What Does a Successful Christian Leader Look Like?

6 · Introduces the Moneyball illustration with a preemptive joke to keep non-baseball fans engaged, signaling that the sports reference serves a larger theological point

Well, like many sports fans, a number of years ago I was fascinated by the book and the movie "Moneyball." And if you're not a baseball fan, please don't turn out, or— and please don't, like, at this moment decide to check ESPN and read up on the playoffs now. This is not going to be helpful.

7 · Tells the Moneyball story to establish the pattern that conventional wisdom often measures success by the wrong metrics, while true success comes from looking at what actually produces results rather than superficial markers

But in "Moneyball," it was the story of the Oakland A's and their famous manager Billy Beane. And the situation with the A's was that they did not have as much money as everyone else.

And so the traditional thinking was they would never be as good as everyone else. They would never even make the playoffs because they couldn't buy these big name, big money players. But what Billy Beane's staff discovered was that most scouts, most baseball scouts were looking for the wrong things. They were looking for fluid, beautiful swings, they were looking for home runs, they were looking for swagger and confidence, they were looking for that intangible big league attitude. They would say things like, this guy has a lot of intangibles.

This guy feels like a major league player. They looked good running, they could steal bases, right? All of that stuff that was in the swirl of stuff scouts talked about. Maybe even, well, they just had a lot of scouts watching them, so they must be good if they've got a lot of scouts watching them. Instead, Billy Beane and his staff pivoted to two different things.

They looked for two different things: slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Basically, they looked through all the smoke and mirrors of major league scouting and just asked two questions. Can they hit the ball a lot? And second, did they create runs by hitting the ball? A lot, right?

That's it. All the other metrics, not as important. And basically what they did is they built a team with undervalued players and competed at the top levels of Major League Baseball.

8 · Draws the principle from the Moneyball illustration and applies it to the broader human condition—we consistently measure success by cultural consensus rather than true value

And I think what the Oakland A's situation reveals is that sometimes what everybody is looking for in the world is the wrong thing. And sometimes everybody's looking for success with the wrong markers.

9 · Pivots from the Moneyball analogy to state the sermon's central question explicitly, framing the entire message as addressing criteria for evaluating and becoming Christian leaders

Now, obviously, we have a much more important question this morning than how do you win baseball games. The question I think at hand today in this text is how do you find a good leader? How do you identify a successful Christian leader and how do you become a successful, godly Christian leader?

10 · Explains the historical situation in Corinth that provoked Paul's teaching—the church had fractured into personality cults around different leaders, treating Christian ministry like competitive sports fandom

Now, the reason Paul takes a detour to even discuss this is the Corinthians were were judging leaders all the time, comparing Christian leaders all the time. They had separate fan clubs for Apollos, for Peter, for Paul.

They had their favorite trading cards. Did you see first season Paul? Did you see second season Apollos? His new uniform, right? They were swapping and trading and comparing, and they basically compared themselves to one another and said, our team is the best because our preacher, our leader is the best.

11 · States Paul's corrective thesis in the passage—the Corinthians' entire framework for evaluating leaders is fundamentally mistaken

But Paul points out, you're looking for totally wrong things here. You're absolutely looking at the wrong things. You don't understand Christian leadership at all.

12 · Announces the sermon's structure with intentional irony, using the language of worldly success formulas to subvert those very categories

So, I want to present to you from this passage the 4 foolproof secrets of amazing and highly successful Christian leadership. You might be thinking, "Is that— is he for— is this real?" Yes, this is absolutely real.

This morning, the 4 foolproof secrets of amazingly successful Christian leadership. Now that is tongue in cheek, but I state it that way because that's exactly the kind of thing the Corinthians would be looking for. They'd be going, "Oh, really? What are they? What are the 4 amazingly successful foolproof secrets of Christian leadership?

I can't wait." Maybe you even walked in looking for that today. Maybe as a Christian leader, you're like, "That's what I'm looking for today." Well, buckle up because Paul is going to help us see that we're often looking in the wrong place at the wrong thing.

13 · Signals the first major section of the sermon focusing on the role Christian leaders occupy

The first section, the first paragraph, their role, the role of the amazingly successful Christian leader.

14 · Reads and presents the key verse defining Christian leaders as servants and stewards, setting up the theological exposition of these two terms

Now, look at verse 1. Paul says, "This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God."

15 · Explains the Corinthian cultural context where leaders operated on a subscription/patronage model and were evaluated by crowd size and cultural influence

Now, the first thing the Corinthians got wrong as they were looking at Christian leaders and leaders in general is they were looking for the wrong role.

They were looking for a particular kind of leader. Now, in Corinth, to follow a leader meant— it was almost— it's an odd illustration, but it's almost like you would subscribe to your favorite thinker and leader in Corinth. And the leaders and thinkers in Corinth would— you'd pay them, like, basically a monthly fee. You defer to them. And the bigger the crowd that they gathered, the more income they had, the more deference they had culturally, the greater the leader was.

So the Corinthians were always looking for who's got the biggest crowd, who's got the biggest, who's got the most successful, you know, pamphlet that's spreading, who's got this, who's got that.

