5.23.11 "True Leadership"

"True Leadership"

2 Samuel 2:12-3:39
John 13:1-30
Psalm 119:1-16
Proverbs 15:29-30

Each one of us is a leader. We each have responsibility for someone. We have influence. What is a leader? What is a godly leader? There are many books on the market about what type of leader to be, and how to get people to do what you want, etc. There's really no better book on leadership than God's word. The "A" of DREAM is Active Ministry Involvement. As we've studied in the past, "A" is not about "participation", it's about responsibility. It's about being a good steward of all the resources God has placed in our care. When it comes to leadership, our resources are the individuals in our care.

Let's compare two leaders: Judas and Jesus.

John 13 is John's account of the Last supper. In the opening verses, we find out that Jesus "knew it would be his last night on earth before returning to his Father." We also learn that "the devil had already suggested to Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, that this was the night to carry out his plan to betray Jesus." The very next sentence is "Jesus knew that the Father had given him everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. And how he loved his disciples!"

Contrast that with the previous chapter where Judas said, "'That perfume was worth a fortune. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.' Not that he cared for the poor, but he was in charge of the disciples' funds and often dipped into them for his own use!"

Both of these were given resources to care for. One knew it was from the Father, and would return to the Father. The other had begun to gain an unhealthy attachment... he started to treat it like it was his. What was the fruit?

A note in the Message bible says: "Because leadership is necessarily an exercise of authority, it easily shifts into an exercise of power. But the minute it does that, it begins to inflict damage on both the leader and the led. Paul, studying Jesus, had learned a kind of leadership in which he managed to stay out of the way so that the others could deal with God without having to go through him."

Each one of us as leaders must guard ourselves from touching God's resources. The fruit of "not loving the poor" was manipulation: Betraying Jesus. What was the fruit of "and how he loved his disciples!"? "He got up from the supper table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his loins, poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disiples' feet and to wipe them with the towel he had around him."

We have a mandate as to what the fruit of our leadership must be. John 13:14-17 says, "And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. I have given you an example to follow: do as I have done to you. How true it is that a servant is not greater than his master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends him. You know these things-- now do them! That is the path of blessing."

I am a person who loves to figure things out! I love so see things work. In this 'quest' to solve the puzzles of life, I have to be careful to trust in God's timing. I can't "fix" people, I just have to serve them, do my best to meet their need, connect them to God, and let Him do his work. I MUST constrain myself to rush to servanthood, not manipulation. We have to consistently guard against the devil's suggestions. We must make sure that our "exercise in authority" does not turn into an "exercise of power".

We must also then turn and train those in our charge to do the same thing. We have to teach people to fish! As we lead individuals by example, we must follow up to help them develop as the leaders God has intended them to be.

As Jesus said, "You know these thing-- now do them! That is the path of blessing." John 13:17





Through the Power of the Spirit,
Live the DREAM!

Pastor Greg Lathe

Dynamic Lifestyle of Worship
Relationships Devoted to Unity
Empowered Through Biblical Training
Active Ministry Involvement
Mission to Reach our World for Christ