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The Rhythm of Following and Leading 0:00 How's it going, men of God? Welcome to the men's global livestream. I'm Dusty Davis, and I wanna welcome you into week 2, of our series Push and Pull, where we've been unpacking0:12 the tensions that we live in as God's man following after Jesus Christ, when we have 2 callings that seem to be at odds with 1 another. And if you missed our first session,0:24 I encourage you to go back and give it a listen. You know, last time we talked about the rhythm of being and doing. How you and I are to be so filled up with God's truth and his power that we can't help0:36 ourselves. But expressing that, but going out, that our doing would flow out of our being, according to Philippians 2 13. For God is working in0:47 us, giving us the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Now this week, we're gonna jump into the rhythms of following and leading. What it looks like And I know that0:59 leadership is a big topic. That leadership and mentors, and following and submitting, and humility, these are huge,1:11 seemingly opposite topics. And they bring up a lot of emotions inside of us based on our life experiences. Based on the good leaders we've sat under or the bad leaders we've sat under. The good experiences we've had1:23 leading others or the challenge that that can be. And if I was your enemy, I would try to convince you to stay on the sidelines, both in leading and in following. I'd try to convince you1:35 that you don't need to be led. That you've already got this. Or that you're too young and inexperienced to lead, and you've got nothing to offer the people in your life. I try to convince you1:46 to kick that rock down the road and believe the lie that leadership is something you'll be qualified for someday, but but certainly not right now. Or I'd want you to think that, man, the1:58 most important thing is to trust yourself, really better yourself so that you're qualified in your own power to go out and lead. But guys, as I started to pray into this session, immediately2:10 something came into my mind. Superheroes. Now it could be because I've got an overly active imagination, or it could be because I've got this deep desire to be used powerfully by God to build2:22 his supernatural kingdom, but the story of superheroes has just always resonated with me. I've always been in. But you guys ever noticed that in any of the good superhero stories,2:34 any of the real and true superheroes, they never got to their full potential in a vacuum. There was always a mentor. There was always a shepherd, a wise sage. Now whether it was2:46 an aged English butler, a gray wizard, some wise half human sage, all of the superheroes that go the distance, they were all mentored2:58 first. They all had developed the habits and the lifestyles of following. And why is that? Because you and I cannot lead people into places that we've never been.3:11 We can't take people to places that we ourselves haven't been. In order to lead, we have to first be willing to follow. Guys, if we want to be used powerfully by3:23 God, if you and I want to lead others towards him, then we have to submit ourselves to the discipline and the rhythm of following. The good shepherd.3:34 We have to, in humility, become followers of Jesus. Now it's funny, because in our culture, the term follower is so often used in a derogatory sense. To call someone a follower3:47 is to eliminate their originality. It's to question their own ability. As a guy, it's to downright challenge his masculinity. It's to call them a lemming. Unoriginal.3:59 Afraid. Why is that? Guys, because our culture worships self. The individual is king in our4:11 culture. We have placed ourselves at the very center of the universe. We love lifting up and praising the individual. We're obsessed with ourselves.4:22 Guys, this past weekend, I opened the newspaper. Yeah, I still get the newspaper at my house. I know. I open the newspaper, all the colleges, local colleges are graduating right now. Right4:34 there on the front page. Huge, full color picture of probably 15 to 20 college graduates, and every single 1 of them was taking a picture4:47 of themselves. I mean, the selfie, the peak of our self obsession. But guys, this goes way beyond taking photos of ourselves. We even read God's word as4:58 if we are the center and focal point of all of it. We love seeing individuals rise up and overcome. And the most celebrated of successes in our culture today is to5:10 do something yourself. To do it yourself. Guys, I remember when my kids were young, they would undertake something that was way beyond them. A task that5:22 was years beyond their knowledge or ability. And as I lovingly tried to help, they'd slap my hand away, and they would shout, no. I can do it myself.5:34 I can do it myself. Here's the problem. You and me, we do the very same thing in our lives. Whether it's something as trivial as fumbling around a store instead of just5:46 asking where something is, or driving circles around a town that our passengers have been to before because we're too proud to stop and ask for directions?5:58 Or maybe it's watching as the addictions in our life to pornography and alcohol and workaholism destroy us in isolation because we're too proud to ask6:10 for help. Or we believe that we have the answer, that the secret lies within us. That all we need is more self reliance, self confidence to manifest our best future. We need6:22 more of us, yet God's word challenges this type of thinking. Think of Proverbs 3, 5 through 6. Trust in the Lord with all your6:34 heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. Do not trust your own understanding. Don't trust yourself, is what the scripture is telling6:46 you and I. But our world believes the lie, that the answers lie within. Trust your own voice. Trust your heart, our world would tell you. Seriously? Jeremiah6:58 17 9 reminds me that the human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?7:10 That's what I'm supposed to trust. That's what I'm supposed to follow? Guys, this type of self confidence, that's unwilling to submit to Jesus7:22 and follow him, displays arrogance and ignorance. We are called not to depend on our own understanding, but to trust in the Lord, and that7:34 he is the 1 who will then make our path straight, following him, not following ourselves. Guys, this is would be the same, experience as if you and I were in a place that the entire7:46 car full of our buddies had all been to, and yet we just putts around lost, unwilling to ask any of them, who have already been there where it is that we should go? Hey guys, we laugh about that7:58 experience that we've all had in our travels, but it's so detrimental in our lives when we're unwilling to follow. Psalm 1 19 1 0 5 says this about how8:10 you and I are to follow Jesus. It says, Lord, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. His word is the lamp. But guys, I live as8:22 though my pride or my own opinions or my own abilities or passions or desires, those are the lamps that I should follow. And I become my own guide. But look at everything that that text right there in8:34 Psalm 119 reveals to us. Right? To how and to who we are called to follow. Look, it doesn't say that God's light exposes our entire future, lights up the8:46 path for miles down the road, so so that we can just run on ahead and stop following. The Lord says intentionally, I'm gonna reveal small steps to8:57 you, the next right decision, because I wanna walk with you. I want you to follow me at a pace that's going to give you life, as opposed to the pace our culture9:09 runs at. Guys, I want you to keep in step with me, the Lord says. I want you to live according to my word and my desires, not your own. I want you to experience the slow and humble9:21 pace of following after me, says our good shepherd. Galatians 5 16 encourages this, to walk by the spirit, and then what? And then we won't gratify the desires of our flesh.9:33 Follow, trust God's spirit, doubt your own desires. How counter cultural is that? Guys, following begins with humility,9:44 recognizing that the lone wolf Christian is a myth. We need to be led. We need to be mentored. Just like the young superhero we started off talking about. God, God9:56 put it this way, in Genesis 2 18. It is not good for the man to be alone. Now he was talking about giving Adam his bride, Eve. But the truth remains. We're not good alone.10:08 Look at Ecclesiastes 4 10. You and I are called to pity the man who falls without another there to pick him up. Or as Kenny Lux so often says, isolation10:21 kills. Connection conquers. Here's a real problem, guys. Our culture in all of this is standing on the sidelines, cheering us10:33 on to go it alone. They want us to go it alone, in every area of our lives, and it feels so right. Proverbs10:44 14 12 says this about things that feel right, there's a path before each person that feels or seems right, but in the end, it leads to death. Going it alone seems so10:56 right. Avoiding anything that feels like following feels good to my sinful nature. But it leads to death. In our culture, guys, it's just rampant. We worship the Marlboro man, who11:08 roams the wilds alone. We elevate the success of the self made man. We look down on those who are born with silver spoons in their mouth. I want to read the story of the guy who did it11:19 himself. Guys, our culture's been spewing this lie to us since the very beginning. That to follow is to show weakness. That God's holding out on us. It's the same lie the enemy whispered at him and11:31 even the garden. Right? Did God really say you'd die? Can you really follow after him? Shouldn't you trust your own heart? But guys, God's men are called to be followers.11:44 And look at how beautiful it is. Matthew 4 19. Short, incredible, look at the invitation from our good shepherd. Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.11:56 Jesus gives this simple and clear invitation to follow him. Not simply believe, not simply agree with, not just to check the Christian box on your hospital12:08 intake form. He's saying, you guys need to go where I'm going. You need to do as I do. Follow me. And then look at this promise, follow me and I will make12:19 you. I will do new things in you. As you follow after Jesus, brothers, he will do incredible things in you, and we will no longer be12:31 self made men. We're gonna become Jesus made men. As we follow after him, and he makes us new, he gives us new purpose, he gives us new vision, he12:43 gives us new desires. Look at Ezekiel 36, verse 26. God says, I'll give you a new heart. I'll put a new spirit within you. I'll remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I'll put12:55 my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. God's man begins this whole conversation around following and leading by following13:07 Jesus and allowing him to make us fishers of men. But guys, let's also recognize that God has put good and godly men in our lives that13:19 we might also follow them as they follow Jesus. The gift of mentors, the gift of leaders who have gone before us. I praise God for the people he's put in my life. I13:31 shared with you last session, God placed Kenny Luck intentionally