16 · Connects the Corinthian cultural error to contemporary American cultural patterns, identifying modern equivalents of the wrong metrics (company size, church size, income, social media following)

And Paul is saying, listen, you're looking at the wrong thing. And many times we look at the wrong thing today. We think of leaders the same way. How big is their company?

How big is their church? What's their income? What are their sales numbers like this quarter? How many online followers are hanging on their word? This is what our world looks for.

17 · Unpacks the meaning of 'servant' in the cultural context—a household manager with significant responsibility but subordinate status, often a slave position

But Paul flips this completely on its head. He flips the org chart, in a sense, and he uses a radical word in this context: servant. Now, the word servant here was the same word you use for the manager of a house. So they were the person buying and selling and organizing and keeping the pantry stocked and taking care of home maintenance. They were managing it for the owner of the house and property. And often this was even a slave position, an indentured servitude position.

So they had lots of responsibility, but they were not the one ultimately in charge. They were a servant.

18 · Contrasts the Corinthian cultural expectation (leaders at the top being served) with Paul's first inversion (Christian leaders serve the Lord, not themselves)

And similarly, in Corinth, the great teachers would not want to be servants, right? They were the opposite of servants. They were measured by their greatness and how many people served them.

And they were at the top of the org chart. And Paul does two things that are radical here. First, he says, okay, one, you are not at the top of the org chart. That leader is not at the top of the org chart. They serve someone else.

They serve the Lord.

19 · States Paul's second inversion—not only are Christian leaders not at the top, but the direction of service flows downward to the people rather than upward to the leader

And in fact, as we'll see later, their service, their excellence in service is measured in how well they serve the Lord by serving other people, as Jesus says in John 13. And so the org chart is flipped. It's not like all these arrows are pointing up to the person at the top, they're all— that's the direction of service, all going up. No, Paul says no.

Two things are wrong with this. First, they're not the one at the top of the org chart. And two, all those arrows should be pointed down that they are serving everyone else.

20 · Explains the Corinthian cultural expectation that great teachers were innovators and thought leaders who created new philosophical systems

Then he uses another radical word here, "steward." Steward. Now, this would have been in great contrast to the Corinthians again, because in Corinth the great teachers would reason and they always had to be coming up with a new exciting teaching, a new set of innovative ideas, a new spin on classic Greek philosophy. And they would pass on this new teaching to their followers and their adherents, and they would happily carry it around.

21 · Contrasts cultural innovation with Christian stewardship, arguing that faithful transmission of received revelation rather than creative originality is the mark of Christian leadership

And Paul says, "No. No.

The great Christian leader is not a thought leader in the eyes of the world, not an innovator, not a brilliant creator of new ideas. The great Christian leader is a steward of what God has already revealed." Meaning the great Christian leader is not coming down to the mountaintop with his own ideas. The great Christian leader is coming down from the mountaintop as a steward of what the Lord has entrusted to him, the ideas the Lord has entrusted to him.

22 · Explains that stewards are evaluated on faithfulness to the owner's standards, not worldly metrics, making God's judgment the only evaluation that matters for Christian leaders

And then he adds this: "It is required of stewards that they be found faithful." And he talks about how he doesn't even judge himself. He doesn't care how the world judges him because "it is the Lord who judges me," he says, meaning this: the performance evaluation ultimately is not popularity, it's not income, it's not worldly power.

It is this: Does the Lord think that they've done a good job? Does the Lord, as the owner of the house, give them a good evaluation? Does the Lord, as the one who entrusted them with what they steward, believe that they're doing well? That's all that matters. Everything else is smoke and mirrors.

23 · Distills the first point into a concise principle combining the two key terms (servant and steward) into a single evaluative standard

So the first secret of successful Christian leaders is this: serve others as God's steward. Serve others as God's steward.

24 · Catalogs the various false metrics people use for self-evaluation (others' approval, accomplishments, wealth, power) and poses the diagnostic question of what the listener uses to measure their own worth

Now, everybody has to evaluate themselves on some level, and everybody often uses different criteria for evaluating themselves. Some look to others to validate themselves. Some think, "Well, my friends like me.

My friends like me, so I must be good," or, "My daughter likes me," or, "My spouse likes me." Some look to their accomplishments to validate them. "Well, I have that degree on the wall." I did win top salesman at work this year. Some look to wealth and possessions to validate them. I'm financially independent. I've got a bigger TV to watch the Cowboys lose than my neighbor.

Some look to power. Look at all the people. I remember one person talking about, oh, I have so many direct reports. It's so busy, so busy. I've got so many direct— why, so many people report to me.

It's just, I'm so busy all the time. I'm like, oh, how busy are you? Oh, I'm just saying, I'm so busy. I got so many people reporting to me. "Man, you wouldn't even believe it.

It's 36." You know, you're just like, "Okay. All right, buddy." Right? They validate themselves that way. Or when I walk in at home, man, my family jumps to attention. Right?

Like, "Okay, well." Now, are you— what are you using as your evaluative tool? What do you say, "Okay, this is what I use to evaluate myself"?

25 · Applies the servant category by providing concrete relational contexts (family, work) where the listener can evaluate whether they are known as servants, making service to others the observable measure of serving God

Well, look at these two categories Paul gives you. First, servant. You often see, according to John 13 in Jesus' words, whether you serve the Lord by whether you serve the people that the Lord has given you to serve.

