07 Galatians 4:12-20 Leading through service

Speaker: This is Wednesday in the Word, a women's ministry of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia. Today is October 19, 2011. Our passage is Galatians chapter 4, verses 12 through 20, and our teacher is Krisan Marotta. For more talks in this series, please visit our website, which is www.wednesdayintheword.com. Well, we're in Galatians chapter 4 today, verses 12 through 20. And this passage is a change of tone for Paul. So we up to this point we've seen him speaking as an apostle, as a theologian, and a scholar, warning the Galatians that they're turning to a false gospel. And today he switches his tone, and we see him speaking more as a pastor and as a friend. And it gives us this passage, I think, gives us a rare glimpse into his relationship with one of his congregations. So Paul's relationship with the Galatian church. And we're going to ask from that, what can we learn about leadership? And what can we learn about leadership, particularly in the church? So just to review where we are, chapters three and four form a unit of the book in which Paul's making a series of five arguments for the fact that we're justified by faith alone, and he's trying to persuade the Galatians to turn away from the teaching of the Judaizers that they have to keep the law and turn back to the true gospel. So we've looked at three arguments so far, and today's the fourth one. So just review. Hopefully it's familiar by now. In three, one through five, Paul says, look at your own experience. How did you become a Christian? Did you receive the Spirit because you finally got your act together and were doing such a good job at keeping the law? Or did you receive the Spirit because you heard the gospel and you believed it? And obviously he says it's because you believed. So you received the Spirit because you have faith. And then his second argument is 3.6 through 14, where he says that experience is confirmed by Scripture. The Scripture teaches us that Abraham believed God and was counted to him as righteousness. So from the beginning, righteousness has always come through faith. God promised that those who had faith like Abraham would be blessed. And then in 3.15 through 22, he argues that God made a promise to Abraham, and the law which came later was a deal, and that the deal did not nullify the promise. So the promise was a one-sided covenant in which God said, I will bless you, I will make you a great nation, I will multiply your seed, I will bless those uh other all the nations of the earth through you, and it was all I will, I will, I will, what God would do. But the law was a two-sided covenant that came through an intermediary, uh, Moses, where God said, You do this and I'll do that. You don't do this and I'll do that. So there was a two-way relationship. It was a thou shalt, thou shalt not. And Paul argues that that put that uh God gave us the law to teach us that we're not holy, that we are not capable of being righteous, and that we need the promise. So last week he digressed a little bit. We looked at 323 through 411, where he more fully answers the question he raised in 319, why the law, why was the law given? And we talked about how Paul argued that the law of function is this kind of drill sergeant, kind of strict disciplinarian, to teach us to put a fence around our rebellion and to drive us back to God. And that having learned that lesson, then we should learn the lesson that we are sinful and we need a savior, then we kind of graduate from law-keeping into maturity and faith. So that was the analogy he used. So today we're gonna look at his fourth argument, which is verses 12 through 20, and now he switches and he makes a personal appeal to the Galatians, and he says, Remember our relationship, and he's appealing to them based on that, on their relationship. So the passage breaks down, at least the way I outline it, in two sections, and in each section he's contrasting two attitudes. So in 12 through 16, he says, Remember your attitude toward me. So he's reminding the Galatians of their attitude toward him, and he contrasts their attitude then and now. So the way they first received him with the way they are viewing him now. And then in 17 through 20, he reminds them of his own attitude toward them or his own affections for them, and he's contrasting his own feelings toward them with that of the false teachers. So he's appealing on the basis of relationship and he's contrasting attitudes, their attitudes then and now, and his attitude with the false teachers. So we're gonna look at each of those and ask, kind of analyze what's going on, and then ask from that, how what do we learn about leadership? Because this is essentially a pastor-congregation relationship or a teacher-leader, or how do we what can we learn about uh leadership in the church? So we're just gonna go right through it. We're gonna start with 412 through 16, and here he's contrasting the Galatians' attitude toward him when he first preached the gospel to them with how they view him now. And he starts with his appeal in in 4.12, brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. So that's his appeal, become as I am. And some people, there's kind of two interpretate main interpretations of this. Some people take this as be as affectionate to me as I am to you, for you were once loving to me, just as I am to you now. And I think that's possible, but I think he's it's more I don't think that's the right one. I think he's saying, become as I am, that is free from the law, free from all that keeping of the Jewish ordinances, the law, for I have become like you. I have given up those ways and become more of a Gentile, if you will. So the idea, you didn't injure me then when I was with you, don't do so now by turning back to the law. So the New Living Translation, I think, actually got a pretty good did a pretty good job with this. They