#15 Jesus: Pattern for Leadership
Series: Mark
April 26, 2020
Chuck Sligh
NOTE: PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com. Please mention the title of the sermon and the Bible text to help me find the sermon in my archives
TEXT: Mark 3:7-19 - "But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea, 8 And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him. 9 And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him. 10 For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. 11 And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. 12 And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.
13 And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. 14 And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, 15 And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: 16 And Simon he surnamed Peter; 17 And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: 18 And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, 19 And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.
INTRODUCTION
We’ve been away from Mark for a couple of sermons on Christ’s resurrection, so today we’re going to jump back into the book of Mark.
The thing that stands out to me the most about today’s text in Mark 3:7-20 is the extraordinary command and authority Jesus exhibits. It’s really a sub-theme of all the Gospels. Jesus was a person who commanded people’s immediate attention and he engendered from His followers either deeply-felt loyalty and devotion…or intense opposition. Whatever the response, He simply could not be ignored. He is not the hero of the Gospel; He is the CENTER of the Gospel. He is the sun around which the planets of humans and angels and devils revolve. He is the most amazing Person who ever lived— the very Son of God!
In our text we see a model of leadership. Merriam Webster simply defines leadership as “the act or an instance of leading.” – I don’t think that quite does justice to Jesus. I think the definition that best captures Jesus is John Maxwell’s, who said, “Leadership is influencing others’ thoughts or feelings to bring about a desired outcome through their actions.”
Let’s look at our text today verse by verse and uncover some characteristics of Jesus’ leadership.
I. FIRST, NOTICE THAT JESUS INSPIRED PEOPLE TO FOLLOW. – Verse 7a – “But Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea…”
Jesus had such charisma, vision and moral authority what He drew devoted followers to Him.
As we’ve seen already, Jesus often withdrew Himself for solitude with the Father
Usually, He left the disciples so He could be alone with God for prayer.
But this time, when He withdrew, His disciples followed Him.
They were inspired by Him and His vision and they wanted to be around Him.
Jesus permitted them to come with Him away from the hustle and bustle of life so He could teach and train them and lay the groundwork for a special calling he would have for a select few we’ll see later in the chapter.
I see in this that if you have the same kind of clear sense of mission and purpose and direction Jesus had, people will follow you.
Illus. – President Clinton once said that running a country is a lot like running a cemetery; you’ve got a lot of people under you and nobody’s listening.
Clinton doesn’t have much of a following these days.
Most of his administration officials were only there for the power, not inspired by any grand vision for America.
On the other hand, a journalist named William A. White wrote of his meeting with President Theodore Roosevelt in 1897 saying, “He sounded in my heart the first trumpet call of the new time that was to be… I had never known such a man as he, and never shall again. He overcame me. And in the hour or two we spent that day at lunch, he poured into my heart such vision, such ideals, such hopes, such a new attitude toward life and patriotism and the meaning of things, as I had never dreamed men had… After that, I was his man.”
People listen to and follow leaders with vision and moral purpose, and Jesus was the greatest leader who ever lived, influencing and having a greater following of more people than any person in history.
II. SECOND, NOTICE THAT JESUS MADE AN IMPACT. – Verses 7b-8 – “and a great crowd followed him from Galilee and Judea, 8 and Jerusalem, and Idumea, and from beyond the Jordan; and from around Tyre and Sidon. When a great crowd heard all the great things he was doing, they came to him.”
Leaders make an impact, which is why they’re recognized as leaders.
Notice all the people who flocked to Jesus: I took a map and looked each of the areas mentioned in verses 7-8, and discovered they form a circle of the regions to the north, east, south and west. In other words, people came from all over Palestine to see Jesus. Previously, Jesus just ministered in a small area around Galilee. Now they’re coming from all directions! This rising influence foreshadows the outward impact the Gospel would have. After Jesus left the earth, the book of Acts records that the Gospel spread through much of the world.
