What if the God you always imagined isn't the God scripture reveals?

We all carry ideas about who God is.

Ideas shaped by culture, experience, and tradition.

People have tried for centuries to tame scripture.

Every time someone tries to fit him into their existing worldview, he pushes back.

He confronts assumptions, disrupts comfort, and invites us...

to see reality through him.

Encountering the real God doesn't tweak your worldview.

It flips it upside down.

Thank you.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but consider others out of humility more significant than yourselves.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but to the interests of others.

Have this mind among you, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, although he was equal with God, did not consider his equality with God something to grasp, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man, being found in human form.

He humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.

Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed upon him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2, verses 3 through 11.

My voice is already shot.

Would you pray with me?

Father, I ask that you would open our eyes to the truth of your word and meet each of us right where we are.

Compel us to lean in, to draw near, that this teaching would land deep in our hearts and would take root and bring forth the fruit that you desire for every one of us.

Lord, would you calm my spirit and instill peace in my soul as I deliver this message.

In the name of Jesus, I pray.

Amen.

Well, I'm wearing black and silver today on purpose.

That's right.

I got a bone to pick with your pastor Jeff, who seems to think it's okay to throw shade on the Raiders and the Raider fans.

What in the world?

That does not sound very Christ-like to me.

I would say this, it's pretty bold words he's using considering his skinny little arms.

Can you imagine him saying those same things to Max Crosby or to the crazies down in the black hole?

I think not.

Fun fact, you can pass this on to Pastor Jeff if you like.

The final game of this season for his Rams and for the Chargers and the Chiefs and yes, even the Raiders had something in common.

They all lost.

We are all losers until next season rolls around.

The only difference is we have a higher draft pick than y'all.

We are praying for a quarterback that can restore us to the winning tradition of Raider football.

And then you come up to Allegiant Stadium and we will forevermore whoop up on you.

Just get used to it.

It's coming.

Now, yeah, you can...

Raiders!

That's right.

Seriously.

Alright, knock it off.

Seriously, it's an honor for me to be here today.

30, just short of 30 years ago, I stood in this same spot.

There was no building, just vacant land.

And there was a chalk mark around where the building was going to be and where this platform was going to be.

And I remember one of our staff members wringing his hands and saying, man, Dane, this building is not going to be big enough.

We're going to outgrow this building.

And I reminded him that it was God that grew the church in West Covina to the point that it wouldn't fit there.

It was God who provided us with this property and was going to provide us with this building.

And if God chose to grow us outside of this building, well, he could show us another spot if he wanted.

And you know what?

He did that twice.

Rancho Cucamonga, beautiful people out there in a beautiful facility, welcome.

For those of you who are worshiping over in West Covina, our most recent blessing from God having you all over there.

By the way, West Covina has a special place in my heart because that's where my wife and I first encountered this church.

We walked in January 1989.

That's 19, not 1899.

And Pastor Ron Keller was preaching and David Reynolds led worship.

And on the way home, I looked at my wife.

I said, man, I don't think there's any reason for us to go look anywhere else.

This has got to be our home.

And we landed here that day.

And this was our church home.

We have loved every minute of this church.

We have watched thousands of people be baptized.

We've watched thousands of lives be transformed.

We have...

witnessed marriages be restored and children be led in such a way as to set them up for successful living and life beyond just the church building.

We have certainly been blessed.

This church has been on an extraordinary adventure and now is expanding even internationally.

I mean, you think about, we're now in South America, we're over in Africa and UK, down under in New Zealand and Australia, and who knows where God's going to expand the ministry of this church.

It's all to his glory.

But you, if you're a part of this church, you're on that journey with him.

And he has asked you to be a part of what we call his story.

So we give him all the glory today.

And you just got to know how humbled I am to stand here before you.

Now, I need to confess something before we get going.

Pastor Jeff asked me a couple of months ago.

If I would speak on the subject of biblical leadership, my first reaction was, no, I don't think so.

It's been over two years since I've preached at all.

I'm feeling pretty rusty, and you can probably tell I'm a little nervous right now.

I'm scared to death.

I think it's because I take this job seriously.

