Nor Cal / Nev College Ministries

Living Wisely

"We seem not to live long enough to take our lives seriously." George Bernard Shaw

No one can say of us that we are not busy people. We continually fill our lives with activity and flurry, so much so that phrases such as "no time today", "I'm really busy", "Boy, I'm tired", and "maybe later" seem ubiquitous to our vocabulary.

Now, being busy is no sin. But the tragedy which often snares so many is that we have such fuzzy, nebulous understandings of why we're going so hard (let alone knowing where all this hustle and bustle is taking us). It is truly a sad commentary that some people can live their entire lives, and can certainly point to many accomplishments, but still not have the slightest idea why they lived as they did. Was what they were living for worth it?

A fallout of our highly technological society is a lamentable loss in meaning to life and the dignity of the human person. We tend to feel of little value, and that we have little impact on our world. For, "Who am I against such large problems in such an immense world?"

What is even more tragic is seeing Christians who have the "upward call in Christ Jesus", who are urged "to live a life worthy of the calling you have received", that are living such shallow lives and totally caught up in the world's race to nowhere.

Paul admonishes us, "Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15,16).

How, then, do Christians live wisely? We must learn to dream. We need to become visionaries! We need to establish for ourselves biblical purposes (what we are to be), and from these purpose statements build Godly goals (what we are to do), and then see that our actual priorities (our lifestyle as it is actually lived out) reflect these purposes and goals.

Having dreamed, we then must become steadfastly dedicated to these Christ-centered directions. It is only through dedication and commitment to the purposes and plans of Christ that our life will find real and lasting significance.

Distinctives of a Dedicated Life

A. Essential characteristics of the dedicated person include idealism, zeal, devotion, and the willingness to sacrifice to achieve ideals. Not only is it important to have dreams worth living for, but we also need a cause that is worth dying for.

B. Dedication is contagious. Associating with a dedicated person will breed dedication in you. Being dedicated is a norm setter. It determines the behavior of those associated with it.

C. Being dedicated sets you apart from the rest of the world. Cne writer calls us to be 100 percenters in a world of 50 percenters.

D. A dedicated person does not fear making mistakes as much as they fear making the same mistake again. They will learn from their mistakes.

E. "...... if you make mean little demands upon people, you will get a mean little response which is all you deserve, but, if you make big demands on them, you will get a heroic response...work on the assumption that if you call for big sacrifices people will respond to this and, moreover, the relatively smaller sacrifices will come quite naturally." Douglas Hyde, Dedication and Leadership, p.18.

F. The dedicated person will postpone immediate satisfaction or gratification for the achieving of more important longer-ranged goals. Self-discipline will continue to win over impulsiveness.

Distinguishing Marks of Discipling Leadership

A leader is primarily an agent for change. often we think of leaders as aggressive activists, people who are bold in personality, articulate in speech and pleasant in appearance. We often assume leaders are born. While these characteristics can be very helpful for leadership, an essential ingredient for a leader is one who has the ability to see a need, develop a goal, and finally, put a plan into motion to move toward that goal. This describes a discipler: a person with Godly vision coupled with faith, who will take action. The following underscore the distinguishing marks of discipling leadership:

A. The process of making a person into a leader is the development of an integrated person. These are "ones who understand what they believe, are deeply dedicated to it, and who try unceasingly to relate their beliefs to every facet of their own lives and to the society in which they live." Dedication and Leadership, p. 157.

B. Leadership is learned not inbred.

C. A discipling leader is a thermostat rather than a thermometer. They bring influence to their environment rather than just conforming to the climate of their environment.

D. Discipling leaders are ones who strive for excellence in all that they do. They attempt, with all the resources within them, to become the best that they can become no matter what the situation. Whether that be the best engineer, bricklayer, musician, social worker, or pastor. "Best" needs to be redefined. First, it must be seen as the best that we can do having realistically evaluated our resources-time, money, energy, expertise, and gifting. Then we must determine what expenditure of resources we can give. And finally, we must do our best, given that specific situation.

Natural and Spiritual Leadership

J. Oswald Sanders, in his book Spiritual Leadership, makes a distinction between God-given natural leadership and spiritual leadership. The spiri-tual leader influences others not by the power of their own personality, but by the personality penetrated and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Some common distinctions between natural and spiritual leadership would include:

Spiritual leadership comes by way of the Holy Spirit and is something that we should earnestly seek and pray for. It is developed in us by God and is not just innate within us.

The Cost of Leadership

"No one need aspire to leadership in the work of God who is not prepared to pay a price greater than his contemporaries and colleagues are willing to pay. True leadership always exacts a heavy toll on the whole man, and the more effective the leadership is, the higher the price to be paid." J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership, 104.

A. Self-sacrifice: A price which must be paid every day. Paul was a supreme example of self-sacrifice. 2 Cor. 4:8-11.

B. Loneliness: A discipler is a believer committed to personal growth in the Lord. A growing person often feels shoved to the head of the pack. Though he may be the friendliest of people, there are times when he will tread a lonely path. 2 Timothy 1:15.

C. Fatigue: The ever increasing demands made on a discipler can drain the emotional energy and wear down the most robust physique. 2 Cor. 4:15,16.

D. Criticism: No leader is exempt from criticism, and his humility will nowhere be seen more clearly than in the manner in which he accepts and reacts to it. I Cor. 4:3-5.

E. Time to think: A price paid by disciplers is the time that must be taken for creative thinking and meditation. We do not often think of this as a price to pay, but it is. Most people are too busy to take time to really think. Mark 6:31.

F. Making hard decisions: All disciplers must be willing to face difficulties. The fear of challenging or correcting those that we love is sometimes a wearisome burden, but nonetheless a necessity. Acts 15:3641.

Pitfalls in Discipling Leadership

A. Pride: The temptation of self-congratulations is ever before the discipler (especially the t:ruly effective one), and we must remember that nothing is more distasteful to the Lord than self-conceit. It is the first and most fundamental of the sins.

B. Jealousy: A jealous person is apprehensive and suspicious of rivals. Some rivals can become our fellow disciplers. Jealousy destroys the bonds between friends.

C. Infallibility: The spiritual man must always remember that he is still of the flesh and fallible. We will make mistakes. One who knows God will be called upon often to assist in hearing God. The discipler's judgement is then always on the line. We must admit it when we are wrong, and must humbly concede our inadequacies.

D. Elation and Depression: In every work for God there are inevitably times of discouragement and frustration as well as days of uplift and achieve ment. The discipler is in peril of being unduly depressed by the one, and unduly elated by the other.

Conclusion

As we stated in the introduction, the effective discipler is one who thinks clearly along the lines of purposes, goals and priorities. The following article by Ted Engstrom will be quite helpful in determining how to establish Goals That Mobilize us.