Celebrate the Church of Christ: Men Must Lead (Josh. 24:14-15)

Celebrate the Church of Christ:
Male Leadership

INTRODUCTION:
A man had 50 yard line tickets for the Super Bowl. As he sits down, a man comes down and asked the man if anyone is sitting in the seat next to him. "No", he said, "the seat is empty”.
"This is incredible", said the man. "Who in their right mind would have a seat like this for the Super Bowl , the biggest sport event in the world, and not use it ?”
Somberly, the man says, "Well... the seat actually belongs to me. I was supposed to come here with my wife, but she passed away. This is the first Super Bowl we have not been together since we got married in 1967.”
"Oh I’m sorry to hear that. That’s terrible. But couldn’t you find someone else - a friend or relative or even a neighbor to take the seat?”
The man shakes his head, "No. They’re all at the funeral.”

Men - what kind of man are you? Are you the leader of your home? Is your family following you? Are you leading your children to heaven? Can they look at you and say, “Follow daddy as he follows Christ”? Are you the leader of your wife? Is your wife following your example or are you following her example?

As we talk about the pattern of the church which Jesus left in the NT, one of the most significant points we see is that God left men to be responsible for His church and for the leadership in Christian homes.

When God created humans in the garden of Eden, He created Adam first. That was not by accident. We’ll look at 1 Timothy 2 more closely next week when we consider the role of women in the church but in that text, 1 Timothy 2:13, Paul says that God created Adam first to set a precedent that men are supposed to be the leaders of their homes and in the church. After God had created the garden of Eden including the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God commanded Adam not to eat of that tree; if he were to eat of that tree, he would surely die (Gen. 2:17). When Satan tempted Eve into eating of that fruit, she was deceived. Adam was not. Adam sinned because he failed to play his “man card” and be the spiritual leader in that relationship.

We’re going to conclude our study this morning briefly looking at the role of men in the church of Christ but let’s take a look at Joshua. Let’s learn some leadership principles from Joshua that will challenge us today, us men, to be better leaders in the church of our Lord Jesus Christ.

GOD PREPARED JOSHUA (Exo. 17:8-13):
The first time Joshua is mentioned in the Bible is in Exodus 17. The nation of Israel had just left slavery in Egypt a month or two before this event but Israel comes meets this nation called the Amalekites and the Amalekites have decided to fight against Israel. The Israelites do not know anything about warfare! They know how to make bricks! They know how to build buildings. But they have not studied military combat in Egypt!

But God raised up a man, the son of a man named Nun, the man was named Joshua, and God decided to prepare him for a future role with HIs people. Joshua steps into the picture of Israelite history in Exodus 17:9 when Moses told Joshua to pick some men to go fight against Amalek. Joshua was a servant, which will make him a great leader. Joshua did as Moses commanded him (17:10).

Read the text. God was preparing Joshua to be the leader of God’s people once they would cross over the Jordan River and conquer the Promised Land.

What has God been preparing you for in the service of His church? What skills do you have that God has given you that can be used in the service of God’s children? How are you using those skills? God is allowing you to put food on your table by giving you some ability to make a living. How are you using that same gift from God to be of service in His church? To take the lead in doing something positive and constructive for His church?

God prepared Joshua for leadership in a second way… Moses went up on Mount Sinai to receive the Law in Exodus 24 and verse 13 says that Joshua was with him. From then, until Exodus 32:17, it seems that Joshua was largely with Moses. Joshua was Moses’ right hand man. Joshua was Moses’ apprentice; he was learning about leadership, about staying faithful to God, throughout all those experiences he had with Moses. The importance of God’s commands was firmly impressed on Joshua’s mind.

JOSHUA WAS A MAN OF FAITH (Num. 14:36-38):
Once Israel reached Kadesh Barnea, it was time for Moses to send out some spies to determine the best way to conquer the Promised Land. Moses chose one man out of each of the twelve tribes of Israel and the man he chose from the tribe of Ephraim was his right-hand man, Joshua. But, as you know, ten of those twelve men lacked faith in the God of heaven. They saw the size of the obstacle and could not see past their pessimism and those ten men discouraged the hearts of the nation of Israel.

Read the text - Only two men had faith in God out of those spies: Joshua and Caleb. They believed God would fulfill His promise and He would give the Promised Land to Israel. Joshua trusted God's word. But, the majority of the nation of Israel listened to the whiners, and they decided they would not go fight for their new homeland. So God decided to punish Israel for their disobedience and He made them wander around in the wilderness for 40 years! Until all the disbelieving men died in the wilderness, many of them killed outright for further acts of disobedience.

Because Joshua was a man of faith, trusting God’s word, God chose Joshua to take over the leadership of Israel once Moses died. Moses sinned against God in Numbers 20 and that’s when God decided that Moses would not enter the Promised Land himself. In Numbers 27, God sent His Holy Spirit over Joshua to give him wisdom and authority to lead God’s people. Read Deuteronomy 34:9-12.

If you are a man who trusts God’s word, then the church needs you in her service. If God’s word has had a powerful impact on your heart and your life, you need to put your faith into action and be a leader in the Lord’s church.

If you like to work outside, there are things outside that need to be done. If you like to work inside, there are things that need to be done inside, like cleaning the baptistry and refilling it maybe once a month. If you like to work with your hands, you can talk to either Delbert or Gary. Those two guys have all sorts of projects around this building that need care, some of which is an on-going, continuous projects and some are annual projects. If you love to teach the Bible, talk to Brandon - he’s in need of some Bible class teachers. I know Cody loves to teach but he’s been teaching for probably 6-8 months now. It doesn’t hurt any of us to take a break and allow someone else to use their faith and teach God’s word.

