Week 14- Persecution and False Leadership

MONDAY — Read the passage with your team.

     1But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.  2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than  lovers of God – 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power.  Have nothing to do with them.

     6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil   desires, 7 always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.  8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth – men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.  9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.

     10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings – what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured.  Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.  12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse,         deceiving and being deceived.  14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

     1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction.  3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.  5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

2 Timothy 3:1 - 4:5

What does this passage have to say about leadership?

Why is that important?

TUESDAY — Discuss the passage with your team.

1) What obstacle are you sure to face in your efforts to be a godly leader (3:12)?  What is persecution, and what are some kinds of persecution that you have faced?

2) Are you ever a part of persecuting the leaders on your team?  How can you commit to regular habits of encouraging and supporting your team’s leaders?

WEDNESDAY — Discuss the passage with your team.

3) Where should you gain the wisdom and training to know how to lead in times of persecution (3:15-16)?  Why can you be confident that this wisdom will help you (3:14)?  Are you being faithful in spending reading Scripture, so that you will be prepared to lead?

4) If you are leading in a godly manner and others ignore and refuse your leadership, how should you react (4:3-5)?  When conflict arises on your team, do you “keep your head”?  Do you stay faithful to your work and responsibilities?  Are you content to endure the hardship?  Why should you be content to endure the hardship (3:9)?

THURSDAY — Discuss the passage with your team.

5) 2 Timothy 3:1-9 provides a description of a false leader.  What motivates this person’s actions (v. 2)?  How does he treat others (v. 3)?  How does this person respond to instruction (v. 7)?  Have these kinds of false leaders, “who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women” (v. 6), gained a foothold in your team?  Are you this kind of false leader?

6) Do you ever follow these kinds of false leaders (even when you see that they are wrong) — simply to be popular, “fit in,” or avoid criticism?  Why is it very dangerous to do so (3:8)?  What should you do, when you find yourself in that kind of situation (4:2)?

FRIDAY — Discuss sport applications of leadership, and pray together.

· Ask your athletes to briefly reflect on what they’ve learned about leadership this week, and to repeat some of those things.  (Remind them of some of the Biblical truths about leadership you’ve discussed, if necessary.)

· Ask your team, “Based on what we learned about leadership this week...What does a leader athlete do?”  Do not settle for vague answers; challenge your athletes to go beyond general qualities of leadership, and to determine what those qualities look like in action.

· Add the results to your team’s list of descriptions of the “leader athlete”, and be sure the list is displayed somewhere that is constantly visible, as a reminder to the team.

· Pray together as a team.  Encourage your athletes to pray for your team’s growth in regard to the discipline of leadership — especially in relation to some of the issues and challenges that you discussed together this week.  Challenge them to also ask for forgiveness, when applicable.  Give time for athletes to request prayer (regarding leadership or anything else), and pray together.