in my life 20 years ago. He's been a brother. He's been a mentor. For the last 20 years. I praise13:43 God that he created in me enough humility to latch on to men like that, and follow them as they followed Jesus. But guys, here's the whole point. Okay? Your life and my13:54 life is not gonna be divided perfectly into BC and AD when it comes to following and leading. We're not gonna finish our season of followership and then say, perfect. Now14:06 it's time for me to become a leader. That's the push and pull of this week. That's the tension. How do we live in a rhythm where we are followers and leaders at the same time?14:19 In order to do that guys, we're going to look at a beautiful relationship of following and leading in the scripture, the story of Moses and Joshua. Now, Moses was single handedly leading the people of14:30 Israel. This is a lot of people wandering about in the desert on their way to the promised land. And it was a mess. It was a mess. Because Moses tried to do everything himself. They tried to do it all14:42 himself. He tried to hear every case, settle every dispute. Well, at least originally. In Exodus 18, verses 17 and 18, God sends him a mentor. He sends him some14:54 wisdom. He sends him the first organizational management consultant, his father-in-law, Jethro. Jethro says, what you're doing is not good. He will certainly15:06 wear out both yourself and these people who are with you. Because the task is too heavy for you. Praise God for a Godly father-in-law. I myself am15:18 similarly gifted. My father-in-law, Alan, is an incredible man of God, who's spoken similar wisdom to me throughout my life. Guys, the work of the kingdom is far too great15:30 for us to go it alone. We must replicate leaders who will multiply the kingdom effort in our lives. In humility, Moses recognized this. He15:42 recognizes he needed help. And he needed to start to pour into other men who would grow to lead the people.15:54 Moses recognized that his calling was to develop leaders. We see him first start to intentionally select Joshua in Exodus chapter 17. Verses 8 through 16,16:06 Joshua has chosen to lead the Israelite army in their battle against the Amalekites. And this was the beginning of a pattern of empowerment. Where Moses gave him16:17 authority, gave him responsibility, and then he didn't take it back. Guys, this is something that good leaders do. If you and I want to be a good leader, we need to recognize that good leaders empower, and then they16:27 don't remove that power. They trust. They slowly entrust more and more and more, as we saw Moses doing with Joshua. Moses brought Joshua up to the mountain with him, when he received the 1016:39 Commandments, in Exodus 23, verse 13. When Moses smashed the tablets, Joshua was right there. Joshua was the witness to the special communion that16:51 Moses shared with the Lord in the tent of meeting in Exodus chapter 33. Moses just invited Joshua into his life to pour into him. That's what real mentorship looks like. That's what truly17:02 leading is. It's not a part time gig. It's sharing your life with another. Moses showed incredible provision for the people of Israel in the way that he17:14 intentionally prepared their next leader. You know why? Moses recognized the temporary nature of his life and responsibility before the Lord.17:27 He understood, guys, 1 of the core drivers that you and I need to understand if we're ever gonna be used to produce good and godly leaders. And that's this. The primary job of the current generation17:40 is to prepare the next. To make sure the next generation is ready to build the kingdom of God. How about this? Moses wasn't the only example we find in scripture of17:52 someone pouring their life into others. We see the same behavior in Jesus Christ himself. Jesus poured into 12 men who then turned the world upside18:04 down. And for the past 20 centuries, the work has continued. Jesus said it point blank, guys, in John 14 12. How about this coming from your leader? I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do18:16 the same works I've done, and even greater works. Because I'm going to be with the Father. Guys, this would have been a game changer for the way the disciples viewed their leader, Jesus, and what18:28 his primary mission was. He was their superhero. They were following him. And now he's saying, oh, by the way boys, you're gonna do greater things than I am. What?18:41 When Jesus was with his disciples, guys, his primary focus was not only on the work in front of him. It was on what they were going to do when he was18:52 gone. Jesus was absolutely the hero of this world. When he took our sins upon himself. But his primary goal with his disciples19:04 was to prepare them. Do you know in the great commission when we're called to go and make disciples, it's actually a present progressive verb? It means go make disciples who make disciples who make disciples and on and19:15 on and on until Jesus comes back. He was saying go make disciple makers. Don't just be a mentor and a leader, go create leader creators. Go create19:27 mentors who mentor. The machine can't ever stop, boys. The focus was not just on leading people to truth, but leading people to truth in such a way that they would go lead others to truth who would lead19:39 others to truth. And so the ultimate goal of discipleship is to create disciple makers, generational disciples. Guys, the same19:51 thing's true of us. The true legacy of God's man is really the legacy of the men he influences. To watch generations of disciple makers, hero makers,20:03 pouring into their kids, so that their kids are filled up, so they