(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen, so Nehemiah chapter 2, so Nehemiah chapter 2, we're going to be looking at this evening a couple different places in the book of Nehemiah, mostly the character of Nehemiah. And Ezra and Nehemiah are super interesting books in the Bible. You know, as far as a historical perspective, there's a lot of different things happening from the history of, you know, the captivity and the building of the temple and the city. There's a lot of prophecy in Ezra and Nehemiah in the story, but this evening we're going to use Nehemiah as an example in our personality study. And the personality that we're going to be looking at this evening is the personality of the executive, the executive personality. It's the personality we're going to be looking at this evening. And I had a few different ideas for executive personalities in the Bible, it was my wife actually that brought up the idea of Nehemiah to me. And it's funny because the ideas that I had, they fit in, they fit very well in some ways and some others in different ways, but Nehemiah, the more you study into it, is really a perfect example of the executive personality. So let's look into that tonight, let's first look at Nehemiah's personality and then what we'll do is we'll follow our pattern, we'll look at the secular strengths and compare those to biblical strengths, and then we'll look at the secular weaknesses and compare those to what the Bible says and see if they're actually weaknesses or not. So first of all, if you're an executive, there's a lot of executives in this church, so if you're an executive tonight, this is for you. It's for everybody, but it's for you. So look down at Nehemiah chapter 2 and look at verse number 11. So I came to Jerusalem and was there three days, and I arose in the night, and I and a few men with me, neither I told any man what God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem, neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon, and went out by night by the gate of the valley even before the dragon well into the dung port and viewed the walls of Jerusalem. So the back story here is, is that Nehemiah was in captivity in Persia and he was, you know, basically in Persia and he was in captivity and he heard the report that the city was burnt down and the city, the walls were torn down and he was very sad and he asked the king Artaxerxes if he could go back and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and the king gave him permission to do so. So the first thing he does is what we're reading about here in Nehemiah, again in verse 13, and I went out by night by the gate of the valley even before the dragon well into the dung port and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to the gate of the fountain into the king's pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. And I went up in the night by the brook and viewed the wall and turned back and entered by the gate of the valley and so returned. And the rulers knew not whether I went or what I did, neither as I had yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. So Nehemiah here goes, and the first thing he does when he goes back for three days is he just surveys the gates. Now the gates, this is not a picket fence, okay? The gates of the city is not just a single wall. The gates was, you know, the king sat in the gates. The gates were several different walls and there was different gates on different sides of the city. It's, you know, demonstrated to you here, certain gates, this gate, and they have different names. And he's talking about just, he's surveying the damage. He's surveying the project that is before him. Nehemiah was a planner. Nehemiah was a planner. He's surveying the damage here in secret, in quiet, because he knows and that'll come into play a little bit later in the sermon. He knows that not everybody is with him in this project that he's undertaking. And then in Nehemiah chapter three, he goes and he actually assigns specific people to different parts of the wall. So I mean, the executive character, this kind of, this is a main embodiment of the executive character. The particular advantage of the executive is they're very organized and they're good planners. They're good planners. So Nehemiah, he didn't only build the wall, but he first surveyed the project. He first surveyed the project and then he went, so I mean, the first thing you have to do, you know, from a project management perspective that Nehemiah is doing is he's looking at the problem. What is the scope of this project? That's what he was doing. And then he assigns people to, you know, come up with a solution to build the wall. He assigns crews literally in chapter three. So he's a good project manager here. And that's the first advantage of the executive personality. The second, I mean, so that, I mean, that's just good. That's just a good, that the Bible agrees with that, that that's a good characteristic to have. Now turn to Nehemiah chapter four. The second thing about Nehemiah that matches very well with the executive personality is this. He was very strong willed and dedicated. Nehemiah was very strong willed and dedicated. Now this can be a very good thing. And Nehemiah had this for sure, because what you will read throughout the book of Nehemiah is that he had very strong opposition to what he was doing, to the point where people were threatening his life. Look at Nehemiah chapter four and verse