Leader’S Guide

GIVING OF YOUR ESSENCE, NOT JUST YOUR EXCESS

LEADER’S GUIDE

A 5 WEEK CINEMATIC JOURNEY FROM Rhemedia GIVING OF YOUR ESSENCE, NOT JUST YOUR EXCESS CONTENTS

A Letter from Our Chairman...... 6

Introduction...... 7

Gospel Connection...... 10

Session 1: PROMISES...... 12

Session 2: LEGACY...... 20

Session 3: AMBITION...... 26

Session 4: CAPACITY...... 32

Session 5: ESSENCE...... 38

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or other including photocopy or any storage and retrieval system, except for brief quotations in articles or reviews, without written permission from the publisher. A LETTER FROM AN INTRODUCTION TO OUR CHAIRMAN LEADING GENEROUSLY

Welcome to our third series on generosity, Leading Leading Generously is the third series in the ReImagine Generosity initiative. Generously! The first series, Living Generously, explores what it means to steward everything Our first two series dealt with transactional generosity (allowing God’s gifts of in our lives for God’s purposes. The central metaphor comes from a lesson a time, talent and treasure to flow through us to others) and relational generosity gardener teaches a child: are you giving God the Good Sheep or the Stinky (pursuing community and the ministry of reconciliation). This third series examines Sheep? That is, do you conduct your life as though God is lucky to receive your our common calling to be Servant Leaders in our spheres of influence. This is leftovers—or as though all things belong to God and are meant to be stewarded the call to sacrificial generosity. for His kingdom? Are you like the man in Matthew 25:14-30 who buried the talent the Master had given him because he was unwilling to take a righteous risk, or do Integrity is one of the cornerstones of sound leadership. Facing failures head you invest your talents and blessings in the hope of a rich return for the Master? on is as important as “doing the right thing.” Leaders need solid communities around them to support them, guide them, and hold them accountable. In the The second series, Loving Generously, examines generosity in our relationships. Leading Generously films, we see one man confronting his enduring failure to be the father God called him to be. We see another man experiencing the The central metaphor is found in a banquet. When you hold a banquet, as Jesus truth that leadership sometimes requires stepping up into the limelight—but, says in Luke 14, do you only invite the fond and the favored—your friends and other times, requires stepping down in order to serve in humble and quiet connections, people who can repay you for your kindness? Or do you invite ways. As John the Baptist said, “He must increase, I must decrease.” “the poor, the lame and the blind,” who may never repay you but who matter dearly to God? As Jesus invited us to his table when we were estranged from We look in this series at the promises, motives and legacy of a Servant Leader. God, we can live out the gospel by inviting those society rejects, or those our We see that the ultimate form of generosity is “giving of your essence, not your hearts have rejected, and reconciling in love. From the relational generosity of excess.” Philippians 2 says that “Jesus made Himself nothing and took on the a kind, authentic community arises an environment in which each person gives form of a servant.” The Greek word is kenosis, or self-emptying. In this story, honor and love abundantly, one to another. we see Frank and Cassie Donovan emptying themselves to serve at-risk youth. This third series focuses on generosity in leadership. How can we lead others Such sacrifice is only possible because of the gospel. Romans 12:1 says, “In view of God’s mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices. This is your spiritual act generously, and how can we lead others to be generous? These are questions of worship.” God’s Spirit moves us to mercy and servant leadership in our for all of us. We all exercise influence in some domain. So what are the qualities domains, no matter how big or small. of a generous leader? How can we model Christ-like generosity in such a way that we awaken and cultivate generosity in everyone around us? How can May God bless you as you experience the life that is truly life!! we expand in others the capacity for generosity and thus forge a legacy that reaches far beyond whatever resources we might have been able to give? Best wishes in Christ, As in the other series, we follow the lives of Frank and Cassie Donovan and Jack Alexander their former gardener Re (pronounced “Ray”). In earlier films, Frank practiced Chairman generosity from a position of worldly power and wealth. While the generosity Rhemedia, LLC he demonstrated and the people he invited into his life sometimes left him ReImagineGenerosity.com uncomfortable and vulnerable, Frank could be generous with his resources and Rhemedia.com still want for nothing. In this series, for the first time, Frank’s own affluence comes into question as he must decide whether he will embrace the “declining” life in order to elevate others.

