Welcome to Books of the book.
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We've been
studying the letters of Paul
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to the Thessalonians
and in previous programs
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we've been working our way
through first Thessalonians.
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And now we're at
the very conclusion
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of that series of studies.
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First Thessalonians
five and verses 12:27.
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I am Jon Paulien.
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Dean of the school of Religion
at Loma Linda University,
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and with me is my
pastor Jon Ciccarelli,
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pastor at the Calimesa
Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
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Jon, it's good
to be together again
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and we're finally bringing
first Thessalonians to a close.
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I'm looking forward
to second Thessalonians
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in our next episode.
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But today we're
looking at verses 12:27,
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and Paul just gets
really practical here.
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He talks about leadership.
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He has a lot of admonitions
that we're gonna look at,
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but really practical
stuff for the church.
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So I'm looking forward
to our, our study today.
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Why don't we jump into that?
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All right. Well, this
is -- one of those places
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where the Greek scholarship
really is extremely helpful
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because in verses 12:22 you
have a series of 17 admonitions.
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But interestingly
enough the first nine of these
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which are about
mentoring, Discipleship,
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you know, leaders and members
how they relate to each other,
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the first nine,
the verb comes first.
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So it starts through the verb
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and then you
have little statement.
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Then the last eight
where he's talking about
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how to deal with attitudes
toward prophecy and attitudes
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relating to prayer and
joyfulness and the verb comes
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at the end each time.
You have these, these clip
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statements, first nine
the verbs at the beginning,
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second eight the verbs at
the end, it's a little bit like,
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like preaching a thing.
You see, he's got King's going.
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He's on a roll. He's on a roll
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and I think we gonna
have some fun with this.
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Yeah, yeah, great. So
why don't we get started
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and we can go right
into verses 12 and 13?
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Perhaps you
could read that first.
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Paul says, "Now
we ask you, brothers
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to respect those
who labor among you,
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and who are placed over
you, and who admonish you,
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and to regard them super
highly on account of their work.
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Be at peace with one another."
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Couple of things I want to say
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about that passage right away.
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First of all that
builds on verse 11.
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He's summed up
everything he said before
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was encourage one another.
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We encouraging to one another.
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I think what
we're getting into here
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is sort of explicating that,
encourage one another, you see.
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And the other
thing I'd mentioned
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is in these two
verses he's talking
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to the members of the church
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and how they're supposed
to relate to their leaders.
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And as a pastor I
really like this verse. Okay.
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But, you know, I
like what he brings up
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here though because
there's a lot to be said
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for mentoring and discipleship.
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I mean Jesus said go
make disciples and sometimes
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I think if we're
not careful, you know,
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things can just
become all about programs,
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you know, at the
church, programs,
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more programs, more programs,
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and you can have
lots of programs,
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without any
disciplining taking place,
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without any intentional
leadership taking place.
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And as leaders we
have to be extra careful.
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And we've talked about
this in the other episodes
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by keeping ourselves in check.
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We're not just
trying to build our empire,
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you know, our personal
empire, but that we are
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by the grace of God allow
Him to build up His kingdom
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through us in
the lives of people.
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And that's
something I know I always
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have to keep myself in check on.
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And that I am not just about
productivity or empire building,
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I don't want that at
all. I want God's kingdom
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to reign in me and to reign
on those that I am leading,
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and by His grace that happens.
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You know, when I came
to the Calimesa church,
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and they had their
search committee together.
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Some people may
know Louis Venden.
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He was on that search
committee. Lou intimidating
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you know, when we
showed up to search committee
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and Louis Venden
was sitting there--
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One of my faculty, and --
very highly regarded person.
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Oh, yes, and great preacher,
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and I asked Lou
afterwards I said, I said, Lou,
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if God wills it that
-- I come here in Calimesa
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would you be willing to enter
into a mentoring relationship?
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I saw God was --
giving me a gift in Lou.
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If I came to Calimesa to --
continue to build into my life
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as one of my mentors and --
of course, you know he said, oh.
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He's such a humble
man. He says, oh, oh,
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this would be a mutual thing.
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And I said no, no,
Lou, let's get this right.
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It'd be completely
downward mentoring me.
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You would be mentoring me.
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And we get together
about every six weeks.
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We have lunch together
and, and the spirit of God
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just oozes out of him.
