S2E1: How Are You Wired?

Hey guys, it is so good to be with you here today. ⁓ even if it's over Zoom and this video type of format, man, it is great to be with like-minded brothers, to talk about Jesus, to encourage one another, to spur one another on. ⁓ and we're gonna have a video every time we meet just like this, but also discussion. We wanna learn from you, hear your wisdom, your insight. ⁓ and I would really ⁓ encourage you to commit to these next four months, 75 minutes, to just get together to learn, to discuss, and to meet new people. ⁓ if I've not met you, my name is Daniel Williams. I pastor Redemption Church in Delray Beach. It's southeast Florida, ⁓ about an hour north of Miami. I mean, if there's good traffic, right? but we are ⁓ just enjoying where Jesus has us here. I hope that he's ministering ⁓ great things in your area, in your community, and whether We're in your region, state, or even country. ⁓ the beautiful thing about this technology thing is we can do it together. So we're excited about the cohort, about learning from you as well, not just playing a video, although we want to get in God's word every time we get together, but we want to have discussion. I want to encourage you to participate. And not just in the discussion, but man, jump in our group chat, pray for one another during services, ⁓ connect even outside of the monthly thing, maybe ⁓ make a phone call, schedule a another Zoom meeting with another brother. From around the world and hear how Jesus is moving. We're doing this thing together because we're better together. And so we're so glad that you are here. But pray about committing, not just for this February meeting, but man, February, March, April, May, ⁓ leading up into the summer. We want to make these times valuable for you to spend in God's word and just to encourage and equip you. And so I've been tasked today to talk to you about how we've been wired and how to steward that well. This leadership lesson is really. incredibly important to me because I think ⁓ there's nothing better than doing what God has called you to do. And so when I think about the subject, how has God wired you, that word you is very important. You know, as a pastor, as a church leader, as a equipper, I I know that you probably know this. It's very important for the people you shepherd to identify their spiritual gifts and how they can serve and and to grow in that and to lead in that and to serve Jesus in those things. ⁓ because when we do that, we grow, we bring ⁓ God glory. And that's the same thing for us. Sometimes we forget as church leaders, we're Christians, man. We're Christians first and foremost. And so we need to identify like, how did Jesus wire us? What ⁓ what gifts, what talents, what grace has he given us to serve, to worship him? We want to be worshipers of God, and we want to talk about just not only what talent and ⁓ treasures he's given us, but But how do we grow in that leadership gift? This is ⁓ very, very important that we want to steward well and we want to grow in that. And so, how has God wired you? What does that look like for you? ⁓ how do we identify that? Hopefully, you know, ⁓ part of being around other church leaders and the cohort like this, you'll start identifying how you're different and how ⁓ your gifts sort of rise up or you think differently than people. And that should be an encouragement because the great thing is we're not all the same. We're different. God uniquely made each of us. And we want to just be faithful to the call and the gifting and the time, the talent, the treasures, things He's given us ⁓ for that. And so, man, I'm glad that you're here. I'm glad that I'm able to speak on this subject, ⁓ because being self aware is important. So you can identify, so you can grow, so you can steward and serve God and worship him. ⁓ the topic that I think ⁓ the text that sort of speaks to this topic, I think could be found in Second Corinthians chapter ten. At least that's What the Holy Spirit brought for me today for you. ⁓ chapter 10, verses 12 through 18, I think it can encourage us to talk about how we're wired, how we're to steward the grace that God has given us, and to just identify that, to be grateful for that, and to to know that God has given us a certain leadership, a capacity, a measurement by his grace. And so, ⁓ man, to speak on this topic, ⁓ how God wired us and how do we steward the grace he's given us, I thought. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 would be a great chapter for us to look at in his word together. And so I want to encourage you to open your Bibles. We're gonna read through this little section, verses 12 through 18, and just sort of talk about this subject. How has God wired us? What does that look like? How do I steward the grace that God's given us and the situation season that He's given us? ⁓ now, as most of you know, the book of Corinthians ⁓ was written by a guy named the Apostle Paul. It was to the church in Corinth, and he was very bold in his instruction, his letter. To the church. He really desired that people would follow Jesus. And he deals with a lot of stuff. ⁓ in the first letter, he would write to them stuff about the church because they were very carnal. They weren't ⁓ heavenly minded, they were earthly minded, and they were man, they were following celebrity