number seven. Verse number seven, the Bible says this, it says, but it came to pass that when Sanballat, now we heard about this Sanballat and Tobiah right away in chapter number two when they found out that Nehemiah was coming to town. They didn't like it right away. And these two, these two and their influence keeps getting worse and worse and worse throughout the project and throughout the book of Nehemiah. But it came to pass when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth, they were very angry. And conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to hinder it. Skip down to verse 15 just for sake of time. And it came to pass when our enemies heard that it was known unto us and God had brought their counsel to naught that we returned all of us to the wall. This is Nehemiah talking, everyone unto his work. And it came to pass from that time forth that the half of my servants wrought in the work and the other half of them held both the spears and the shields and the bows and the haberjens and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. So here it gets to the point where the threats are so serious. Even to the point where they're trying to draw Nehemiah into traps to kill him. But he literally has to take half the workers and make them defenders of the work and then only half the people can do the work. It says they slept in their clothes so they could be up ready to defend themselves against all of these people that were following Sanballat and Tobiah. But Nehemiah never stopped. He finished the project. He was very strong willed and very dedicated. So he's a great example of the executive character. And throughout the book of Nehemiah you'll just see these men just opposing them and opposing them to the point where they're plotting to take his life. So being strong willed is an extremely good thing as long as you are standing up for the right things like Nehemiah was. Nehemiah was obviously standing up for rebuilding Jerusalem, the city, God's city. But for us, look, and considering for us, this is a good thing for us as well because considering for us the fact that believing the Bible, believing like we believe is becoming something that is extremely not popular today, being strong willed is almost, almost a necessity for the Christian today. All Christians will need to be strong willed if they want to be a Bible believing Christian that lives and follows and walks in the Bible in their life. You will have to be strong willed. The more strong, look, men, the more strong willed you are, and ladies, the more strong willed you are in following your husband down this path, the better off your family will be. I mean the more strong willed you are to stand up for the Bible in your family, in your life, in your church, the better off your entire family will be. So it's a very, very good thing as long, look, because you'll be much less, if you're strong willed, you'll be less likely to compromise. And that's what happens to everybody. Everybody is, you know, I believe the Bible and tell living the Bible and being separated from the world unto what the Bible tells me to do and actually walking in the commandments and trying to show my love for God and do things God's way not according to the world until that causes me pain and suffering and then people compromise. So you have to be strong willed. If you want to live this Christian life the way that God wants you to live it, you're going to have to be strong willed. You're going to have to be, and look, it takes a lot less than threatening someone's life to get people to compromise today. I mean, it's unfortunate, but, you know, that's just the way it is. So look, a Christian, being a Christian who's strong willed for the Bible is a good thing. So you say, how could it be a bad thing? How could being strong willed be a bad thing? Well, I mean, if you're the kind of person that, you know, just has to have things your way, you know, no matter what, you don't think that any other way, you know, I've seen this in churches several times where you get people, they come into a church and they try to change it. You see, you'll hear about this, people in maybe old IFB churches, they're in the church and they're going to try to, you know, they can't deal with the way the church is run, they can't deal with the pastor or the doctrine, you know, so they're going to try to go in there and they're going to try to make a bad church good. Maybe they're, you know, maybe their intent is okay, you know, their intent is coming from a good place. But look, here's the thing, I mean, if you can't deal with the way the church is run, you can't deal with the, especially the doctrine of the church that the pastor himself is pushing, you just have to leave. You just have to leave. I mean, don't fight the pastor and cause problems. Find a church and a pastor you can get behind and then be strong willed, and then be strong willed. You know, because this can, we'll talk about this in weaknesses, but this can turn into stubbornness and strife and all sorts of, you know, bad things, okay? But generally, being strong willed, if you're strong willed towards, you know, biblical philosophies, it's going to be a good thing. And it's necessary for the Christian today. Another advantage of the executive, they're direct and honest. That's an advantage. Now look, generally this is a good thing. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4. Generally this is a good thing. As a matter of fact, I prefer this. I personally prefer someone to be more direct than less direct. However, this could be a problem as well. I generally don't like people that hint at things and, you know, kind of beat around the bush on stuff. It's just like, just spit it out, just tell me, what's the problem? That's the type of person I am. However, if it turns into, you know, someone, you know, just being disrespectful to their brother and sister in Christ or disrespectful to their pastor, you know, that could be a problem. Look at Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 32. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32, the Bible says, and be ye kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. So many times, it's not what we say to people that's the problem. It's, you know, it's how we say it, right? It's how we say it. I mean, an example with working with somebody, and say you're working on a church project with a brother and, you know, he does something that's not correct, you know, you could go up to him and say, you know, brother Johannes, you know, this is wrong. You know, this is not how you do this. I mean, maybe it is wrong, right? Maybe it's not correct, and it can't remain that way. But I mean, that's not a great way to, you know, that's a little too direct. You know, that's direct in a disrespectful way, where instead of like, hey, brother, you know, why don't we try it this way? You know, I mean, this isn't really going to work. So let's try it a different way. I'm sure brother Johannes would never do anything like that. But you know, he is an executive, so I had to throw him under the bus at least once. So but look, there's different ways of speaking to people. Being direct is okay, being disrespectful is not okay. So that's, that's, you know, another thing. Here's another advantage. And this is also an extremely good thing. I can't even think of a way that this is bad. But turn to 2 Samuel chapter 15. Turn to 2 Samuel chapter 15. Another advantage of the executive is that they're, they're loyal. They're loyal. Turn to 2 Samuel chapter 15. And whenever I hear that word loyal, I will always remember Ittai in the Bible. I will always remember 2 Samuel chapter 15. And I will always remember Ittai in the Bible. And I don't, I don't have enough information about Ittai to like pin the executive personality type on him. But he is probably the best example I can think of loyalty in the Bible. And you know, David is fleeing for his life. He's just lost the kingdom. His son has taken over. You know, I mean, you could have, it could have been easy to throw David under the bus and blame him and say, your own son has taken the kingdom from you. Yet Ittai, who was verily new, he was not, he was not a Jew. He was a visitor. He was a foreigner, I should say. Look at 2 Samuel chapter 15 and verse 19. As they're fleeing for their lives, things don't look good. That's another thing. Remember this. In the story of Ittai, when they're fleeing for their lives, it doesn't look good. It doesn't look like they're going to make it. It doesn't look like they're going to survive. They're this little group of people, and the entire kingdom is against them. Things are looking bad at that point. Remember this morning? How do you tell, how do you know who you can trust? How do you know who you can trust? When everything goes wrong, and it looks like you're not going to make it. It looks like it's not going to have a happy ending. The people that are still standing next to you, those are the people that you can trust. Look at 2 Samuel 15 verse 19. David was like, man, get out of here. What are you doing? Look at verse 19. Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, wherefore goest thou also with us? Return to thy place and abide with the king, for thou art a stranger, and also an exile. He's like, go back to the Philistines. He's like, go back to your own king, whereas thou came his butt yesterday. Ittai this day make thee go up and down with us, seeing I go whither I may return thou, and take back thy brethren. Mercy and truth be with thee. He's like, he's giving them an out. He's like, take your, he had friends with him too. He's like, take all your brethren and go. He's like, this isn't, this isn't your fight. And Ittai answered the king and said, as the Lord liveth. You know what that means, as the Lord liveth? That means all the time, any time. That's what that means. Because God's eternal, and Ittai knows this. Somebody got Ittai saved. This is what happened here, okay? And as my Lord the king liveth, surely in what place my Lord the king shall be, whether in death or life. Even there also will thy servant be. He says, I don't care if we die. He's like, I don't care if we're on the winning side or the losing side. He's like, I'm with you the whole way. As the Lord liveth. All the time, eternity. Period. I mean, David was in the worst place, and Ittai basically said, where you go, I go. I mean, that's loyalty right there. And in Ittai's case, it was loyalty in the right place. It was loyalty to King David. You know, it was loyalty to, you know, the God of the Bible, is what he was talking about. When he said, as the Lord liveth, he meant as the Lord liveth. He knew who the Lord was. So I don't know enough about Ittai to call him an executive, but I know that he was loyal, and I know he's a good example of it. Ittai's, look, Ittai's are priceless. Ittai's are priceless. Why? And you know