{"id":31858,"date":"2022-09-10T15:46:47","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/3-essential-observations-from-jesus-on-leadership\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:46:47","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:46:47","slug":"3-essential-observations-from-jesus-on-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/3-essential-observations-from-jesus-on-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Essential Observations From Jesus on Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"
Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash <\/p>\n

By Ben Mandrell<\/em><\/p>\n

When we think about the words of Jesus, we may remember His moral teachings or His declarations of divinity. We might can quote some of His prayers or descriptions of being born again.<\/p>\n

But we may not realize how much Jesus spoke about leadership and how His followers can become better leaders.<\/p>\n

One of Jesus\u2019 most important lessons on good leadership came after His disciples completely misunderstand what leadership meant in the kingdom of God.<\/p>\n

In Matthew 20, John and James\u2019 mom came to Jesus with the idea of her two sons becoming co-vice presidents in Jesus\u2019 new administration.<\/p>\n

When the other disciples heard this, \u201cthey became indignant with the two brothers.\u201d Why? Scripture doesn\u2019t tell us, but we can easily guess.<\/p>\n

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The other disciples saw John\u2019s and James\u2019 pride. But they saw it so clearly because the same pride and desire for power was in their own hearts.<\/p>\n

Recognizing this, in Matthew 20:25-28, Jesus spoke to them about what leadership should look like:<\/p>\n

You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. It must not be like that among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.<\/em><\/p>\n

We can summarize His instructions on leadership in three statements.<\/p>\n

1. Most people misuse power.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions <\/em>act as tyrants over them (v. 25.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus reminds the disciples, \u201cYou know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; they act like tyrants.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one way to do it. That\u2019s the world\u2019s way of doing it. Just remind people over and over again that you\u2019re in charge.<\/p>\n

Make sure they know your title. Make sure they know you were hand-picked, and they can be unpicked because you have the authority.<\/p>\n

Be sure to remind them\u2014repeatedly\u2014that you\u2019re kind of a big deal around here. They need to know you call the plays and they\u2019d better run them.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one way to be a leader, but Jesus quickly goes on to challenge that method.<\/p>\n

2. You should not imitate the world\u2019s idea of leadership.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It must not be like that among you (v. 26).<\/em><\/p>\n

This is one of the ways to show yourself as a Christ-follower on the Earth. This is one of the ways we are salt of the Earth.<\/p>\n

We should heed Paul\u2019s words to the Romans: \u201cDo not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is one of the reasons people should want to serve alongside Christians. Jesus\u2019 leaders don\u2019t lord their authority over others.<\/p>\n

They don\u2019t consider themselves better than other people. Christian leaders know they\u2019re an instrument in the hand of God, for as long as He sees fit.<\/p>\n

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See also  Video: Apathy Isn’t Just a Church Problem<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I love the old words of Samuel Brengle:<\/p>\n

The axe cannot boast of the trees it has cut down. It could do nothing but for thewoodsman. He made it, he sharpened it, and he used it. The moment he throws it aside, it becomes only old iron. O, that I may never lose sight of this.<\/em><\/p>\n

But we do lose sight of this.<\/p>\n

With success and promotion, we secretly begin believing the lie that if I\u2019m placed in charge of other people, then God must love me more than them, be more proud of me than He is of them.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how the carnal person thinks\u2014that they\u2019re indispensable, that they\u2019re one of God\u2019s gifts to the world.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s often been said, and it\u2019s true: A man wrapped up in himself is a small package.<\/p>\n

The world is full of people who are wrapped up in themselves, but Jesus tells His followers they\u2019re not to be like this.<\/p>\n

3. You should make yourself a servant.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant (v. 26).<\/em><\/p>\n

Virtually every commentator and scholar of Matthew makes mention of Jesus\u2019 word choice for servant.<\/p>\n

John MacArthur writes:<\/p>\n

Servant is from <\/em>diakonos, from which the term deacon is derived. The original Greek word was purely secular, referring to a person who did menial labor, such as house cleaning or serving tables. It was not necessarily a term of dishonor but simply described the lowest level of hired help, who needed little training or skill.<\/em><\/p>\n

Those last words stand out to me.<\/p>\n

When Jesus said, \u201cAct a like a servant, in essence, He was saying: \u2018Go around treating people as if they\u2019re smarter than you, as if they\u2019re more experienced than you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The antithesis is perhaps more obvious. Don\u2019t go around reminding people you\u2019re more insightful and more astute than they are.<\/p>\n

Round down on yourself. Round up on others.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the craziest thing about Jesus\u2019 style of leadership. It doesn\u2019t make any sense, but it\u2019s absolutely true.<\/p>\n

When you make yourself small, other people will talk about the big presence you fill in their lives.<\/p>\n

Jesus said, \u201cWhoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it\u201d (Matthew 16:25).<\/p>\n

The same can be said of leadership. When we try to grab power and cling to it, we will also find it slipping through our fingers.<\/p>\n

But the leaders who follow in Christ\u2019s footsteps and serve others will always find people willing to serve with them.<\/p>\n

BEN MANDRELL (@BenMandrell)<\/strong> is the president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources. <\/em><\/p>\n

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Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
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Leadership Lessons of Jesus: A Timeless Model for Today’s Leaders<\/h2>\n

Bob Briner & Ray Pritchard<\/p>\n

FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times? What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? 3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash By Ben Mandrell When we think about the words of Jesus, we may remember His moral teachings or His declarations of divinity. We might can quote some of His prayers or descriptions of being born again. But we may not realize how much Jesus spoke about leadership and how … Continue reading “3 Essential Observations From Jesus on Leadership”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31858\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}