pastors, they were in sexual immorality, there was lawsuits and division among them. ⁓ they had to deal with, you know, principles for marriage or idol worship, appearance. They were even getting drunk during the Lord's Supper, and the gifts were just out of control. And so Paul has this harsh word for them in the first letter of of Corinthians to them, and he's instructing them a lot. He's instructing them the way that they should live and respond to Jesus. And I just want to pause there and just say, aren't you glad that God's words instructs us? And then he he guides us, even as church leaders, even as pastors. We're to go to God's word for the final authority, and we need to be teaching God's word to people to know truth. and speak it in grace ways, man, just seasoned with grace and love. But God actually gives us instructions about sexuality and about giving and about ⁓ man, division and having peace and spiritual gifts. That's all amazing. And we just we need to be faithful to let people know that there is truth. There is a reality where God speaks on these things. And so this is the first letter, but the second letter to Corinth, second Corinthians, still written by the by the apostle Paul, but it's just way different. It's it's it's not dealing necessarily with instruction ⁓ about all these carnal things that they're doing. He's primarily trying to guard them by dealing with his ⁓ apostolic authority. ⁓ he's making sure that they know his calling is from God because the things that he said is actually truthful from the Lord, and he speaks that. You see, the context is people were they were coming against the apostle Paul and his instruction to the church because they were jealous, they were known as the super apostles, saying, Well, Well, who is Paul? Who who gave him the right to speak this truth? And what does he say about this? And and they were addressing Paul as basically a punk. They were saying, Well, well, what are his credentials? Who's his authority? Where's his calling from? And in this letter, Paul continues to boast on the grace of God. And he says, You want to know my credentials? My credentials is Jesus, man. Christ crucified. That's who I'm living for. ⁓ you you want to boast? Well, super apostles, you puff yourself up. I'm gonna lift up the name of Jesus. I'm not gonna just mark out all my credentials for you. I'm gonna boast in my sufferings. And we know in 2 Corinthians 11, he says, Man, you wanna boast? My boast is in imprisonment. It's having beatings, it's it's near death, it's shipwrecked, it's it's constant ⁓ hardship and sleepless nights. And he just goes on this big, big, ⁓ long list of sufferings because he's like, I want to share in the sufferings of Christ. Everything is grace to me. The love of God compels me. I'm now ambassador, and people are ambassadors because they've been pulled from darkness into this kingdom of light. And it's God who we elevate, not ourselves. And this is really important to understand when we talk about being self-aware and talking about our gifts. This is not about us. This is about God and His grace and what He does through us and in us. And we should be boasting in the Lord and following Him, lifting up Jesus. And so Paul doesn't say he says, Listen, I don't care about the approval of man. I'm living for Jesus and ⁓ he's wanting to boast in his abilities to praise the Lord and to be faithful to this grace that God gave him. This is why we want to talk about being self-aware and being ⁓ you know, how God wired us and giving us grace to lead in in the season that we're at. Because we want to be good faithful stewards and to worship him. And so Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 12, he starts off by saying, Listen, not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves to some of those. Who ⁓ are commending themselves. They were boasting about themselves and commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. Now, this word understanding it's pretty polite in the ESV. It's the polite version, the old King James or the New King James, it's a little bit more blunt. It says they are unwise, aka dumb, stupid, foolishness. That's right. It is stupid, dumb, or foolish to compare yourself with others because God, well, He has a special role, a unique calling in your life that you need to understand. He wired you a certain way that you're to follow him out of worship and not worry about other people. He says they're without even understanding. They're not even in their right mind. They're not doing it ⁓ in a spiritual sense. They're in the flesh. And this is really important for us, even. as ⁓ as church leaders to hear this because oftentimes we talk about this this social media culture where we're boasting in the highlights and comparing ourselves and all this different stuff to get validation. But listen, we as church leaders we can do this as well too. You know, we ask the stupid question, well how many you run in? Now there's nothing wrong with acquiring and understanding how large a church is, what the capacity is of a leader, all that different stuff is good. But sometimes we ask for the wrong motives. We ask So just so that we can ask and compare ourselves. ⁓ they they have 500, well, I have 5,000. ⁓ they have they have 50, well, I have a hundred. And we start judging one another based