The church at Corinth needed MEN because it was faced with many threats and challenges. Some of these were:

1. The threat of division, (1:10)

2. Some brethren were more carnal than spiritual, (2:1-3)

3. Some brethren were following after worldly wisdom, (3:18-19)

4. A most serious problem in the church had not been dealt with, but had been ignored, (5:12-13)

5. Some brethren were cheating each other and taking each other to court, (6:5-6)

6. Some brethren were committing fornication, (6:15)

7. They had marriage problems (chapter 7).

8. They had problems with idolatry, (10:21)

9. They had problems with their worship to God, particularly with the way they were partaking of the Lord’s Supper, (11:20-22)

10. They were using their spiritual gifts to exalt themselves instead of to edify the church, (Chapters 12-14)

11. They had a major doctrinal problem. They did not have a proper understanding of the bodily resurrection, (Chaper 15)

    Do you feel that some of these problems also apply to churches today? List some of the threats and challenges to the congregation where YOU worship.

[You will get much more out of this lesson if you take the time to actually stop and think and write down your answers.]

    Do you want to SOLVE these problems?  How can you do it? At the end of the book, Paul tells them:1 Cor. 16:13-14  “Watch, stand fast in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love.” (NASV) The purpose of this lesson booklet is to help you to act like a man – whether you are young or old.

 One of the things Paul did to help this struggling church at Corinth was to send Timothy to them, 1 Cor.16:10, and later Titus, 2 Cor.8:16-17. Paul called Timothy a “man of God,” (1 Tim.6:11).  “But you, O man of God, flee these things [riches] and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.” Of Titus, Paul said, “But thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus, for he not only accepted the exhortation, but being more diligent, he went to you of his own accord.” Paul also sent Timothy to the Philippian church to encourage them in their distress, Phil.2:19-24. “For I have no one like-minded who will sincerely care for your state....but you know his proven character, that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel.”  And he sent Titus to Crete, “to set in order the things that are lacking.” Timothy and Titus were obviously leaders.

What makes a leader?

     What qualities do some men have that enable them to be the kind of leaders that will turn a whole congregation around?

     Think about the great leaders of the Bible: Noah building the ark, Abraham founding the nation of Israel, Joseph overcoming betrayal, Joshua conquering Jericho, David killing Goliath, Daniel influencing world rulers, Jesus and the cross.

     All of these men had the following five things. If you work at these five things, you will help to turn your family, your congregation and even your workplace from mediocrity to greatness.

1. Leaders have a mission (purpose).

   “Set in order the things that are lacking”

    “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith...”

2. In order to achieve their mission, leaders follow rules. 

    “Watch, stand fast in the faith.”  

3. Leaders have vision (ability to see  themselves accomplishing specific steps to achieve their mission).  

    “set in order....”

4. A GOOD leader is motivated by love.  “Let all that you do be done with love.”

    “Pursue...love”

    “For I have no one like-minded who will sincerely care for your state.”

   “The same earnest care into the heart of Titus”

5. In order to achieve their vision, leaders sacrifice with courage.

   “Act like a man, be strong.”

   “You know his proven character, that...he served...”

   “and being more diligent...”  

They even go the extra mile, Mt.5:41 “And whoever compels you to go with him one mile, go with him two.”

Part 1: Mission

     Mission means purpose. Why am I here? What is my purpose in life? It is interesting that the leaders in the Bible had the general mission of serving God. Then God used them in a specific leadership way.  (Isa.40:31)

1. What was Joseph’s general purpose in life? Gen.42:18

2. In what powerful way did God use him? Gen.45:7-8 

3. What was Noah’s general purpose in life? Gen.6:8-9

4. How did God use him? Gen.6:20 

5. What was Jesus’ mission in life? Mk.10:45, Lk.19:10

6. What is your personal mission in life?

Besides your overall personal mission in life, you also may have other purposes (or missions) according to your various other roles in life.

7. If you are a husband, what is your mission? Eph.5:25 

8. If you are a father, what is your mission? Eph.6:4

9. If you are an elder, what is your mission? 1 Pet.5:1-3 

10. What is the mission of the Church of Christ in each of the following verses?

     10.1 - Heb.10:25, Acts 20:7 

     10.2 - Eph.4:11-12, 1 Cor.14:26 

     10.3 - Acts 13:1-3, 1 Thess.1:7-8 

     10.4 - Acts 4:34-35, 1 Cor.16:1-3 

     10.5 - 1 Cor.5:1-7 

As a member of the Lord’s church, you have a personal responsibility to fulfill the missions of that church. This lesson is designed to help you with this particular aspect of your life. Just as in question 6 you wrote down your own personal mission in life generally, you now need to write your own personal missions with respect to being a part of the body of Christ, based on the scriptures above.