what? Ittai, it paid off for him, because Ittai becomes one of the three generals. I mean, you don't think that David knew? This was a prime moment in David's life right here, and a prime example, and Ittai just sealed himself into history with those words right there, because David knew, this guy I can trust. This guy is loyal. David puts him in charge of a third of his army, just a few chapters down the road. So look, why is it so invaluable? Why is it so valuable to have Ittai's around, to have loyal people around? Because as David found out, no one person can do everything themselves. David couldn't fight this battle to retake his kingdom. David couldn't command the entire army himself. Look, who was David going to put in charge of the battle to retake the kingdom if he had no one that he could trust, if there was no Ittai's? So a leader must rely on others, and the more you can trust someone, the more you can rely on them. Ittai's are just pure gold. That's all I can say there. So whether you're an executive or not, build your trust with people. Build your trust with people. It's a good thing. It's a valuable thing. Find someone who you can follow, get behind them, and look, it's through your actions that you build trust. It's through your actions that you build trust, especially actions in hard times. So remember that. Remember that. Because look, things are pretty good here. I mean, I don't even know what to say. I mean, there's really no problems, right? But I mean, you heard it here first, okay? Things may not always be good here. There may be trouble coming in the Christian life. There may be trouble coming in the coming months or in the coming years or whatever it is. That is the moment when you will be needed, that loyal people will be needed. You know, pastors will tell you this, but they'll tell you that when their church has gone through hard times, that's when you find out who you can rely on right there. I mean, you could pastor a church for years, and then all of a sudden, something bad happens, something stressful happens, and a bunch of people leave, or a bunch of people just flee. But then, out of that, out of the bad news of that, you find out who the gold is. You find out who the loyal people are. I mean, Itai put his life on the line here, and he later became one of the three generals of David's army. So the problem is, with trust, it's really hard to build, and it's super easy to lose. That's the problem with trust. So loyalty is a good thing. That's another advantage of the executive. Let's look at some weaknesses, the secular weaknesses of the executive. The first one is, we kind of already touched on it, but the first one is this. They're inflexible and stubborn, is what secular weakness would be listed. I mean, this is basically strong willed gone wrong right here. And it could be a serious weakness if you're one of these people that, it's one of those weaknesses that if, you know, basically kind of like this morning's sermon, if you're one of these people, and I've seen this several times, mostly with younger men, and it must have been something where they were raised like this or something, I don't know, but these younger men, they can't put themselves under any authority. And I mean, that's just not going to work out for you in any part of your life, especially as a man. It's not going to work out for you at work, it's, I mean, this is the kind of person, they walk into the job, I mean, I don't know how many of these people I've run into in the last 25 years, they come into a job and right away they're the expert on everything and they're telling everybody how they're doing it wrong. You ever met this person? They're never around for more than a few months. You know? I mean, so, I mean, this is the kind of person they just can't put themselves, they're super strong willed, they're super strong willed, they come into a situation, they're like, this is how it's got to be. They just know how it's got to be. Most of the time they're wrong, but it doesn't even matter if they're wrong. Because even if they're right, you just don't do that. It's not your place, it's not your position. So I mean, look, it can be one of those weaknesses that cancels out your strengths. So be careful about this one. You know, it's one of those. You know, having, you know, the inability to have any authority in your life. I don't know, it must be a parent thing or something. But it's fairly common, I've seen it a lot. The second one. The second one is actually what I'm going to call a strength. So here's the second secular weakness of the executive that is actually pretty much a strength. Turn to Malachi chapter 3. The second one is this, they're uncomfortable in unconventional situations. They're uncomfortable in unconventional situations. Now if this isn't a secular, you know, definition of something that's a weakness, I don't know what is. Okay, somebody that's uncomfortable in unconventional situations. Now look, as long as conventional to you and every single executive that's within earshot of this sermon, I'm sure conventional means biblical to you. I'm sure conventional means what the Bible says to you. Look, that is a strength. That is a strength. If you're uncomfortable with things that are outside of the Bible, that's a strength. Because of Malachi 3.6, for I am the Lord, I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Look, the Lord doesn't change. The Bible doesn't change. Secular