I don't want to waste your time.

And I don't want to waste the opportunity that God's given us to gather in this place and hear the Word.

So, I feel a little bit of pressure from that.

I'm certainly no expert on leadership unless failures at leadership makes you an expert, in which case I've got a doctorate in that.

And besides all that, I'm retired, man.

I mean, sermon prep's going to cut into my golf game.

And Pastor Jeff would say, Well, there's been a lot that's cut into your golf game, apparently, because you're not very good.

I think I heard him say that just a few weeks ago.

Good grief, this guy, he's all over it.

So, yeah, so I was feeling all that.

I was making these excuses.

And on top of all of that, I know some of the people who have stood in this spot and have preached, godly men and women, Ron Keller and Chuck Boer.

Jeff Bynes and Dave Stone and Mike Bro, I know all those guys, Michael Chisaka last week, godly people, and I'm none of those people, right?

I don't know if you can sense it or not, but in that moment as I was thinking about it, and I told Jeff I'll pray about it, I was making a lot of excuses for why I couldn't.

You could probably hear agreements that I've made with the enemy.

Oh, Dane, you can't do that.

No, you're not qualified to talk about leadership.

What's the matter with you?

Just tell them no and be done with it.

And long about in there, God spoke to me and he said, you know, preaching the word of God has very little to do with you, Dane.

In fact, I need you to stay out of the way because I, God, want to share my word with my church, my people, in my timing.

All I need you to be is a clay pot.

Would you stop making excuses and just do what I ask you to do?

The answer is yes, Lord.

So what's the question?

The question is, what is...

leadership.

What does it mean?

How can it be applied to my Christian walk today?

Well, I'm glad you asked because that's what we're going to talk about.

Leadership simply means the ability to influence others toward a desired outcome.

Now, by that definition, how many of you, by a raise of your hands, would say, I am a leader?

Really?

I would argue that every one of you is a leader, that every one of you has a sphere of influence, and whether it's large or small, whether you consider it to be significant or not, you have been placed in that sphere for this time for a purpose that God created you for in the first place.

Do you understand that?

Sometimes you think about this.

Once you come to grips with that, that, man, I really do have influence on someone.

It starts with you, by the way, personal leadership.

You have influence on others around you within your sphere.

Once you come to grips with that fact, the question then to be asked is, as a Christian, how can I lead effectively?

with a biblical worldview.

In Isaiah chapter 3, we read of a time in the history of the children of Israel where there was a massive void in leadership.

All of the mighty men and the warriors and the wise and the creatives and the encouragers and those with vision were all missing.

And Israel had become so desperate for leadership.

They were begging one another, you, please, be our leader.

A guy would go to his brother and say, hey, you're wealthy, you be our leader.

You have a coat, you be our leader.

And the brother would say, oh, no, no, no, no, no.

I am not going to take that mess.

I am not going to lead.

And I believe leadership is one of the great cries of our generation today.

People aren't just asking who is going to lead.

They're going to ask how are you going to lead.

Scripture never treats leadership as a title to pursue, something for us to chase.

It treats it as a calling that is shaped by our character.

Today, I would like to talk with you for a few minutes about three pillars of biblical leadership, and they are these, identity, humility, and purpose.

Now, these aren't just leadership techniques that you can learn.

How many of you have read a book on leadership?

Raise your hand if you've read a book on leadership, 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.

How many of you have attended a workshop or a seminar for leadership development?

Maybe even at your work, you had leadership training at your work.

These are actually spiritual realities.

These are not techniques for you to learn.

And so as we get into this now, these three pillars, they are spiritual realities that are a part and parcel of the foundation.

of effective leadership in any setting, beginning with your personal leadership.

If you're a leader at home, leader at work, leader in your community, maybe you're a senator or, you know, vice president of the United States, whatever it is, these pillars will serve you well in helping you be the leader that God called you to be and help you in how you are to lead.

So let's begin where Jesus began.

with identity.

Identity is knowing who you are in God.

Back to Philippians chapter 2.

Man, I quoted it earlier for you, but let's just go back to chapter 2 verses 6 and 7.

Jesus was equal with God, pretty lofty position to say the least.