6 7 On the opposite end of the spectrum, Re had once lost everything, and had to HOW DOES IT WORK? rebuild. In his own way, though, Re, too, was relatively comfortable. He always seemed to have the answers. He was loved and respected for his faith and We have provided an abundance of material in order to allow you to customize wisdom. Now, just as his life appears to be coming together personally and the experience for your context and circumstances: professionally, he will be publicly confronted with one of his most humiliating failures. For Re, the question is whether he will become the leader he was truly • Narrative videos (approximately 7 minutes each) telling the story of meant to be, even if it means humbling himself, confronting a painful reality, and Re and the Donovans reconstructing a legacy of selﬂess giving. • Vignette videos (approximately 2 minutes each) summarizing central teaching points For both Frank and Re, the central question is whether they are willing to give of their essence, and not just their excess—whether they are willing to pour • Ancillary materials are provided to help facilitate the series themselves out for the people God placed in their lives, even if it means giving • Leader Guides up their pride and comfort. • Participant Guides

We hope you enjoy the journey and find it as meaningful as we have. If you belong to a congregation watching the narrative films during worship services, then you may choose to watch the films and the vignettes in your adult education classes or small group meetings. The vignettes are designed to help you transition from the films into conversation about what they mean.

While the speciﬁcs are up to you, we have found this to be a solid approach for classes or small group studies:

• Open in Prayer. • Recite the memory verse for the week. • Recap the previous lessons. • Watch the ﬁlm, the vignette, or both. • Work through the study guide questions in discussion. • Allow time for reﬂection and closing prayer.

You can learn more about our generosity products at ReImagineGenerosity.com, and you can learn more about all Rhemedia products at Rhemedia.com.

8 9 Legacy: One of the fundamental questions you confront as a leader is whether GOSPEL you are more concerned with your legend or with your legacy. Your legend is your reputation, your fame (your “press”), your list of accomplishments. Your CONNECTION legacy is your effect on the lives of others. A Servant Leader will be less focused on her own accomplishments and more on the accomplishments of others. Jesus did not build a sterling reputation for himself. He came to serve and to save. Offered worldly leadership, he sacrificed his legend for a greater, more enduring legacy. Likewise, Servant Leaders are less concerned with reputation than with leaving behind patterns of service and faithfulness reproduced in the lives of others. Leadership is not about a job or a title or a corner office. It’s about influencing others. If you have authority in any sphere of life, you are a leader. If you are Ambition: Since God calls each of us to lead in some capacity, we should pointing others toward the good, you are a leader. If you live a life worth examine whether our motivations are for ourselves or for others. Philippians following, you are a leader. Each of us has a domain of influence—at work, at 2 says we should “do nothing out of selfish ambition,” but should consider others home, at church, on the sports field, or perhaps among friends. and their interests more important. This sums up the other-centeredness of Servant Leadership. Are your ambitions self-promoting and self-serving? Or are they, like The kind of generous leadership we describe in this series is not possible apart Christ’s, selfless ambitions for the good of others? from Christ. A true Servant Leader leads in Christ’s likeness, modeling his profoundly self-sacrificial leadership for others. The generous leader can say, Capacity: Through the renewal of Christ, the Holy Spirit guides and empowers as Paul does in 1 Corinthians 11, ‘Follow my example as I follow the example us in such a way that we are capable of doing so much more than we could of Christ.’ Of course, in the long term, it’s impossible to lead like Christ unless have before. Jesus expanded the capacity of others to love and give and live one is leading with Christ. Only those who live in a right relationship with more fully by sacrificing his own life. A Selfless Leader focuses on increasing Jesus will be able to show his love to others. And all truly generous leadership his own capacity – expanding his wealth, fame, and power over others. A will ultimately lead to Christ since he is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John Selfless Leader focuses on expanding the capacity of others. Just as a good 14:6). Such leaders do not lead their family and friends and followers toward teacher is willing to look foolish in order to teach his students an important the ‘rubbish’ the world deems valuable, but toward the true goodness, beauty lesson, a Selfless Leader is willing to sacrifice his own capacity if it serves to and truth found in Jesus. expand the capacity of others.