pour into their kids who are filled up, and on and on. The best leader produces leader makers. Look at Jesus himself,20:15 guys. His work on the cross brought salvation to all of mankind, but scripture is so clear about what he did with his life. He spent 75 percent of his time pouring into these20:27 12 dudes. Why? Because Jesus recognized that it was his disciples who were gonna take the good news of salvation around planet Earth. It was about20:38 what they were gonna do when he was gone. And so, this is how he spent his time. Pouring into these men. Growing them up and founding them in his truth. Encouraging them, challenging them, entrusting things to20:50 them. That they would then become men who were bold enough and anchored enough in God's truth to move out and make him known. Followers who would 1 day become leaders.21:02 And I think that's the heart that God has for us as we shift to talking about leadership. Right? Just like Jesus perfectly balanced following and leading, completely submitted to the will of the Father,21:14 following him even unto his own death, and then leading those behind him. Guys, so we must do the same things.21:27 But how? Well, here's just a couple ways that you and I are gonna step into this God sized call for us to lead. Number 1, I recognize that I can't give away what I don't have.21:39 Like we said before, being a good follower is what qualifies us to lead. You can only lead others to the extent that you're following after Jesus. Just like we discussed in the very beginning,21:51 guys, our followership to Christ is really what prepares you and I to be leaders of other people. Moses was prepared to lead Joshua, because Moses had been led by God Almighty.22:03 He had submitted himself, he had been taught, and that's what qualified him to lead. It was his following that equipped him to be a leader. So number 1, I22:15 recognize I can't give away what I don't have. Number 2, in humility and trust in God's provision, I recognize I am equipped. This is 1 of the number 1 places the enemy stops good leaders before they22:26 start. He tells them, you've got nothing to offer, and you cannot do this on your own. But I'm supposed to give away the stuff that I have, guys. Mentoring or leading another22:38 brother in Christ is not about expressing my own perfection, giving them all of my sage wisdom. It's just about giving away the things that I've received. It's like22:50 the blind man, when they asked him, what happened to you? And he said, I don't know. I spent some time with this Jesus dude, and he changed everything. Right? Matthew 10 8 reminds you and I, freely you have received, it23:01 says. So freely give. Offer back to others the experiences that you've had with God the Father. And trust that God will provide everything that you and I need. Let's boldly23:13 recognize that apart from him we can do nothing, but in him we can do all things. Let's trust in that. Second Peter 1 3 says, by his divine power and righteousness, he's given us23:25 everything we need for life and godliness. That includes everything you need to lead the people in your lives. In humility, let's recognize guys, we might not have23:36 everything figured out. But the things that God's revealed to us, we give those away. We start to give those away, 1 man at a time. We start to pass it on.23:49 Number 3, in our desire to be good and godly leaders, let's recognize who's God has placed inside our circles of influence. When we wonder who is it that you want me to lead,24:01 Lord? We don't always have to look out there. Most often the people that God wants you to lead are standing right next to you. Fathers, your answer's obvious. Your24:13 discipleship begins in your own home with the kids God's entrusted to you. Grandpas, same story. Uncles, brothers. Now, the people that God has entrusted to24:24 you might come from within your family. Or they might come from your office, or your gym, or the lineups where you serve, or the trails where you mountain bike, or your neighborhood, or your extended24:36 family. But trust that God has placed people in your life, not by accident, but by His divine purposes. Go after them. Serve24:48 them by leading them. Number 4, recognize that intentionality, not intensity, is the key. What do I mean? Am I25:00 trying to say that your relationship is supposed to be devoid of passion? No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying you don't have sit these people down and just dress them down with scripture every time they make a25:11 mistake, or feed them with the spiritual fire hose every time you talk. Make intentional conversations about the Lord a part of the rhythm,25:23 the natural rhythm. Right? Bring the supernatural into the natural. Look at this encouragement in Deuteronomy, 1 of my favorite passages of scripture. Deuteronomy chapter 11 verse 18 and 19, part25:35 of the Shema prayer. It says, Commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands. Wear them on your foreheads as reminders. Teach them to your children. And then it tells just how. Talk about25:47 them when you're at home, when you're on the road, when you're going to bed, when you're getting up. My dad made conversations about Jesus such a natural part of our lives. He'd see something in the sky and25:59 say, Isn't it incredible how God causes the colors to work together like this? He was a science minded guy, and so he was constantly drawing the truth of the scripture out of the things that we would see in nature or26:09 inside of our own bodies. Isn't our great God incredible, how he created our immune systems? And so on and so forth. My dad was always