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But we need to allow the
church to be a safe place
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where we can have mentors,
who can minister the love of God
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to us and grow us
and disciple us in that.
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And our churches, I
think, it's important
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that they're multigenerational.
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One of the sad things
we see so much segregation
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with the generations,
and I think we miss out
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on the lot of the disciplining
in that way because we have,
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we have this cutting
off with the generations
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and so we don't have
the older generations
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building the younger generations
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and the younger generations
are missing out as well.
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I was leading worship one
time at a church in San Diego
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and we would do some, some
courses but we do some hymns
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as well and we did save
you like a Shepherd Lead Us,
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you know, that hymn and I
had someone in their 40s come up
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to me and say,
wow, we really loved
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that new song you did today.
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I said what song was that?
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The one about the shepherd.
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And I thought my
goodness this person
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has never heard this
hymn and he has been raised
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in the Adventist
Church his whole life.
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Obviously there is
some, some segregation there.
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But it's important,
it's important that we,
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that we keep the
generations together
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and that we be intentional
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about our mentoring
and our disciplining.
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And so, I, I can go on
forever, you know, on this.
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But I'm gonna, I'm gonna stop
with this so that we continue
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move into our texts,
but this is something
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that's close to my heart.
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All right, I
appreciate that very much.
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You probably
wondering what has to Jon
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so excited about in this
-- text, it's because Paul
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is telling the
members how they should treat
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their leaders and he tells
them to respect them highly.
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He says those who labor among
you, who are placed over you
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and admonish you,
respect them highly.
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You see, he's
encouraging people, somebody
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who is in-charge
within the church.
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It's tough work.
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It's difficult stuff and
they need encouragement too.
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And sometimes we would, the
pastor does all the encouraging.
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We, we just sort
of knock back, but no,
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pastors need encouragement too.
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And Paul is saying this here.
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Now at this
stage of the churches
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history it's very early.
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And they don't
have officers yet.
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Later on they were
elders and deacons and Bishops
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and different things like that.
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But this is only 20 years
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after the death of
resurrection of Jesus
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and basically the only
office here is this is those
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who are placed over you.
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It's interesting, the
early church shied away from
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the leadership
language of Ancient Rome.
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They had words that we
get words like Hegemon,
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monarchy, these are
-- all based on the,
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on the Roman Latin and so on.
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It has the idea of someone
who is in power over you.
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The only leadership word
that the early church accepted
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from that whole
scene was these word
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those who are over you,
because in the Roman context
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those who are over you,
were people who cared about you.
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It was, it was almost
a family kind of a thing,
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the caring connection.
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And the Christian said
that's the word we can use.
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But these other words,
they only applied to Jesus.
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It's very interesting.
Later on they picked up words
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from the Synagogue and the
-- home that they use elders,
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deacons and so on language
that they used for leadership.
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Now here he's says "respect
those who labor among you,
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regard them super highly."
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Paul loves that word "Super,"
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regard them
super-highly who admonish you.
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And this word "admonish"
is a tough Greek word,
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it kind of means
knock some sense into you.
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So do you ever
have to do that, Pastor?
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Oh, absolutely, you
know. No, but sometimes--
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Tell me about it. I
have members who...who
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recognized I need some sense
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knocked into me too every
once in a while, you know.
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But no, it's a, but
it's not always welcomed.
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I mean, I think personally
it's hard for us to welcome
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when someone comes
up and admonishes us,
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come and tries to
knock some sense into us.
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But--but it's that, I
think it's that tough love.
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You know, being willing to
say the things that someone
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might need to hear
because you love them so much.
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Yeah. You know, if
we never talked honestly
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in that way then, then we
-- prevent people from growing
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the relationship with God
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and maybe the
relationships through others.
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And I mean look at Jesus,
look at all the tough love
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he gave to the
religious leaders.
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There is a lot of tough love.
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And He spoke those things
because he loved them but it's
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not easy. Well, confrontation
is critical to relationship
00:09:04.27\00:09:06.74
because it's letting
people know that there is things
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that they're doing that --
will scuttle the relationship
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unless they're
made aware of that,
00:09:12.68\00:09:14.22
unless some change comes in.
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As a Bible scholar, I
have to deal with that.
00:09:16.15\00:09:19.59
When I am going to
some tough biblical text
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and I make clear
everybody says, oh, wonderful I.
