The Leadership Style of Jesus: Is It Your Style? By Kelly Durant 9-6-15
Matthew 11: 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. 19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
2. The U.S. Presidential elections are over a year away and yet people want to talk about leadership and what the next leader should be like. Some people love to see everyone mowed down and put in their place! The get tough legalistic kind might work well for certain things, but depending on the position, would a softer spoken more evenly balanced kind be better?
Let’s compare Jesus to John in their leadership styles. John was your tough legalistic accuser! He was the righteous law upholder, reminding everyone that if you did not repent and be baptized that you would see the wrath of God! When John saw sin, he exposed it with blunt confrontation! This type of aggressiveness served a purpose and may be needed for exposure of the evil of certain people, sins and situations.
Recall how John accused Herod the king telling him God would punish him? That it was not lawful for him to have his sister’s wife! That cost him his head! But despite his rough confrontational style he was sincerely holy and loved God’s righteousness.
3. Jesus on the other was usually a merciful tender-hearted mercy giver. We recall how Jesus reacted when the people caught the woman in the act of adultery. Did he say, “Okay let God’s judgments reign down, stone her!” No, he replied that she should go and sin no more!
Jesus was teaching all that there is no one worthy enough, no one holy enough, no one who actually is holy enough that they should condemn another. The point: everyone can and should repent and be forgiven to start a new life in God’s will, not their own.
Jesus was not usually confrontational (except with the hypocrite false religious teachers misrepresenting God) but rather his classic way was that of offering the woman caught in adultery forgiveness while at the same time subliminally rebuking those who were the hypocrite accusers. He was exposing that all of them were just as sinful as her, and the people hated Him for it! Jesus did not hit them with rebuking words direct like John might have, but he exposed sin by the conviction of the Holy Spirit! How many of you have felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit in your life? Jesus was confrontational with the perverters of God’s Word, the hypocrites. In general He allowed the Holy Spirit to work on most everyone.
4. So what is happening with the leadership styles? John attacks and condemns with the truth, but Jesus loves and forgives with the truth! Does this remind you of the ways of certain people you know? Some Christians seem to accuse their leaders and everyone of this and that, and are hard, hard, harsh and unforgiving while yet others offer understanding and forgiveness!
In the church when someone has a sin, the reaction of some is to want to throw stones, they want the pastor to confront and expose the person and condemn them, to attack and beat them with the truth. It is common knowledge that people frequently complain in the churches and say, “Look, the pastor is not rebuking the ones with sin, he is not doing his job! Recall though that sometimes the pastors are not aware of the sins happening because the people are good at hiding and covering it up. The stories people tell about others are usually not the whole truth either. You and I need to give God’s Holy Spirit a chance to work in people’s lives. God has to reveal when we should reject and rebuke or when we should love and heal according to each individual situation.
5. People who love confrontation do not seem to care if the person accused gets offended and lost from God and the church! To me this is not very Christian unless there is evidence of some damaging sin. All confrontational people care about is seeing things get done because they are running their mouths. An agenda of proving that another person is more sinful than what they are, and that they want to be looked at as a great leader for wanting punishment is usually spiritual pride. This makes them feel righteous. But this detracts from the sins they have in their own heart that they should be working on! Consider these verses…
Hebrews 12:12-Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. "Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
We are in a battle to gain souls for the Kingdom of God and as followers and leaders, God is testing us continually with external battles and internal battles! A principle to live by is this: When you or I hear of sin exposed in someone, it implies that is time that we should examine our own heart to see if we have any sin as well! (Repeat) Many people one day many have to cross over the same bridge of the ones they are condemning!
6. If you want to lead like Jesus, offering healing, forgiveness, and a new start in life and for the life of others who seem to not deserve it, here is some council on how to deal with your character in these verses..
Hebrews 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much
So the scripture offers the forgiveness of sin and exposure of sin through exhortation through each other, and the time is today or now, before you become like those who have their deep bitternesses on why they no longer worship God or come to church, or do anything for God! You need Christian friends to point out your faults from God’s word from time to time! Agreed?
7. Recall what the people said about John, that he abstained from wine and ate locusts and was considered crazy by some for his abstinence? But then when Jesus drank wine and mixed with publicans, then that disqualified Him too and made Him unholy and a sinner by the accusers who also were sinners?! The confusion is in who accuses who! Can the pot call the skillet black? Often those so quick to condemn others are guilty of the same sins themselves!
In the end you can see the detail of the wine really was not the point. It is the fact that most people will never be happy with what the leader, or righteous Christian does, whether he is harsh or soft, a rebuker, or a healer. The unspiritual carnal crowd will always accuse the leader!
