IT'S BETTER TO HAVE PERMISSION THAN TO ASK FORGIVENESS:
PRACTICING PERMISSION-GIVING LEADERSHIP
IN AN AFFIRMING COMMUNITY OF FAITH
A Future Together
part 10

Click here to listen to this sermon.

Recap the lessons so far ...

1. Raising the Bar: Expecting the Best From One Another
2. Diet and Exercise for the Soul: Spiritual Formation
3. Every Shepherd Needs a Sheep Dog: Ministering to One Another
4. The Air We Breathe: Grace and Hope Through Jesus Christ
5. You Welcomed Me In: Practicing Christ-Like Hospitality [by Shane Hughes]
6. Cloud of Witnesses: Ministry to Youth and Families
7. Our Neighbor Across the Street: Integrating College Students Into the Life of the Church
8. We Can’t “Retire” From Church: Ministering Through Seniors, Not Just To Seniors
9. Across the Street and Around the World: It’s All Missional
10. It’s Easier to Ask Permission than Seek Forgiveness: (Practicing Permission-Giving Leadership)

We’ve heard the old saying that “It is easier to get forgiveness than ask permission.”
What does that sort of philosophy say about a group of people?

• It means that there is very little trust.
• It means that authority is not being shared; rather a spirit of anxious control dominates.

God has given us permission – for the sake of the mission

Read Matthew 25:14-30.

1. The master entrusts a large amount of resources to three servants.
2. They are asked to do something with these resources – to put the money to work.
3. Two double the investment. One does not, but not because he tried and failed. He failed by not trying ...

Permission

1. Are we governed by a spirit of trust or a spirit of fear?
   • Notice what the first two servants say: “You entrusted me.” They have the attitude of trust.
   • Notice what the third servant believes:
     1. "I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed."
        • How did he know this?
     2. "So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you."
   • We fear God. We fear failure. We fear what others will think. We fear that they may say NO.
   • Trust leads us to experience God’s happiness. Fear will lead us to laziness, inaction and we will become as harsh as we expect God to be – and that’s not God’s disposition. He said YES.

2. Saying Yes and Hearing Yes
   • “I don’t think that anyone is telling me no, but I don’t hear anyone telling me Yes.”
   • We have to learn to echo God’s Yes.
     1. For the sake of the mission, God has given us permission.
     2. Leaders need to say YES – empowering the congregation – accelerator and brake.
     3. Congregation also echoes YES by developing a spirit of trust in God and one another.
        1. A culture of CAN DO vs. CAN’T DO
        2. That’s how we will hear God’s voice
        3. God always says YES to those who come to him with a broken, contrite heart.

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 4 May 2008

 Link to next sermon

 Link to other sermons of Chris Benjamin