The Fuel We Must Have
The purpose of Iron Leadership comes from I Corinthians 16:13 – “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, be strong – act like men.” Our aim is to equip men to be better leaders in their own personal lives, homes, work, church, and city for the sake of God’s glory.
Be watchful. Stand firm. Act like men. Be strong. These are all military terms Paul borrows to close out his letter to the church at Corinth, a church which was in bad shape and needed help. Just knowing these are military terms helps you understand what Paul thinks of how you make progress in spiritual maturity. It will be a battle.
- Watchful – Like a Sentinel standing guard over your soul or the souls of others. You must stay awake, be observent, make sacrifices.
- Stand firm – There are positions you will have to take and not give ground. People and culture will push you, fight you, undermine you, shame you, to get you to give ground on the truth of the Gospel and the truth in the Bible. Stand Firm!
- Be strong – What does it look like to “be strong” in the Christian life? Jesus tells us, “If anyone would follow after me, he must take up his cross (lay down your life).” The Christian symbol for strength is a cross.
- Act like men – Paul is generally saying, “It’s time to grow up – to act mature.” Dave Ramsey says, “Adults devise a plan and follow it. Children do what feels good.” It’s time to devise a plan and follow it rather than just doing what feels good.
These are all important aspects of what it means to follow after Jesus and this year we have been talking about 7 shadows or lies every man faces which must be tackled and overcome in order to become fully alive. All this is important, yet this morning I want to talk about the fuel we must have in order to tackle these things: Be Watchful, Stand Firm, Be Strong, Act like Men.
The most important gauge, the fuel gauge for your soul, is being with and worshipping Jesus.
On December 28, 1978, United Flight 173 took off from Denver headed to Portland, Oregon. When it took off it was loaded with 46,000 pounds of fuel which was enough for the flight plus an additional 65 minutes of flying time. As it approached the Portland airport and opened the landing gear a problem popped up – a wheel lock indicator light failed to come on. The crew could visually confirm the wheel had dropped out of its wheel well, but couldn’t be sure if the wheel was in the locked position. So United 173 radioed the tower to let them know they would enter into a holding pattern to see if they could address the problem. As airplane problems go, this could be a significant problem. Yet most likely, the indicator light was damaged and the wheel was in the locked position. Even if it wasn’t, the plane would grind to a halt on the landing strip. Not ideal, but not life threatening.
During the holding pattern the crew discussed various scenarios, prepared the cabin and passengers for the potential of a hard landing and how to exit the plane in case of an emergency. As the plane approached the runway, another flight was making its approach so United 173 yielded, circled again and reviewed the hard landing procedures. When they prepared for landing for the third time the captain was confident they had covered all the potential problems thoroughly (the crew of United 173 had spent the last 70 minutes addressing the problem). Tragically, the Captain had become so focused on working on a problem he lost track of the most important and basic gage in front of him – the fuel gage. On their final approach they lost all 4 engines and crash landed in a wooded field – houses were ripped apart, 10 people died, 24 people were seriously injured and the plane was destroyed.
In working on significant problems, the captain lost focus of the most important gauge – the fuel gauge! Everyone in this room this morning is working on significant problems/fighting shadows. Sometimes those significant problems distract us from the most important gauge. The most important gauge is your soul’s connection with Jesus. When you run out of fuel for your soul, greater damage happens in your businesses, teams, families, marriages.
Learning from David – How to re-fuel the tank: Psalm 95:1-7a
Worship and re-fueling involves the whole person:
We don’t have time, but we could look back to Genesis 1 and 2 and see that God made mankind with:
- Emotions to Love God
- Mind to Know God
- Will to Obey God
You will need to look at all three gauges in refueling your tank. Look how David incorporates each one into his song:
Emotions to Love God (vs. 1-2):
Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
Sing, joyful, thanksgiving, praise. David was one of the greatest leaders and one of the greatest worshippers of God. Dads, are you a great worshipper of God? Music, beauty, nature. David’s songs are stuffed full of emotions. Psalm 42, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, Oh God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” Music and corporate worship refuels you emotionally.
Tim Keller on Worship:
If you are a Christian and you are dealing with enslaving habits, it’s not enough to say, ‘Bad Christian, stop it.’ The real reason you’re having a problem with an enslaving habit is because you are not tasting God. I’m not talking about believing God or even obeying God, I’m saying tasting – tasting God. The secret to freedom from enslaving patterns of sin is worship. You need great worship. You need weeping worship. You need glorious worship. You need to sense God’s greatness and to be moved by it – moved to tears and moved to laughter – moved by who God is and what he has done for you. And this needs to be happening all the time. This type of worship is the only thing that can replace the current fire burning in your heart. We need a new fire that says, ‘I saw the Lord, he was close to my heart, when that fire is burning in your heart, then you are free.’
Mind to Know God (vs. 3-5):
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
David takes inventory of the truth about God. David rolls the truth about God over and over in his mind. David reminds himself of the creativity, power and authority of God. This kind of worship puts the right information in your mind to battle against the world’s messages!
Pastor Rick Warren has a helpful acrostic for using our minds – THINK!
T – T stands for test every thought. Psalm 139:23-24 says, “Search me, O God and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!” Ask God to search and test your thoughts. Don’t believe everything you think.
H – H stands for helmet on your head. Put on the helmet of salvation. David thinks/meditates on his salvation. It shapes or reshapes the way he thinks.
I – I stands for imagine great thoughts. J.I. Packer wrote in Knowing God, “He who thinks of God, will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe…nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the soul as the earnest, continued investigation of God.”
N – N stands for nourish a godly mind. Psalm 119:15 says, “I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.” Fixating on God’s word is how you nourish your mind.
K – K stands for keep on learning. I Timothy 4:15 says, “Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.” Do others see progress in your life? Are your words and conversations more substantial, deeper, stronger, more practical, more life-touching? Have you ever met a guy whose mind never really grew up past middle or high school? It’s not funny, it’s frustrating!
Will to Obey God: (vs. 6-7):
Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
Part of worship is submitting your will to his. Trusting that God’s thoughts and ways are better than yours. This is difficult because no one, especially men, like to think of themselves as dumb sheep!
We think we know best, but instead we must submit our wills, our thoughts to God. And then follow.
How do we fuel and refuel our souls? With 1) Emotions to Love God, 2) Mind to Know God, 3) Will to Obey God.
Questions:
- You are the pilot of your own life. What does your main fuel gauge tell you about the condition of your soul? Full or running on fumes?
- What are the significant problems/circumstances in your life that drain your fuel tank and might cause you to crash your life or at least drift off course with God?
- God made mankind with: Emotions to Love God, The Mind to Know God, and The Will to Obey God. Which seems to come the most naturally for you? Which is a struggle or weakness?
Iron Leadership Materials: