Developing Kingdom Leaders – Tom Yeakley

Taking the Mystery out of Leadership

Archive for the tag “Integrity”

06 May 2024

Kingdom Leaders and Financial Donors – 2

… He took his twelve disciples with him, along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples. Luke 8:1-3 NLT

Jesus and the Twelve were materially supported by a group of committed, faithful, and generous women who gave out of their own resources to enable Jesus’ ministry team to advance the Kingdom through their ministry of discipleship. Here’s a continuation of the previous blog on relating to your ministry donors.

  1. Do assume a sense of accountability to regularly communicate to your donors how their investment is impacting the world for Christ and the Kingdom. Do not exaggerate your ministry results and don’t understate any ministry difficulties. Be real about the good times and the hard times.
  2. View your personal and ministry donors as a vital part of your entire ministry audience who you are seeking to influence for Christ. Use your donor communications to minister to your donor’s souls, not just report your ministry activities.
  3. Don’t be like the nine lepers who Jesus healed who failed to return to Him and say thank you. Express thankfulness to your donors regularly for their partnership with you in the Gospel. You cannot say ‘thank you’ too many times!
  4. In your heart, do not view major financial donors as more valuable than those who give smaller amounts. Remember the widow who gave two small copper coins out of her poverty (see Mark 12:41-44). Major financial donors may have more strategic impact on the ministry, but their individual worth to God is the same as your $5 a month donor. Do not differentiate in your heart any partiality between the rich and the poor (see James 1:1-9).
  5. How and what you communicate to major donors may be different than that of smaller ministry donors. But all donors want to know what their donations (investments) in your ministry are yielding in way of outcomes. Always be accurate and truthful regarding your ministry impact!
  6. Pray for ministry ‘patrons’ who God will raise up to partner in great ways with you from their wealth. William Tyndale had Humphrey Monmouth who financed his translating the Bible into English. John Newton had John Thornton who opened many doors of ministry through his social connections and wealth. Lady Huntingdon invested great resources into the ministries of John Wesley and George Whitefield.
  7. And always remember, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?” Luke 16:10-12 ESV

Seek to cultivate an attitude of gratitude. “… What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if everything you have is from God, why boast as though it were not a gift?” 1 Corinthians 4:7 NLT

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03 Oct 2022
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Divided Loyalty

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight. Luke 16:13-15 NIV

Jesus very pointedly addresses a core issue for the Pharisees. Note that Jesus points out their heart issue – they loved money. The accumulation of personal wealth was a high value for them. No doubt there were some who questioned this value, perhaps among the Pharisees themselves. But they justified their choices and behavior, making excuses and giving reasons that on the surface sounded plausible.

This value and behavior had become commonplace among the Pharisees, for Luke notes that they as a group all loved money. This love of money was seen by others around them, but they had become blinded to this conflict of interest. For Jesus points out that their root issue was not one of behavior or lifestyle, but rather one of the heart. They had become lovers of money instead of lovers of God.

Jesus rebukes their acceptance of loving money by saying that no one can serve two Masters. You cannot have a divided loyalty. Loving God and serving Him is not compatible with loving money and serving the accumulation of wealth.

Few Kingdom leaders wake up one day and decide to love money instead of loving God. Rather, it is a slow shift in values and heart direction, incrementally drawing us away from our first love. Little choices made daily over a long time frame gradually allows new values to replace old. We compare our choices and lifestyles with others, focusing only on those that support our own values while ignoring those who live sacrificial, self-denying lives. We justify ourselves saying, “Well, no need to get too radical here.”

Our hearts speak through our value-driven choices and resulting behaviors. What are you modeling for those you lead and for the lost world that is looking for authentic faith? How’s your heart? What do you really love in this life? Or should we say, “Who do you love?”

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28 Feb 2022

Speaking the Truth

All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. Psalm 119:160 NIV

God is truth and His actions are always truthful.  God cannot lie.  God’s truth is absolute and found in His Word – the Bible.  It is unchanging because God is unchanging.  Because God’s Word is truth it is completely trustworthy.

As followers of Christ, we are always to deal truthfully with others.  Our words must be truthful so that others can trust what we say.  Because Jesus is ‘the Truth,’ believers are to share Christ, who is the truth, with others.

  • The Scriptures testify that God is truth.   What do the following passages say about God being truth? — John 14:6; John 18:33-37
  • God’s Word is the measuring rod for believers to gauge whether something is truthful or not.  What is said about the Word of God in the following passages? —  Psalm 119:142,151,160; John 17:17

Question to ponder:  Is there ever a time when you should not tell the truth, the whole truth?