Generous leadership, then, is saturated with the gospel. It observes the way Essence: The entire ReImagine Generosity initiative is, in many ways, summed in which Jesus leads and emulates that. It leads from Christ and his example. up in this final film. Do you give out of your excess? Or do you give out of It leads with Christ and the Holy Spirit. It leads to Christ and his redemption. your essence? Servant Leaders do not reserve the main courses for themselves and distribute only the crumbs to others. Servant Leaders give their heart, their This study focuses on five character qualities of a Servant Leader: passion, their all, to serve those God has entrusted to them. Christ came to us “as one who serves” (Luke 22:27). If we lead like Christ, we will lead Promises: For a leader, life itself is a promise. Leaders give explicit or implicit selflessly and generously. Jesus did not build a platform for self-promotion, promises to everyone under their influence, whether their followers are children, but submitted himself to the cross in order to lift up those he loves. Servant employees or friends. Leaders should take responsibility for the promises they Leaders will accept whatever God plans for them, whether that is a platform make, as well as the promises they fail to keep. We can rest in the promises or a cross (or both!), in order to serve God’s kingdom and God’s children. of God because we know God’s character is firm. What do others think of our promises? Can our “followers” rest in them? How are we cultivating the We hope this is helpful in making the gospel connection clear. This series focuses promise of God in others? 2 Corinthians 1:20 tells us that all God’s promises on surrendering our lives, receiving the life of Christ, and giving the life of Christ find their “Yes” in Christ. Christ is the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises. to others. When we are in right relationship with Jesus Christ, empowered by A Servant Leader is wholly dependent on God’s strength to lead, to keep his his spirit and focused with selfless ambition on the good of others, then we are promises, and to provide strength and hope in the midst of hardships. We can willing to go to a “cross” instead of a platform. It is only then that we are tell a lot about ourselves by how we behave in hard times. Can we rest in the prepared to offer the generous, sacrificial, servant leadership that can dramatically promises of God, and help others to do the same? If we are leading well, others transform the people God has placed in our lives. can rest in our promises because we rest in God’s promises.

10 11 THIS WEEK SESSION 1 PROMISES PROMISES

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND OPENING QUESTIONS AS YOU LEAD THE DISCUSSION 1. In your life, have promises generally been a source of hope, conﬁdence 1. If your church did Living Generously or Loving Generously,TM you will and peace? Or has your experience of promises been one of disappointment, already be familiar with the stories and approach in this study guide. If this is shame and regret? your first time, welcome to the ReImagine Generosity initiative! 2. You just explained whether your experience of promises has generally been positive or negative. What about your experience with the promises of God? 2. If you have not already, please read the Letter from Our Chairman, the How have you experienced God’s promises in your life? Be honest. Introduction and the Gospel Connection sections at the beginning of this guide. They frame the study and its subject matter in critical ways. FOCUS

3. If your group has not seen any of the prior films, or if they could simply use When we think of promises that come from leaders, those of us who have been living a reminder, here is a recap to follow the storyline of Leading Generously: Re on this planet for a while will feel some justified skepticism. In the political context, it (pronounced “Ray”) began the series as the gardener of Frank and Cassie seems as though promises are made to earn votes, and discarded as soon as they Donovan, a family of means and maturing faith. Frank and Cassie were become inconvenient. In the business world, promises are often salesmanship, intended challenged to steward all their possessions for the kingdom of God, and to invite to seal the deal. Even in our personal lives, we may have experienced painful the poor and the needy into their lives in order to show them the grace and disappointments at the hands of parents, pastors, and others we considered leaders. generosity of Christ. Re, who lost his way years ago, after the death of his wife, has rebuilt his life and become the owner of a garden supply store. The Bible is a book of many promises. God provides hundreds, even thousands, of promises toward His people. Those promises begin in the very earliest Bible stories. “Never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth” (Genesis 9:11). 4. There may be more here than your group can consume in one meeting. We “All the land you see, I will give to you and to your offspring forever” (Genesis encourage you to review the material in advance and choose what is most suitable 13:15). These promises were made long before the Law was given to Moses. for your group. The members of your class or group may wish to do the same, so The Promise of God—His favor and love and unmerited grace—came before the that they can absorb the teaching points in advance and prepare for an informed Law. It came to Noah and then to Abraham, as God was forming a covenant discussion. The more effort goes into the study, the more benefit it will bring. with a family and a people.