off of outputs rather than input. Meaning based off of numbers rather than faithfulness. You see, God has wired us all differently. We have a variety of gifts, a variety of ministry to do, and oftentimes we measure our our value, our validity, our worth by comparing ourselves. Paul says, Don't do this. This is something that we need to talk about even in a cohort like this. We get together. We even ⁓ on on the positive note, we hear how God's moving in a church and and oftentimes the enemy can creep in and and temptation or flesh can say, Well, why doesn't God do that in my ministry? Well, if I had that budget, that would happen. And we start getting discouraged or even could put other people down or they must be in the flesh, you know, they're they're just they just teach the New Testament. I'm I'm really I'm I'm I'm doing it strong. I'm in the old testament. That's that's why I'm not growing. We just We have this idea that if we compare ourselves to someone else, we'll be better. And that is totally false dichotomy in the kingdom of God. God has wired you uniquely and given you a unique calling. He wants you to do great things for him. And so we need to understand this. We need to know this. Paul is saying, listen, nothing that you do brings you value. It's who God says you are. Right? How has God wired me? We need to hear from God's voice. To be obedient, to be faithful to the grace that He's given us, because He's gifted us all with grace. And this brings value, what God says over us, not comparing ourselves. So let's not go down that road. You see, answering the question, how has God wired you should bring God glory because you start recognizing, man, this is all God's grace. He is so good, he is amazing. Ephesians 4 7 says, But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gifts. See, our measurement is from Christ, not others. It's dumb to compare. But man, when we understand it's God who made us, who wired us, who's given us gifts and authority and spiritual weight and responsibility, man, we could be grateful and we could be thankful to God for all that He's done. So the question I have for you when thinking about how are you made and wired and what grace has God given you is do you even know? Do you even know how to lead? What that responsibility is? Are you aware of Of his grace in your life, how are you wired? You see, taking self awareness test, ⁓ identifying your spiritual gifts, ⁓ getting input from others of who you are and and what they see in affirmation, and that these are all good things and a part of our leadership. It's something that we should be teaching other people to steward the time, talent, and treasures and how God wired us to lead. And so Paul continues in verse 13 and says. But we will not boast beyond our limits. Okay? But we'll boast only with regard to the area of influence God has assigned us to reach even you. Now, he's saying we're not gonna boast, but we're gonna be self-aware of our own limits. If God made you, you have limits. I know type A leaders they don't like to hear that, but this is a real thing. You can't do everything, right? God made you with a certain measurement or limit. He wired you a certain way to only do so much, even as humans. We're wired to sleep at night. He even commanded us, yes, even as leaders, to take a day off and rest, a Sabbath. This is really important. Hopefully you know this because once you do, you can build a team around you and actually your strengths and your weaknesses, your limitations, other people can carry that weight, and we are better together. You could do more, accomplish more through the vision of a team rather than just the individual. And this is what God wants for us to be unified but not. ⁓ uniformity for us to be different and have our limitations, but yet have our strengths and our weaknesses. Oftentimes, though, we do too much and we try to prove ourselves, our worth, by doing too much. But listen, God gives us limits and it's good because He knows that we aren't God. And just because someone we admire may be able to do more than we think ⁓ that we can do doesn't mean that we have to do it. You know, my associate pastor Robin Robin Shelley is a great Bible teacher and he loves to teach the Bible. And he does it very well. He's actually does this for a living, being bivocational. He ⁓ is the Bible teacher at the My Kids Christian School. And he teaches literally hundreds of students every single day. It's phenomenal. He doesn't get tired of it. But you know what? Me? That would burn me out. Every six to eight weeks, I have someone guest speak for me on a Sunday ⁓ service just so I can take a break, be refreshed, be filled, and focus. And so Why am I saying this? Because Robin and I are wired differently. And that's okay. It's okay. It's okay to boast in your limitations, to know that you're different than other people, that God has made you uniquely and wonderfully, and it's okay. We naturally know this, but I think practically, ⁓ man, it means we're saying no to a lot of things. It has to be. If we have limits, listen, we have to realize, and I tell my team this all the time, we have to say no. To what is good, so we can say yes to what is great. If God wired you a certain way and gave you a certain capacity and gift and measurement of grace, then you need to say yes to that and