Count No Cost, Start Small, Treasure Mentors, Negotiate Everything

Sermon outline

An uncommon leader stops counting the cost and treats everything he has as seed, embraces small beginnings as the road to greatness, treasures the mentor God has given him, and negotiates wisely so that more can be sown into the kingdom.

1. Part 4: Financial responsibility: stop counting the cost

   Whether you lead a cell group or a micro church, financial responsibility goes with the territory. A leader who attaches a cost to every trip, SMS and phone call cripples his ministry, because the just live by faith. Your car becomes a church car and a little taxi service, your house becomes an office and even a hotel, and your fridge, milk and biscuits belong to the people you minister to. Use them for God, and He replenishes and increases you, thirty, sixty and a hundredfold.

   Illustration: When the church began, his home was its first office; brand-new settees were worn out within two years, the family cars were driven into the ground, and Pastor Zubeda, Wesley and other leaders used a kombi to fetch people for church.

   “You cannot be an uncommon leader if you are one that is always counting the cost.”

   • Habakkuk 2:4
   • Mark 4:20

2. Sow your time, your home and your things: you are a steward

   You can sow more than money: your time, your car, your fuel, your airtime and your home space. When you sow time, God gives it back by letting you finish a seven-day task in a day. When you became a Christian you relinquished ownership to God, so you are only a steward, and a leader should not keep accounts of every cent spent for the church. Treat lent books and DVDs that never return as seed sown, think of yourself as a distribution centre, and give the seed time to germinate.

   Illustration: You do not plant a bean seed tonight and pick beans tomorrow. And if your house is going to be a hotel, give it a name: "Villa" whatever your surname is.

   “Anything you invest in the kingdom of God is not wasted, it is seed.”

   • Deuteronomy 8:18
   • Luke 6:38
   • Luke 14:28
   • Genesis 8:22
   • Romans 12:13

3. Part 5: A small beginning is the road to a great career

   Despise not small beginnings: though your beginning is small, your latter end will greatly increase. Your cell group may have two, five or ten people, but two who agree can put ten thousand to flight, and as you are faithful God will grow it to two hundred and two thousand. Ushering, security, the deacon's role or the TV crew may look small, but they are seed for a great future.

   “Everything that starts small ends very big.”

   • Job 8:7
   • Zechariah 4:10
   • Deuteronomy 32:30
   • Ezekiel 36:37

4. Six who started small

   Elisha, who later did twice the miracles of Elijah, began by pouring water on his master's hands. Joshua, the great general, began as Moses' minister, meaning his servant. David began as a shepherd, an errand boy taking lunch to his brothers, and a harpist soothing Saul. Aaron, father of the priesthood, began by holding up Moses' hands. Ruth began by serving an elderly, frustrated widow. Even Jesus was known as "the carpenter" before His ministry began.

   “Everything great starts small.”

   • 2 Kings 3:11
   • Exodus 24:13
   • 1 Samuel 16:22-23
   • 1 Samuel 17:17-18
   • 1 Samuel 18:7
   • Exodus 17:12
   • Ruth 1:16
   • Mark 6:3

5. Part 6: Treasure your mentor: a coach, not a cheerleader

   Your mentor is a major gift and investment from God, who unlocks the greatness already in you. Teachers love information; mentors love protégés. Teachers enjoy education; mentors enjoy impartation. Teachers study to learn; mentors study to sow. Mentors are coaches, not cheerleaders: they may see your success and not say anything, to teach you to live without compliments, and they correct you to keep you from mistakes. Have one primary mentor rather than many who confuse you, measure even your parents' advice against the Word, and let the Holy Spirit mentor you too.

   Illustration: A football coach tells a sore player to get to the change room and be on the field in five minutes; there is no time for crying. Leaders need to be tough as nails, because tiredness is a luxury a leader cannot enjoy.

   “It's not that they didn't see, they didn't say.”

   • 1 Samuel 30:6
   • 1 Corinthians 11:1
   • James 5:16
   • John 14:26

6. Don't take access to your mentor lightly

   Drink deeply when you are in your mentor's presence, because you will face some battles alone; maximise the moment. Treasure any invitation to be alone with him, because what is said one to one is specific and undiluted. When a door opens for you, do not bring your friends in before their time; without that grace it can destroy them. Your mentor knows instantly whether you discern his worth, so do not try to impress: be honest, transparent and yourself.

   “When you try to impress, you actually fail to impress.”

7. Part 7: Negotiate everything: gather up the fragments

   After multiplying the loaves and fish, Jesus told the disciples to gather the fragments: not to clean up, but to honour the miracle by not wasting it. Your prosperity came by God's power, so show your gratitude by not wasting it. A business saving ten thousand rand a month through wise negotiation saves 1.2 million rand in ten years, and more with interest, which can then be sown into the kingdom. A man eats good by the fruit of his mouth: speak well and you may receive a discount you would never have been given.

   “So negotiation is the name of the game.”

   • John 6:12
   • Isaiah 10:27
   • Proverbs 13:2
   • Proverbs 12:13

8. The skills of successful negotiation

   Understand what it costs the other person, and ask for a fair discount within his margin. Choose the right time: do not ask for a raise while the company is retrenching. Think long term, close doors gently and never burn bridges, because you will need them again. Focus on what really matters, take a course if you lack the skill, build the relationship before you negotiate, and walk away from a salesman who insists you must sign today. Do not live beyond your means with weddings and cars that are presumption rather than faith, and remember that you go to work to do a task, not to be happy. Ask: you have not because you ask not.

   Illustration: Monday to Friday he asks every tradesman and supplier for a quote and then says, "I think you can better it," saving the church hundreds of thousands of rand a year.

   “Saying the right thing at the wrong time makes it wrong.”

   • James 4:2
   • Romans 2:13