5. We strongly encourage you to pray for your class or group as often as His promises continued with that covenant people—for instance, “If my people possible. If possible before your meeting, assign as a memory verse 2 who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face Corinthians 1:20. and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). And all throughout the Old Covenant, God promised a redeemer, a reconciler, who would inaugurate a new covenant. “Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16) is one of the most resounding promises in all of Scripture. “For those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28), and now nothing “will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). 12 13 You can tell a lot about a person by what he or she says I will to. In Isaiah 14, a satanic ﬁgure, a wicked leader, gives a series of I wills that are all about glorifying himself. “I will ascend to heaven…I will set my throne on high… I will make myself like the Most High” (14:13-14). By contrast, in Genesis 12 (immediately after the story of the Tower of Babel, where a prideful people sought to “make a name for ourselves”), God gives a series of I wills that are all about blessing others. “I will show you a land…I will bless you…I will make your name great.”

Similarly, we are always making promises. We might promise ourselves that we will make our names great, that we will achieve remarkable things in the eyes of the world, that we will win fame and honor and wealth. Or we might make promises to others, that we will bless them and guide them, that we will The trustworthiness of the promise depends on the trustworthiness of the lift them up. promise-maker. The reason we cannot truly rest in the promises of so many politicians or earthly leaders is because they are frail men and women, people In 2 Corinthians 1, Paul speaks of all the afflictions and hardships he has whose wills are fickle and shifting, people who can be overpowered by endured. He wants the people in the Church of Corinth to know that God is circumstances or overcome by temptation. Yet this is not so of God. As James faithful (1:18). No matter what else the world might strip away, God has given writes (1:17), “there is no variation or shadow due to change” in God. The us Jesus Christ once and for all, and Jesus is the YES of God—the promise promises of God are completely secure because they rest in the will of an fulfilled, the hope realized, the seed full-grown. As Jesus himself and many unchanging and omnipotent deity. God does not grow weary; He cannot be sur- books of the New Testament make clear, Jesus is the culmination, the fulfillment prised or overpowered. God has entered into a covenant relationship with His of the covenant promises God made to His people. Jesus is God’s faithfulness people, which means He has made commitments to us through the Scriptures. incarnate, God’s re-affirmation (God’s “Yes!”) of His undying love and unmerited Those commitments do not rest in our character, but in His character. They do not grace toward the world. Jesus is God keeping His promises to us even now. depend on us; they depend on Him. Which means that they are utterly dependable. God’s promises are for us and for our blessing—and those promises are Still, sometimes believing in God’s promises is hard. In fact, the times when it’s fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The question is whether we will say I will to God’s I will. hardest to believe in God’s promises are often the times when it’s most important Can we affirm God’s promises for us—and can we become agents of God’s to believe. In times of trial, believing in the promises of God can make all the promises for others? difference in the world.

WATCH THE “PROMISES” FILM/VIGNETTE

READ 2 CORINTHIANS 1:18-22

CONSIDER

The trajectory of your life is largely set by the things you say I will to. Will you give your life to Jesus? I will. Will you take this man to be your husband, or this woman to be your wife? I will. Will you take this job? I will. Will you have children? I will. Every time that life presents us with a critical decision, we are forced to say I will to something. Even refusing to choose is a choice.

14 15 In the same way that God’s promises focus on blessing others, our promises can focus on others too. And in the same way that God’s promises sometimes seem impossible—His promise came to Abraham when Abraham and Sarah were both extremely old—we may be called to believe in what seems impossible in others. Those who seem impossible to love, we believe are lovable. Those who seem impossible to redeem, we believe are redeemable. Those who seem beyond help, we step down to serve.

