4.1 Key themes⤒🔗

To be a humble Christian leader, you should know four things about yourself:

1. You are a sinner.
2. You have been saved.
3. You are small.
4. You are a servant
   - of God,
   - of God’s people,
   - of people outside the church, and
   - of other Christian leaders.

4.2 Isaiah 6:1-8←⤒🔗

^6:1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the sovereign master seated on a high, elevated throne. The hem of his robe filled the temple.

^6:2 Seraphs stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and they used the remaining two to fly.

^6:3 They called out to one another, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord who commands armies! His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!'

^6:4 The sound of their voices shook the door frames, and the temple was filled with smoke.

^6:5 I said, 'Too bad for me! I am destroyed, for my lips are contaminated by sin, and I live among people whose lips are contaminated by sin. My eyes have seen the king, the LORD who commands armies.'

^6:6 But then one of the seraphs flew toward me. In his hand was a hot coal he had taken from the altar with tongs.

^6:7 He touched my mouth with it and said, 'Look, this coal has touched your lips. Your evil is removed; your sin is forgiven.'

^6:8 I heard the voice of the sovereign master say, 'Whom will I send? Who will go on our behalf?' I answered, 'Here I am, send me!'

© NET Bible

4.3 Four things you must know to be humble←⤒🔗

In the last lesson we talked about the danger of pride. In this lesson we will focus on the opposite of pride: humility (or being humble). In Isaiah 6, we see how the prophet Isaiah became very humble before God. When this happened, he was ready to be a Christian leader.

There are four things that every Christian (and every Christian leader) must know about himself. When you know and remember these things, you will become humble instead of proud.

These four things are:

1. You are a sinner.
2. You have been saved.
3. You are small.
4. You are a servant.

In this lesson, we will think carefully about each of these truths.

4.3.1. You Are a Sinner←↰⤒🔗

Paul writes: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst” (1 Timothy 1:15). Can you also say these same words? Think of who you would be, if God did not work in your heart. Think of how much sin there still is in your heart. We are all sinners. We do not love God with our whole heart, soul and mind. We do not love other people as much as ourselves.

Many Christian leaders say that pride is the first and greatest sin. The great preacher Richard Baxter said that he carried pride around with him, even when he went around to preach the Word. It was pride that made Adam and Eve listen to the snake. The snake promised them: if you eat of this tree, “you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). Adam and Eve did not want to be under God anymore. They wanted to be like God.

But here is the good news: Every time when you see the pride (and other sins) in your heart, you are becoming more humble! Think of Isaiah. When he saw the glory of God, he said: "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips” (verse 5 of our passage).

Isaiah said he had “unclean” (dirty) lips, because he realised how many wrong things he had said in his life. He knew that God could destroy him because of all his sin. This made him humble and even afraid.

4.3.2. You have been saved←↰⤒🔗

God did something wonderful for Isaiah. He made his lips clean again (verses 6 to 7). God does the same for us, if we believe in his Son. It does not matter how many sins we have done. If we believe in Jesus, God makes us clean from all our sins.

If you think only of your sins, you will lose hope. You should also think of God’s perfect love and forgiveness. You have been saved by God’s grace. A Christian leader cannot think of this enough!

When Isaiah knew that he was clean, he was ready to hear the call of God: “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”  Then Isaiah could answer: “Here I am. Send me!” (verse 8). It is the same with us, when we know that God has saved us. Then we are ready to serve God out of thankful hearts.

4.3.3. You are small←↰⤒🔗

Isaiah heard the angels say: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3). Think about this: There are millions and millions of people on this earth. But the earth is smaller than a little seed, if you compare it with the great universe. How great is the God who made everything! How small are we as humans! 

It is very important that a Christian leader will remember that he is only small. He does not have all the knowledge or all the gifts. He cannot do everything. He can only be thankful if God wants to use him in his short time on earth. He should not want glory for himself. With his whole life he should say: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

4.3.4. You are a servant←↰⤒🔗

Lastly: remember that you are a servant. 

This is so easy to forget. Around us there are many leaders who tell everyone what to do. They want people to give them money and respect. Because of the sin in our hearts, we can easily fall into this kind of leadership.

But the Bible teaches us that true leaders are servants. Let us think of a few examples:

Abram was chosen to become the father of God’s people. God told him to move to a new land. Abram took his nephew Lot with him, but the land soon became too small for them. Even though Abram was the oldest, he let Lot choose first which part of the land he wanted (Genesis 13).

Moses was called by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. It was a very difficult task. Sometimes the Israelites were so angry at Moses that they wanted to stone him. In these situations, he did not fight for himself. He prayed to God to help him (Exodus 17).

David was called by God to be the king of Israel. God called him “my servant David” (2 Samuel 7:5). That is how David saw himself. When he came in difficult situations, he said: “let him [God] do to me whatever seems good to him” (2 Samuel 15:26).

Jesus Christ is the best example of a servant-leader. Jesus was with God. He was God himself, with all power and glory. But Jesus..."made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant... And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:7-8).

On the day before he was crucified, Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. Then he said to them: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master.” Jesus is the Master who served his servants. Now his servants must serve each other.

A church leader is a servant of everyone. First of all, he is a servant of God. That is why it is so important that he must listen to God every day, by reading the Bible. Secondly, he is a servant of God’s people, the church. Thirdly, he is a servant of unbelievers. He should tell them about the gospel. And lastly, he is also a servant of other church leaders. He should do everything he can, to help and support other leaders.