translated, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like you Gentiles, free from those laws. I think that's the idea he's talking about. You didn't mistreat me when I first preached you then. So he says, Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am. That I think that become as I am refers to free from the law. And then literally he says, for I you. That's the next three words in Greek, for I as you. So we have to kind of figure out what he's saying, and I think what he means is I've conformed to the way you Gentiles live in many areas. So I gave up the Jewish upbringing, I gave up my Pharisaical lifestyle, the kosher ways, and I conformed to your lifestyle as far as possible in order to teach you and save you, in order to bring the gospel to you. So I laid aside that Jewishness, and um I plead with you to do the same. Don't go back to it. Then he says, You did me no wrong. That's kind of the confusing phrase. I think he's r um because of what he goes on to say in the next two verses, I think what he's referring to is remember how you treated me when I first came to you. Remember how much love and affection you had for me. You accepted me then. You did me no wrong. Because look what he goes on to say in 1314. You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God as Christ Jesus. So he's saying, I came to you and I got sick, and that was hard because uh we don't know exactly what his sickness was. Uh there's a lot of speculation, but apparently it was not fun to be around, and it was a trial to the Galatians for them to be around him. So scholars have thought that maybe it's malaria that he got because malaria was common in the in the region of the Galatian churches. Some people say no, it was a chronic illness that he had, maybe the thorn in the flesh that he refers to in other books. We don't know. Other people speculate maybe it was an eye disease because of what he goes on to say about his eyes. But the point is we don't know. We don't know what happened to him, but apparently it was unpleasant and it disfigured him in some way so that it was uncomfortable to be around him. And he's saying, You didn't let that deter you, even though you know you don't imagine when someone's all congested and they're wheezing and they're, you know, they're everything's running and you kind of just like, oh, don't come near me. You know, I don't want to get that cold. I mean, that's probably what was going on, that kind of thing where he's up front speaking to them or somehow speaking to them, and they're they don't want to be around him, but they were so excited by the gospel message that they didn't care. They wanted to hear him anyway. So he says, even though my condition was a trial to you, you didn't scorn or despise me, but receive me as an angel of God as Jesus Christ, I think the idea is with utmost respect, you received me as if I was an angel sent from God, as if I was Jesus Christ Himself. That's how highly you regarded me and how what kind of attitude you had toward me then. So he's kind of pointing out, you showed me so much love and respect before, despite this physical condition, shouldn't you pay the same respect now? What's changed? I think that's kind of the appeal he's going for. So I'm the same person that came to you then. Why has your attitude toward me changed so greatly? So the idea is, surely you remember how sick I was when I came to you, I brought you the gospel, you didn't let that condition um get in the way, or even though it was you might have were probably tempted to reject me, you didn't despise me, you did me wrong no wrong, you took me in as if I were Jesus Christ Himself, so implied why what's changed. Alright, then he concludes this section in 15 and 16. What then has become of the blessing you have felt? I for I testify to you that if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? So the translation is literally, where then is your blessedness? I think he's referring more to where is the joy you had when you first heard the gospel? Where is all that goodwill and excitement? You know, when you first hear and you believe and it's you understand grace for the first time, all that, you know, that thrill that we see with brand new believers. What happened to that? You know, we you as he talked about earlier, you had this spirit come on you where you can try Abba Father and have this joyful personal relationship with God, and you have lost that. Um and he says, to you were so excited that if possible, you would have sacrificed an eye to to encourage me. You would have done anything is the idea to encourage and comfort Paul. So now what what's changed? Have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? And that I think is the pointed question. Is telling you the truth proof that I have ceased to be your friend or cease to love you or cease to have the same concern? And of course, we know the Bible tells us that the person who tells us the truth is in fact our best friend. Proverbs 27, 6 says, faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. So if I'm in danger of committing some great sin or I'm being selfish and unloving or straying off the path, you know, in danger of falling over a cliff, the person who comes to me and tries to pull me back is in fact my truest friend, even if I react to them wrongly. So if I'm in danger of exercising bad judgment, uh, especially if that can be avoided, the kind and loving thing to do is to come and say, not a good idea, turn back. Um so that's the point. Still more, think about the Galatian church. They're off on a path where their salvation's on the line. They are turning away from the true gospel to a false gospel. Their conduct could ruin them in the long run. So who's your truest friend is the person who says, Come back, you're on the wrong path. Um, the one who tries to warn and correct. But of course, our first response is, ooh, how can you say