The Character of a Leader – 3 Things to Avoid

This is Chuck Rapp with a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters.

Thus far this year I’ve been sharing a series of messages regarding the character of a leader. We began with three positive attributes: integrity, diligence and faithfulness.  Today I want to offer a different perspective by looking at three attitudes and behaviors that Godly leaders must avoid.

1 John 2:15-16 warns us to “not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.”

Godly Christian leaders are warned to avoid these three things:

The lust of the flesh – Matthew Henry, in his commentary, describes this as “wrong desires of the heart, the appetite of indulging all things that excite and inflame sensual pleasures.” On every continent of the world, we have seen or heard stories of Christian leaders falling due to sexual sin.  I first witnessed this 45 years ago in my local church youth group, and already in 2021, we have seen famous pastors destroy their ministry due to extramarital affairs.  Hebrews 13:4 says it very plainly, “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”

The lust of the eyes - Once again Matthew Henry helps us understand this warning.  “The eyes are delighted with riches and rich possessions; this is the lust of covetousness.” In 1 Timothy 6:6, Paul shares that the antidote for this condition of fallen human nature is “godliness with contentment is great gain.” Here, “godliness” relates to a leader’s character, and “contentment” is an attitude of his or her heart. 

The pride of life – Once more from Matthew Henry’s commentary.  “A vain man … thirst[s] after honor and applause.” A good and godly leader avoids the trap of seeking personal honor and applause.  In a message last year, I referred to these men and women as “legends in their own minds”.  They think more highly of themselves than is appropriate, and they crave the praise of others.  Jesus had some strong advice to the apostles about this in Mark 10:42-44 where He called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.“  A posture of servant leadership is the antidote for this sin of the “pride of life”. 

This has been a word of encouragement – and a word of warning - for Village Church Planters.