“Against all hope,” writes Paul, “Abraham in hope believed” (Romans 4:18, NIV). He believed in the God “who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” (4:17). Believing in God’s promises can require enormous faith. God is not limited to our ﬁnite imaginations. God delights in surpassing our paltry understanding of what is possible. We believe in God’s promise in others because we know that God routinely accomplishes the impossible, bringing DISCUSSION QUESTIONS life where there is only death, hope where there is only despair.

3. How would you put in your own words what the Apostle Paul means when Can you say I will to God’s I will? Can you afﬁrm God’s will for your life, and he writes that Jesus Christ is “the Yes of God”? can you nurture the promise of God in others?

4. What helps you learn to trust in a person’s promises? How can we learn to trust more and more everyday in the promises of God?

5. In verse 20, Paul writes that we “utter our Amen” to the Yes of Jesus Christ. What do you think this might mean?

READ ROMANS 4:13-21

CONSIDER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS In Romans 4, Paul provides an overview of the history of God’s deliverance of His covenant people. The promise came first to the Jews, but extended to all who 6. Some people have a special gift of faith, trusting simply and fully (Matthew are children of Abraham through faith. We are the descendants of Abraham not 8:10), while others are like the man who cried to Jesus, “I believe, help my unbelief!” through keeping the Law that was given to Moses, but through living in the faith (Mark 9:24). Which are you? Abraham lived. Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness, and we too are given the righteousness of Christ when we put our faith in God through Christ. 7. How would your life look different today, right now, if you were completely What does this have to do with generosity and leadership? A great deal! Truly convinced that God keeps His promises? Christ-like generosity always begins with what God has given us. We love because God loved us. We give because God gave to us. We serve and sacrifice for one another because God served and sacrificed for us through Christ. We cannot simply 8. If you were completely confident in God’s promises, are there particular ways will ourselves to be more generous. We become more generous when we appreciate you would give of yourself, ways that you’re not giving now? the full height and width, breadth and depth, the full power and majesty of the extraordinarily unmerited generosity God has shown to us from the beginning. 16 17 9. Are there other people who need you to believe in them? Can you believe in DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT the promise of God in someone else in your life right now? • When we talk about stewardship, we typically talk about stewarding the “good” things in our lives, like assets and resources, time and talents. 10. In the film for this week, we begin to see Frank Donovan entering a period But the way in which we steward our loss and our suffering is equally of trial that will dramatically transform his life. You can tell a lot about yourself important. List two hardships in your life right now and how you might by how you respond to experiences that are painful or humiliating. If God steward them for the glory of God and the blessing of others. called you to “the declining life,” toward becoming “smaller” in the eyes of the world, how do you think you would respond? ______

______

• Identify three people you “lead” in some way—whether that’s a formal leadership role (boss, parent, pastor) or an informal one (people over whom you have inﬂuence, people who might follow your example).

______

CLOSING THOUGHTS Now pray over how you might lead them generously, and lead them toward generosity, as we proceed through the Leading Generously Frank Donovan, like all of us, cannot decide whether or not he will suffer. He can study. Ask God to open your eyes to opportunities you might be missing, only decide how he will respond. Will he steward his loss, his suffering, in the and to help you “believe in the seed” He has planted in their lives. same way he has stewarded his success—for the glory of God and for the good of others? Or will he become embittered and despondent? • In preparation for next week, commit to memorize the Memory Verse, Philippians 3:7-8: “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the Re encourages the children at his Seedtime Garden Supply to ’believe in the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the seed.’ Scripture often describes God as a Gardener or a Farmer who scatters surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” seed across the soil, who cultivates a vine and branches, and so on. Each person is a seed planted by God, sometimes meant to be preserved through dark times and sometimes meant to grow rapidly and burst into bloom.

God has given many promises in His word, and one way in which we can be generous to one another is to carry those promises to others, to scatter the seed of God’s truth in their lives, and to help them grow into the people God wishes for them to become. We are promise-takers insofar as we receive the promises of God. We can be promise-keepers by showing a reﬂection of God’s faithfulness toward others. But we can also be promise-givers by sharing God’s promises with others and helping them cultivate the seeds God has planted in their lives. Sometimes a lost person, a person who is beaten down by life, needs someone else to “believe in the seed” in them before they can believe in it too. Leading generously means, among other things, sowing deeply in the lives of others for their own sake. 18 19