Passages for further reflection: John 1:17; Hebrews 6:13-20

Posted in #2 BE - Who a Leader Is, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
10 Jan 2022

Integrity – A Matter of the Heart

I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity… 1 Chronicles 29:17 NIV

When God measures a person, He puts the “tape measure” around their heart.  Who we are is more important to God than what we do.  He looks at our hearts, not our activities.  If our hearts are right, then our actions will follow.

Integrity, a basic building block in our character, is rooted in our hearts.  It begins with a commitment in our hearts to honor and obey God wholeheartedly.  Integrity is then manifested by being truthful in all that we say and do.  Believers are people of their word, who fulfill promises—even to our own detriment if necessary.

  • God has integrity.  He does not lie, and we can count on Him always doing what He says He will do.  What do the following passages say about the importance of integrity? -— Numbers 23:19; Mark 12:14
  • The Lord uses people of integrity.  What do these passages say regarding the type of person God uses? -— 2 Timothy 2:20-21; Titus 1:6-7

Question to ponder:  Kingdom leaders represent God’s leadership of His people. Are you and your leadership known for integrity?

Passages for further reflection : Joshua 21:45; Luke 16:10

Posted in #2 BE - Who a Leader Is and tagged , , , , , , ,
31 May 2021

Living from the Inside Out

While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? Luke 11:37-40 ESV

The Pharisee who was hosting Jesus to dinner was very surprised that Jesus did not wash before dinner. This was not an indictment of Jesus lack of personal hygiene. Rather, Jesus did not do the traditional ceremonial washings that the Pharisees followed – seeking ceremonial cleanliness.

Note how Jesus addresses the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. They paid great attention to outward cleanliness, but their hearts were full of greed and wickedness. To human appearances they were very righteous looking and acting. But to God, who knows their hearts, they were evil. The Lord God wants true righteousness – inward and outward holiness.

Kingdom leaders do model for others what it means to be and do as a follower of Jesus. Our profiles platform us and many are watching our example. We will be copied by others. But what others copy is what they can see on the outside. They don’t know our hearts, but God does. Should we slip into a lifestyle of hypocrisy we will find the Lord’s hand removed and our influence diminished. We will be exposed, for the Lord’s reputation is at stake and He is a jealous God who does not share His glory with another!

This slide into hypocrisy is more of a slow creep than a rapid decent. It begins with a small compromise. We know what’s right, but we choose to ignore the leading of the Holy Spirit. We justify our choice by saying, “It’s just a little thing. Don’t be too crazy about this. It really doesn’t matter in light of the much bigger issues of life.” But we can’t silence the voice of the Spirit and more importantly God will know your hypocrisy!

Two passages challenge me to live from the inside out, wanting integrity in my thoughts as well as my actions.

… Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. Luke 12:48 ESV

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. Luke 16:10 ESV

How’s your ‘hypocrisy meter’ reading today?

Posted in #2 BE - Who a Leader Is and tagged , , , , ,
15 Apr 2019

7 Manifestations of Godly Wisdom – 7

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.       James 3:17   NIV 1984

The complexity of leadership in today’s ever-changing contexts calls for wisdom from Him who is its source.  Kingdom leaders desperately need wisdom as they seek to navigate the many issues of our day.

But, what does godly wisdom look like?  James describes seven characteristics that paint a picture for Kingdom leaders on how to gauge your leadership (and others) against the standards of wisdom from heaven.

The seventh and final manifestation of godly wisdom is that it is sincere.

This word, ‘sincere,’ means “without hypocrisy.”  Godly, wise leaders walk the talk.  They never say, “Do what I say, not what I do.”  They are authentic and genuine in all their ways.  They are always seeking to model for others what they want them to be and do.

This kind of wisdom is not duplicitous either in word of deed.  There is consistent integrity of words and deeds in every situation.  Jesus’ enemies used His integrity to try and trap Him, “They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity.  You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.  Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” (see Luke 20:20ff  ESV)

What an amazing testimony to Jesus’ integrity in that His enemies tried to use it against Him!  If you had enemies, would they choose your integrity as a tool to oppose you?

By reflecting upon these seven manifestations of godly wisdom in the life of an individual, we can know if we are making progress in our pursuit.  While we may never arrive, there is always more growth and maturity needed, we can note progress.

These qualities are mile-markers that enable us to see increments of change as we seek to grow in wisdom and help others do the same.  Are you on the journey of intentionally pursuing godly wisdom for your life and leadership?  Are you making progress?

 

Posted in #2 BE - Who a Leader Is, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

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