C h a p t e r 9
LEADERS ARE
PROBLEM-SOLVERS
“I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you
agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that
you may be perfectly united in mind and thought...Some of you have become
arrogant, as if I were not coming to you...But I will come to you very soon...
and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what
power they have...What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip or in love
and with a gentle spirit?...Even though I am not physically present, I am with you
in spirit. And I have already passed judgment on the one who did this, just as if I
were present. When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am
with you in spirit and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over
to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit
saved on the day of the Lord” (I Cor. 1:10 to I Cor. 5:5).
“...This will be my third visit to you...I already gave you a warning when I was
with you the second time. I now repeat it while absent. On my return I will not
spare those who sinned earlier, or any of the others...yet by God’s power we will
live with Him to serve you...our prayer is for your perfection. This is why I write
these things when I am absent that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my
use of authority – the authority the Lord gave me for building you up,
not for tearing you down”
(II Cor. 13:1-10). (I Cor. 1:10; 4:18-21; 5:3; II Cor. 13:1-10).The above selected verses from Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth
clearly show that he was a leader who had an eye and ear for problems.
In fact, almost every one of his letters was written in part to deal with
some problem in one of the churches that he had planted. If he was not
personally writing to deal with one or more church problems, he was
writing young pastors like Timothy and Titus on how they should deal
with various problems that had arisen in churches they were leading. By