Meaning Jesus says, "If you love me, you'll keep my commandments. If you love me, you'll serve one another as I am serving you." So the question then is, well, how are you doing with that? You can often measure somebody serving the Lord by how well they serve others.

Would others describe you as a servant?

Right? In your family, would that be the case? How am I doing as a husband or a dad? You're a servant. Would that be the case?

How am I doing as a mom? How am I doing as an employee? Would others call you a servant?

26 · Applies the steward category by asking whether the listener faithfully handles Scripture and God's teaching, treating it as precious and obeying it

And then second, steward. Would others describe you as a faithful steward of what God has given you?

Are you especially taking care of what the teaching that God has entrusted to you as a Christian in his Word? Are you carefully carrying this? Are you being careful to follow and obey it? Are you holding it as precious? Are you stewarding it?

It's the first thing to look for: serving others as God's steward in their role.

27 · Signals the shift to the second major section addressing how to evaluate leaders' abilities and gifts

Second category, second paragraph is what Paul says about their skills and abilities.

28 · Reads verses 6-7 and explains the rhetorical force of Paul's question—all skill and ability is received as gift, making boasting nonsensical

Now, in the area of skill and ability, what do you look for in a great leader? Well, this is what Paul looks for in verse 6. I've applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one another.

And going beyond what is written, he basically means all the verses I've shared from the Old Testament about why you should be humble and not pursue rivalry. He's basically saying just don't go beyond what the Scripture says about being humble and not being rivals. I don't want anyone puffed up. And then he uses this cutting question: For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive?

And if then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

29 · Diagnoses the twin forms of human pride—either direct boasting in one's own achievements or vicarious boasting through association with superior people or groups

So, the Corinthians were doing this. They were looking at their— the skills and abilities of their leaders and the skills, abilities of themselves and saying, "Look what I can do. Look at me." Right? Every human heart has this pull, doesn't it?

The human heart either pulls toward, probably both at the same time, either I'm the best or I'm with the best, or maybe both together. Meaning, I'm the best, look at my workout PRs, right? Look at how organized my household is. Oh, I went to the other person's house the other day, it was a mess. You go home and you see your little bookshelf.

All nicely arranged with a little succulent there. You're like, "Ah, look at that." Or maybe, "Look at how I'm not like them. They're a mess. That's a mess. Their life is a mess.

Look at my income. Look at my connections. Look at how well-known I am. I'm the best."

30 · Catalogs contemporary examples of both direct and associational pride across various identity markers (minimalism, homeschooling, patriotism, lifestyle brands, celebrity fandoms) to show the universal human tendency toward boasting

Or, "I'm with the best. I'm a minimalist and I don't do any of that materialism stuff." I'm into shoes, and you've never seen a shoe game stronger than mine.

Right? Other people wish they could have this game, but they don't. I'm a homeschooler, but not just a homeschooler, I'm the best kind of homeschooler. I'm an American. I'm a patriot.

I'm the best kind of patriot. And you don't even know the patriotic stuff that I listen to. I wake up listening to Fourth of July music. Right? This is— Or, I'm— my life is so organized.

I'm practicing the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Or I follow this one lifestyle influencer and I'm using all the brand, I'm following all the brand, right brands. I'm using all the right products. Or I've got my Taylor Swift Eras t-shirt and vinyl and she leads my tribe, the tribe of Taylor. I don't even wanna know what you call yourselves, but it's every human heart.

I'm the best or I'm with the best because do you see what I can do or do you see what they can do?

31 · Returns to Paul's question as the corrective to all forms of boasting, repeating it for emphasis

And yet Paul says, "No, you're looking in the wrong place. You're looking in the wrong place." He asked this question: "What do you have that you did not receive?" What do you have that you did not receive?

32 · Tells the soccer goalie story to illustrate the absurdity of boasting in gifts received—the tall kid blocking shots is boasting in something he didn't create or earn

Look, yesterday I was at my son's soccer game and this other team just destroyed them a little bit. It was a parenting moment.

And one of the things that happened is the other team had this goalie for a while that was just crazy tall. I mean, just for like the 12-year-old, he was a huge kid. And so the kid blocks— I mean, he does a great job. He blocks the shot, it's coming in right at the top of the goal, boom, just slaps it out. And you could just tell the look on his face is like, did you see that?

Did you see that? But meanwhile, all the other kids are like this high. And he's like this high. And you're just thinking, dude, you just got your growth spurt before everybody else, right? Like, you may be saying something different in like 2 years, man.

I was tall at age 12, okay? So just apply some appropriate humility here. The kid was boasting because he's like, do you see how tall I am? Did he grow himself? No.

Did he give himself freakishly long arms? No. Did he give himself a natural athletic ability in movement? Probably not. Maybe he worked on it a little bit, but look, man, at age 11, a lot of it is just natural ability.

33 · Draws the application from the illustration—every achievement, credential, and ability is a grace gift, making gratitude rather than boasting the only appropriate response

And in the same way, we do the same thing. Look at what I have. Look at who I'm with. When Paul reminds us what you really should be looking for is the exact opposite of boasting. What you really should be looking for is an acknowledgment in leaders that all that they have and all that they are is a grace gift.

