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Men's Leadership Support Group Meeting notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/mensupport/20060210.m.htm

MEN'S LEADERSHIP SUPPORT GROUP
Part XI: Functioning Effectively As A Leader Under Pressure - 2 Timothy
D. Staying Holy As A Leader Under Fire
1. Staying Untainted By The Peer Pressure Of Other Errant Leaders
(2 Timothy 2:14-26)
  1. Introduction
    1. One of the most daunting pressures a leader can face is the subtle coercion of errant peers in leadership! The fraternal camaraderie in groups of leaders is strong and often difficult to resist for the lone leader!
    2. Yet, for God's blessing to be with such a leader under fire, he must stay untained by the peer pressure of other errant leaders, and 2 Timothy 2:14-26 reveals how that is to occur in God's program (as follows):
  2. Staying Untainted By The Peer Pressure Of Other Errant Leaders, 2 Timothy 2:14-26.
    1. The leader under fire stays untainted by errant peer pressure by directing his subordinates to avoid the errors of the other errant leaders, 2 Timothy 2:14 with 2:17-18.
    2. The leader under fire must stay untainted by errant peer pressure by properly handling Scripture to keep his own beliefs and actions right with God, 2 Timothy 2:15:
      1. Paul directed Timothy to "give diligence, effort" (spoudason, Moult. & Mill., A Voc. of the Grk. N. T., p. 585; U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966 ed., p. 734) to present himself unto God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, one that cuts a fair and straight line as a stone mason' in his Bible exposition ['orthotomounta = a verb used of stone masons who mark off and cut stones for proper fitting in a building; from this verb comes the term, "orthodoxy" meaning correct doctrine, Ibid., p. 456].
      2. A stone mason would mark off a straight line along a rock and then cut along that line so the resulting stone block would fit properly in the building being erected! The degree of accuracy by the mason led to noted, lasting humiliation or honor for him as the building took shape and stood for centuries!
      3. Thus, teachers were to be diligent to expound Scripture accurately so the beliefs they gained and taught others were not seen to be errant by God, and that to their long-term honor and not humiliation!
    3. The leader under fire stays untainted by errant peer pressure by avoiding the activities of the errant leaders that only leads to his own ungodliness, 2 Timothy 2:16.
    4. The leader under fire must function in accord with God's plan that (1) He has established them to counter errant leaders, so (2) they must call subordinates to withdraw from errant leaders:
      1. Having illustrated in 2 Timothy 2:17-18 errant Bible exegesis and its resulting error in Hymenaeus and Philetus, Paul alluded to Numbers 16:5 and 16:26 in 2 Timothy 2:19 (Ibid., U. B. S. Grk. N. T.).
      2. Those passages teach that (a) God knows who are His true leaders (Numbers 16:5 with 2 Tim. 2:19a), (b) and those true leaders, like Moses did in Numbers 16:26 in reference to errant men, must call their subordinates to withdraw from such errant leaders and thus from their error (2 Timothy 2:19b)!
    5. The leader under fire stays untainted by the errant peer pressure by HIMSELF withdrawing from errant peer leaders and replacing that fellowship vacuum with communing with godly people , 2:20-23:
      1. Timothy was to withdraw from dishonorable vessels, or unclean fellow teachers who taught error, 2:20-21; cf. Hendriksen, I-II Timothy-Titus (NTC), p. 270-271.
      2. Then, he is to live rightly in the company of (meta with the pl. genitive = "together with"; Ibid., U. B. S. Grk. N. T.; Ibid., Arndt & Ging., p. 509) those who walk with the Lord with a pure heart, 2:22-23!
    6. The leader under fire stays untainted by the errant peer pressure by not stooping to argue with the errant, but meekly teaching them as those who are dangerously enslaved by Satan, 2 Tim. 2:24-26:
      1. As errant peers may seek to argue with the upright overseer, he must not fall into that argumentative trap, but gently instruct them on the truth and leave room for God to deal with them, 2 Tim. 2:24-25.
      2. This step is needed as such people are taken captive in their lusts by Satan to do his will, and we dare not take on Satan in our own power, 2 Timothy 2:26. We must rely on the Lord's power!
Lesson: A leader stays untainted from errant peers by (1) himself (a) rightly handling Scripture to stay right in his own beliefs, (b) and by then not doing the errant acts (b) and not having fellowship with these peers; (2) then, the upright leader guides others (a) to avoid the errors (b) and fellowship of errant peers, and (c) merely teaches those errant peers who oppose him, letting God deal with them further!