Both Jesus and John lost their lives in the hands of those angry that their sin was exposed and envious of the power that made their spirits feel very uncomfortable! These people wanted to be free from the conviction of the exposure of their evil hearts full of sin. They had sin and they did not want to give it up, so the solution was to kill the messenger exposing it!
8. We see this happen today over and over in the communities in which we live and even within the churches! Do you see through the horribleness of the hypocrisy of human nature? It’s all throughout the news medias. When a person or group has a sin or an abuse problem, people criticize and want justice and want to destroy everything for attention, but when a person doing or saying something is innocent, not provoking but just doing good, people still talk trash about them anyway! You can’t win for losing, as the old expression goes!
When one examines closer you and I can determine that the men and women of God have a spiritual power, an intimidating authority that will expose sin for what it is, and this is either by words or good deeds. Different people react in different ways to this righteous authority. Let’s look at 4 different reactions to leadership carried out in a spiritual way.
1. There are those that have truth in their hearts and respect and submit to the Word. These are the good sheep, like John the Beloved, and these make the Lord happy by their submission and obedience. They really want sin out of their lives and they become authentically clean by allowing God to expose it daily in prayer. They change their character to be worthy to be called a Christian and to lead and teach. Few times do these follower leaders ever need to have pointed out their sin. But wait, don’t you think yes, I am like that, I am the good one! Few people really are this mature spiritually. Recall
Prov 20:6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?
2. There are the ones who want to be first. Instead of trusting in the authority of God’s chosen ones, they want to challenge and show off the authority they assume. This kind of person minimizes or abuses those with the authority over them. Do you recall how James and John and their mother argued over who would have the most power in heaven? (Mark 10:36) What kind of a manipulating mother was that?
There are always people concerned about who is first, and they want it to be one of them, they want to dominate. Usually they want the title and honor but without the responsibilities. But Jesus said the first are last, and he that is greatest amongst you should be your servant! Could this power seeking person be you?
9. 3. Then there are the deceptive ones. These are people who pretend to be good and follow the leader but they follow for some other personal agenda. Do you recall that Judas was a zealot? He wanted Jesus to help him accomplish his agenda of obtaining power for the Jews to dominate Rome? He followed Jesus but he was not really “one” with Him. His evil heart never converted and he was not really supporting Jesus to spread God’s kingdom to win souls through preaching the word. He always contradicted Jesus when he didn’t like something, like over the oil that Mary Magdalene used to wash Jesus feet with. With that incident he self-righteously wanted to show off that he would give to the poor?! You see, he wanted all the people to see that he had more compassion than Jesus! When Jesus would not do what he wanted in the end, he betrayed him. Could this ulterior motives person be you?
4. Then there are the so called believers, the distant followers, the non-committed. They follow no leader very long. There was a time that there were 70 disciples instead of 12 until Jesus gave a sermon that was too hard for them. These are the comfortable Christians, the just so far and no further kind, that are not willing to go all the way.
John 6:65-68 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
10. Those that leave the churches or go shopping from church to church, do not want to commit nor submit to anything nor anyone! In the end these misguided ones are not really obeying Jesus nor doing a work for Him on earth. They want blessings from God but they are not sending saved souls to the bank of heaven by their lack of commitment, by their non usefulness to a leader. So the blessings they bring compared to the assets they bring to God are at a deficiency! Are you a too comfortable follower doing too little to support winning souls for Jesus?
One can try to look good to others, but God knows our hearts! Which person are you? The real submitted follower? The power tripping challenger? The deceptive manipulator? Or the too comfortable non committed one?
Today God is calling us to a higher level of service! Are you going to look more at the sins of others than the sin in your own life? Do you want others dealt with harshly when they sin, but we all know you would never tolerate your own medicine?
Matt 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
11. It is better to err on the side of mercy than to err on the side of judgement! How will God judge you? Have you said wrong things to someone and sinned? Now is the time to come clean! Even if you confess something and the one you think is guilty should confess and they don’t, leave it to God, he knows how to deal with them. Maybe they are confessing and you do not know it!
Are you guilty of following Jesus for the power, your agenda, or comfortableness? Now is the day to change and become a submitted one willing to die for our Lord! All of the games of human nature are exposed in the Bible, and you and God know where you stand in your position of submission and remission of sins.
Be a real leader! The paradox is submission and belonging to Jesus equals real freedom! You lead others on what you follow. Do not let yourself and your plans remain your plans, you will pass and be forgotten, only what is done for Jesus will last! Obey Jesus today!