He says, it says that he was aware of his position.

and yet he released it in order to become a servant.

Jesus knew who he was and what he was capable of.

Later, after being born in human form, he grew to be a young man.

Before he'd ever preached a sermon, before he'd ever healed anyone or raised anyone from the dead, before he'd ever called a single disciple, the Father speaks affirmation over his Son.

This is my...

beloved son in whom I am well pleased.

Jesus had identity and he knew who he was, the son of the father.

Before Jesus did anything, the father affirmed.

who he was.

Peter speaks of you and I.

If you've given your life to Christ, Peter calls us a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession.

I love that one.

In the Old Testament, God says, I will rescue you.

I have rescued you.

I'm going to give you a new name.

And he says, you are mine.

The creator of the universe claiming me for himself.

Ooh, man, that is, that's good stuff.

Leadership begins not with what you do, but with who you are.

Before God ever gives a commission, he gives identity.

God told Gideon before, or when he was calling Gideon to lead the children of Israel, he said, the Lord is with you.

Oh, mighty warrior.

At a time when Gideon is hiding out on a threshing floor from his enemies, guessing he didn't feel like a mighty warrior at that moment.

Jesus called Peter the rock long before Peter ever acted like one.

Identity precedes assignment.

A police officer once misplaced his badge before his shift.

He still was wearing his uniform.

He was still the same trained officer.

He still had the same authority.

But he felt insecure walking into situations because the symbol of his identity was missing.

And I believe that too many believers today lead like that.

Gifted, called, equipped.

but unsure simply because we have misplaced our identity in Christ.

Much like my own response when Jeff called and said, hey, would you come and preach?

My first response was a loss of identity.

It was speaking from a place of not realizing who I really was, what I'm really capable of.

I'd forgotten.

Identity is the anchor of leadership.

And identity is what keeps you steady whether the crowd cheers, jeers, or disappears.

Identity stabilizes you.

Do you know who you are?

Do you really know who you are?

In John chapter 1 and verse 12 beginning, it says that all who have received him, he gave them the right to become children of God.

Romans 8 and verse 14 says that all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Do you know who you are?

Do you really know that down here?

Who you are.

Do you know that if you have surrendered your life to the lordship of Jesus, you are sons and daughters of the most high with all rights and responsibility and privileges and power at your disposal.

Do you know that?

I think it changed the way that we lead.

You really know.

Your leadership rises and falls.

on whether you believe what God says about you more than what the world says about you.

That's huge, gang.

That is big.

What God says about you matters.

By the way, this is not just some motivational speech.

I'm just not trying to puff you up.

This is biblical, spiritual reality.

As Uncle Cy Robertson would say, that's a fact, Jack, right there.

Straight out of scripture.

Didn't make it up, didn't dream it up, right out of the Bible.

When you know who you are, criticism can't crush you, praise won't artificially inflate you, and pressure can't define you.

Those things are all peripheral.

The only impact they have on you as a leader is the impact that you allow them to have.

Identity protects your leadership.

A family once adopted a young boy who had spent quite a bit of time in the foster care system.

For months, he kept asking them, am I really going to get to stay here?

I mean, forever.

Can I stay here forever?

Are you sure?

And finally, the father knelt down before the boy, and he said, son, identity.

You're not staying here because you behave.

You're staying here because you're my son.

And that.

will never change.

And that is the Father's heart toward you and toward me.

Do you know who you are?

So if identity is the foundation of effective leadership, then humility is the posture.

Identity tells us who we are.

Humility reveals how.

we're going to lead.

So let's move on to this second pillar of humility, which is the posture of a God-formed leader.

Back to Philippians chapter 2, verses 3 and 5 now.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition, but in humility, in humility, consider others more significant than yourselves.

And then he says, have this same mindset as Christ Jesus.

So what was the mindset of Christ Jesus?

Not grasping for power or clinging to status or longing for comfort, but taking the form of a servant born in Bethlehem nowhere in a stable to a carpenter father and his young bride.

Jesus did not consider equality a thing to grasp.

Equality with God was released in order.

for him to become a servant.

Now, it's important for you to hear this.

