Men's Ministry: Virtue

Men’s Life Group Spring Segment 2010
Saturday March 27th

2 Peter 1:1-10

Background:
This letter is written by the apostle Peter to the churches in the northern part of Asia Minor. Peter was concerned that the believers had been influenced by false teachers. The chief theme of this letter is to ‘know’ and to have ‘knowledge’ of their hope in Christ.
For our purposes we are focusing on Chapter One where Peter is outlining that godliness is acquired through correct knowledge of God’s Person and the practice of that knowledge in our daily living. That this kind of knowledge is not mere academic but intimate and relationally experiential.

Recap:
Last time we met we discovered that we needed to make 2 decisions concerning our faith.
1. That the Word of God is in fact God’s word and not man’s word. That it is not an opinion of what we think God would say or might have said.
"For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe." 1 Thessalonians 2:13 (New American Standard Bible).

2. It has life changing authority and we need to come under it through preparation and practice.
2 Timothy 2:15 (Amplified Bible)
“Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.”

According to James A. Fowler in his dissertation on “The Responsibility of Man”, he says quote - “By faith we avail ourselves of the Being and activity of God. Faith is not just an epistemological assent to precepts, promises, principles or propositions. Rather, faith is an ontological receptivity of the Person of the divine "I AM." We are not merely receptive to His "message" or to His "benefits," but we are receptive to His dynamic activity of grace in His Son, Jesus Christ. God is an active God who always acts consistent with His character. He does what He does because He is who He is! We have the unique opportunity to be receptive of His active character expression in our behavior by faith.

This seems consistent with Peter’s words below;
“For this very reason, adding your diligence [to the divine promises], employ every effort in exercising your faith to develop virtue…” AMP

The character trait we will be looking at is ‘virtue’ or ‘moral excellence’.

Character:
‘virtue’
What is ‘virtue’? (Discussion)
Other words synonymous with this is goodness and moral excellence. In the Greek the word is ‘arete’ which means essential, intrinsic goodness.

In today’s vernacular it is common to hear “he’s a good guy” or ‘that’s a good man’. How did Jesus respond to this kind of talk? Why?
Luke 18:19 (Amplified Bible)
“Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me good? No one is [good--except God only.”

Goodness is an abused word. In a lot of cases we focus our goodness in the wrong places. As men we focus on being good providers, good at the office, good athletes, etc. We want to look good, feel good, even do good but how much effort do we put into being good like God. Doing good and being good can be two different things.

Is it possible to be a good leader but not a good man? Can anyone give me some ensamples?

Sometimes we have it reversed; out of goodness God acts while we act to be good or do good. God is good and therefore He acts. Romans 3:12 says, it is impossible to do good apart from God.

According to Peter we are to diligently seek to add by faith this goodness to our character. This is an impossible task if we are not diligently seeking to know Him. Prayer, study of His word, worship and godly service all typify a man in pursuit of the godly attribute of ‘goodness’. This is our invitation to enter and experience the very Person of God.

Responsibilities of Christian Men: Our Duty to God, Family and the Lost
A) Responsibility to Provide: As men what is our responsibility to provision?
Concerning God: What are we to provide?
Recap: Last Week
Our discussion led us to 1 Corinthians 6:18-20; we are to provide Him with an honoring place to dwell. How do we do that? (Discussion)
Concerning Family: What are we to provide?
1 Timothy 5:8; we are to provide for the cares of our immediate families.
Concerning the Lost: What are we to provide?
Romans 12:17 tell us as men we are to provide things honest in the sight of all men.

B) Responsibility to Protect: What are we as men to protect and against what?
Concerning God: What are we to protect?
Proverbs 4:23; “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
“We are to protect our heart. Remembering our personal responsibility to the Lord, we are to judge our own course, and see that we ever "follow that which is good," both among the brethren and with all men.” 1 Thess. 5:15.
Concerning Family: What are we to protect?
1 Peter 3:7; “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” We are to protect our relationships, marriage, family, etc. How do we do this? (Discussion)
Concerning the Lost: What are we to protect?
John 13:14-16; “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.”
We are to protect our testimony. How could we hurt this? (Discussion)

C) Responsibility to Lead & Mentor
Agree or disagree with these quotes; “As go the men so goes the families and so goes the church”. Why? What is the impact?
John F Macarthur; “A healthy life for the church comes only from the proper spiritual attitudes of its members.”
A leader is a servant not a slavemeaster – In what ways could men serve God, his family and his church? (Discussion)
Lets look at Titus 2:6-8; “Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.”
What is this scripture speaking to us?
We are to be models that teach by both precept and example.” What does this statement mean and do you agree or disagree?
“We are always mentoring someone to be something?”

3. Our Mission: What is our primary mission according to scripture? (Discussion).
Conformed to the image of Jesus through
a) knowledge that produces godly love
b) practice of our faith through submission & obedience to the revealed word of God
c) modeling Jesus from our inner man out; through servanthood and unconditional love.