having intentional conversations about our father. And I didn't even recognize what26:21 was going on. Guys, we gotta recognize that the process of equipping and leading is always happening. It's not just when we sit down to formally teach.26:34 And guys, lastly, let's recognize that leadership is a temporary assignment. This might be the most important truth for us as we start to move out26:45 urgently for the kingdom. The clock is ticking. The window of influence that we have, the amount of time we have with the guys that God's put in our life, that clock is is ticking. Guys, Moses only had a season to sit26:57 with Joshua and prepare him. But Moses understood that, so he devoted himself intentionally to leading Joshua. Dads, grandpas, coaches, bosses, friends,27:10 the young men around you will not be there forever. Seize the opportunity. Guys, so look, the mentorship of Jesus Christ, we saw him take 12 knuckleheads and spread the good news27:22 around the planet. That's a pretty good return. And then we saw the intentional equipping and empowering that Joshua received at the hands of Moses, and he was then able to lead God's people into the27:34 promised land. But what happened to Joshua? What happened to the disciple making machine? What did he choose? Who did he pass it on to? There is no record27:45 of Joshua investing in anyone. No intentional development of others. We don't see him pouring himself into the next leader. He did not multiply27:57 himself in order to serve the future generations, and it took 1 generation for the people to stop following the Lord. Let that28:09 sink in. Judges chapter 2, verses 8 and 10. Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110. That whole generation was also28:21 gathered to their ancestors. After them, another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works he had done for Israel. The momentum28:32 stopped. The people all began to do what was right in their own eyes and they were lost. Why? Why didn't Joshua lead? Was he short sighted or selfish? Was28:44 he afraid or unwilling? Did he not think he had anything to give away? Was he too focused on his own to do list that he didn't lift his eyes up to think about the generation? We don't know specifically. But whatever the28:55 reason, the impact of his life is undeniable. So what story will your life tell? Will you be like Moses or Joshua?29:08 Will you follow after Jesus in such a way that you turn around and pass it on? Will you give yourself away to make others and future generations great? Will you step into the lives of the men that God has29:20 surrounded you with? Will you recognize that you're never gonna leave people beyond where you've been led by Jesus? Will you hand the next generation new, strong,29:33 faith filled men to lead them? Or like Joshua, will you just turn them over to themselves? When my oldest son, Caden, and I were in Israel, we got a chance, in the Old Kingdom to29:45 walk through, it's called Hezekiah's Tunnel, right? And it's insane. It's awesome. It's literally carved through stone and it delivers water into the old city of David. And the whole time you're walking,29:56 the roof is getting super low sometimes and it squeezes the heck out of you to where your backpack almost gets stuck and you're in knee deep water for most of it. But listen to this. Here's the thing. Everybody30:08 in the line has a role to play. 1 towards the other. Because the guy in front of you is leading you, and he's giving you information. Low ceiling.30:20 Hey, the water's getting deep. It's getting tight up here, guys. Turn your bags sideways. The people in front of us are stopping, and then you're expected in humility to receive and turn30:32 around and pass it on. That the guys behind you don't hit their heads or get wedged or keep walking when everyone else has stopped.30:44 You're expected to pass on the things that you receive. Isn't this such a cool picture of God's man and how he lives his life30:56 in that rhythm, in that tension, in that push and pull of leading and following? Taking in and receiving truth in humility and then passing it on to those behind him. And check this out,31:08 the entire group is led by 1 dude. The guy who's out front, who knows exactly where he's going. Jesus Christ for us, in our lives.31:19 Ministering to each man. Calling and discipling each man. Illuminating the path with his lamp of truth for each man. And then expecting them to turn around and give it31:31 away. I love this. Psalm 78 says that God established the law for Israel. You want to know why? He commanded our ancestors to teach their children so the next generation would know.31:44 We've been commanded to ensure that the next generation might know our great God and King. So who will you start with today? Let's pray.31:56 Heavenly Father, I thank you for your word, which is truth. God, I thank you that you, our great and good King, are also our good shepherd. That you lead us, that you lead us humbly, Lord. You say32:08 that, your yoke is easy, your burden is light. And so, Lord, make us men humble enough to follow after you. Lord, make us men passionate enough to follow after you in every area of our life, and then make us men who32:20 are bold enough to turn around and lead others. That we would live in that tension, Lord, of following and leading. That we would follow after you with everything we are, and then give it away that the next32:31 generation might know. We love you and it's in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. We'll see you guys.In this video 0:00 The Rhythm of Following and Leading
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