the calling He's given you and how He's made you, not try to be someone else. It is okay to be yourself. God glories in it, and you could give God glory through your own body. This is so important and freeing. Paul says, I'm not gonna boast, I'm not gonna boast of my limitations, but I'm gonna boast ⁓ not beyond my limits. But will boast in regard to the area of influence that God has assigned me. He would actually tell the Corinthians in the first letter, 1 Corinthians 12, 6 of 4 through 6. Now there are a variety of gifts, but the same Spirit, there are varieties of the service, but the same Lord. And there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. God gives a variety of gifts, a variety of grace. He's wired us all differently. We don't need to compare. We can boast. Because part of our wiring, our limitations is actually the people that God has given us. He's saying we're gonna boast in you because God has limited us to serve you, to bless you. And this is very important for how God has wired us because he's wired us for a certain reason to lead certain people. This is what ministry is serving people, loving people. And Paul says, My limit, my reach is you, Corinth. Paul realized that part of his responsibility and reach was the people of God that God entrusted him. So he was actually writing a letter to them saying yes to them. So this is super helpful and freeing. When you realize this, your family and your church family are not holding you back. And you're not holding them back. This is what the Bible says. There are divine relationships. And you actually have been placed into a body, just like people have been placed into a body. And if God has given you that authority, that leadership, that gifting, even amongst your weaknesses, even amongst The way that you think, the way that you do things, your limitations, God placed you to lead and to serve because he loves those people and he loves you. And you guys have connected to one another. He sets this thing up, man. It's amazing. It's genius. God has placed each individual leader and pastor in a with his unique abilities, leadership, vision, gifts, wiring to that local fellowship. And that's okay. Even when it thinks that the church's stumbles are as weak because of us. In our weakness, he is strong. Now listen, we would never say this out loud that the people around us are holding us back, but we sure could be tempted to do it, to say it. We could say, Well, if only if I only had that budget, or if my people volunteer like this, man, we we get tempted in thinking that our limitations hinder us rather than help us. And God places certain people in our lives for a good reason, just like he's placed you in the church's life for a good reason. You know, children, my kids are older, but when they were younger, they were a limitation. It was hard. Sometimes I even lost sleep because they were up all night. That hindered me from doing certain things. And did you know what? God knew that in that season. I'm now able to do a little bit more because they're more independent. But he knows that in this season. Don't forget he's providentially working in your life and in your church life. ⁓ I I feel sometimes this because I'm bi vocational. I only have a certain amount of time to give to the church, to study, to do these things, but I I trust that in my limitations and the people that God wants me to serve and even just the way I am, I I I'm not as genius as some people that I look up to or not a great speaker as some that I look up to, but God has made me who I am and placed me with this authority and responsibility as an under shepherd to love people, to serve people. And so I have to just be faithful to the call that He's given me. I trust the people that God places in my life are by his grace, and I, the way he made me, ⁓ I can have confidence to serve with those gifts, abilities, and how he's wired me to do so. And so it's not my abilities, my own effort that transform people's lives. It's God's grace. I trust that. So I feel like Paul, like in my weakness, I am strong because guess what? I can trust that God has placed me supernaturally, providentially into people's lives to love them and to serve them. And this is what He's done. Paul knew this, and he says in verse 14 through 16, for we are not overexceeding ourselves as though we did not reach you, for we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. Literally, they they came to the gospel first by God's grace to reach these people. Verse 15 we do not boast beyond limits and labor of others, but our hope is that As your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you without boasting of work already done in another area of influence. Now, this is a longer section, but the big idea is this. Paul wanted to have a great influence and impact the world. We know this. He was a church planner. He was going out, preaching the gospel, doing all this different stuff, right? But he realized that God gave him these people to do that. That God limited him, made him a certain way, wired him, giving the certain gifts, abilities, capacity, authority, and his role was to love and invest in the Corinth and all the other church plants that he was a part of. So by faith, he trusted that as they grew, the gospel would spread. Meaning, if God hasn't given you a large