Anything, friend, on your resume is a grace gift. Any diploma on your wall is a grace gift. Any paycheck you receive, as big or little as it is, is a grace gift. Anything that the leader you follow does is also a grace gift. It's not as though, "Oh man, look at this guy.

He's got it all together." No, the Lord has gifted him in particular ways. Or her in particular ways. Anything they include you in is a grace gift.

34 · Distills the second marker of Christian leadership into a principle—gratitude rather than boasting, recognition that all gifts come from God

The point is this, here's the second secret. Recognize that all you have is given to you by God.

That's what you should be looking for in a leader. Not boasting, "Here's my resume, look at me," but rather, man, an acknowledgement that everything that they have is a gift from God. Look, the best leaders are the most grateful people. That's what you're looking for. You're not looking for the boasting, the bravado.

You're looking for the most grateful people.

35 · Addresses recent scandals involving arrogant Christian leaders whose gifts were used to excuse character failures, arguing that true giftedness produces humility, not arrogance

And sadly, we've seen a number of high-profile examples of domineering or arrogant Christian leaders over the last number of years. And often the issues with these Christian leaders were excused because they were, quote unquote, "gifted," or, quote unquote, "effective." But listen, gifted people Truly gifted people with the character of a true Christian leader are aware that any gifts they have truly are gifts and are therefore the opposite of arrogant. They're the most humble.

36 · Tells the story of a leader's 'Grateful and amazed' email signature to illustrate how cultivating gratitude shapes behavior—the signature functioned as a spiritual discipline forcing the leader to align his words with a posture of humility

Like, I knew this one Christian leader who was relatively well known and he had this email sign-off. He would sign off his emails with the email sign-off, "Grateful and amazed." And, you know, as like a 19-year-old or 20-year-old, when I got an email from him, I was like, "That is the cheesiest email sign-off I've ever seen. 'Grateful and amazed.'" You know, it's just like, "Ooh, like, what Christian things can I put?" You know?

And I just dismissed it as like, "That's so weird." But the more I've aged, the more I've realized, you know, I don't— I actually don't think probably that the email sign-off was for the benefit of the people receiving his email. I think if he was wise, his email sign-off was probably for him. Because here's why. If you write an arrogant, domineering, boastful email, and then you see auto-populated your signature, grateful and amazed, you're gonna have to go back and edit that email. Walter, I just cannot believe how stupid you were this week at work.

Grateful and amazed, right? It just doesn't— it doesn't work. You're going to go back and have to rewrite the email. Walter, look, man, I love you. This wasn't good, but I am here to help you because people have helped me in my life and have taken time with me, and the Lord has not given up on me when I've made mistakes.

I'm here to help you. Grateful and amazed. Right? That— you can write that email.

37 · Applies the illustration by inviting the listener to adopt 'grateful and amazed' as a daily evaluative posture, recognizing that Christians above all should be marked by gratitude for God's grace

And I wonder how much of our lives, if we signed off the day grateful and amazed, how much that would cause us to go back and want to re-edit our lives.

At the end of the day, you think, anything I did today, the Lord gave me the ability to do it. Anything I was part of today that was good, the Lord gave me that ability.

We should be the most grateful and amazed people on the planet as Christians, knowing the Lord has shown us endless grace. And we should be amazed continually that the Lord even calls us to be in a relationship with him despite our sins and flaws and weaknesses. That's what you're looking for in yourself and in leaders.

38 · Signals the third major section focusing on evaluating leaders by the shape of their lives rather than their accomplishments

Third, look at their life. Look at their life.

39 · Introduces Paul's sarcastic contrast between the Corinthians' triumphalist self-perception (already kings and rich) and the apostles' actual status (last of all), setting up the Roman triumph illustration

Now, the third problem in Corinth is that they are looking for the wrong kind of life when it comes to a Christian leader. They're looking for a particular profile of a life. And so Paul uses this illustration in verse 8: "Already you have all you want. Already you've become rich. And without us you've become kings!

Would that you did reign so that we might share the rule with you." He's being sarcastic here. "For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all."

40 · Explains the Roman triumph parade in detail—victorious leaders at the front in spotless armor receiving honor, defeated enemies at the back heading to execution

Now, here's the illustration he's using. Because he knows probably a number of the people in this Roman colony of Corinth had been former soldiers. And so they'd be very familiar with when Rome would go out and conquer somebody, they would have a big victory parade when they came back. And it would be the general and probably Caesar first, and then the general, and then all the lieutenants, and then all the grunts. And they would be in this bright shining armor, and the armor and vestments would only get shinier the the closer you were to the front of the line, right? So Caesar, spotless. The generals, spotless. Lieutenants, most— I mean, they did their best to clean the scuffs out. The grunts, listen, their armor's all scuffed, but it is shining.

They are marching. And behind them would come the captives that they captured. And all of Rome would be cheering all of the generals and booing all of the captives. And finally, at the very end of the line would come probably The enemy general or the enemy king beat up, bloodied, humiliated, all their fine garments torn, destroyed, and they would march them right into the Colosseum where they would let the lions tear them apart.

41 · Applies the triumph parade metaphor to the Corinthian error—they're evaluating leaders by worldly success (front of the line) while the apostles occupy the place of shame and suffering (back of the line)

And so here's what Paul is saying: you're looking for leaders at the front of the line.

