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Good leaders hold themselves—at a minimum—to the same standard for the rest of their team. But the best leaders hold themselves to an even higher standard.
Check out this humorous story that makes this point so clear.
Check out this full conversation Greg and I had on an episode of The Craig and Greg Show called “Be honest with yourself.”
Look at the profound humility of John! His birth was foretold by an angel, his ministry was so powerful that people wondered if he was the Messiah or possibly Elijah, yet he never let all these accolades go to his head.Â
“I am such a lowly servant of Jesus that I don’t even have the right to take off His sandals.”Â
As C.S. Lewis said, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s think of yourself less.” John was too focused on making sure people saw Jesus that he had no time to think about himself.Â
Jesus said John was the greatest of the prophets (Matthew 11:11; Luke 7:28). The applause of the world means nothing. All that matters is the applause from nail-scarred hands, and the voice of the Master saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.Â
I’d like to tell you about a book that I think is an absolute must-read for those in church leadership. Check out my interview with Karl Vaters, the author of De-Sizing The Church, on this episode of The Podcast.
We need to be careful of overlooking details we think might be insignificant because we can easily think that our small lives are somehow insignificant. They are not! As Tom Kaastra reminded us last week, we are here on purpose and for a purpose; our lives are eternally significant.
Immediately after His resurrection, the followers of Jesus struggled to wrap their minds around what they had just experienced. Just before His ascension, Jesus explained to them both what had happened already, and what was about to happen (Luke 24:44-49).
Jesus said He had already fulfilled the promised about His crucifixion and resurrection. Luke writes that Jesus “opened their minds so they could understand” (v. 45).
Notice two important things:
The Spirit of Jesus—the Holy Spirit—opens minds
He opens minds to grasp the truth in Scripture
Jesus also says that we are still fulfilling the “what is written” (v. 46) in the the proclamation of the death and resurrection of Jesus. We are fulfilling the prophecy that says the message of Jesus will be preached everywhere to all peoples, so that they also can receive the forgiveness Jesus paid for and repent of their Godless ways.
Who opens minds? The Holy Spirit.
What does the Spirit use as a catalyst to open minds? Our witness.
A witness is a truth-teller, who tells their firsthand story and who amplifies their verbal testimony by their Christ-honoring lifestyle. Jesus used two phrases to remind us that witnessing is not something we do, but it is who we are:
you ARE witnesses (Luke 24:48)
you will BE My witnesses (Acts 1:8)
Holy Spirit-baptized Christians are empowered to take Jesus to every street. God has strategically and purposefully placed us on our “streets” to proclaim our witness. From Easy Street to Skid Row, and everywhere in between, we are to fulfill the prophecy of proclaiming this good news to all nations (see 1 Corinthians 9:20-22).
The Holy Spirit opens minds closed to God. He uses our witness as the catalyst for people to repent from their sin and receive the forgiveness that Jesus made available.
The devil wants us to remember what we’ve done or what we still need to do, but Jesus wants us to remember what He has already done. There is a huge difference! Check out this whole message here. I have lots of new content every week, which you can check out on my YouTube channel.
“The most likely man to go to hell is the man who has nothing to do on earth. Idle people tempt the devil to tempt them.” —Charles Spurgeon
“What were we made for? To know God. What aim should we have in life? To know God. What is the eternal life that Jesus gives? To know God. What is the best thing in life? To know God. What in humans gives God most pleasure? Knowledge of Himself.” —J.I. Packer
We can learn childlike faith by simply watching and listening to how young children interact with their loving parents. This video is a clip from one of the message in our series called Kingdom Praying.
