In today’s society, many want to be the leader. Our world system encourages us to reach higher, go further, and climb the ladder of success. The more knowledge we acquire, the more esteemed and qualified we become to lead others. The higher up in ranks we get, the more accomplished we feel.
Because of God’s great love for His children, He takes leadership very seriously. Leaders have the ability to shape the thinking and behavior of large groups of people in either positive or negative ways. This kind of power in the wrong hands can cause great damage and even distort someone’s view of God’s love.
When Jesus came to earth, He turned everything upside down, especially the world’s view of leadership. In this article, we take a closer look at what Jesus displayed as true leadership.
Leadership Gone Wrong
In the gospels, we see that Jesus came to confront the religious leaders by the way He lived and spoke about God. Let’s look at some of the toxic leadership traits displayed by Israel’s religious leaders:
Pride and Prejudice
The religious leaders of that time had developed a hierarchy of leadership that was based on birth rights, knowledge, and social status. These elitists made themselves exclusive, defining their successes by the external perfection they had attained through perfect behavior and extensive study. Anyone else was judged an outsider or sinner, uneducated and incapable of attaining favor with God.
It was from this mindset of pride that the religious leaders displayed acts of discrimination towards other races, genders, and social hierarchies. For example, in Luke chapter 10, a lawyer speaks up to test Jesus by asking Him what the greatest commandment in the Bible is and then asks Jesus who his “neighbor” is, that he should love more than himself.
Jesus begins to tell the story of the Good Samaritan. In the parable, both a priest and Levite pass around a dying man on the road who has been robbed and wounded. The Samaritan is the only one decent enough to stop and help the man because he doesn’t see the task as something that is beneath him.
Fear and Control
The religious leaders of that time had developed a very detailed system for holiness based on the Old Covenant given by Moses. But they began to take things further than necessary, for example, charging people money to buy the necessary animals for rituals and sacrifices.
Another form of their imposed control takes place in the gospels anytime Jesus works a miracle on the Sabbath. A man is rebuked for standing up and walking after he was healed from a 38-year disease leaving him paralyzed, only because it was done on The Sabbath. (John 5:10).
Oftentimes, this level of control comes from a deeper-rooted motive that may go unnoticed even by the leader who is imposing it. Fear is a root that can motivate people to constrict and control themselves and others. Fear of losing their titles, fear of losing control of something they are responsible for, or fear of man.
For example, the Pharisees especially targeted Jesus after He raised Lazarus from the dead because He threatened their positions. “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.” (John 11:48).
Gatekeeping
The Pharisees were so afraid of losing their titles and positions that they went to great lengths to keep them, resulting in the murder of Jesus Christ. This same fear inspired them to gatekeep the knowledge of God and, ultimately, the assumed favor of God to themselves. Anyone who wanted to access God had to go through them, be taught by them, or seek them out.
Jesus rebukes this behavior in Matthew 23:13-15 when He says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”
Jesus’s Secrets to Perfect Leadership
Humility
Right from the start, Jesus shows up as John the Baptist is baptizing in the Jordan River. Imagine if the Son of God Himself asked you to baptize Him. John was shocked, as he should have been, that His King would humble Himself in this way. Jesus was not afraid of what it looked like, and knew He must humble Himself as a man to man’s requirements.
Generosity
Jesus developed quite a following. Thousands of people flocked to Him, sometimes so aggressively that He had to get away before they took Him and made Him king. But Jesus didn’t go out of His way or work really hard to gain this many followers. He simply poured Himself out everywhere He went. He healed the sick, raised the dead, multiplied food, almost sank Peter’s boat with a ton of fish, and gave His time and energy to those around Him. The result was that thousands of people gathered to hear what He had to say, because the message wasn’t just in His words but His actions of love and generosity.
Inclusivity
A five-time divorced Samaritan woman, prostitutes, tax collectors, and a couple of fishermen—these were Jesus’ friends and disciples. These were the people whom He spent the most time with, and not only that; He treated them as equals. His own disciples were appalled when they found Him speaking with a Samaritan woman at the well, yet that one conversation resulted in an entire village’s salvation.
Empowerment
A true leader raises up those beneath them. Jesus didn’t keep His gifts or authority to Himself; He sent out His disciples to go and preach, heal the sick, and cast out demons—and He didn’t even go with them! At that point, they probably didn’t have everything down perfectly; they weren’t formally educated. But He was willing to share His authority with them, and to their surprise, God’s power was released. “Even the demons are subject to us in your name!” (Luke 10:17).
As a leader who raises others, we cannot be afraid of them surpassing us in skill or experience. In fact, it should be a compliment to our leadership. In John 14:12, Jesus tells His disciples that they will do even greater things than they have seen Jesus do. He wasn’t afraid of His disciples being recognized but instead chose to partner with the uneducated and “unqualified” of that day.
Grow in Biblical Leadership with BMATS
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