that to me? So we want to we think the person who's actually being the most loving is our enemy. And that's the point he's trying to get to them. Have I ever steered you wrong? Do you remember our relationship? Remember how you received me when I first came? Okay, so now he switches gears a little bit and he contrasts his own attitude toward them with that of the false teachers. So he's kind of pointing out not only am I not your enemy, look how I've labored over you, look how I've served you, look how I've tried like a parent or a mother and childbirth, how I've longed and and worked for you. Okay, so 417. They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out that you may make much of them. That's, I think, one of the hardest verses to translate. But I think the idea is the false teachers are so eager to win your favor, but their intentions aren't good. They're trying to shut you off from me, Paul, so that you will pay attention only to them. So the word make much of you is literally they will zealously affect you, or it's the uh the word means to be zealous towards something or excited about something, and it's usually in a good sense to be eager or just passionate about something. And I think what he's saying here is they are passionate for you, they're after your affections, but their motives are bad. They want to shut you out, and I think shut you out of Paul's affections, so that you will ignore him and only follow them, is the idea. So uh the false teachers come to them, they want, they're you know, very concerned about the Galatians' welfare, they profess great favor and friendship and affection, but they have an agenda, it's to get them to stop following and trusting Paul, to break that relationship and start following and trusting only them. So they're trying to win them over to their teaching. So they want to shut you out, probably means they want to exclude you from Paul's affections. And it makes sense because remember how much time Paul spent in the beginning uh defending his own relationship and his authority and his teaching? Probably he had been under attack by the Judaizers on this point. So they have to exclude Paul to discredit him in order to win uh converts to their own teaching. So if they can get rid of that attachment to Paul, then then they've got the Galatians in their back pocket. All right. So the Galatians were truly attached to Paul, but to accomplish their ends, the false teachers sever that connection and transfer them. And then the idea that you may make make much of them, it's the same word, you may be zealously affectionate for them. That is, you might transfer all that respect that you had for Paul to them instead. So their object is not your salvation, he would say, their object is not your real good, but to secure your love and affection for them so that you would follow their teaching, hear them alone, trust them alone. And then in 18 he qualifies that a little bit. He says, it's always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you. So the idea is, okay, don't misunderstand, I'm not saying that affections or zeal or any kind of respect like that is wrong. That's a good thing when it's for a good purpose, when it's used to a good end. Um so I think you would say, look back at the relationship that we just talked about in the early verses where they had this high regard for Paul. That's a good thing in a servant leader relationship, in a uh and when it's for a good motive of actually teaching them the truth. Um and then the last phrase, not only when I'm present with you, I think is ironic. I think it's a gentle way of saying, you know, when I was with you, you loved me, you respected me, you treated me as Christ Himself, but now that I'm gone, you've given up on all that. You know, it would be nice if if it wasn't out of sight, out of mind, but when I was gone, you remembered that and treated me the same way. So I think there's a little irony, not just when I'm with you, but when I'm not there too, you ought to keep keep that same. So let me just remind you uh of your prior relationship, your prior attitude, and it should still be the same. Following me through that? Okay, then 419, my little children for whom I'm again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. So he's saying, I feel as if I'm going through labor pains with you all over again, that I'm trying to teach you the gospel, that I'm trying to bring you into spiritual uh salvation all over again, laboring the way a mother labors in the anguish of childbirth, longing, hoping, you know, working for the the benefit of this new life, and that's the analogy he's saying, that I'm working for you again. I'm I've prayed for you, worked over you, labored, prayers, tears, teachings, all of that to bring them to salvation until Christ is formed in you, I think, until you come to faith, until your faith is strong and secure and solid, and you aren't tossed around by all these false doctrines. So he's uh saying, I still feel that way toward you, despite everything. That's still my attitude. And then he concludes, I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you. So he says, I wish I could be there now and speak differently to you, but I don't know how to help at this distance. So the idea is they've changed in Paul's absence. They've given up their relationship, they've become alienated from him in some measure. And the change of tone, I think he's something like, I wish I didn't have to rebuke you, but I could encourage you, or I didn't have to warn you, but I could express confidence in you, or I didn't have to worry about you, but I could rejoice over you. That's the kind of change he's expressing. That's what he longs for for them. Um, and then he's perplexed. He's like, I just don't know where you stand. I'm not sure where your faith is now, I'm not sure where about your future and your maturity in the gospel because you're turning