Leadership: Joy or Burden?
We should be grateful to our Christian leaders, as their benefits to us result from God's working through them.
A.W. Tozer emphasizes the dual mistakes we make regarding our Christian leaders: a lack of gratitude and an excessive, blind following. He points out that failing to express gratitude is a subtle sin of omission, which can be overlooked compared to more obvious sins. Tozer argues that being thankful to God's servants is equivalent to being thankful to God, as their efforts are divinely inspired. He encourages believers to recognize their obligation to these leaders and to express gratitude, which is a valuable offering to God that enriches both the giver and the receiver.
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I think we make two mistakes in our attitude toward our Christian leaders, one in not being sufficiently grateful to them and the other in following them too slavishly.
The first is a sin of omission, and because it is something that is not there it is not so likely to be noticed as a sin that is plainly present. For instance, it is a sin to be ungrateful to a man who has befriended us, but it is not as bad or as obvious a sin as stealing his pocketbook.
To be grateful to God's servants is to be grateful to God. The benefits we receive from them result from God's working through them, but as free agents they could have refused to cooperate. That they cheerfully yielded their members to the Spirit for our good puts us under continual obligation to them. Because they are so many, and because the vast majority of them have long fallen asleep we cannot make a like return to them in person; the only way we can discharge our obligation is to be thankful. Gratitude is an offering precious in the sight of God, and it is one that the poorest of us can make and be not poorer but richer for having made it.
Sermon Outline
- Two Mistakes in Our Attitude Toward Christian Leaders
- The Sin of Omission: Not Being Grateful
- The Benefits of Gratitude
- Not being sufficiently grateful to them
- Following them too slavishly
- Gratitude is an offering precious in the sight of God
- We can discharge our obligation to them through gratitude
Key Quotes
“To be grateful to God's servants is to be grateful to God.” — A.W. Tozer
“Gratitude is an offering precious in the sight of God,” — A.W. Tozer
Application Points
- We should make a conscious effort to be thankful to our Christian leaders for their service to us.
- Gratitude is a precious offering in the sight of God, and it's something we can all make.
- We can discharge our obligation to our Christian leaders through gratitude, even if we can't make a like return to them in person.