Humility is not thinking less of yourself.

Humility is thinking of yourself less.

There's a big difference.

Humility is choosing servanthood over status.

When Jesus called his disciples to follow him, He was inviting them to be with him and to experience what he was experiencing and to learn what he was trying to teach them.

And for them to become more and more like Jesus, including how he led others.

And yet in John chapter 13, we see Jesus, God in the flesh, kneeling to wash the feet of the very men.

that he had called to follow him.

And in that moment of kneeling and washing their feet, he wasn't relinquishing his authority, he was revealing his authority.

It's kind of difficult, but when you kneel and wash, you're saying, I know who I am, I know where I'm going, and I know what I'm capable of.

And I don't need to stand over you in order to declare my authority.

He didn't lose his authority.

He revealed it.

A well-known CEO showed up at a warehouse, one of his warehouses.

And the employees expected him to give some kind of a company update or some kind of a speech.

And the CEO grabbed a broom and began to sweep.

the warehouse floor, someone asked him, why are you doing that?

He said, leadership doesn't make me too important to serve.

It makes serving too important for me to skip.

That is true leadership.

And it's found in humility, which creates credibility.

People will follow leaders who listen People will follow leaders who are quick to repent or to ask for forgiveness when they mess up.

People will follow leaders who acknowledge their weakness, who are transparent.

And people will follow leaders who do not require that they serve to the sound of applause.

In the Old Testament, King Saul was said to be quite an oppressive looking fellow.

He's tall, good looking, kind of like someone else.

I wasn't talking about Jeff.

He was quite impressive looking, and yet he was very insecure.

David was young, overlooked, and humble.

Saul clutched at the authority of his throne with an iron fist, while David held a harp and soothed the souls.

of those he served.

Listen, God is in the habit of promoting leaders who carry a towel rather than a title.

So if identity anchors you, if humility shapes you, then leadership is gonna be incomplete without some kind of direction.

So once you know who you are and how you lead, you need to know why you lead.

So let's move on to this third pillar, which is purpose, leading with God's why.

Back to Philippians chapter 2.

Now we're toward the end of that passage in verses 10 and 11.

Jesus, now we've already seen Jesus knew who he was, humbled himself, became his servant savior.

And now we see why.

It says that at the name of Jesus.

Every knee would bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ was Lord.

Why?

To the glory of God the Father.

That was Jesus' purpose.

Over and over again throughout his ministry, Jesus would refer back to the Father.

I'm obeying the Father.

I'm doing the Father's will.

I'm doing this so that you will see the Father in me.

I'm doing this so that the Father would be glorified.

This was his purpose.

As leaders who imitate Jesus, it is our call to do the same.

Purpose is discovered.

It's not something that you invent.

Purpose is something that God reveals.

You don't go down to Barnes & Noble.

and go down on the shelf.

They don't even do that anymore, do they?

You just go on Amazon.

You can't go on Amazon and order Purpose and have it delivered in two days for free if you're a Prime member.

Purpose is something that is bestowed on us.

It is revealed to us by God himself.

In 1968 Olympics, a marathon runner by the name of John Stephen Akwari injured his leg early in the race.

Hours after the stadium had emptied, he limped across the finish line.

When asked why he did not quit, he said, My country didn't send me 5,000 miles to start a race.

They sent me to finish one.

And that's what purpose...

will do.

Purpose will keep you steady.

Paul said in Acts chapter 20 and verse 24, that I consider my life to be worthless except that I could finish the race, that I could accomplish the purpose that God has given me.

Purpose, well, it gives you endurance when leadership becomes heavy.

See, purpose aligns us with God's mission.

Now, I want to conclude with this line of thought, I guess you could say, that purpose aligns you with God's mission, but the leader God forms is the critical goal that we should all have.

A sculptor, he was once asked how he carved a beautiful lion out of a marble block.

I love his response.

He says, Actually, pretty simple.

I just removed all the parts that weren't the lion.

And that's what God's doing with us as leaders in our sphere of influence.

As he reveals his calling in our lives, God removes the false identities and the agreements that we've made with the enemy.

And he chips away at our pride.

And he reveals then the purpose that he has for us.