philosophy, science, everything is trying to get you to change. That's I mean, that's the whole problem with everything right now. That's the problem with our country. That's the problem with every nation that's ever fallen is just this moral decline and everybody changes right along with it. So if you're uncomfortable with all of that change, if you're uncomfortable with the bobsled to hell, if you're uncomfortable with the slide into the sewer, if you're uncomfortable with all the perversion, that's a good thing. That's where you need to be because the Bible doesn't change, God doesn't change. I mean, we as a society diverge from the biblical path. We change, God does not. I mean, that's the whole problem. Even this secular study is trying to get us to change by this definition of a weakness. You see what's happening? You see how you have to be careful with this kind of stuff? Because you see how they slide these little things in there? Just like, oh, weakness, oh, these executives, they're super strong willed, but their weakness is that the unconventional situations, they're very uncomfortable with that. As a Bible-leading Christian, you're like, what? It shouldn't register with you because it's opposite, it's not what the Bible teaches. We should not change. Here's another weakness, and they keep sliding down. The biggest problem I have with executives is actually the definitions here of the executives. Here's the next weakness that they list, turn to John chapter 7. The Bible says another weakness of the executive is this, they're judgmental. They're judgmental. Look, being judgmental is bad all the time today, right? No, it's not bad, okay? Look at John chapter 7 and verse 24. Look, it can be bad, but it can be good. And I'm going to explain to you the difference. I'm going to explain to you how you know if you're being judgmental in a good way or a bad way. I mean, think about this. Think about this. First of all, turn to John 7 verse 24. Let's just take this slow, and let me make sure I get my point across here, okay? John 7, 24. The Bible says, judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Okay? Now, look, here's some statements. Let me read you some statements here that you'll hear from people everywhere today, okay? People say this all the time. You're judgmental. If someone says that to you, you're judgmental. They're telling you you're something bad. That's what that means in our current society today. You're judgmental. That's something bad, right? But here's another one. Here's another one. You have good judgment. That's something good, right? Are you confused yet? Are you confused? Because both of them mean the same thing. If you have good judgment, you know what you are? You're judgmental, because you judge situations. Would anyone say, would anyone, could you walk, we should go walk, I'd do a man on the street interview, and ask people, would you like your kids to have good judgment? Would you like your kids to have good judgment? We should interview people from all different backgrounds, all different religions. We should interview everybody out there. And I bet you nobody would say, I want my kids to grow up and have bad judgment. Yet if you ask the people on the street, would you like your kids to be judgmental, they'd say no. What? I mean, what are you talking about? It makes no sense. All these stupid sayings that we're talking about, I mean, nobody even, I mean, imagine someone who never judged a situation. I mean, what in the world? You know what judging a situation is? It means walking through life and making a decision. This is the right way and this is the wrong way. That's a judgment. I mean imagine someone who just didn't do that. Imagine, I mean, let's do a thought experiment, it'll be a quick one. Let's do a thought experiment. Someone that thought everything was okay all the time no matter what. Raise your hand if you think this is a good idea. Go out on the street and let's do that interview. Do you think that it would be good if everything was okay all the time no matter what? Because that's what, you know, not being judgmental, that's what it is. That's what never judging is. I mean, think about this. This guy has three cars and I have no car, I'm going to kill him and take his car. That's okay. I don't have a car so everything's fine. Yeah, you shouldn't have killed that guy, judgmental. Why are you judging me? Why are you judging me, bro? Guy's dead there. I needed a car. I mean it's stupid, it's laughable. It doesn't make any sense, it doesn't, I mean a four year old can understand this. I mean this idea, I mean what you're saying is that there should be no law. You know what this is? It's the law. It's the perfect law. What you're saying is that there should be no law. If you're like, oh don't ever judge, you're saying we should have no law. Frankly, you're an unthinking moron if that's what you think. I mean all the Bible is is the perfect law and the gospel to get us to heaven. That's the Bible. But here's the trick to judgment. So you say judgment's good. Judgment is good. But here's the trick to judgment. The Bible says it needs to be righteous judgment. So what's righteous judgment? I'm just going to give you two really quick things so you can just check yourself. You have to have both of these two things and then you have righteous judgment. Turn to James chapter 4. First of all, the first one's really easy. It must be judgment according on what is right in the