Lead Like Jesus

No conversation about leadership is complete without discussing Jesus.  He was the most influential leader in the history of the world.  He calls his followers to lead like he led. 

We’re coming to the last conversation in our leadership principles for men series, and we’ve saved the best for last.  Today, we’re going to talk about how to lead like Jesus.  This isn’t going to be a comprehensive conversation.  We’d have to  spend several podcasts discussing all of the amazing things that describe Jesus’ leadership and its effectiveness.  We’re going to focus on three characteristics of Jesus’ leadership that we work to incorporate as we lead at home, in the church, and in the workplace. 

Laser Focus

Jesus had absolute clarity on the mission.  He didn’t let the desires of others, or even his own preferences, get in the way of accomplishing what he was sent to do.

Luke 2:49-50 (ESV)  And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” 50 But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.

• The family was in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.  He’s 12.  They left assuming Jesus was with their group that had traveled.  They get a day away from Jerusalem and realize he is not with them.  Talk about pressure – you lost the Son of God.  They look for him for three days and when they find him, he’s interacting with the teachers of the law in the temple.  He’s listening and asking them questions.  
• Jesus’ response is so telling – didn’t you know I must be about my Father’s business?  Mom, Dad, you know who I am.  You know what the angel said about me.  Would you expect anything less than this?  You should have known that I’m going to be on mission.  
• Jesus was on mission at a young age.  I think we do our young people a disservice when we don’t give them opportunities to be on mission while they’re young.  Dad’s, are you encouraging your kids to pursue God and to help others pursue God while they’re young?  
• As Jesus began his earthly ministry and grew in popularity there were people, who were sometimes well meaning, that sought to get him distracted from the mission. 

John 6:14-15 When the people saw him[b] do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!”[c] 15 When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself. 

• Jesus had just finished the miraculous feeding of the 5,000.  The crowds see this amazing miracle and they want to make Jesus king by force.  For most of us, it would have been so tempting to get carried up in the emotion and adoration of the crowd.  Jesus is rightfully king so why not let the crowds do what they want to do?  He knew the Father’s plan was the plan. He knew his time hadn’t come.  He knew he wasn’t going to be King of Kings and Lord of Lords by going man’s way.  
• Do we have clarity on the mission?  Is it to accumulate the most wealth? Is it to provide a comfortable home and upbringing for our kids?  Is it to have the most fame, power, pleasure?  Those things aren’t necessarily bad in and of themselves, but they can get us off track.  As a husband, my mission is to love my wife as Christ loved the church.  It’s to give myself up for her.  It’s to make her holy – set her apart – It’s to wash her with the Word.  As a dad, my mission is to raise my children in the fear and understanding of the Lord. 
• As a follower of Christ, my mission is to go full circle in my pursuit of him and help the next person do the same thing.  The great commission.  A co-mission with Jesus.  

Mark 8:31-33 Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man[c] must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. 32 As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.[d]33 Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”

• This is the most severe rebuke we see Jesus issue to the disciples.  Peter had good intentions, but he was trying to get Jesus to stray from the mission.  
• This is one of the reasons connection with other believers is so important.  The world is always going to pull you away from pursuing God, sometimes unintentionally sometimes intentionally.  When you’re trying to decide about taking a new job offer, what’s the first thing the world would usually ask – does it pay more?  You need someone to ask – how will this affect your ability to love your wife and kids well?  How is it going to affect your time for serving the kingdom?  Is it a good use of the gifts God has given you?  Again, earning more money is not a bad thing and Praise God that he sometimes blesses us financially – but it can so easily get us off track.  
• When I used to coach football, I rarely watched college games on the weekend, even though I love college football.  I just felt like I was already committing 20 to 25 hours per week between practices, weights, watching film and games and I thought it would be irresponsible to spend more time on the weekend watching it.  When I would tell my coaching buddies that, they couldn’t believe it.  When I told my close, Christian brothers they would say, “makes sense.  You don’t want it to be an idol and you’re already taking plenty of time away from your wife and kids.”  I knew the value of bouncing ideas off of men who love Jesus and care for me.  