My eight-year-old granddaughter, Olive, gave me a book for Christmas right off of her bookshelf.

Let me tell you a little secret.

You know you have arrived as a grandparent when your grandkids start giving you their own personal books.

Wrapped.

Let me just read a little bit to you here.

This one's called, It's Not Easy Being a Bunny.

P.J.

Funny Bunny was very sad.

He didn't like being a bunny.

See, his mother made him eat cooked carrots, and he had too many brothers and sisters, and his ears were very big.

PJ decided to leave home.

I don't want to be a bunny, he said.

I want to be a bear.

So he went to live with the bears until they went to sleep for the winter, and PJ couldn't sleep all that long.

So he said, I don't want to be a bear.

I want to be a bird.

So he went to live with the birds.

That worked really good until it came time to fly.

That didn't work out so well.

He said, I don't want to be a bear.

I don't want to be a bird.

I want to be, well, let's see.

I want to be a beaver.

Yeah, I'll be a beaver.

So he went to live with the beavers.

And then he realized how hard the beavers work.

He's like, man, I don't want to be a bear.

I don't want to be a bird.

I don't want to be a beaver.

I want to be a possum.

So he went to live with the possums.

And that was okay until he had to hang upside down.

And it gave him a real headache.

PJ said, I don't want to be a bear.

I don't want to be a bird.

I don't want to be a beaver.

I don't want to be a possum.

What I really want to be is a bunny.

So he went home.

The funny bunnies were happy to see him.

He was happy to be home.

And that night, PJ ate all of his cooked carrots.

He played with all of his brothers and sisters.

He looked in the mirror and he did not care that He had very, very large ears, at least now.

Everyone will know I'm a bunny.

Now, here's a lesson in that.

God isn't trying to make you into somebody else.

He's not trying to make you into something else.

He created you to be you.

Well, they say you do you, and you'll be fine.

He created you for a purpose.

He's going to reveal that purpose to you day by day, and it's always for his glory.

Identity anchors you.

Humility shapes you.

Purpose directs you.

This is biblical leadership as demonstrated by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And as a disciple of his, our role.

is to be, has been called to be just like him.

Yeah?

Now, I need you to look right here for a minute because I'm done.

Hearing God's Word and agreeing with God's Word does not make you a follower of Jesus.

Being a follower requires action, sometimes dramatic, strong, difficult, frightening, uncomfortable, maybe even costly action on your part.

And so week after week, we hear sermons about forgiving others.

Yeah, and we walk out of here, I need to go forgive that guy.

And you never quite get around to doing it.

And every week you might hear a sermon about living generously.

Yeah.

I need to do that.

And yet you're still a tightwad with your grace and your mercy and your time and your talents and your finances.

You can just hang on to everything because, well, this made me feel okay on Sunday.

Some of you, you read that verse that nothing unwholesome should come out of your mouth.

Yeah.

I know I need to work on my language.

I think you ought to work on it a little harder because you're still the same potty mouth that you were and you're still laughing at the same inappropriate jokes.

It's no action, no movement.

How many home runs do you think these guys have hit.

Bellinger and Betts.

How many home runs do you think these guys have hit?

None.

Not one.

They have the jersey.

They might have a bat.

I don't see if they have a glove.

They have a name on the back of the jersey.

They look like Dodgers.

But they ain't Dodgers.

Following Jesus, becoming a leader like Jesus, requires that you would take action and that your life would be different tomorrow than it was today.

And that is my challenge for you as we leave this place tonight.

See, I don't want you to be a bobblehead.

See, that could be your phrase when you go outside.

You can say, hey, don't be a bobblehead.

Be an imitator of Jesus.

and lead like him.

Did you know the God that you thought you knew is a world-class leader?

He's the best leader that ever existed, and he has shown you, he has shown you how to lead.

Would you pray with me?

Father Jesus and Holy Spirit, these These are your truths and your words.

I pray you would bring them alive in us and that you would change us, Father.

Don't let us stay the same.

Unleash us on the world around us that we could influence those within our sphere of influence toward the common goal, your glory.

In your name I pray, amen.

Now, go lead.