Bible. It must be judgment on the morality of the Bible first of all. The second one is this. Look at James chapter 4 in verse number 11. Speak not evil of one another brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother and judgeth his brother speaketh evil of the law and judgeth the law. But if thou judge the law thou art not a doer of the law but a judge. So look, we could go into a lot of different things about judgment but here what we're seeing in James chapter 4 in verse 11. So first of all, we must have righteous judgment meaning it must be a judgment. It must be a law that's in the Bible that lines up with the law of the Bible, a doctrine of the Bible. It can't be just some law you made up. It has to be in line with the Bible and the second one is this. It must be in your wheelhouse. It must be in your wheelhouse. Many things you may see happening that are not right but if it is not your business or within your sphere of influence like in your family. Like you have authority in your family, don't you men? You have authority with your children, don't you women? So if it's outside of your sphere of influence, like in the church, you see some problems in the church. Hey, you see some problems in the church, please bring it up to the leadership of the church. You know, that would be appreciated if you would do that. However, you know, otherwise, turn to Proverbs chapter 26, otherwise if it's outside of your sphere of influence, this is where gossip comes from. This is where, you know, tail bearing comes in. Is when, you know, people start talking about things that are not within their sphere of influence, they are not within their, you know, circle of authority and this is where tail bearers come from. Look at Proverbs 26 verse 20. Proverbs 26 verse 20, where no wood is, the fire goeth out. So where there is no tail bearer, the strife seetheth, seetheth, seetheth. Look, things, did you know that things can be said, look, we dealt with this with one of our children just a short time ago. I mean, someone told one of our children, you know, so-and-so said so-and-so is doing so-and-so. And I mean, our child came to us and they're like, what do we do? What do we do? So-and-so said so-and-so said so-and-so is doing so-and-so. I'm like, and what do we say? Don't ever repeat that again. That's what we said. Because, look, it's outside of our sphere of influence, it had nothing to do with the church, it had nothing to do with our family, don't ever repeat that again. That's how you deal with that. That's how quick that judgment, look, but you know what? By me telling our, you know, one of my children that, you know what I did? I judged righteous judgment. I didn't go run around and go tell like, call me, call Brother Frank and tell him and then call Brother Ryan and tell him and call Brother David and tell him and call Brother Trevor and tell him and tell everybody, you know, that's a tale bearer. Because we're dealing with something, we don't even know if it's true, it's outside of our, you know, realm of influence and it's just, it's just gossip, is what it is. So look, if it's not your business, stay out of the judgment game. Don't grab that dog by the ears, the Bible says. I mean, you know, you're gonna have enough problems in your life without digging into other people's problems that's not even your sphere of influence. So judge righteous judgment, make sure it's judgment in line with the Bible and make sure it's your business, it's within your sphere of influence. Make sure that it is something that, you know, you have authority in. If not, let the fire go out, let the fire go out. Now here's the big one, here's the big one that I want to spend a few minutes on. Executives, are you ready? Put your seat belts on. Here's the big one, and this one is true. I hate to break it to you, executives, but this one is true. Let me tell you something about the different groups of people, now take this lightly, I mean this in the nicest possible way, but the different groups of people that took the test and came to my wife and came to myself about telling us what their results were, of the groups of people that were telling us, you know, what their results were, the executives were hands down the most proud of their results. Hands down, hands down they were the most proud, they couldn't wait to tell people that they were an executive, that they came out to be this, and look, they all have cool names, okay, they all have cool names. So it's not even the name, right, executive, okay, that's a cool one. You know what, so is commander, ah, but I'm not really proud of it, because you start reading the description, you're like, oh, ah, but the executives, it's because of your personality types, folks, and here's why, because executives are very focused on social status, they're very focused on how they are viewed, look, they care about what people think of them, they care about what people think of them, this is okay to a degree, okay, this is okay to a degree, so I'm not being hard on you, I'm just saying, it's okay to a degree, turn to Matthew chapter 23, let me tell you where it can all go wrong with this type of thinking, when you start doing things, look, it's okay to want people to view you in a positive light, that's okay, that's okay, alright, but when you start doing things, and I'm not saying that this is the executives here, okay, but when you start doing things just so people will think higher of you, that's