away. So the passage is pretty straightforward. He's I mean, it's a little difficult in the language, but he's appealing to them to listen to his warnings because of his relationship with them, that he had this deep joy and affection for them. They they responded to him as such, they would have done anything for him despite his physical illness and his re like repulsiveness. They would have even sacrificed an eye for them, and he's saying, What happened to that? I'm the same person that loved you then. I'm still loving you, I'm still working on your behalf. Nothing about me has changed, nothing about the gospel's changed, why have you stopped listening? So that's the appeal. So in the time we have left, I want to say, okay, so what can we learn from that about leadership? And what can we see in Paul's relationship to the Galatians that we could apply in leadership today? And I'm going to give you five principles that I think come through in this passage. I think they're also very clearly taught in other passages. So I didn't just look at Galatians and come up with them. I actually studied them from other passages, but it's like, oh look, you see them confirmed in Paul's relationship here. So uh here are my my five principles of leadership in the church. First, organizational hierarchies in the church are problematic. That's my diplomatic way of saying it. My blunt way of saying it is they're always wrong. Then Paul contrasts the attitude of the false teachers with his his own, and he's saying, look, the false teachers seek to turn you away from Paul and put themselves in his place. So rather than sowing harmony and unity, they're creating factions and they're trying to put themselves at the top. And we see this clearly taught elsewhere that organizational hierarchies are not to be part of the church. Jesus says this in Mark 10, this is verse 42 to 45. So this is when um James and John have come to him and said, Ooh, can we sit on your right hand and your left hand in the kingdom? And then everybody else gets upset because they didn't think to ask first. And uh Jesus says, You don't know what you're asking. And he has this discussion on leadership. So this is Mark 10, 42 to 45. And Jesus called them to him and said, You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all, for even the Son of Man came not to serve not to I'm sorry, for even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. So in that section, Jesus is saying, rulers of the Gentiles equate power with domination, and those who have power lord it over those who don't, and they take advantage of them. And this is the way the world works, but it's not supposed to be in the church. Not so with you. The community of the followers of Christ should not have that kind of hierarchy or exercising authority. What we should be is committed to service. So those who want to leave should give up their rights and desires in order to bless others. And that's what we see from Paul. He is leading based on his service. Now, notice that even in Jesus' case, he's not saying that the respect and the prominence and the affections that we just saw Paul describe are wrong. He's, I think a leader can have great gifts and Be very highly regarded, and that's not a bad thing. The difference between Paul and the false teachers is not how prominent they were, it's their motives. And that's what Paul himself points out. He says a servant leader is the one who's following the example of Christ, who's crucifying his self-interest, becoming a slave to all, as Paul says, giving up his Jewishness to become like a Gentile, to win them to the faith. So Christian leadership is not this place of ranking and who's on top and who's below and who's over each other, but it's an attitude of serving and interacting. And you'll notice throughout this letter and all the arguments Paul's made, he has never pulled rank on the Galatians. He's never once said, Well, I'm an apostle, I have this straight from Jesus, we're gonna do things my way. Never once. Now he has brought up his apostleship and his authority, but as a means of saying, you can trust me. He's brought it up as part of his credibility, and now he's appealed to their close relationship as the basis for his trustworthiness, but he's never said, I'm an apostle, I'm in charge, we're gonna do things my way, trust me. Now, of all people, he probably could, but he never does that, even with Peter. He never, there's never any kind of rank. So one of the things I think we can learn from that is divisions between like clergy and laity, if we see them as hierarchical, or between senior and associate, or one type of spiritual gift and another type of spiritual gift. Anytime we start creating circumstances where there's some kind of hierarchy in the body of Christ, rivalry is likely, probably inevitable. Because if you you know, if you give a certain title in an organization that's where the action is that confers power and status, then what happens? Everybody wants that title. So if you define, well, this ministry is where the action is, then everybody wants to be part of that ministry, and other equally necessary ministries wither and die. Or if you give some role prominence or prestige or power, then that's what everybody wants. So when we define some place in the body as the place to be, we build strife and competition into the body. And Paul teaches against that. I think we see that here, but it directly in there's some passages in Corinthians where he directly teaches against that. You're probably familiar with him talking about the analogy of we're all part of the body, some are hands, some are feet, some are eyes, some are whatever, but we're all necessary and important to each other. That's the attitude we want to build. That we all are significant not by gaining a name for ourselves, but by being faithful to the calling to which God has called us. So we want to avoid creating