we look back and see that, we can stand and be excited to know that God's going to see us through this time. Just like He did the last time. The second thing is trust God one day at a time. Sometimes we cast our vision so far out that we really don't consider today. But just trust God for today. Trust him for today. Peter, and in chapter 5, verse number 10, we referred to it earlier, says, in his kindness, God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, he will support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. Praise God. See, unwavering faith enables us to finish well. But if character doesn't support our influence, we can have vision, we can have courage, and we can have faith. But if we don't have the character, it all falls apart. And that brings me to my last point today. The fourth characteristic of a dynamic leader is integrity. Integrity is the glue that holds it all together. And notice what Peter says in verse 3. He says, lead them by your own good example. He reminds us that leadership is not a position, it's about being an example. Peter knew this from personal experience. Even when everything else is falling around us, even when everyone else is giving up, even when everything isn't going our way, we have to maintain our sense of integrity. The word integrity comes from the Latin word integer, which means whole or complete. In mathematics, an integer is a whole number. And I think that's a beautiful picture of biblical integrity. You see, integrity means we're the same person on Monday that we were on Sunday. It means our public life matches, our private life matches our public life, and our words match our behavior. Integrity shows up in the ordinary moments of life. It shows up when we're sitting there at the table and the waiter or the waitress serves us their own meal. It shows up at home when we're tending to problems between husband and wife in front of the children. It shows up when we're keeping our promises. It shows up when we're telling the truth. You see, integrity isn't built in the spotlight. Integrity is built in the secret places where God sees us and speaks to us. Proverbs 10 and 9 in the New Living Translation, it says, People with integrity walk safely. Every one of us is leading someone. And the people God has placed in our lives are watching us more than they are listening to us. How do we develop that integrity? First of all, live for God's approval rather than man's applause. The Bible tells us in Galatians 1 and 10, Paul says, Am I now trying to win the approval of people or of God? That's integrity. Second of all, be faithful over the small things. Jesus says in Luke 16 and 10, whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in very much. Peter's challenge is just as relevant today to each one of us as it was the day that he wrote it. His challenge is to have a vision. His challenge is to have courage. His challenge is to have integrity. And that's what I'm asking you to do today. Now, we're all leaders. All of us are leaders. And our greatest call to leadership is found in Matthew chapter number 28, verse 19 and 20. And you see, that's where Jesus imparts to all of us his vision. That's where he imparts to all of us the mission that we have. And it says this go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I've given you and be sure of this. I am with you always, even to the end of the age. If we're going to have, and if we're going to become dynamic leaders, it won't be by accident. We have to be intentional about it. And as I close, I'm going to ask you to stand with me this morning. I want to remind you that leadership is not reserved just for pastors and youth leaders and small group leaders. It's reserved for every one of us that has been entrusted with people in our lives to influence them. Some of you are leading your family, your businesses, your leaders. Some of you may say, I don't know what God is leading me to do. Just hold on. God will reveal that to you. One of the things I want you to really grasp this morning, just before I pray, is that wherever you are right now in your life, God is here to bring restoration in your marriage, in your business, in your life. He's here to give you the hope. He's here to show you his love. And I want you to ask yourself today, what is the Holy Spirit speaking to me? Not to my neighbor. What is the Holy Spirit speaking to me about the life I should live for the glory of God? Would you bow your heads with me this morning? Dear Heavenly Father, I come to you in the name of Jesus. And God, I thank you so much for your word. Thank you for reminding us that you don't call perfect people. Thank you, God, for letting us know that even when we have failed, you are there to bring restoration to our life. And God, help us to realize that while we've talked about these characteristics of leaders, vision, courage, unwavering faith, and integrity, they're more than just characteristics. It's really who you are, Christ. We see all of those things in your life. And the closer we get to you, the more we can see those in our own life. And my prayer today, God, is that if there is anyone here struggling, let them experience that restoration. Anyone that does not know you, speak to their hearts and help us to become the dynamic leaders that you've called us to become in Jesus' name. Amen. Come on, could we get a carry a round of applause?