dangerous territory, right there, look at Matthew chapter 23, you should do things because the Bible tells you to do those things, and whatever people think of that, you should just take it as it comes, that's how you should operate, you should not be doing things just to be seen of men, look at Matthew chapter 23 in verse number 5, I think a lot of you already are seeing where I'm gonna go with this, but look, Matthew 23 verse 5, the Bible says, but all their works they do for what, for what reason? For to be seen of men, they make broad their phylacteries, they enlarge the borders of their garments, look, these are the Pharisees, these are the Pharisees, they were doing things solely to be seen of men, solely to impress men, when you are doing things, you are saying things just to be seen of men, this is Pharisee territory, folks, and look, you're gonna end up making a hypocrite of yourself, because isn't that what the Pharisees were, they were hypocrites, because what will happen is you will focus more on how people perceive you than you do on actually doing the right things according to the Bible, and people will, look, people will see, people will see right through it, these, look, these, these are the social media-ites out there, these are the social media addicts out there that have to show people how spiritual they are on Facebook, or, you know, whatever else, when they should just be getting in a good church and doing what they're supposed to do with their life, instead of just focusing on just, you know, trying to just show this outward, you know, show to everybody, they should just be getting their families in order, I mean, look, this is Facebook in general, don't even get me started, you know, I mean, people that must post everything, I mean, you know, I mean, I gotta show you how awesome I am, I gotta show you everything that I eat, I gotta show you everything that I do every thirty minutes, I mean, it's ridiculous, I mean, it's ridiculous, it's like, it's why we got off Facebook years ago, because I couldn't take it, I couldn't take it anymore, I couldn't take watching, you know, why do I care what kind of cereal you had just now, oh, you ate a steak again, you know, I mean, it's like anywhere they go, anything they eat, and look, here's the thing, it's all fake, it's all fake with these people, because they're the Pharisees, it's just them, it's just them just broadening the borders of their garments, and they're covering for things, I mean, just in general, just a side note, I mean, I was talking to brother Ryan just a couple hours ago, look, we used to be worried about the police state like ten years ago, you know, the conspiracy theorist, the conservative would be all worried about the police state, it's laughable now, all they have to do is go online and look at everything that you've posted and given up about yourself, look, you know, look, do you know, kids, listen to me, please, do you know that everything that you put online never comes off, it only gets added to, all this information that you dump on the internet, it just keeps adding more and more and more and more about you, it never gets removed, it's out there, I mean, it just, who needs the police state, we're just giving it all away, we're just putting everything out there for everything to see, but look, I mean, how many times have you read these stories, where like, just these, I mean, this is an extreme example, I'm setting up a straw man here, okay, but look, here's the thing, how many times have you read these stories where it's just this, you know, some husband like, murders his wife and his family or something like that, and then everyone was like, man, you look at their Facebook account, and it's like, they had the perfect family, they're constantly going on vacation, they had all kinds of money, everything was perfect, and the guy had like four, you know, girlfriends in different states or something, and then murders everyone, and he's just a complete psychopath, or whatever, the other way around, I mean, it's just, it's all fake, it's all fake, just these disastrous things, it's, I mean, just live in the real world, and follow the Bible, and do what you're supposed to do, and forget what other people think about it, and just forget it, because here's the thing, here's the thing, executives and everybody else, turn to John 15, here's the thing, this caring what other people think, look, I understand that it is okay to want people to think good of you, but here's the thing, if you do what you're supposed to do, if you act the way you're supposed to act, if you're loyal to who you're supposed to be loyal to, and you live a life of integrity, you don't have to worry about this. You don't have to think about what other people are going to think about you, because that's just going to work itself out, because you risk it turning into vanity, and if it turns into vanity, it's a two-edged sword, because if you get to be this person that is obsessed with what people think of you, guess what, guess what, do you think everybody is going to love the fact that you're leading the life that you're living? As a matter of fact, you are going to get a lot of pressure and persecution and trouble because of, from people, they're going to say things about you that aren't true, they're going to say things to you that aren't true, they may persecute your family and do things they shouldn't do, look at Nehemiah, they tried to kill him, they tried to