We need men to lead God’s children in prayer in worship. We need men to lead us in taking communion each Lord’s day. If you will take that responsibility, see Delbert or Steve Atkinson; they can take of those things.

Under the leadership of Joshua, Israel was standing on the east side of the Jordan River, ready to go invade the Promised Land. One thing stood between Joshua and Israel and the Promised Land - the Jordan River that just happened to be flooded because of the rains. The first thing Joshua does is, he tells Israel to consecrate themselves - Joshua 3:5. They needed to rededicate themselves to God, committing themselves in faith to obeying God’s commands. It was going to require faith on their part to cross that river. The priests took up the ark of the covenant and God told Joshua, “This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you” (Joshua 3:7).

Sure enough, when the priests carrying the ark of the covenant (their feet) touched the waters of the Jordan River, the river divided in two, just like the Red Sea had done for Moses 40 years before, and Joshua led Israel across on dry land (3:17).

Joshua 5 tells the story that Joshua had the Israelites circumcised. God had commanded the family of Abraham to be circumcised as far back as Genesis 17. But during those 40 years they wandered in the wilderness, the men had not circumcised their boys so now Joshua takes the lead in having the boys circumcised so they could fulfill one of God’s expectations of them. Joshua was a man of faith that led him to obey God’s commands.

In Joshua 11:15, we read: “Just as the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so Moses commanded Joshua, and so Joshua did; he left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded Moses.”

JOSHUA WAS A FAMILY MAN - (Josh. 24:14-15):
Read the text. Verse 15 is one of the most popular verses in the whole book of Joshua: “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua had experienced enough unfaithfulness in the nation of Israel to know how fickle and capricious and unreliable the nation of Israel was. Joshua also knew that he was ultimately responsible to God for his own family. So, he said, “You know what - you have the free will to choose what you want to do. But as for my family, we’re staying faithful to God.”

We need men like that. We need deacons like that and elders like that and Bible class teachers like that and men who mow the yard with an attitude like that.

Joshua loved the nation of Israel and was willing to tolerate a lot of complaining and whining from them as he tried to lead them into service to God. Being a leader of God’s people is not always easy - it should be easy when you’re dealing with people who are supposed to love God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength. But it’s not always easy. So at the very beginning of Joshua, God told Joshua three times in four verses: “Be strong and courageous” (1:6-7, 9). Why? Because it takes personal strength (self-control) and courage to be a leader of God’s people.

Joshua learned that leadership and he exercised that leadership first in his home. You know what, we do not know anything about “Mrs. Joshua,” Joshua’s wife. We don’t know anything about Joshua’s children. His sons, if he had any, are not mentioned. God did not choose Joshua to be the leader of a dynasty. But we know that Joshua’s wife supported his efforts. He could not have had the support of Israel and the success he had if his wife had not supported him.

Now let’s briefly review God’s plans for leadership in the church of Christ…

NT MALE SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP:
You don’t have to know much about the Bible to know that Jesus chose only men to be His twelve apostles. We know that Jesus broke with cultural tradition when it comes to women; my sermon two Sunday nights ago dealt extensively with the role of women in the ministry of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ ministry was even partially financed by women giving of their income (Luke 8:3). So Jesus could have, if He had wanted, chosen some women to be among His apostles. There were women priests in the pagan religions around them; it would not have been entirely counter-cultural for Him to have done that. But He did not. He could have chosen half of His apostles male and half female.

Rather, in keeping with the creation of Adam first and the responsibility God gave to Adam to teach Eve not to eat of the forbidden fruit, Jesus chose men to be His apostles. Twelve men. When Jesus wanted someone uniquely qualified to take the gospel to the Gentiles, He again chose a man.

When the church needed to have some widows provided food, God did not choose women to oversee that effort. God chose men (Acts 6). While these men are not called “deacons” in the text, the verb related to “deacon” - “to serve” - is used several times. Speaking of deacons, God explicitly said they needed to be husbands of one wife (1 Tim. 3:12). Therefore, deacons have to be men.

As the church began to grow and become larger and larger, the church’s need for spiritual leadership was outgrowing the leadership that could be provided by the apostles. So, God chose men to provide that leadership. The first “elders” which are mentioned in the church is in Acts 11:30 where we see there were elders in the church in Judea. As Paul was finishing up his first mission trip, he appointed elders in every congregation they had established on that trip (Acts 14:23) and all of those elders were men. Indeed, God requires elders, as He does deacons, to be men (1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:6).

To put it simply, Paul writes Timothy in the church at Ephesus in 1 Timothy 2:12 that women cannot teach or exercise authority over a male in church activities. That means men are to be the song leaders in the Lord’s church. That means men are to lead the prayers in the Lord’s church. That means men are to preside over the Lord’s Table in the Lord’s church. The Lord needs men to take the leadership in His church.

We’ll talk about women’s role in the Lord’s church next week and we’ll emphasize that women do not have the choice to submit to their husbands for leadership in the home. Women do not have the choice to submit to men for leadership in the church. Men, you and I do not have the choice to be leaders. The very fact that we have an “XY” chromosome means we are obligated to be leaders. So grab your man-card; straighten your backbone; set your eyes on heaven, and let’s lead the Swartz Creek church of Christ until Jesus calls us home!

Take home message: God expects men to lead their families and His church until Jesus returns to claim them for Himself. Men, let’s work together to be those leaders.