     11.1 - I will ...

     11.2 - I will ...

     11.3 - I will ... 

     11.4 - I will ... 

     11.5 - I will ...

It seems that the “leaders” in the church at Corinth had not taken some of these missions to heart. They did not worship God properly. They had not disciplined those who were sinning. They were not worried about edifying the body - only about showing off their gifts. When they were lagging behind in their giving, Paul was confident that Titus would be able to turn the whole situation around, 2 Cor.8:1-6. Just one good leader! So too, if you work at becoming a leader, maybe God will use you to turn many situations around: to save many souls, or to save many marriages from breaking up, or to save many young people from committing fornication and falling victim to AIDS, or to save the church where you are from following false teachers, etc.

Part 2 – Rules

1. What rule did Joseph refuse to violate? Gen.39:9 

2. What rule did Daniel refuse to violate? Dan.1:8 

3. What rule did Jesus refuse to violate? Lk.22:41-44 

Rules are something that are non-negotiable. A leader will never go against the rules – not even one time! He has “purposed in his heart.” If he does not keep within the rules, how can he expect others to follow him? If he is late for worship – even one time, how can he expect others to be on time? Soon nobody is on time for worship. If he is unprepared to preach when it is his turn, how can he expect others to be prepared? Soon nobody is working hard at preparing good lessons – and the whole congregation suffers. The rules for the worship and work of the church are hopefully well known to all of us.

1. Please examine yourself carefully. Do you see the congregation where you attend (and therefore also yourself) failing to accomplish any of the things listed below? Or perhaps many in the congregation are reaching the lost, but you are not? What rules are you violating with regard to...

1.1 Worshipping God 

1.2 Reaching the lost 

1.3 Edifying your brethren 

1.4 Keeping the church pure 

1.5 Helping needy saints 

The rest of the lesson will be about what you can do as an individual to help yourself (and thus influence the whole church) to turn failure into success!

Part 3 – Vision

When doctors test a person’s vision, they are testing his ability to see. Vision in spiritual matters is the ability to know what you want to accomplish (have a mission) and then see the small steps that you must take, day by day, to eventually get to where you want to be.

David knew that the God-given mission of the Israelite army was to defeat the Philistines. The other Israelite soldiers knew that too. They also knew the rules – to put their trust in the Lord and He would be with them. But when Goliath came and challenged them to a fight, all of them had the “vision” of lying dead on the ground because Goliath was so much bigger and more powerful than they! Only David had a different vision. He saw himself defeating Goliath the way he had perhaps killed the lion and the bear – with his sling – and with the help of the Lord. He could see the small steps he needed to take to accomplish the mission of defeating the Philistines. Once he led in killing Goliath, the other soldiers gained courage from his example. They could then see themselves fighting the Philistines with the weapons they had. And so they gained a great victory!

The king of Egypt gave Joseph the task of preparing for the great famine because he could see that Joseph was a man of vision. God gave Joseph the interpretation of the meaning of the king’s dream – but Joseph then encouraged the king to act on the word of God by showing him steps he could take to accomplish what God wanted. Obviously Joseph was used to analyzing situations and seeing what needed to be done. That was why in the past Potiphar had put him over his household and the prison keeper had put Joseph over all the prisoners. Because Joseph had vision in these smaller things, God was able to use him to become second highest ruler in Egypt and save the Egyptians and his own family from starvation. So if you start practicing vision in small ways, you will soon be used by God in greater and greater ways.

Part 4  – Love

However, it is possible to have a LOT of vision, and yet God can still not use you. We have already spoken about following God’s rules. God cannot use a person who doesn’t stick to His rules. Also, remember, good leaders – the ones that can be used by God, are motivated by love. Remember 1 Cor.16:13-14 – “...act like a man, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love.” Sincerely ask yourself these questions:

1. Do I truly love God?

2. Do I truly love my neighbour?

Remember Jesus said that these are the greatest commandments – and all other commandments depend on these.

Part 5  – Sacrifice

Only if you love God will you be able to sacrifice your own desires to spend time in the Word of God, getting to first of all know God’s rules – and secondly having the power to stick to God’s rules. Only if you love your neighbour will you be able to sacrifice your own time, effort and money to edify the brethren and teach the lost. It takes a lot of true love to have the courage to confront a sinning brother or offer the gospel to a stranger. Only if others can sense that you truly love them, will they be willing to listen when you give them the word of God. This kind of love is not a feeling – it is a conscious decision to put the interests of the other person above your own interests. YOU can make a conscious decision to love NOW.