kill him, and if you're this type of person that really cares, I mean, and you get yourself to this point where you care so much about what other people think, boy, I mean, you could risk your Christian life over this. Look at John 15, 18, look, I mean, there's going to be plenty of people, folks, look, especially you start separating from some of the things that you're supposed to separate from, look, you're going to offend some people, and they're going to be mad, and they're going to be upset at you, and, I mean, look, it's just going to happen, and you have to be the type of person that's strong willed and just doesn't, that just lets that be water off a duck's back, ducks, they're waterproof, so, okay. John 15, 18, the Bible says, if the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you, look, Jesus told us this, we can go through verse after verse after verse after verse, doctrine after doctrine about how you're going to have trouble if you're doing the right things. If you follow God, you're going to have trouble. You say, I've never had any trouble, it's probably because you're not separating from the things that you're supposed to separate from, and, you know, you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing, but as you do the things that you're supposed to do, as you start raising your family different than the way everybody else is raising their family, people are going to be mad at you, people are going to be offended at you, so if you're overly concerned with what people think about you, or it's turned into a need for you to impress people, you know, it's dangerous territory. Just do what you're supposed to do and take whatever comes with that. So number one, it'll lead you down a road of hypocrisy, and it could derail you from your Christian life, in an extreme case, because, look, not all the attention you get from this Christian life is going to be positive, folks. So focus on others, Philippians chapter 2, turn there, Philippians chapter 2. Just focus on others, just focus on doing what you're supposed to do, focus on other people, and just, look, what people think of you is going to work itself out, because everybody that is important to you, your brothers and sisters in Christ, they're going to think positive of you, no matter how negative that, you know, the world or people outside the world, as a matter of fact, it'll become a litmus test for you. If you start getting things right in your life and your family and all this, it'll become a litmus test for you to see, like, who my real friends are. I mean, if you have friends, I mean, look, if you have friends, when you start getting sin out of your life, and you have friends that are upset about that, hello, those are not your friends. You're like, oh man, I've known this kid since I was, you know, in kindergarten and we grew up together and all this, and, you know, I started getting some sin out of my life, I started getting my family in church, you know, I quit drinking, and it's like, now he's all upset at me. He's not your friend. But I've known him for 30 years. He's not your friend. I mean, if it takes you being in sin and turning your back on God, and so even in certain areas of your life, to get people's favor, that's not favor you want. It's a good test. It's a good test for, you know, who your friends should actually be. Look at Philippians chapter 2 and verse 4, not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Just focus on other people. James 2, this thing, just start being a prophet to other people and forget what people think about you, because that's just going to work itself out. The people that you want, that you need to think positively about you, as soon as you start walking this Christian life, they're going to think positive of you. And the other people that don't, that's a good test. It'll pop those to the surface, and you'll know who you need to get out of your life. So look, the executives. The executives, they're organized, strong-willed, loyal people, but they can be too obsessed with social status, and they can be stubborn. So once again, take the good. Take the good, whether or not, and I'm sure there's some of you in the room who have some of these traits and have some of these characteristics that maybe this didn't pop up, but look, you don't have to be in this box no matter the personality type that you fall under. We take the good, and we lead the bad with all of these sermons, but the more these secular definitions, let me say this again, I've said it before, the more these secular definitions, if you're an executive listening to this sermon, and you're like, man, those strengths, that's exactly me, and those weaknesses, that's exactly me, look, the more these secular definitions match up with you, and you didn't divert, and where I told you you needed to divert according to the Bible, the less that you were applying the Bible in your life. So keep that in mind. When you do these things, and you take this stupid secular test, and it matches perfectly with you, regardless of whether it's a real strength or a real weakness according to the Bible, just be aware that maybe you need to change in some certain areas, because I mean, these are fun little neat things, but you always have to shine the lens of the Bible on your life, and the things that you're doing, and the things that you have tendencies towards. So that's the executives, folks, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.