You're looking for the shiny. The bright, the beautiful, the powerful, but we, the apostles of Jesus Christ, are at the back of the line.

And if that's your paradigm, if that's what you're looking for, you're looking in the wrong place. He's using these sarcastic questions to get them to see. He's trying to wake them up and say, "Guys, do you see what you're doing? The very apostles that Jesus Christ has sent to the world, We are at the back of the world's line, but you're all the way up here looking at the front of the world's line for leaders. Do you see the problem with this?

42 · Diagnoses the core theological error—the Corinthians adopted cultural triumphalism and abandoned cruciform theology

And here's the main issue: the Corinthians had taken on the mindset of their culture and had lost the mindset of the cross, which is why Paul goes through this list of suffering and being demeaned to help them see the contrast here. Right? Because, look, here's the reality, as we said last week. We believe as Christians in health and wealth. We believe in prosperity.

But we believe that through Christ, health and wealth and prosperity are only glimpsed now and will be made full and perfect when Christ returns. Right? But for now, this life is the path of the cross. Look, we walk the same path as Jesus Christ himself. We don't get to skip over the path of the cross just to glory.

The path of the Christian is the path of the cross, the path of suffering, of loss, but through it there is glory and eternal life, right? That is what Paul is saying.

43 · Defines Christian leaders as 'cruciform'—shaped by and walking the pattern of the cross where suffering precedes glory

So, true leaders, true Christian leaders are cruciform leaders.

Leaders that have been shaped and molded and who walk the path of the cross. The path of the cross where suffering comes before glory, where death comes before new life, where dishonor comes before honor, right? This is the path of Jesus.

44 · Unpacks the practical outworking of cruciform living from verses 12-13—responding to evil with good makes no sense apart from the cross pattern established by Christ

And when you walk the path of the cross, when you've been shaped by the cross and not by the culture, then you, like Paul, say this, We get reviled, but we bless in return. How does that make any sense?

Only through the cross, as Jesus was reviled and blessed in return. We are persecuted, but rather than fighting back, we endure for the sake of the gospel. We are slandered and demeaned across the ancient world, and yet we entreat and beg and put the gospel in front of people, asking them that they might believe in Jesus Christ, right? This is what we're looking for.

45 · Distills the third marker of Christian leadership—measuring success by the cross rather than cultural metrics, accepting the back of the line rather than seeking the front

And so, the third secret of amazingly successful Christian leadership is this: you measure success, you look for people who measure success by the cross and not by the culture around them.

You look for people who are often at the very back of the line, not the front, not the bright, not the shiny.

46 · Applies the cruciform principle through a series of diagnostic questions asking whether the listener's life looks like the path of the cross or the path of worldly success

And let me ask you to make this more personal, would anyone look at your life and assume, yeah, they are a cruciform person? They're walking the path of the cross. They're walking the road of Jesus. Or do you do everything you can to try to be at the front of the line, the bright, the beautiful, the glorious in this life? Do you endure?

I mean, this is what Paul is asking the Corinthians to consider. Do you endure hardship for the Gospel? Or do you flee from it? Do you labor hard and without fear of losing your dignity in the eyes of the world? Do you bless those who revile you?

Do you endure persecution faithfully? Do you entreat those who are slandering you? Are you living an upside-down life that only looks right side up when looked at through the lens of The cross.

47 · Intensifies the application by arguing that a truly Christian life should be incomprehensible to worldly logic—it should only make sense when viewed through the cross and eternal hope

Look, there should be an ability for somebody to watch a film of your life and for somebody to say, "This does not add up. This doesn't make any sense.

I don't understand why they're living the way that they are." If your life makes sense without the cross and hope of glory in eternity, something's off. Something is off. And so you want to look for, Paul is saying, you want to become and you want to look for Christian leaders worth following whose lives make no sense in the math of the world, but only make sense in the math of the cross.

48 · Signals the fourth and final major section addressing how Christian leaders exercise authority

All right, fourth and last, look at their authority.

49 · Introduces Paul's fatherhood metaphor from verses 14-16, acknowledging it may seem unusual and promising to explain its cultural significance

Now, the last thing the Corinthians misunderstood was the nature of authority. And Paul's appeal may at first be unusual, but I want to explain it. Look at verse 14. He says, "I don't write these things to make you ashamed." Look, he's trying to be gentle and careful while still trying to wake them up. "I'm ready to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

And I urge you then, be imitators of me." Now you might think, okay, I don't understand. Why is he bringing fatherhood into this? Well, let me try to help.

50 · Explains the ancient father-son apprenticeship system where following your father was not burden but gift—inheriting trade, reputation, connections, and clients

So in the ancient world, virtually every son— there were no career fairs in the ancient world, let's just say it that way, first of all, right? Nobody's like, "I wonder what I'm going to become when I grow up." I don't know, man, you're going to be whatever you can to make money and not die.

That's what your career plan is. And so, in the ancient world, virtually every son followed the trade of his father because there was no real social mobility. So, think about it this way: following your father wasn't a burden. Often it's like, "I don't want to—" like all the Disney movies are like, "I don't want to do what my dad did. I want to have my own path," right?