amount of people, you don't gotta be depressed about it. Listen, God has placed beautiful souls in your responsibility. For you to shepherd, for you to love. And it doesn't matter if there's five, fifteen, fifty, five hundred, or five thousand. You don't gotta be all depressed and whining about it. This is how he wires you. He knows what's best for you, how your capacity, the measurement of grace that you can lead in this season, in this moment, and he's gonna use that for his glory. Instead of complaining, invest, steward the people that God has given you and make disciples. As people's faith grows and mature, ⁓ things will go forth. It's called discipleship, multiplication. And this is the kingdom of God and how He works. And the same thing I see here as well. If God has given you a large amount of influence, don't be ashamed. Listen, the responsibility God gives you is the responsibility God's gives you. If you have 5,000 people, a thousand people, 500, doesn't matter the number. Listen, you don't be ashamed of the influence God has given you. You steward that well. You love people well. He's given you the capacity, the ability, the responsibility to love people like that. This is God who does the work. I love what Paul said in the first letter of 1 Corinthians 3, chapter ⁓ chapter 3, verse 6 through 7. He says, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives growth. Part of our wiring is how we do things, right? With the resources that we have and how we think and problem solve and lead and all this stuff. God is in charge of it all. He knows. He he places people in the body and and he gives responsibility for some to water, some to grow, some ⁓ some to plant, some to grow. All right. It's it's all God by God's grace. And so whether you're small or you're big or you're planting or watering, listen, God is the one that does the work. Boast in your weakness, boast in how God made you and praise God that he gave you people to minister to and love. We need to be aware of how God wired us so that way we can embrace our weaknesses. We can embrace our weaknesses and we can be aware of them. Because you see, the reality is no matter how much influence you have, whether large or small, you need the Spirit of God. You need God's grace on you and on your calling. This is not something that you can do by your might, by your flesh, but by the Spirit of God, says the Lord. You need Jesus and And in and it's good sometimes to know your limitations and know how God wire you so that at least you can be humble and ask for God's grace to grow and build his church. This is so important. We are simply aware of the grace of God and how he wired us to be good stewards, to worship him, and to boast in how great God is. And this is what Paul does all the time. In verse 17 through 18, just to close out our time together in this chapter, verse 17 and 18 says, Let the one who boast boast in the Lord. For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one who the Lord commends. We are approved not by boasting in our own abilities, by how awesome we are, but we are commended by worshiping the Lord to the gifts and responsibilities and grace and measurement that He's given us. He made you you. God has wired you a certain way. Do you know how to lead? What that's like? ⁓ are you aware of your personality, of how you lead, of how you need to grow, of how you need to pray? ⁓ these things are so important because we want to be good stewards, we want to worship God and ultimately we want to boast ⁓ in Him. Being self-aware is so important, but it's not to bolster our pride in our own efforts and thinking we're amazing. No, no, no. It's to boast in God and to be faithful to what he's given us. He's given you life. He's given you a way that a mind to think, a way to lead, an ability to teach his word, to disciple. You're going to see things differently than the other people think. Don't get your validation from other people and comparing yourself. No, go to the Lord and say, thank you, Jesus, for making me who I am, for shepherding these people in this congregation, in this season, in this moment, and thinking this way and leading this way. Lord, I'm so weak. I thank you, God, for your strength. So I would just encourage you, embrace the gifts that you've been given by God. Learn how He's wired you. Learn that ⁓ people are not a burden, but they're a blessing. Don't compare yourself to others. Know your limits. Embrace people that God has placed in your life and love them and serve them and point them to Jesus. Continue to follow them, follow him by pointing people to him. And so just, man, know that you're fearfully and wonderfully made. You're uniquely made. You have a purpose. And God has a plan for your life. And I'm so glad that we could be a part of this journey together. How has God wired you? God made you. He loves you. He cares about you. He's given you grace. He's given you that through people, through responsibility, and even how you do things. Don't settle for your weakness. Bring that to God and say, God in my weakness, become strong. Continue to rely and depend on Him, and He'll meet you right where you're at. Looking forward to discussing this topic together now in our time together. And ⁓ man, may God bless you and may you continue to grow in the gifts and grace that he's given you.