A person who goes the extra mile, does not just do what he is asked to do. He does beyond what he is asked. He looks for needs and tries to fulfill those needs even before he is asked.

Part 6  – Practice

Let us practice using vision in a loving, sacrificial way to solve common problems that many Christians and congregations face. Perhaps this practice will help you to solve problems that you or your congregation faces.

A. What steps can I see myself taking to help improve the singing of the congregation?

1. Do I prepare myself ahead of time with thought-provoking comments to help the congregation understand the songs and focus on the meaning of the songs they will be singing? (1 Cor.14:15)     2. Do I make sure EVERY phrase in the songs I lead is according to Scripture? (Col.3:16)     3. Do I practice leading the songs at home so that I can lead them well publically? (Note: I have noticed that at some congregations, women are leading songs from their seats. This is not according to Scripture, 1 Cor. 11:3, and would be avoided if men took the trouble to learn to lead songs properly.)   4. Do I ask the preacher if there are any songs that will enhance the message he is trying to give to the congregation? (Col.3:16)     5. Do I choose songs that fit the needs of the congregation? (Eph.5:19)      6. Do I work to learn new songs that will benefit the brethren?     7. Have I encouraged the men of the congregation to buy enough songbooks that everyone can sing?     8. If I, as the song leader, am in charge of the service, do I have a program to follow, knowing who will be doing each work, so that all things can be done decently and in order (1 Cor.14:40)?     8. Other steps? 

B. What steps do I see myself taking so that I can present the Lord’s supper in a way that truly helps brethren to remember the suffering and death of the Lord – and thus be motivated to live better lives in the week ahead?

1. When I do the work of the Lord’s Supper, do I spend more time concentrating on the mechanics of how the Lord’s Supper should be taken instead of on what the Christian is supposed to be doing (remembering the death of Christ, Lk.22:19)?      2. Do I find myself using the same few Scriptures over and over (vain repetition)?     3. Do I prepare myself ahead of time with some thought-provoking comments to add to the Scriptures I read?     4. Do my prayers focus on the Lord’s Supper instead of on all sorts of other unrelated things?

C.What steps can I see myself taking so that my prayers are more pleasing to God, more meaningful and powerful – so that the brethren will really want to say AMEN at the end – so that the brethren are given strength and courage by my prayers?

1. Do I know the needs of my brethren and then pray for them? (1 Tim.2:1) What steps do I need to take if I do not know the needs of my brethren? (I will have to show love and sacrifice my time to find out.) What steps do I need to take if I forget what people tell me?     2. Do I know the blessings we have received and give thanks for them? (Phil.4:6)     3. When I lift up my hands, are they holy? (1 Tim.2:8)     4. Do I know how to truly give honor and praise to God in my prayers? (If not, where do I go to find out? - the book of Psalms). Do I love God enough to spend time reading and even memorizing the praises found in this book?     5. Do I work at improving my private prayer life – because I want to be closer to God? (Then my public prayer life will also improve.)     6. Are my prayers from my heart? (James 5:16)Do I find myself praying the same words over and over (vain repetition)? (Mt.6:7)     7. Do I work at knowing God’s will so I can pray according to His will? (1 Jn.5:14-15)  Can you think of any other Scriptures that contain steps? 

Do you see how knowing the rules, the Word of God, helps you to have vision?

D. What steps can I see myself taking to edify my brethren in knowledge?

1. Am I studying the word so that I can preach and/or teach the TRUTH? (Heb.5:12-14, James 3:1)     2. Am I studying with other preachers or studying books they have written that will help me to do a better job of organizing my thoughts and speaking in an understandable way? (2 Tim.2:2)      3. Am I teaching my family at home? (Then I will be able to teach others.)     4. Can I teach (or encourage someone else to teach) the children in the congregation so that when they grow up they will already be strong in the word (like Timothy)? (2Tim.3:15)     5. Am I using the Word of God to solve my own personal problems? (2Tim.3:16-17) (Then I will be able to use it to solve the problems of my brethren.)     6. If it is my turn to preach or teach, do I prepare properly? Do I have a purpose in my lesson? Do I show the brethren something they need to be doing and then urge them to do it? Do I prepare to present my lesson in logical steps? (2 Tim.3:16)     7. When I teach or preach, do I really try to think of the needs of my brethren and find the Scriptures that will answer those needs? (Or do I just think of topics that I feel would be easy to preach about – like how to be saved?) Am I including the meat of the word along with the milk? (Heb.5:13)      8. When someone else teaches or preaches, do I encourage them by being on time and giving them positive feedback afterwards? If it is a Bible study, do I study the lesson so I can make good, interesting, and supportive comments in class?      9. Do I pray for myself and for all teachers and preachers? (Col.4:2-4)      10. If someone preaches or teaches error, do I take them aside privately and explain the way of the Lord more accurately? (Acts 18:26)  (I do not argue with the teacher in class!)      11. Do the adults have Bible classes where they are systematically being taught the whole counsel of God?  (Acts 20:27) If not, can I encourage someone to do that or do it myself?  Am I encouraging righteous older women to teach younger women? (Titus 2:3-5)     12. If I teach a Bible class, do I study the way Jesus taught and then use the same methods (ie. Giving examples from every day life, asking questions instead of just lecturing) so that my lessons are interesting and the students remember them?      13. If I can teach and preach, am I training faithful men to teach and preach also? (2 Tim.2:2)