That's like the— The American, you know, version, Disney version of life. This was— it was the opposite in the ancient world. Following your father was a gift. And being disowned by your father was the worst thing. Because here's why.

Not only was it relationship, not only was it social standing, but think about it this way. If your dad was a trader, a tradesman, he was a merchant, following your father meant that you then, as you grew up, got to know all of his friends and all of his connections and knew where to get stuff and knew who would help you. And you had people that would help you, and you'd receive all the goodwill that your father accumulated in his life, and you'd receive that and continue his trade after he was gone. Or if you were a carpenter, right, you'd learn the task of carpentry, but also you would gain your dad's reputation for good work. You'd gain his special designs.

And when you took over his business, all of your father's clients would come to you, right? You were set up in a sense.

And so the dream really of every son growing up was to follow the path of his father. And the fear was that their father would disown them and just say, "No, I'm not going to let you follow me. I'm not going to teach you any of the tradesman tricks in my merchant alliance." I'm not going to, you know, that was the bad thing.

51 · Applies the father-son analogy to spiritual fatherhood—Paul set up the Corinthians with the 'trade' of following Christ and the 'inheritance' of Christ's riches, giving him authority to call them to imitate him

And so Paul is saying this, look, "You have a lot of people that may give you advice in Christ, but I was your father in the faith. Like, I brought the gospel to you.

I was there, I helped baptize some of you. And the trade I taught you, the riches I handed over to you was the path of Christ. I taught you how to follow Jesus. I set you up to be able to gain and glean and rejoice in the riches of Christ. I set you up to follow the path of Christ." Therefore, imitate me, follow the path, take up the trade, be Christians as I taught you to be.

Right? That's what Paul is saying to them.

52 · Diagnoses contemporary culture's two opposite errors regarding authority—either idolizing domineering power or rejecting all authority as inherently evil

Now, Paul is also not afraid to use his godly authority, but he uses this godly authority in an utterly different kind of way. And this is so important for us because in our world today there's two big extremes when it comes to thinking about authority. There are those that are enamored with authority, right?

With machismo, with domineering figures. Their favorite boss or company leader or politician is whoever is the most domineering and like, yeah, boom, get 'em, yeah, you know, like watching like a prize fighter take, you know, get 'em another shot and he gets hit to the gut, right? There is a part of our culture that's enamored with that kind of stuff. But similarly, there is an opposite. They're allergic to authority.

They see any authority as evil, any authority from law enforcement to teachers to church leaders. And the virtuous thing then is to just overthrow authority. My favorite sign is the "resist" sign. Resist what? Everything, right?

Rebel against everything. All authority, protest everything, reject everything, tear down all the authority. Those are the two extremes we're living in.

53 · Establishes the biblical theology of authority: created good, corrupted by the fall, redeemed in Christ—providing the framework for Paul's model of godly authority

But Paul here gives us an utterly different picture of authority. The Bible's picture of authority is radically different. Now, the Bible's picture of authority is that authority at its core was made good, right? Authority is not a result of the fall. Authority is something God made in creation.

He's the King, if you didn't notice. He's the King, the Sovereign One. And His authority, rightly used, caused creation to flourish. He gave then humanity, Adam and Eve, authority over creation that they and their rule over creation might cause it to flourish. But then, here's the problem, the fall corrupted authority.

Adam misused his authority, Eve desired to take his authority, and all use of authority now is tainted and shaped by sin and corrupted. But in Christ, authority begins to be redeemed.

54 · Presents Paul's three-part model of godly authority: (1) being under Christ's authority, (2) having Christ's affection for people, (3) personally following Christ's example

So Paul's showing us the solution. I'm going to go through this briefly, maybe I'll do a blog about this, but he does 3 things that are very unique. First, he recognizes that he is under Christ's authority.

He says— he refers to his teachings in Christ, meaning this isn't the teachings of Paul fundamentally, this is the teaching of Christ. So he's under authority, he's under the body of teaching from Christ himself. Second, he has the affection of Christ for them. So it's not just like, "You people need to shape up, argh!" you know, and then he doesn't— "I hate you people." That's not— that's the opposite of what Paul is doing.

"Listen to me because you're annoying me." That's the opposite of what he's doing. He calls them, even in this moment, Beloved, beloved. He has the affection of Christ for them. And third, he is a man who is following Christ himself, right? He's just shown his resume, "Man, I'm walking the cruciform path.

This is how I'm trying to follow Matthew 5 and 6 in the Sermon on the Mount. This is what I'm doing."

55 · Distills the fourth marker of Christian leadership—the authority to call others to imitate you comes from being under Christ's authority, loving with Christ's love, and walking Christ's path

And therefore he can say with a clear conscience, "Be imitators of me." Right, he uses his authority. He says, "Look, I'm under authority. I have the affection of Christ for you. I'm walking the path of Christ.

Follow me, guys. Follow me here." And I think that is what we're looking for. So secret number 4 is just this: call others to follow— real leaders call others to follow them as they follow Christ.

56 · Applies the authority principle first to followers—Christians should value and follow godly leaders rather than adopting the cultural posture of reflexive anti-authoritarianism

Now, this applies to us in a couple of ways. First, we're all under authority.