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I just love that, you see.
00:09:25.26\00:09:26.93
But in sometimes I go to a text
00:09:26.93\00:09:28.70
that a person thought
was clear, was clear to them.
00:09:28.70\00:09:31.40
Yeah. I said, you know, that's
not really what it saying.
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Suddenly, you're not so
popular--Changed or popular-
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And so Paul here is saying look,
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though this is tough
work, this admonishing.
00:09:40.64\00:09:43.48
So give them
respect and, and, and,
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and show the right attitude.
00:09:45.95\00:09:48.95
Interestingly enough is there
is a whole background here.
00:09:48.95\00:09:53.02
I talked about the
popular philosophers
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in earlier programs that
were going around in the cities
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just like Paul was and--
they had these whole idea
00:09:57.93\00:10:00.96
of how to diagnose
where people were at
00:10:00.96\00:10:04.60
and to be sensitive
to when they're open
00:10:04.60\00:10:08.04
to conviction
and when they're not,
00:10:08.04\00:10:09.50
when you can admonish
them and when you can't.
00:10:09.50\00:10:12.91
There is a right
timing to talk to people.
00:10:12.91\00:10:15.98
There is an appropriate remedy
and it inappropriate remedy
00:10:15.98\00:10:18.55
and all that stuff
is discussed in detail
00:10:18.55\00:10:20.58
in ancient Greek writings.
00:10:20.58\00:10:22.85
And examine yourself before
you admonish somebody else.
00:10:22.85\00:10:27.36
Paul adds one thing to all
of these, and that is that God
00:10:27.36\00:10:31.93
ultimately is the
model of leadership, not us.
00:10:31.93\00:10:35.30
And if we're following
God's model of leadership
00:10:35.30\00:10:37.90
then we will know when
to admonish and when not.
00:10:37.90\00:10:42.30
So the Paul doesn't
balance it out here.
00:10:42.30\00:10:46.04
He can be tough on leaders too.
00:10:46.04\00:10:48.41
In second Corinthians
10:13 he holds them accountable.
00:10:48.41\00:10:51.25
So balance is important to you.
00:10:51.25\00:10:53.95
Yes, hold your leaders
respectful, honor them,
00:10:53.95\00:10:58.12
but at the same time
hold them accountable.
00:10:58.12\00:11:00.89
Both things are necessary
00:11:00.89\00:11:02.36
and finding that
balance can be the tough thing.
00:11:02.36\00:11:04.69
Yeah, and I think you know
it's important to remember that,
00:11:04.69\00:11:07.83
that leaders, pastors and so
forth are still in discipleship.
00:11:07.83\00:11:13.97
There are still being
led by God, hopefully.
00:11:13.97\00:11:16.67
And we're still,
you know, it's not like
00:11:16.67\00:11:18.27
the pastor is the
master discipliner.
00:11:18.27\00:11:20.68
I mean is
disciplining everybody,
00:11:20.68\00:11:21.88
but he is also
being disciple by God
00:11:21.88\00:11:23.58
through His congregation or
-- whoever the leader might be,
00:11:23.58\00:11:25.91
those who are leading.
00:11:25.91\00:11:27.42
And, and looking to God
to continue disciple him.
00:11:27.42\00:11:30.29
And when that
happens then we become
00:11:30.29\00:11:33.22
like you said lead like Jesus.
00:11:33.22\00:11:34.72
Jesus was a servant leader.
00:11:34.72\00:11:37.13
It was, you know,
often times we look at--
00:11:37.13\00:11:38.93
organizational structure
and leadership when we think
00:11:38.93\00:11:42.16
of this pyramid with
the leader at the top.
00:11:42.16\00:11:44.70
But Jesus really flipped
that Pyramid upside down,
00:11:44.70\00:11:48.30
you know, were he was at
the bottom and He was lifting
00:11:48.30\00:11:50.57
and He was serving and He
was edifying and that's really
00:11:50.57\00:11:53.38
the model of
leadership that we see in God
00:11:53.38\00:11:55.64
that he became a servant.
00:11:55.64\00:11:57.55
You know, left
heaven to come and serve us,
00:11:57.55\00:12:00.25
to love us so much
and to save us, you know.
