S2E6: Surrounding Yourself With The Right People

Well, in today's leadership lesson, I've been tasked to talk to you about surrounding yourself with the right people. The right people. Proverbs, we know, is a book of wisdom, and it says in 1320, man, you need to surround yourself with wise people. Because when you surround yourself or walk, whoever is wise, you'll become wise like them. There will be great benefit and impact and blessing upon that. However, that proverb says the companion of fools will suffer harm. The New King James Version says will actually be destroyed if you surround yourself with fools. And so who we put into our lives really does matter. And if you're called to do anything by God that's great, you need to have a team. You can't just do it by your own. We're to lead in community, be in Christian community, make disciples. And so we need to decide who we are we're going to surround ourselves with because it will have significant impact. And it's very, very important. This is why we talk about the importance of a church leader, church planner, pastor. To have accountability, to have a system of growth and humility, and to the importance of learning wisdom from other people. Because community does matter. So now it's who is in my community. When we surround ourselves with the right people, it makes all the difference in the world. What person comes to mind that's I've been blessed to surround my life with is my wife, Laura, my spouse. She is ride or die. At the age of Two and four children, my son four, my daughter two, we decided to pack up from Washington State, moved to Florida and plant a church. And because my wife was so supportive, got called by God with me, ⁓ it made all the difference in the world. Ride or die. She rode. We planted a church. We served the Lord together. We had steps of faith. We prayed. We shared the gospel. We made disciples. But why? Because the person that was around me, the closest person, my spouse, she was supportive. She loved me. She was a spiritual support. ⁓ it made a difference in my family's life and ultimately in the kingdom of God as we planted a church together. You see, having a supportive spouse, as you know, can be life-giving and it makes a difference, a world of a difference. And God wants us not only to have a supportive spouse, but ⁓ man, to have the right people in place for our staff, for our team, for other elders, board members, deacons, like God wants us to live in community and it's really important because as pastors, man, we make mistakes. We need people to come alongside to help us, to be supportive, to encourage, all this different stuff. And in fact, the biggest mistake that I've heard other pastors make is putting someone close to them or in a leadership position too soon. Hands down, nine times out of ten, I ask a leader, hey, what's something that you wish you could do different or better? backpedal or do something in the future, something different or advice you'd give. Man, I wish I didn't put that person in place so much because it caused so much damage or I suffered a lot because of it. You see, we need to put the right people in the right place. Because if you roll with the wise, you'll become like the wise, but the companion of the fool suffers harm. And it's not just foolish people, right? ⁓ it's it's not just foolish people, it's sometimes the wrong fit as well that could be just ⁓ around us. What do I mean by that? Well, a lot of people, hopefully you, not so much, but a lot of church leaders and a lot of leaders get tempted to put people that have a high ⁓ capacity, they're very competent, ⁓ rather than looking at character. We know the qualifications of godly ⁓ care ⁓ leaders should be character. First Timothy chapter 3. ⁓ we know Titus chapter one. And so we could be tempted to put a lot of people that could do a lot of good stuff to get the vision going on and just skip on this idea of character ⁓ and just go to competency or capacity first. But there's also something when being placed on the team that you need to be aware of. It's called chemistry. You see, you can have a great godly leader with character. They can have a great competency and capacity to to be skilled in something and do it a big thing, but you just don't click. We're talking about Who's gonna be on your team that's the right fit? You see, they can be an amazing leader, have great skills, great character, but it may not be the right person in the right season for you. And this is why we really need to pray about who's gonna be on our team, knowing how we're wired and what ⁓ leaderships and other leaders do we need in our lives. ⁓ man, knowing our own strengths and our own weaknesses, we can build a team that actually has great chemistry and fits together well. To accomplish a mission or ⁓ the task that God has given us. And so this is all great theory. This is all ethereal and and practical stuff. However, what I want to do is look in a detailed of a character in the Bible ⁓ to talk about ⁓ just some practical tips of when we have to choose people to be around us. And this guy is Saul. You may know him or not, but he's an old testament character. He was the first king of. Of Israel, and I'm not going to read all the text, but I'm taking this from a devotional time where I was with the Lord and just reading through 1 Samuel chapters 13 and 14, some lessons that I learned about surrounding yourself with the right people and God's gracious and grace and kindness to Saul of how he put forth people in his life to bless his leadership and to help him. However, it's important to realize in this state, just because you have the right people in your life doesn't mean that you're going to make the right decisions. And it's not like just this ultimate safeguard. Well, I have all these people in my life. No, we learn from Samuel ⁓ chapter 13 that ⁓ we can learn as much what to do by people in the Bible, as much as we can what not to do. And although Saul had these great people that should have helped him, because he did not fear the Lord, it actually prevented him to glean into that wisdom and to walk. You see, we could be tempted and just think, well, if we have just the right people in place, then we're good. No, we actually have to put the Lord first. ⁓ first Samuel chapter 13, verse 14. it says this, but now your kingdom will not endure. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people because you have not kept the Lord's commands. This was the great fall of Saul. ⁓ he wasn't patient waiting for Samuel to do the offering, so he foolishly went forth in his own timing, his own power, because he feared people. Gave the burnt offering. And the reality is, ⁓ he didn't fear the Lord. Even though God placed these people in his lives, ⁓ he didn't fear the Lord. He feared man over the Lord, and it caused him in a lot of trouble. And the Lord said, I'm gonna pick another king ⁓ before you. ⁓ even though Saul may be an example of failure because he didn't fear the Lord, ⁓ man, God in his kindness still put some godly people before him that I think that we can learn today. A pro a prophet. priest and a king that are in his story to help Saul, but because he didn't fear the Lord, because he feared man and he decided to follow after his own heart and not God's ways, ⁓ it really caused foolishness. So what I don't want you to think is just if you put the right people in place, you'll have a silver bullet. The closest person you could put on your life, first and foremost, especially as a church leader or a pastor as a leader, is Jesus himself. It's putting God first And making sure he's the Lord of your life. He's the one that surrounds you, like an armor bearer, like like a shield that he should be, like a refuge. Psalm 24 or 28-4 says, Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity. We cannot harden our heart before the Lord. It doesn't matter how strong our team is, if we're not strong with the Lord first and foremost. And we as as leaders, godly leaders, always need to put God first and foremost. And cultivate that relationship and make sure he's the person that's closest to us. Our first, I guess, team member ⁓ should be ⁓ the Lord Himself. And now as you have the Lord in your life, fearing him over man, he actually places people, community to help us in that way. And these are the people that I want you to look out as other church leaders, where we see even though Saul didn't listen to them, they were there. And maybe it will teach us that we should listen to him by Saul's bad example. And so I want to propose to you that there are three types or ⁓ three types of people to look for as we lead God's people as church leaders. ⁓ Saul was the first king of Israel, and God placed a prophet, a priest, and a king in his life to help him lead. A prophet, priest, and a king. First, a prophet. A prophet. We know this prophet was Samuel. ⁓ From the book of 1. Samuel, right? The whole story of Saul is found in this prophet's book. And a prophet is one that spoke on behalf of God. He told the truth. It was black and white. He declared the truth of the Lord. To declare the word of the Lord and truth would be his primary task. And God would use different prophets throughout the Old Testament to declare truth to the people, to steer them, to guide them, to help them. ⁓ it's no coincidence that God gave Saul a companion or a person, the prophet Samuel. To be this person for his life. I think that we all need these type of people in our lives. Someone that's very prophetic, a truth teller, not a yes man or yes woman. ⁓ and those that give us the word of God. Their primary task is pointing us to Jesus, to give us the word of God. It could be a common mistake to think that as a pastor, I don't need someone else to preach to me or to tell me the word of God. Don't think just because you teach the Bible. You can't receive it. Sadly, sometimes many leaders act this way. ⁓ But we need prophets in our life to point us to Jesus, to proclaim the truth, whether that be in the form of listening to podcasts, certain pastors, teachers, mentors, whatever, who are the people that we could put in place that will will teach us, that will speak truth to us. Great leaders are those that submit first and then receive from the Word of God his final authority in our lives. And this is what Samuel did to Saul, the king. First Samuel chapter 13, Samuel actually rebuked Saul for his rebellion ⁓ unto the Lord. He got out of his lane. He was trying to offer a sacrifice, be a priest, and he shouldn't have done that. Samuel 13, 13, ⁓ it says, And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But what happened? Well, he acted foolishly, he feared men, not feared God, so the prophet declared this. We need people that can confront us, declare truth to us, point us to Jesus in this way. Who are you looking to and who's in your life that could speak truth to you? That can actually rebuke you, that can tell you these things, and who can you sit under's ministry, teaching ministry and just listening to the word of God in your life? You need those type of people. That's the first type of person, a prophet. The second person that we need ⁓ to surround ourselves