We're all under authority, whether you recognize it or not. And therefore, we should value and follow those who lead us on the path of Christ. Now, look, this is just my heart as a pastor here at the church. Man, I think we in many ways at Crossroads Grace have had a culture where we follow and we appreciate and follow godly Christian leaders. And I'm super grateful to have grown up in that culture.

Not with perfect leaders, but leaders who are trying to follow the path of Christ. And this is my heart, especially for sort of the millennial, Gen Z generation, that the predominant view is just reject all authority and distrust anyone in authority. And look, for good reason, sin has tainted completely authority in our world. But look, if we find and have, by God's grace, godly Christian leaders, Oh, man, those men and women should be held up and encouraged and followed.

I mean, we want to build a culture at Cross of Grace where godly Christian leadership is celebrated. And Paul says that's a good thing. "Follow me as I follow Christ." Now, Paul's not perfect, as he readily admits, but where he is following Christ, he can be so bold as to call people to follow him. And as our leaders are so bold as to call us to the same thing, we want to joyfully follow them as well.

57 · Applies the authority principle to those in positions of authority (parents, employers, etc

And then in authority, in various places and positions, God has entrusted us with authority. And so, we should seek to imitate Paul here. And I'm not saying you're an apostle, you are not an apostle, but there is, if I could say it this way, there is a godly way A mom and a dad can sit down with a 12-year-old and say, "Son, we love you, but God has put us in your life as your parents and you have to listen to us." Right? That's not an ungodly thing. In many ways, that's a good and godly thing. But we want to make, if we're in that position of authority, we're having that conversation that we make sure we're under authority, that we love them as Christ loves them, and that we're following Christ.

You don't want to call your kid, be like, "Stop being so angry!" Right? That's not helpful.

If we're given authority, we want to use it in a way that Paul would say, "Yep, that's what I'm talking about." And more importantly, in a way that Christ would say, "Yes, that's what I'm talking about."

58 · Returns to the Moneyball metaphor to synthesize the sermon—Christians must evaluate leaders by different metrics than the world uses, looking for servanthood, stewardship, gratitude, godly authority, and cruciform living

All right, so let me end with this. This is a call, church, to Christian Moneyball. When it comes to leadership. We do not wanna look for the kind of leaders the world is looking for. We wanna look for something different.

And we don't wanna strive to become the kind of leaders that are at the front of the line that the world's like, "Yeah, that's what I'm talking about." No, we're probably gonna be at the back of the line. Everyone else is looking at, are they confident? What's their net worth? Are they beautiful? They're just as blinded as the major league was looking at big swings and swagger and intangibles, but here's what we're looking for.

Are they servants? Are they stewards? Are they grateful and amazed? Do they rightly understand and use authority? Do they live a life that looks upside down according to the world, but right side up when you look at it through the cross?

59 · Applies Christian Moneyball to singles seeking marriage, urging them to prioritize character (servanthood, cruciformity) over conventional attractiveness metrics which fade with time

Two very quick applications here then. Yeah, I'm going to do it. Two quick applications. One, I'm going out on a limb, so just go with me here, okay? This is probably not where you think I'm going to go, but I'm going to go there anyway.

Application for singles looking for a spouse. You're like, "Whoa, okay." Brother and sister in Christ, if you are looking for a spouse, play Christian Moneyball. And here's what I mean by that. Everyone is looking for, are they tall? Are they hot?

Are they successful? Right? All that same stuff gets you lots of responses on your dating profile or whatever. I don't know how that stuff works, but you look— let me just encourage you— you look for, are they a servant? Are they accountable?

Are they living a cruciform life?

Look, and let me just— special word to— because we call men to be spiritual leaders in their homes, I think as Scripture calls us to do, let me just encourage single sisters in particular. You are looking for a godly man you can follow and that you respect. Not a guy who perfectly is compatible in all of your whatever dating matrix thing there. I'm not saying— you marry somebody that's just like the ugliest person you could find, but at least they're godly. I'm not saying that.

You got to be attracted to them, okay? So don't hear what I'm saying. But I am saying this. Let me just encourage you, play Christian Moneyball. Look for different things than the world looks for.

Because I— look, man, they're going to get old and wrinkled and not as fit, and they're going to get hurt. And there's going to be moments like with Jen and I where my back is so jacked up she's carrying me up the stairs.

Right? That's the reality. So, so many of these things that the world's looking for are gonna fade with time. Look for the things that won't fade.

60 · Addresses single men with a call to become the kind of cruciform leader worth following rather than merely shopping for a spouse based on preferences

And men, strive to become that. Look, if you're a single brother and you're like, "Well, I'm looking for a girl." Listen, stop talking about what you're looking for in a girl and try to become the kind of man that kind of girl wants to follow.

Somebody who's a servant, somebody who's accountable, somebody who lives a cruciform life.

61 · Addresses husbands and fathers who defend their leadership by worldly metrics (provision, presence, career success) when their families are struggling, diagnosing this as measuring by the wrong standards

Second application category is just to husbands and dads. Look, we encourage men to be spiritual leaders in their home as God has called them to be. And, look, this is what we're trying to build. Look, men— let me just see if I can say it this way.

Often we'll have men over the years come in and their family's a wreck. And what they will come in with in defense is, look, I provide for my family.

I'm there in the house in a way that my dad wasn't, okay? So I don't know what your big deal is. I don't know why my wife isn't just listening to me.

Or I just got a promotion at work, right? Often, this is just relatively common, guys will come in with, here's all the things I'm doing that are marks of success in the world and are, trying to show them and saying, "Well, look, my family should be going well. Look at this stuff." And what I want to lovingly say to you, brother, if you're there, is you're looking for the wrong things. You're cultivating the wrong things.

62 · Calls husbands and fathers to measure their leadership by the four markers from the sermon—servant, steward, cruciform life, godly authority—rather than by career titles and worldly achievements

Look, I think this passage would say, in a way, I want you to stop throwing around your job title and look at the title of servant and steward.

Would you qualify for that job? Are you known in your family, by your wife, by your kids, by those who have a window into your family life, as someone who's living a cruciform life and leading your family to live a crucified— cruciform life? Are you leading your family to bless when they're reviled, to endure when they're persecuted, to entreat when they're slandered? Are you doing it? This is what you're called to become.

That's what we're all called to become, and I place myself under this.

63 · Introduces the conclusion by promising a hopeful note about the apologetic power of cruciform leadership—it bears witness to the watching world

Now, let me end with one particularly hopeful thing. There is a benefit that goes beyond just what happens inside the church when we build these kind of leaders, because I think when we build this kind of leader, a Christlike leader, a leader that is successful according to the measures of the cross, it is unique and compelling to the world around us.

64 · Tells the story of his father serving as a peacemaker on a nonprofit board with no expectation of credit or reward, which created an opening to explain the gospel because his behavior was inexplicable apart from Christ

And one last story here is growing up, my dad served on a number of nonprofit boards. And at one point, I remember growing up that he spent a ton of time on the phone one weekend and maybe two weekends in a row.

And I finally was like, "Man, Dad, what are you on the phone so much? Why can't you, you know, hang out and play or whatever?" And I remember him just describing as much as I could, like, "Okay, son, look, I serve on this nonprofit board and there's a conflict among some of the people that could really hurt the nonprofit." the mission of the organization, and it's going to keep people from being helped in the city. And so I'm on the phone trying to help be a peacemaker. And then I asked him about it years later, and he said, yeah, I remember that. That was a lot of time on the phone.

But he recalled that one of the people he was trying to be a peacemaker with told him at one point, like, Joe, I don't know why you're doing this. I don't know why you care so much. And he basically said, "Look, I'm doing this because I care about the city and because I'm a Christian." And they basically, I think if I remember right, they even said something like, "If this works, you won't even get any credit for it." Because they're just thinking, "Why are you doing this? You're trying to, aren't you trying to get up to the front of the line?" And he just said, "No, I'm a Christian." And he described what it meant to be a Christian for him. And he had an opportunity then to describe what it means to follow Christ and what it means to be a Christian to somebody that probably wouldn't have gotten a chance to hear the gospel otherwise.

65 · Concludes by calling the church to embrace the strangeness of cruciform living as an evangelistic witness that draws attention to Christ

And so, let me encourage you, brothers and sisters, this is countercultural, but this is intriguing and beautiful in the world around us. And may we be as intriguing and strange as the gospel would call us to be, that attention might be drawn to Jesus Christ. Amen. Would you stand up and let's pray?

66 · Closing prayer addressing those convicted by the sermon, reminding them that reconciliation comes through the cross rather than self-improvement, then praying for the church to build a culture that celebrates cruciform leadership

Oh Lord, we pray that, that you would write these things in our hearts, Lord.

Lord, in this moment as well, I just feel a prompting, perhaps from your Spirit, to pray for a particular group that as we've been going through this, they were just convicted that maybe the way that they've been at home or at work is not the way that the way you'd call them to be. So, I just want to pray for them.

Lord, may you remind them that the way that they get right with you, the way to get right with God, is not to go out and become a good leader and then come back and reapply. But rather, because of the cross, you've already spoken the word of forgiveness over us. If we've repented, you've already spoken the word of reconciliation over us. For us. So in this moment, as they come to you and just confess, "Lord, here's the ways I've fallen short here," Lord, may they see the Father with his arms open wide running to re-embrace them, as it were.

I pray that they would not trust in doing more and trying harder to get right with you, but remember that through the cross we've already been made right with you for everyone who is in Christ. And, Lord, I pray that we as a church. Lord, may we be a church that looks for different things in what it means to be a quote-unquote successful leader than the world around us. I pray that we would feel and be upside down according to the world around us. I pray that we would build a culture at Cross of Grace where we love and celebrate the kids ministry teacher who works a long week and then spends time seeking to help kids on the weekend.

I pray that we would cheer for the hospitality team leader who's serving behind the scenes that nobody ever even knows that they're in charge. Lord, I pray that we would be people that, that love and are thankful for the mothers and fathers in the faith that we sit across from that instruct us and that, that they may not even say, follow me as I follow Christ, but man, we are following them. May we May we celebrate them. May we thank them. May we pray for them.

May we be a place that loves and encourages and holds them up for those many cups of— conversations over cups of coffee or late-night talks on the phone. And that we would look more and more and more as a church like you as we follow the path of Christ. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.