00:12:00.25\00:12:03.15
And the other part
that's so important I think with
00:12:03.15\00:12:06.02
leadership is that who we
are when the spotlights not on.
00:12:06.02\00:12:10.96
It's what, is
where who we really are.
00:12:10.96\00:12:12.79
It's about character. Exactly.
00:12:12.79\00:12:14.13
And we talked about
that in chapter two,
00:12:14.13\00:12:15.90
didn't we? Yeah, yeah.
00:12:15.90\00:12:17.30
Well, we need to move
ahead verses 14 and 15
00:12:17.30\00:12:20.40
and let me-- mention once again
00:12:20.40\00:12:21.87
these translations are my own,
00:12:21.87\00:12:24.04
so that we can try to get some
of the flavor of the grammar
00:12:24.04\00:12:26.81
of the Greek
here from time to time
00:12:26.81\00:12:28.48
and the unusual
meanings of words.
00:12:28.48\00:12:31.48
We also encourage
you, brothers, it says,
00:12:31.48\00:12:34.25
"admonish the unruly,
cheer up the discouraged,
00:12:34.25\00:12:37.95
take an interest in the
weak, be patient with everyone,
00:12:37.95\00:12:42.76
see that no one pays back
evil for anyone else's evil,
00:12:42.76\00:12:46.90
but always pursue what is good,
00:12:46.90\00:12:48.70
towards one another
and toward everyone."
00:12:48.70\00:12:51.10
Here I see him
talking to leaders
00:12:51.10\00:12:54.44
about
confronting people and so on.
00:12:54.44\00:12:57.24
And this, the language
here is very interesting.
00:12:57.24\00:13:00.64
He says admonish
knock sense into the unruly,
00:13:00.64\00:13:04.61
the word, the Greek
word for unruly here,
00:13:04.61\00:13:07.38
kind of has the
meaning of people
00:13:07.38\00:13:10.79
who are willfully difficult.
00:13:10.79\00:13:12.79
They're people who
are just messed up,
00:13:12.79\00:13:14.99
you know, but there are people
00:13:14.99\00:13:16.52
who are trying to be difficult,
00:13:16.52\00:13:18.19
who are-- disruptive by nature.
00:13:18.19\00:13:20.30
These are the ones you
knock sense into, he says.
00:13:20.30\00:13:22.80
Then there are
people who are discouraged.
00:13:22.80\00:13:26.84
The Greek word
here actually could
00:13:26.84\00:13:28.54
be translated little souls.
00:13:28.54\00:13:30.91
These are
people who think small,
00:13:30.91\00:13:33.64
people who don't have
the lot of self-confidence.
00:13:33.64\00:13:36.44
And then he says, in
addition to that taking
00:13:36.44\00:13:39.21
interest in the
weak, the weak, are people
00:13:39.21\00:13:42.58
who are moral and
spiritual limitations.
00:13:42.58\00:13:45.69
They're easily discouraged.
00:13:45.69\00:13:47.99
They're fearful.
00:13:47.99\00:13:49.39
In fact pastors
sometimes stay away from them.
00:13:49.39\00:13:52.19
They gonna say,
they're never gonna change.
00:13:52.19\00:13:53.53
These are people
no matter what you say
00:13:53.53\00:13:54.96
they never
carry it out, you see.
00:13:54.96\00:13:57.40
So Paul here is
counseling the leaders
00:13:57.40\00:14:01.84
how to deal with people and
the final word in this verse
00:14:01.84\00:14:05.64
is where he says, look
don't payback evil for evil.
00:14:05.64\00:14:10.41
If you're leader,
evil's gonna happen.
00:14:10.41\00:14:12.88
If you're a leader,
you gonna be criticized.
00:14:12.88\00:14:15.18
If you're a leader,
you gonna have to suffer.
00:14:15.18\00:14:17.35
Don't payback, because the
-- minute the leader pays back
00:14:17.35\00:14:21.72
the way he's been treated
00:14:21.72\00:14:23.63
that-it disrupts
the entire community.
00:14:23.63\00:14:27.13
It's a disaster, so
some super council from Paul
00:14:27.13\00:14:31.03
here about
practical everyday affairs.
00:14:31.03\00:14:33.60
It's time to go for a break.
00:14:33.60\00:14:35.37
We'll see you back
in just a little bit.
00:14:35.37\00:14:37.11