A Leader's Consistent Pursuit of Humility

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Benjamin Kreps:

Hey everyone, and welcome to the podcast, where our aim is to connect our global family of Sovereign Grace churches with our Executive Director. Mark, speaking of global — as you record this, you are heading out next week for Sydney, Australia to be a part of and help lead the Global Leaders Retreat. And you're teaching a session there on important lessons for extra-local leaders. There are a number of lessons you'll be talking about, but one in particular you want to talk about with us on this episode.

Mark Prater:

Yeah. I've actually got six lessons in that outline — what I'll teach next week with the global leaders. And as I was praying about our episode today and what to discuss, I had a number of ideas, but just felt like the Lord wanted me to zero in on one of those points. It's actually the second one I list as important lessons for leaders. The first is the leader's consistent pursuit of Christ; the second is the leader's consistent pursuit of humility. I think it's a really, really important one.

I've got six points overall. The first three are really about the leader himself, and the second one is the leader's consistent pursuit of humility. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4:1: "This is how one should regard us" — so, how should one regard Paul? How should one regard leaders in the church? And this is what he says: "as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." So how should one regard a leader in the church? As a servant of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God. What that really means is that he's responsible to steward the gospel — to preach the gospel, to build a gospel culture, to make gospel connections in people's lives — all those things that we know well in Sovereign Grace. That's who a leader is: a servant of Christ. And what he's called to do is to be a steward of the gospel.

And I believe that one of the ways we steward the gospel culture we build in our churches is primarily through our preaching, obviously. But then the leader's example is really, really important in building, maintaining, and strengthening a gospel culture, because a leader's life and character shape the people he's responsible for leading and caring for. That's just the reality — you see it over and over again. So we must realize, as pastors and leaders, that people watch our lives. They watch how we lead, and it shapes them and the gospel culture we desire to build. And I just think it's something we need to be aware of as pastors, and I want to remind you of it again today.

Here's one of the reasons why. I find that members of Sovereign Grace churches are wonderfully encouraging people — they consistently encourage. And to the members of our churches who are listening to this episode or reading it: please continue to encourage. It is such a joy to lead. They can be encouraging about our preaching, they can be encouraging about our leadership, and that's gospel fruit in their lives — it's one of our shaping virtues. So it's a good thing. But leaders must be careful not to just believe the headlines, as we say, and to allow pride to creep into the heart.

We have a phrase around our house: "Don't let it go to your head." I won't go into a long story, but this was over a decade ago — I was talking with Jill about something I was being encouraged about, and she just said, "Don't let it go to your head." I said, "What?" She said, "Don't let it go to your head." She was more concerned about my godliness. And that phrase has stuck in our home — it's used often, because I need to hear it. It sort of jolted me in the moment, but it was exactly what I needed to hear. Receive the encouragement, be grateful for it, but don't let it go to your head — and obviously to your heart — and allow it to foster pride. We have to be aware of the pride that subtly lingers in all our hearts, especially in a leader's.

And I mention that because not only do we get a lot of encouragement, we can also get input, criticism, and critique. And I find that the humble leader is able to walk through that criticism with a godliness that can shape the gospel culture in his church. Let me illustrate it again using my wonderful wife, Jill. This was during the troubled years of Sovereign Grace, as I call them. I was getting criticized a lot, very publicly — because of the role I'm in, things were being said about me online, and people were making me aware of them. I remember going to Jill, sort of exasperated: "That's not even true! You know what they're saying about me?" She kind of looked at me and said, "Why are you worried about this? You're actually much worse than what those people think."

Again, it was one of those jolting statements. And I kind of paused and thought — yeah, you're right. I'm far worse than what I'm being criticized for. And it just readjusts your perspective. It helps you to cultivate humility. And I want to read this quote from The Godly Man's Picture, written by Thomas Watson — one of my favorite Puritan authors. This is what he says:

"A humble Christian studies his own infirmities and another's excellences, and that makes him put a higher value upon others than himself."

Study your own infirmities, study others' excellences. And that can be a wonderful way to pursue humility in your life — especially for a pastor and leader who is responsible to shape a gospel culture.

Benjamin Kreps:

Wow. Well, Mark, because of the weighty task that we have been given as pastors and leaders — to care for the people of God, to serve Christ by caring for His people — because we are being studied as leaders (which is definitely true; if you're not aware of that, it's time to become aware), and because when we are in our right minds we are confident that we are unimpressive in and of ourselves — this is an evergreen and relevant topic. So let's keep going. How do we pursue humility?

Mark Prater:

Yeah. I'm going to answer that question by just giving you questions — questions I ask myself, questions that I hope serve you. So in pursuing humility, I will do a self-check every once in a while:

Am I confessing sin consistently? Because it's there and I'm convicted. Do I admit when I'm wrong — and I am, many times? Do I listen earnestly to those around me? That list would include, first of all, my wife; my fellow elders; my fellow pastors that I serve with on the leadership team; and leaders in Covenant Fellowship and other leaders in Sovereign Grace churches.

Here's another question: do I disagree graciously? Because we're going to disagree as leaders, especially as we work together in pluralities and on teams. And that's a good thing — that's actually healthy, if that disagreement is both strong and clear but also gracious and humble.

So those are some questions I ask myself every so often, because I just find I need to do that self-check. Or I might ask Jill those questions. Just keep in mind: I think humble leadership has an outsized effect on building and strengthening a gospel culture, because a leader's character runs downhill and affects those he leads. So just an encouragement regarding some ways to apply it, especially through the questions I mentioned.

Benjamin Kreps:

Those are some excellent questions — and sobering ones. When we assess ourselves honestly, I know for my part, recently I've been working to ensure that when apologizing — which is necessary as a regular way of life with others — I'm doing so without any qualification, without smuggling in any sense of "but," without any equivocation. Just simply confessing and asking for forgiveness. So great questions. I'm certainly going to be taking those out of this episode. You're serving me, Mark, as we record this. But before we conclude, you want to read another quote from this Puritan you love, Thomas Watson.

Mark Prater:

Yeah. It's a section on humility in Thomas Watson’s book The Godly Man's Picture that I've read several times because I need to. And I just thought, this is so good, I want to include it. This is what Watson says:

"A humble man is willing to have his name and gifts eclipsed so that God's glory may be increased. He is content to be outshone by others in gifts and esteem, so that the crown of Christ may shine even brighter. This is the humble man's motto: let me decrease, let Christ increase. It is his desire that Christ should be exalted. And if this is effected, whoever is the instrument, he rejoices. A humble Christian is content to be laid aside if God has any other tools to work with which may bring Him more glory."

Benjamin Kreps:

Beautiful. Puritans, right? Well, that is humbling — and one I've read many, many times. I hope it serves you. Beautiful. You know, I'll spend the rest of my life hopefully writing different things for ministry, and I will never write any sentence that sounds anything like that. So thank you for sharing those beautiful words and all of this.

You know, I can't help but remember the familiar reminder from Dr. Carson: how can anyone be arrogant beside the cross? And so we're grateful for you, Mark, and for your encouragement in this regard. Let's all take it to heart. And we'll be praying for you as you head to Sydney, along with the other guys from the leadership team, as you go to serve those men there. So thanks everybody for checking out the podcast. We'll see you here next week, Lord willing. Bye for now.