Leadership and values Part 2 | Steve Oliver

Part 2

 This message was preached by Steve Oliver at the Regions Beyond Leadership training in Mumbai. This is part 2. For the audio please click here.

PART 2

Q. What would you do if you were invited to a conference to Dubai to sit on the stage with Benny Hinn?

We will either be opportunity driven or value driven. Sadly often, when opportunities come we can throw our values out.

When you get called by the world that is  non relational we can move into recruitment and not relational.

As a leader I am called. And because he called me by name I do all that I do for his glory and not mine. We need to get that call correct where we are stepping into the purposes of God and not my servants. We need core people who can help shape us.

1.   Appointed- he designated, he shared authority. You can call people to be slaves, they will only do what you tell them. But when they have authority it shapes it differently. We together look to God.

Over the years I have learnt not to go into situations with all the answers. We are an apostolic prophetic people- with everyone hearing from God.

Team is shared authority. The word apostle is a verb. It’s not a title. It’s one of the gifts- that’s important. Team is not static. So Jesus called them to be sent. That’s really important.

2.   Lastly, in this passage, one of the things Jesus does is he builds a family. We mustn’t miss the work that Jesus does- a group tightly knit together.

Michael Eaton says- Jesus was building a new kind of family. Not a committee, but friends, family to the point that he challenged his own family. His family was trying to draw him from the purposes of God and so he built a new family.

Acts 4: just after the birth of the church, Peter and John heal the lame man. The whole city sees it and there is uproar in it. And Peter and John get arrested.

In verse 13 the people realize that they were unschooled… but they took note that these men had been with Jesus. This was their qualification. See New Testament leaders in action.   

In verse 23, Peter and John go back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them.

i.            Peter and John – this is the early church. It’s been reported how the church is functioning. It’s reported as Peter and John – the point is accessible leadership. No title. There was nothing in the early church that separates leadership from the people. Leadership comes from the Spirit. Sadly we have added titles and things that will separate us. People’s respect for us must come from our lifestyle and Godliness that they will want to follow us.

As you call people to lead and call them to eldership, please make sure that they are called to be a servant. So be accessible.

Our identity comes from Jesus saying, “come”. When we hear this, we say, “Wow! I’m called to serve Jesus!”

ii.           Peter and John went back to their own people- such beautiful people. ESV says, ‘friends’. It’s relational- ownership, i.e. people who were known. They reported ‘all’. We need to share our lives.

Paul said “you know that we shared our very lives with you” (1 Thessalonians 2:8)

iii.         They reported that they were under threat. Our people should know that we rely on God. Get your people to pray for you.

iv.          They raised their voices.