Teachable Moments

Jesus was intentional about taking advantage of teachable moments.  He didn’t let the urgent get in the way of the important.  He knew he had a limited amount of time to invest in his disciples and wanted to make the most of every opportunity. 

Mark 8:14-21 But the disciples had forgotten to bring any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. 15 As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.”16 At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. 17 Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? 18 ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’[a] Don’t you remember anything at all? 19 When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?”“Twelve,” they said.20 “And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”“Seven,” they said.21 “Don’t you understand yet?” he asked them.

• Jesus was so intentional about taking advantage of teachable moments with the disciples.  Here, they’re out on the lake, away from the noise of the crowds.  He warns them about the yeast of the Pharisees and they’re clueless about what he’s talking about. They think he’s bringing it up because they forgot bread.  Jesus was so patient with them.  He reprimands them in this lesson.  Don’t you remember anything at all?  We know that Jesus didn’t overreact when he did this.  He didn’t lose his cool.  He was sinless.  Sometimes, we have to point out obvious foolishness when we’re in a teaching moment.  We want to be very careful that we’re not prideful about it, lest we fall into the same temptation, but sometimes we have to be direct and straightforward.   
• We see a pattern so often in the gospels of Jesus giving a public teaching and then explaining it to the disciples when he had them alone.  The sermon wasn’t enough.  Jesus was the greatest preacher of all times, so if they needed more teaching after listening to him, how much more do people in our lives need it.  

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.[a] 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

• Are you intentional about looking for teachable moments for your kids?  If you have teenage sons, do you invite them to listen to this podcast with you?  Do you have times of intentional conversation with them?  I know it’s not easy.  I know there’s a lot of awkward silence at times.  I experienced that with both of my sons.  But stick with it.  Hang in there.  
• The time we have with our kids goes by so fast.  We have to be intentional about teachable moments.  

Humble Servant

Jesus was the epitome of servant leadership.  He humbled himself, left the comforts of heaven, and went to the cross.  The God of the universe took on frail, human flesh and was faced with every temptation we face, but never sinned.  When we’re following Jesus, we’re following a servant. 

John 13:3-8Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. 4 So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.6 When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”7 Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”8 “No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!”Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”

• It was out of Jesus’ knowledge that God the Father had given him authority over everything that led him to serve the disciples in this way.  Verse 4 says “so” he got up from the table.  It’s linking it back to verse three.  Insecurities often cause us to not want to humble ourselves.  There isn’t an ounce of insecurity in Jesus.  He knows exactly who he is and the authority he has.  
• Washing someone’s feet in that culture was the lowest of the low jobs.  It’s what the slave in the household who was at the bottom of the totem pole had to do. They’re walking on dirt roads, barefoot or in sandals, there’s animal dung everywhere.  This was not a pretty sight.  And Jesus takes it upon himself to wash the disciples feet.  
• There was a time when leadership like this meant something, even in the secular culture.  What do we call our elected officials?  Public servants right?  Do we still call them that anymore?  That’s the ideal though.  They’re supposed to consider themselves servants to those who they lead.  
• Men, we’re called to be the leaders in our homes.  That means we should be the biggest servant.  If we want our wives and children to respect our leadership, we need to lead with their best in mind.  We need to lead in a way that models service to them.  

Philippians 2:5-8 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.6 Though he was God,[a]    he did not think of equality with God    as something to cling to.7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges[b];  he took the humble position of a slave[c] and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form,[d]8. he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross

• Jesus modeled servant leadership long before he washed the feet of the disciples.  Taking on flesh, leaving the comforts of heaven, being born in a manger, dealing with hunger, thirst, fatigue, cold, heat – all the things humans deal with is such a powerful example of him humbling himself and leading by serving.  The apex of it was when he went to the cross and did a criminal’s death. 

Close

To be great in the kingdom of heaven, we need to be a servant.  In God’s upside down kingdom, we’re exalted when we humble ourselves in service to others. 

Matthew 20:25-28 But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 26 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

• This comes as the disciples are indignant with James and John for asking to sit at the right and left hand of Jesus in his kingdom.  
• If Jesus didn’t come to be served, even though he deserves it, then how can we have the attitude of expecting people to serve us?  If we want to be great, if we want to be a leader in the kingdom of heaven, we better learn how to be a servant.