structures in the church where we're encouraging hierarchy or we're encouraging rank or we're encouraging people to think that leadership somehow involves some higher place. So any organizational structure that rewards competition or introduces hierarchy, I think is problematic. Okay, so that's number one. Number two, faithfulness is more important than short-term accomplishment. And I think this one's particularly hard, but it's probably one of the most important. Faithfulness is more important than short-term accomplishment because often what God is doing we can't see. We like short-term accomplishment because we can measure it. You know, we can look at the numbers and we can look at results that we can measure and see, but obvious often what God is doing is invisible. We can't measure how people's hearts have changed, or how people's lives have changed, or how the impact something has five, ten, fifteen years down the road. So think about Paul. He arrives at the Galatian church and he contracts some kind of horrible illness that apparently made him stay much longer than he intended to stay and made him unpleasant to be around. And that looks like, well, that's just a failure. How could that possibly, how could anything good come out of that? And yet, through that protracted illness, God builds this relationship with the Galatian churches that is wonderful, and and people are blessed by it. And now He's writing this letter because of that relationship that we have been blessed with centuries later. So for us, we look at that and we go, oh, well, an illness, that's just a mistake, that's just a digression, a sidetrack. And yet it was part of the plan that God used. So we fool ourselves often than thinking that we know what God is doing. You've probably heard this joke. How do you get God to laugh? You tell him your plans. Because we think we know what he's doing, but often we don't. So in ministry and as leaders, the question we want to be asking is not how can we get something done quickly or how can we create a program, but how can we be faithful? How can we be faithful to what God has called us to do? So that's more important, even if it looks like there's no results, and I especially those of you who are home with young children, this is for you. Because you you wait 20 years to see some progress or something measurable, maybe 30 years. And you it's often you don't see it, but being faithful to the calling is still important. Or maybe it's something where God has not given you something you want, and He's withholding that for some purpose, and you can't see the good, or you can't measure it, or you can't figure out why. It's being faithful that's important. It's saying, Okay, Lord, I don't understand, but if this is the path you've put before me, this is the path I will walk. So we ask ourselves, how should we respond to the needs God has put in front of us, the situations, the circumstances, and how can we be faithful to those and respond to them, not necessarily what new programs ought we to start that will, you know, bring fame and glory and numbers or things we can measure. So faithfulness is more important than short-term accomplishment. We want to ask how can we be faithful to God's calling? That's always the starting point because often what God is doing is invisible. We don't know. We think we know, we think he's acting one way, but then we find out there's some complete other direction he was going. And I think Moses is a good example of this. You know, he spent 40 years in the wilderness before he spent 40 years leading the exiles. And you'd think, well, those 40 years tending sheep and watching over them, what can you possibly learn from that? That was a waste of time, and yet that was the school God gave put him through to teach him to lead the people through the uh through the desert. So both of those are important. One looked like maybe it was a diversion, but it was part of God's plan. So long-term faithfulness is more important than short-term accomplishments. Okay, number three. God's power is made perfect in weakness. Again, Paul, God used Paul's sickness to greater good, the greater good of the Galatian church and the long-term church, um, even us today as we're studying him. And I think partly if Paul hadn't had such a close relationship with the Galatians, maybe he never would have written this letter. I don't know. But one of the things we can learn from that is it's our inadequacies that make us depend on the Lord, which makes it much easier for him to use us. So new life often doesn't come from those that have the biggest budgets or the biggest political pull or the biggest microphones or the slick advertising campaigns or the marketing gimmicks. I mean, all those things we say, oh, if I had those, then I could really do something wonderful. If I just had, you know, a bigger budget or whatever it is, those things tempt us to put stock in our own efforts, and yet God can work with nothing. Um so we may have the best of intentions, but the more resources we have, the more we we kind of count on our own resources, the more tempting it is to trust in them and not to trust in God. So when we lack resources to, you know, quote, make something happen, it's just more obvious that we have to depend on God and wait for Him to do something. And then of course He gets the credit too. So I think as leaders and as in the church, we sometimes need to admit, you know, can't do that. I my weakness, my limitations, I don't have those, you know, or just wait and trust to see what God will do. So we want to toss out the gimmicks, you know, and the fads and what's the latest church growth movement maybe, or whatever it is we're tempted to, you know, jump on that and say, Oh, that'll make this successful. And instead realize God can work with um people like us, you know. He doesn't uh we often look around and we think, well, God can't use me because