John K. Jenkins Sr - Marks of a Good Leader

Today, on developing dynamic disciples, if you're called to leadership-if God has called you to leadership -He will place a concern in your heart. As a matter of fact, I suspect to tell all of you; everybody in here has been called by God to leadership in some capacity in your life. Everyone is called to lead in something. If you have run with the footmen and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? Welcome to the broadcast ministry of the First Baptist Church of Glenn Arden, with Pastor John K. Jenkins, Sr. We believe that God's Word will equip you to triumph over adversity until you're consistently running with the horses. We're developing dynamic disciples through discipleship, discipline, and duplication. And now, here's Pastor John K. Jenkins.

I want to talk about leadership. I want to discuss the marks of a good leader . If I were to title this message, that's probably what I would title it: The Marks of a Good Leader. Perhaps, even indicators-what might be called indicators-that a person is called to a level of leadership. I want to talk about that because everything does hinge on leadership . Whatever is going to be accomplished in life, somebody had to take on a realm of leadership-a role of leadership-in order for it to happen. Nothing happens by osmosis; nothing just happens. Someone has to pick up the mantle, take on the responsibility , take some steps of action, and do something in order for it to be accomplished. That is the essence of leadership.

I dare say that there are many people whom God has placed a mantle of leadership over , but you have refused to step up and put the mantle on. What a tragedy to have an assignment placed on your life to do something for which you refuse to act. Somebody in your row , in your section , someone in the vicinity where you can reach out and touch has fallen down on the job of fulfilling the mandate that God has for them in their life. It is from the life of Nehemiah that I want to speak today .

Nehemiah chapter one shows Nehemiah in a position where he is the king's cupbearer. Here 's what the king's cupbearer does : The king's cupbearer has the responsibility of drinking from the king's cup before the king drinks so that, in case the king's drink has been poisoned, he will die first. How many of you would say, "I'm not applying for that job"? I want to take a look at Nehemiah because he is a man who truly picks up the mantle of leadership. He accomplishes significant things in his life .

I want to preach through this whole first chapter. I doubt I will get through all of it , but I'm not going to read all eleven verses again; that's where the message is coming from : these eleven verses of Nehemiah chapter one. Nehemiah has the assignment of being the king's cupbearer, and a challenge arises . He hears about the dilemma in his hometown of Jerusalem. He learns that the walls have been torn down , and because there are no walls around Jerusalem , it means there is no protection . The walls provided security for the people. They created a barrier against enemies who might attack them and even gave them time to prepare ; they would put guards on the walls, and if those guards saw an opposing army coming, they could prepare themselves .

But 120 years prior to this time in Nehemiah 's life, the walls had been torn down by King Nebuchadnezzar, leaving the city in ruins. The people were afraid to move back into Jerusalem, and there was fear and great distress among the people because the walls of Jerusalem had been torn down.

Now, here's the dilemma: the walls had been down for 120 years , and nobody had done anything about it. This wasn't a dilemma that happened last week or last month; for 120 years , nobody had taken action. Nobody had a burden , nobody cared, and nobody was concerned. They just let things remain as they were. That reminds me of how our culture is developing today ; we have a culture of people who occasionally ignore or pass off situations . We say it's other people's responsibility. It's the government's job, the church ought to do that, the schools ought to do that, the police ought to do that-we pass it off to the next generation or the next person to address it .

But Nehemiah is a man who has captured my heart because he did not pass the responsibility of rebuilding the walls to someone else; he decided to take action. That is what you call leadership . Go on and preach, Pastor Jenkins- encourage yourself! So, Nehemiah makes a request of his boss , the king, for time off so he can go back and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Guess what ? His boss granted him time off with pay !