Technological advancements abound all around us. How are Christians supposed to interact with technology: embrace it? ignore it? This is a thoughtful message to give us a biblical paradigm for our daily use of technology.Â
“We must quit bending the Word to suit our situation. It is we who must be bent to that Word, our necks that must bow under the yoke.” —Elizabeth Elliot
“The things you pray about are the things you trust God to handle. The things you neglect to pray about are the things you trust you can handle on your own.” —H.B. CharlesÂ
“Learning to pray doesn’t offer us a less busy life; it offers us a less busy heart.” —Paul Miller
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Honesty is a vital part of a successful organization, something that every good leader is well aware of. However, when was the last time you asked the question, “Am I being honest with myself?” In this episode, Greg and I unpack how honest self-reflection is a powerful tool to help improve your leadership.
[0:14] A challenging quote to kick off this episode.Â
[1:14] My breakthrough moment regarding my own self-assessment.
[3:37] What’s the difference between who I think I am and who I really am?
[6:00] We all operate with certain assumptions about ourselves.
[7:37] We share some good and bad experiences with interactions we have observed from other leaders.
[10:27] Leaders need to hold themselves to the same standards as the rest of their team.
[13:47] Why do leaders hesitate to self-evaluate?
[15:19] How do leaders create a safe environment to self-evaluate?
[18:45] Greg sends us down a rabbit trail!
[19:53] What does leadership integrity look like?
[22:17] Leaders need to know what their tendencies are.
Check out this episode and subscribe on YouTube so you can watch all of the upcoming episodes. You can also listen to our podcast on Spotify and Apple.
Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.Â
The Gospel of John introduces John the baptizer to us like this, “He himself was not the Light; he came only as a witness to the Light” (John 1:8).Â
John had a similar birth announcement as Jesus had (Luke 1:11-14, 28-33)Â
John’s birth prompted a Holy Spirit-inspired song from his father that resonates with Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55, 68-70)Â
The early years of John are described in much the same terms as how Luke describes the early years of Jesus (Luke 1:80, 2:52)Â
John quoted Scripture and taught with very similar authority as Jesus did (Matthew 3:1-12; Luke 3:1-19)Â
Yet for all their similarities, John knew that he was only a herald of Jesus (John 1:19-27).Â
John was not the Light—he was only a witness to the Light.
I am not the Light—I am only a witness to the Light.Â
You may think that this statement is pretty obvious, and I did too. But as I read these words from John 1:8 again, it caused me to reevaluate just how much I really believe this.Â
Do I remember this when no one compliments my sermon? Do I remember this when what I thought was an insightful comment on a verse of Scripture gets hardly any “likes” on my social media channels? Do I remember this when I am complemented and my posts are appreciated?Â
Who exactly am I trying to make look good: me or Jesus?
I want John’s desire to become my desire and my prayer: “Jesus must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).Â
Just before Jesus ascended to Heaven, He told His followers that they would have the joyful responsibility of taking the good news of forgiveness and eternal life to all the highways and byways of every nation. Later on, Paul would get more specific about all of the groups to which he was taking the message of Jesus (see Luke 24:46-47; 1 Corinthians 9:20-22).
That commission is still in effect for Christians today: We are to share the gospel with everyone—from easy street to skid row, from Wall Street to Main Street, and every street in between.
The streets on which you live and work are different from the streets where I travel. In fact, all of us live on different streets, but everyone we meet on every street needs to hear about Jesus. In this new series of messages, we are going to learn how the Holy Spirit can help us be ready to take Jesus to those on each street where God sends us.
I hope you can join me at Calvary Assembly of God for this highly practical series of messages. If you missed any of the messages, you can find them all here:
My friend Tom Kaastra shared an encouraging message to our Calvary Assembly of God family today.
Tom linked together the doxology in Ephesians 3 and the prayer in Ephesians 1, noting that the key word in both passages is power. He also reminded us that this is power in the present tense, so the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is the power that is at work in you and me right now.
This is power for us to work “far more abundantly” purposefully than we typically imagine. God’s power at work in us is so much more than we even dream of. Tom pointed out that Paul prays for the “eyes of your heart” to be opened. In other words, Paul wants us to have an experiential knowledge of God’s work in and through us.
Have you ever wondered why you’re here, and not in heaven? You’re not there because God needs you here. He has a purpose for you right here and right now!
Craig T. Owens 