E. What steps can I see myself taking to edify my brethren in other ways? (All these things SHOW that I love them.)

1. Do I arrive early and stay afterwards so that I can greet my brethren? (Rom.16:16)  2. Do I practice hospitality – inviting brethren to my home?  (Tit.1:8, Phi.1:7)     3. Do I visit sick and needy brethren, widows and orphans? (James 1:27)     4. Do I refrain from gossip? If my brother tells me about some personal struggle he is having, can he trust me to keep that information to myself?     5. Do I assist my brethren in whatever good things they are doing to the best of my ability? (Rom.16:2)     6. Do I help bear my brethren’s burdens? (Gal.6:2)     7. If I am the person in charge of the service, do I greet visitors? Do I inform the brethren of uplifting things that may have happened to some of the brethren during the week? Do I bring prayer requests to the attention of the brethren? Do I thank those who do the work? Do I exhort brethren to follow what they have learned?  8. Am I working at qualifying myself to be an elder? (1 Tim.3:1)

F. What steps can I see myself taking to keep the church pure?

1. Am I working at being a spiritual and meek person who will be able to restore those who are erring?  (Gal.6:1, James 5:19-20)      2. If a brother sins, do I follow the steps in Matthew 18:15-17?      3. Do I refrain from gossiping about the sins of others? If someone comes to me complaining about a brother, do I exhort him to follow the steps of Matthew 18?

G. What steps can I see myself taking so that the congregation where I attend can take care of its own needy, have its own place to meet and its own preacher, as well as send out preachers to reach the lost?

1. Am I working hard to be able to teach and preach so that if the congregation wants to send me somewhere, I will be able to do the work?     2. Is my life “open” so that other brethren would be willing to trust me with support? (Acts 16:1-5)      3. Am I working on not being covetous so that if the congregation offers me a salary, I would be willing to give up my job and preach full time?      4. Am I giving at least one tenth of my earnings to the Lord? (If the Lord demanded a tenth PLUS free will offerings under the old covenant, do you think He will be happy with LESS from us who are under the better covenant?) Am I giving the way the Lord wants and trusting HIM to supply my needs?  (Brethren, the reason why American churches are  able to support preachers and send them out is because American brethren, even poor American brethren, are giving sacrificially. And the reason why it is not happening in Africa is because most African brethren, even ones with jobs, are just putting in small notes, even just change! Brethren, the American Christians do not give because they are rich, they are enriched because they give! - 2 Cor.8:6,8,11)  5. Do I work for my boss like I would work for the Lord so that I will keep the job I have, even be promoted, so that I will have more to give for the work of the Lord? (Col.3:22-24)

H. Practice doing a section on your own: What steps can I see myself taking to reach the lost?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Now go back and choose a section you would like to work on. Circle the number(s) of the questions you would like to work on first. Write a personal goal for yourself. Make it something you can measure – NOT “I will be a better songleader,” but “Next Saturday I will practice each song at home before I lead it on Sunday.” Include in your goal a plan of when, where and how you will accomplish it. When? (On Saturday) Where? (At home) How? (Practice each song)

Write down your goal.

Conclusion

In order to achieve your vision, you have to sacrifice with courage. What will enable you to do this?

1. Are you convinced that your mission is a worthy one? Phil.3:8

2. Have you worked hard to root selfishness out of your life?

3. Have you ever tasted the rewards of sacrificing for God? Heb.12:2

4. Have you asked others to pray for you to have boldness? Col.4:2-4

My dream is to see churches in southern Africa who are independent of outside help (both spiritually and physically), being led by well-qualified elders, spreading the gospel to other cities and even to other countries. This booklet is part of my endeavour to accomplish this vision. I pray it helps you.