with are priests. Now, a priest is someone who would represent God, ⁓ represent you to God, and represent God to you, ⁓ to the people. So a priest, his natural role is to represent the people of God ⁓ to God himself in those offerings, but they would also represent God as a good a good example to the people. ⁓ this was their main primary role. Those that represent people to God, we need these type of people in our lives. What do I mean by that? Well, we need people to represent us before the Lord and pray for us. We need intercessors. If you're a church leader, you want to surround yourself with people, ⁓ men and women that will pray for you. Who are those people in your life? Have you thought about that? I remember when we planted a church and Lord basically got sent out as a missionary 3,000 miles away. ⁓ we had a prayer team and they would pray for our needs and and and we would let them know and open up. Well, I think that we as pastors and as church planners and leaders, we need to open up and let people know our vulnerabilities, ⁓ vulnerabilities and just let them know, hey, can you pray for our finances? Can you pray for our marriage, the this outreach, ⁓ whatever it may be? It doesn't necessarily need to be event oriented, but there needs to be people in our lives that can pray for us, that can intercede, that could represent us before God. And I am so grateful even now that I have a group in my life that pray for me regularly. There are some saints at our church that regularly pray for me and my wife, my family, the church, the ministry. And we need to cultivate that and ask people to pray for us. These are the type of people we need to have on our team. But a but a priest not only ⁓ represented the people to God, they were actually godly examples and represented God to the people. That's what priests did. They would be an example. They were godly examples of kingdom living. As they had their offerings and their sacrifice and their robes and stuff, it would be a different sort of lifestyle. I think that another type of person that falls under the priest that we need to surround ourselves with are other godly men and women. We know that in the New Testament, we say that the Christians are a royal priesthood, that we are actually ambassadors. Who in your life is a godly example that you can actually learn from? Like a mentor, someone that's gone before you and is godly. Those are the type of people that you need to surround yourself with. Maybe it's one person, but maybe you have a mentor for marriage, for ministry, ⁓ and just for finances. I mean, you can have multiple mentors or people, but are you even seeking to learn from others that have gone out before you to speak wisdom into your life? even coaches to help you see your blind spots. You know, Michael ja ⁓ Michael Jordan was not Michael Jordan until Phil Jackson came in and helped him and developed him and asked questions. And we need to have people that can come and are godly examples to ask us godly questions. Hey, how is your marriage? Hey, how how's your prayer life? What's going on here? This loving accountability. You know, Saul had this person in his life and we see this that the priests do this. In S first Samuel chapter fourteen, Saul was struggling about his battle plan to attack the Philistines and he was Coming up with his own game plan because he wasn't hearing from the Lord. He was leading off of his own strengths and weaknesses. And in 1 Samuel chapter 14, verse 36, ⁓ it says this, then Saul said, Let us go down to the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning, but let us not leave a man of them. And they said, the people, do whatever seems good to you. Now, in general, that seems amazing. We want, when we have vision, people to say, Yes, let's do it. But as a church leader, here's what you need. You don't just need people that are under you and followers. You need priest. The priest said in this verse, let us draw near to God here. Or the NIV says, let us inquire of God. Let's not just go to what's on your heart or on your mind. Let's pray about it. You got some people that will challenge you and say, hey, let's pray about it. Is this just of your a good idea or is this a God idea? You see, man says, do whatever in your heart, but The priest said, ask God. Who are the people in your life that are saying, hey, bro, ask God? ⁓ do you see the difference here? The difference of your followers compared to a priest? We need to have people that will point us to God in this way by asking us questions, ⁓ even going ⁓ and pushing back on some of our strategic plans. Listen, they're not our enemies, they could be our friends, and they're godly people that you've placed in your life that could push back on you, that could speak truth. So we have a prophet. We have a priest in this story that God graciously gave Saul in his own doing, but he didn't listen, did he? Man, the last thing is a king. A king. A king. This is someone that you can lead with, has somewhat of authority to actually push back, to, to, to speak up. Someone that you may submit yourself under or to. This could be a peer, ⁓ maybe a fellow elder, a board member, another pastor, but it's someone that. Isn't intimidated by your authority because they have the same authority or that place in your life. You may say, Well, I thought Saul was the first king. He was the only king. Well, this is correct, but in this story in 1 Samuel 14, we see another king, or at least the bloodline of a king, Jonathan, his son, shows that because of his position, he was able to give freely his opinion, and actually