Lessons in Leadership - Part 1

Hi there, we are so glad you could be with us today for The Road to Reality. In just a moment, we'll hear from GFA founder and director, K.P. O'Hannon, who today is going to offer up a few lessons in leadership from 2 Timothy 1. If your goal in life is to please God, this is definitely something you need to hear. K.P. will be pointing out some of the qualifications and qualities of a Christian worker or servant of God.

And we'll begin with chapter 1 in 2 Timothy. Character of a Christian worker or a Christian leader. Who is he? What is he about? What kind of material is this Christian worker or leader made of? What are his qualifications and qualities? Many, many questions.

And I believe God's word, especially in this small letter Paul wrote to this young Christian leader, Timothy, has the answers. First of all, this individual is someone who is called by the Lord. Everything of his behavior, attitude, character, everything has to do with his work.

All this is made up, influenced, guided, regulated by this one factor. That his life, his conduct, is based on this thing that he's called by the Lord. Chapter 1, verse 1, Paul simply begins, as he normally writes, says, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.

Paul wanted to impress upon this young man, Timothy, I just wanted you to know, 30 years I've been running this race, and I didn't start this because I wanted to do it. It's not because Barnabas called me to do it. Not because some church paid me.

Not because my parents said he will be a servant of God. No, Timothy, it was not even my own choice. It is not my will, my choice.

He called me. It's not organization. It is not some human being.

It's not a Bible school. It is not some big offer that became the reason for the call. No, he called me.

I am by his will. In chapter 1, verse 9, Paul says, Who saved us and called us, he called. And then, in verse 11 of chapter 1, I was appointed as a preacher by the Lord.

That reminds me of that verse in Mark 3, 14 about Jesus. He appointed those 12 to be his disciples, his apostles. And he called them, then Matthew 28, now he sent them out.

Moses didn't call himself. I mean, it would be a funny thing and kind of a crazy thing to do to walk away from the possibility of being the leader of the most powerful nation on earth, ancient Egypt, and then to wander around in the wilderness for 40 years looking after not your own sheep but someone else's your father-in-law's. Think about that.

He didn't do it by himself. The Lord called him. Amos, when they said, what is wrong with you, man? He said, don't blame me.

My father is not a prophet. Nobody in our family is doing this thing. I was going around picking sycamore fruits, and all of a sudden he calls me and says, I want you to go and be a preacher.

I didn't do it. He called me. Jonah was called, but he didn't want to do it.

But God wouldn't let him go. No, he was called. I want to ask you a personal question.

Very sober, deliberate. Here is the question. Do you know the Lord Jesus has called you to serve him? Have you ever heard him saying to you, come, follow me, be with me, and I will send you? Have you ever heard that call? What is the difference between a call and a profession? Here it is.

Someone said, a job, a profession, a profession is one you choose. A ministry is one Christ chooses for you. A job depends on your abilities.

A ministry depends on your availability to God. In a job, you expect to receive something, a salary. In a ministry, you expect to give.

A job well done brings you self-esteem. A ministry well done brings honor to Jesus Christ. In a job, you give something to get something.

In a ministry, you return something that has already been given to you. A job well done has a temporal reward. A ministry well done has eternal rewards.

Fifteen years ago, this young lad was led to Jesus by Paul and sensed in him a heart for God. And Paul decided to invest his life in Timothy. There was another young man named Titus.

So Paul writes in Philippians chapter 2 about Timothy, I have no one like him who cares for the things of Christ. No wonder why Paul left Timothy at Ephesus after his first arrest to take care of the church. Now you read 1 Timothy to understand the responsibilities that was committed to Timothy to do the work of the ministry and things he must do.

Now, Paul knows his death is imminent. And Timothy is young and inexperienced and inadequate to carry on the ministry. Ah, that throws me off completely.

You mean after 15 to 20 years of being discipled, mentored, taught by great apostle Paul, Timothy was not able to handle it? Yes. Last night, as all our dear brothers and sisters walking around here, I turned to one of the brothers I was talking and said to him, Oh my, how young they are. So many young people.

Then somebody who just joined the conversation said, Yeah, 25 to 35 years old. But you know what the problem is? Responsibility is being committed to young people like you. Responsibilities that should be committed to people 45, 50, 60 years old with 20, 30 years of ministry experience of pain and anguish and suffering and sacrifice and God's attesting their life.

But why, how? I don't know. I find some encouragement and hope in this. When the Lord called me, I was 16 years old.

When I became a leader to lead others in the ministry, I was barely 19 years old. I was coordinating a whole region when I was 22 years old. If God could do that with me, a fragile, weak, insecure individual, I see much hope.

But then too, I think about Timothy. There is hope. So the lesson is here.

What you become, your character, your formation, your behavior, your responses, attitude, your evaluation, your making decisions, your action depends on your deep, deep conviction. The Lord has called me to serve Him. How can I do this? How can I say this? How can I take this? I can't.

See how important the call is? Timothy was still very young. Chapter 2, verse 22, Paul says, Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young. And Timothy knew that.

How do you feel about yourself? He said, I don't know. I happen to be in this movement and I don't know. Yeah, yeah, the Lord gave me this responsibility.

Now, I didn't know I was going to do it, but I'm teaching in this training center. I never thought about it. So I say, how did that happen? You may feel inadequate.

You may feel you are young. You don't know much. You struggle just to maintain even the image of somebody calling you a teacher.

You sit late in the night and reading through the books, trying to find out something to say, so nobody will think that you don't know much. Or you're trying to figure out what to do about the decision. And enough wrong decisions you made that you feel terrible about it.

And maybe you are feeling it was a mistake. I'm given responsibility, maybe I should get out of it. Well, Timothy was young too.

If you feel discouraged and you are inexperienced, if you know it, you are in good shape. If you don't know it, if you think you are able and mature and you will succeed, then you are in trouble. We've been receiving some lessons in leadership today on The Road to Reality with K.P. Ohannon.

Since 1999, GFA has been serving in the slums of South Asia, providing food, medical care, and sharing the love of God. In recent years, we've noticed desperation-filled slums in Asia are growing. With millions living in extreme poverty and struggling to survive, we'd like to ask you to consider doing something that can really make a difference.

A good place to start is by going to our website, roadtoreality.org. There we can give you more information and you can even donate to slum ministry there too. Again, that's roadtoreality.org. As you may know, when he was on Earth, Jesus was all about helping the outcasts of society. And you can do the same at roadtoreality.org. Or call us at 866-946-2742.

That's 866-946-2742. Please listen in next time as Brother K.P. Ohannon shares another inspirational message to help us along the Road to Reality. Thanks for watching.