Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 10
The speaker claims “our way of being is the most important” and that this focus is accessible to anyone (including those at home doing ordinary tasks), then connects leader downfalls to shifting from character to accomplishments—what would it look like for your community to measure “greatness” primarily by love’s behaviors in 1 Corinthians 13 rather than visible impact, and what would need to change in how you praise, platform, and imitate people?
Another way to ask: What would change if your community judged “greatness” mainly by love in 1 Corinthians 13 instead of results and popularity? How would you need to change who you praise, promote, and copy?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The speaker’s teaching implies a community should treat greatness as Christlike character—especially love’s behaviors—more than public success, gifting, or “big” ministry outcomes. That would reshape praise and imitation: honoring patience, humility, kindness, and integrity in ordinary life, not just platformed achievements.
- He concludes, “our way of being is the most important things to focus on,” naming virtues tied to love (merciful, patient, gentle, forgiving, honest, humble).
- In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says without love, gifts and sacrifices mean “nothing,” then defines love’s conduct: “suffers long… is kind… is not provoked… does not rejoice in iniquity.”
- He says focusing on “how great of things we do” is society’s metric and “an unbiblical metric,” creating self-deception.
- He connects leader downfalls to shifting focus “from… becoming like Jesus to how great of things they’re doing,” becoming “careless in their way of being.”
- He emphasizes accessibility: anyone—even those “at home… washing dishes”—can become great by how they relate and grow in virtue.