he functioned as a king for Saul in this this way. First Samuel 14, the story goes, Jonathan was ⁓ going to attack the Philistines, this enemy of the Lord's and the people. ⁓ he had his armor bearing, he said, Let's just go, let's go for it. And by faith they did it. It was amazing victory. And so as his dad's coming up with this plan and and and the priest is like, You should draw near to God, and he's not doing it, he's just trying to please men. ⁓ one of the things Saul did in his own strength is made a vow and said, Do not eat anything until we have victory. However, Jonathan was in his own vi battle and didn't hear this vow that his dad made, so he came across a dead carcass, ⁓ saw some honeycomb, and he ate it. He ate the honey, it gave him some energy, some strength, so much so the text says his eyes were brightened. First Samuel chapter fourteen, verses twenty eight through thirty it says, Then one of the people said to Jonathan, Hey, your your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man who eats food this day. And the people were faint because of it, right? Then Jonathan said, My father has troubled the land. See how my eyes, men they have become brighter because I've tasted a little of this honey. How much better if the people had Eden freely today the spoil of their enemies that they found. For now the defeat among the Philippistines has not been great. We see that Jonathan, he actually ⁓ speaks as a fellow leader up here and disagrees with Paul's strategy, walking in the flesh. Again, we need these type of people in our lives, fellow leaders, other people that can actually push back, that have that authority in our lives to be better, to have feedback, to have wisdom. Jonathan wasn't afraid to speak about ⁓ his father and the tactics because he was going to be the future king and he was a warrior. Listen, you need fellow church leaders, warriors, to give you godly counsel. Someone that you can't fire, to be a part of your team, to be close to you so you can hear from them, whether that be your board, another pastor, another leader, but someone that's not afraid and someone you can submit to because kings, they are going to lead, and that was their role. And you need other leaders to spur you on. As iron sharpens iron, you need iron to sometimes bring some sparks to your strategy and not only say, Did you pray about it? Or what about this? And tactics, and just get a Of people around you that you can actually help and that could help you in your leadership. And so we see this for Saul. We see that that there was a prophet, ⁓ someone who's sincere, very black and white, speaking truth things. That's a very practical person. Who's the practical person, very sincere in your life, that will give you just the word of God and kindness and just speak truth? But we see a priest. This is someone that who's very spiritual, right? Representing God ⁓ to man and man to God. ⁓ they're more pastoral. Who's who's a pastor in your life? Someone that can that care for you, to shepherd you, to to bring spiritual insight into your life. And then there was a king. This was Jonathan in this situation, but he was very tactical. He was smart, very personable. He was very close to Saul, a son, and so he had ⁓ more authority to speak more open and clear about it. Someone sincere, someone spiritual, someone smart, a prophet, priest, and king, someone practical. A pastor, pastoral, and personal. ⁓ shout out to you, Neil Spencer. That was about as close as I can get with alliteration. Okay. ⁓ but why do these things ring true? Why are they important ⁓ to surround yourself with these type of people? Because my friends, these are all forms of who the great King of Kings is, the Lord of Lords, the great high priest, the great prophet. These are attributes of a godly man, Jesus Christ, fully God, fully man. You see, Jesus, he is the great prophet. He is the living word, one who is the Colossians says is all wisdom. And so he is the one that's super practical that we can go to. He is the great high priest. He is our great intercessor, praying for us even now, and the one who points us to the Father in flesh and represents the kingdom of God, this ultimate high priest. And he is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the one ruling, reigning. sovereign and the one that we're some to submit to as Lord and Savior. You see, we need godly people in our lives. These are certain types, but a prophet, priest, and king, Jesus fulfilled and he is the ultimate prophet, the ultimate priest, the ultimate king. So ultimately we just need godly people to surround us. Those are the right people that we need to surround ourselves as church leaders. Does it mean that we'll always ⁓ won't act foolishly? Absolutely not. Saul didn't. He had to make a decision. But as you fear the Lord, you will respect and walk in humility and love how God in his grace and kindness sends these type of people into your leadership, not to critique, but to coach. Not to put down, but to build up. And through humility and fearing God, we can actually surround ourselves with these types of godly people, and we can be blessed. Those that walk with the wise will become wise. As we behold Jesus, we become wise. Like Jesus and people in our lives that will point us to Jesus will be a great and godly and amazing benefit for our lives and our leadership. So I hope that helped, and I look forward to discussing the details of what stood out to you and our cohort as we just continue to talk about putting the right people in the right place at the right time in our lives. God bless you guys.