I'm whatever, you know, too old, too young, didn't have the right education, don't have the right social skills, maybe I'm too introverted or too extroverted, or I'm too outspoken, or I'm too soft spoken, or I'm too whatever. We all have our excuses. God can't use me because I'm just not that. Um, you know, I would say, oh, I'm just not Libby, so I can't, you know, do anything and she's ignoring me. But the lesson we the lesson we see is that God uses precisely those people. The the ones who are weak or sick are the ones he uses. One of my favorite examples is Timothy, w where um Paul left the Ephesian church and he's looking for someone to put in charge. So who should he pick? I know, let's get Timothy. He's young, he's weak, he's not educated, and he's sick. That's the guy. You know? And yet he is the guy. That's the one Paul put in charge. So on the outside, it looked like why would you ever entrust the Ephesian church to someone like Timothy? And yet that was exactly the right choice. So God's power is made perfect in our weakness. Okay, number four then, and this I think they're all important. Relationship is central to spiritual growth. I mean, I think that's one thing we can learn from Paul talking about his relationship with the Galatians. We can learn a lot of information from books, and we can be equipped, you know, intellectually in seminars, but for most people the way lives are changed are in relationship. You sit down over coffee with a friend or you're part of a small group or you're sharing your struggles, and that's where lives get changed. That's where application and or where knowledge turns into application and what you've learned becomes real. So Paul is counting on his relationship with the Galatians to help pull them back. And I think very few people become believers in isolation. You know, you do kind of hear stories about oh, somebody alone in a hotel room with a Gideon Bible and suddenly understood. But those are rare. Most people, when you ask how did you come to faith, there's another person involved. They saw it, it's modeled in someone's life, or they heard it, or they saw someone living it, or they were with friends that that spoke to them. Very few people become believers all by themselves. And it was certainly even fewer grow in isolation. We need each other. We grow by wrestling with the truth, with each other, praying for each other, struggling with each other, you know, walking side by side and shoulder to shoulder, and where we um share our stories and our struggles and our doubts and our failures. That's one reason why in Wednesday and the Word we've always maintained that the small groups are are crucially important because we can lecture all we want, but your lives will get changed when you're sitting around the table talking with each other and holding each other accountable. You know, if lectures worked, all of us would eat five servings of fruit and vegetables every day. We'd have perfect cholesterol, you know, exercise 30 minutes a day, four times a week, or whatever, you know. I mean, we've heard all the rules. That lecture alone doesn't um doesn't just cut it. Our lives get changed by relationships. So I was the ri analogy I like to use is that it's like having offense and defense on a team. If you only have offense and no defense, you can't win games, and if you only have defense and no offense, you can't win games. And as a church, we need both the teaching and the relationships. We need both the Bible study and the community. Because one without the other, you know, if you just have teaching, it's cold, and if you just have relationship, it's warm and fluffy, but there's no substance. So you gotta have both teaching and relationship or teaching and service and community. So that's like having offense and defense on a team. It's the only way to win games. Okay, and the last one, number five, the truth of scripture is always relevant. Notice how throughout all these arguments, Paul continually brings the Galatians back to the scriptures. And I think as leaders, we're often tempted to ride whatever the current wave is, or the current fad, or the current tool, or whatever the newest technique is. You know, we've got to have multimedia church services now because now it's multimedia, or we've got to have Starbucks coffee served, or whatever the latest fad is, you know, to get people in. And we're always looking for what's on the cutting edge for the moment. And I think those are okay to a point, but we should never forget that it's the word of God that draws people and changes people. And the word of God is always relevant, always useful, always good for encouragement and truth and rebuke and edification. It speaks truth in every culture, every time, every life, and we need to lay hold of that with a passion and continue to engage it. So we're tempted to go for the fads, but always remember it comes back to the Word of God, making that real in the lives and the world in which we live. All right. That's all. That's my five. You want me to review them real quickly? Number one, you probably don't, but it makes me feel good, so I will do it. Organizational hierarchies are problematic in the church. We're not we're meant to be a body, not a not a leadership structure. Number two, faithfulness is more important than short-term accomplishment because often we don't know what God's doing. What God's doing is invisible, and the things we can measure are not necessarily what he's doing. Number three, God's power is made perfect in weakness. So if you're sitting back there saying, I could never be a small group leader, I'm not whatever, give that up. None of us are the are perfect, none of us are strong, we just are saying, How how can I be faithful? Relationship is central to spiritual growth. We can't just have teaching, we must have relationship as well. And then scripture is always relevant and not always to be central.