Not only was His impact geographically diverse, equally remarkable is the ethnic diversity of the crowds in our text. Galilee, Judea and Jerusalem were principally Jewish territories; Idumea and the area beyond the Jordan were mixed Jewish-Gentile regions; and Tyre and Sidon were Gentile regions. Again, we see a foreshadowing of the future scope of the Gospel. After rising from the dead, Jesus prophesied about the advancement of the Gospel in Acts 1:8: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be witnesses for Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
People came to Jesus for a variety of reasons, but one thing is for sure: Jesus was making an impact on people’s lives and people from all over were paying attention. The purpose of leadership is to have an impact in some way, to change the status quo, to move towards a worthy goal.
III. THIRD, JESUS MADE PEOPLE BETTER. – Verse 10 – “For he had healed many; so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him.”
These people were hurt and damaged and diseased. They needed healing; so, Jesus healed them. He made them better.
Leaders leave a lasting impact on people’s lives because they make them better people. We may not have the power to heal people physically in our era of church history, but we have the power to impact people by our words and our actions to better their lives We can help heal broken hearts; we can help heal damaged relationships; we can help heal emotional hurts. We can challenge people to love God with greater intensity, to serve Him more devotedly, to follow Him more closely; and in the process they will be changed and transformed and bettered.
Illus. – Down through the years very few people have told me that I was the best preacher they ever heard.
But many have said that either in a sermon or in person I challenged them…
• I helped them through a difficult trial to see it from God’s perspective rather than a temporary pain perspective…
• or I ministered to them and tried my best to model servanthood…
• or I challenged them to change a sin pattern in their lives which I saw as harmful to their spiritual growth or their relationship with their spouse…
• or I challenged them to step up to teach when they thought they could never do such a thing…
• or to serve in humble service like in the nursery when they wanted to be upfront people…
• or to step up to leadership when they didn’t see it in themselves.
• or to be sacrificial and have a servant’s heart at times to meet a need that was out of their giftedness or comfort zone.
In each of these cases, they felt like they became better people because I challenged them as their pastor. In their view, I had had a part in making them better versions of themselves. That’s what a leader does: he helps make people better.
IV. FOURTH, JESUS WAS AUTHORITATIVE – Verses 11-12 – “And whenever unclean spirits, saw him, they fell down before him, and cried out, ‘You are the Son of God! 12 And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.”
Jesus wasn’t about to let these demons sidetrack the plan of redemption. They were seeking to undermine Jesus by exposing His divinity before the time.
Jesus progressively revealed His deity to His followers because it would be just too much to swallow at first. So in the beginning, He revealed His deity through His miracles and power: He exhibited His absolute power over nature and sickness and later we’ll see in Mark His power to bring the dead back to life. He exercised complete and utter dominance over and obedience from demons and cast them out of people at will with zero resistance. Then, without overtly claiming to be God, He began to claim divine prerogatives, like forgiving people of sin and claiming to be the Lord of the Sabbath. Only later, at the right time, would Jesus explicitly teach who He was.
At this early stage, He wasn’t ready to overtly reveal His deity, nor was did He want demons—purveyors of lies and deceit—to be the messengers of His deity. So when Jesus encountered demons who sought to expose Him, He acted decisively and authoritatively. He didn’t dilly-dally or waffle. He was direct and to-the-point and authoritative and clear exactly what His instructions were and He brooked no dissent from these evil beings.
Good leaders identify things that are wrong and deal with them authoritatively and give clear guidance exactly what they want done. Now unfortunately we’re not like God who doesn’t need advice, so we need to listen to others’ input, but when leaders know the right thing to do, they act decisively and communicate their expectations clearly.
V. LAST, JESUS ASSEMBLED A TEAM TO CARRY OUT HIS VISION AND DELEGATED AUTHORITY TO THEM TO ACCOMPLISH HIS GOALS. – Verses 13-19 – “And he went up on a mountain, and called to him those he wanted: and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve, so that they would be with him, and that he might send them out to preach, 15 And to have power … to cast out demons: 16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon to whom he gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder” 18 And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, 19 And Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.”
Jesus had come to a very important moment in His life and work. He had formulated His message—the Gospel, He had chosen His method—preaching, healing and casting out demons; and He had made a considerable impact on the public mind.
Now he had to face two practical considerations: First, He needed a way of making His message permanent for the time after He would leave this earth. Second, He needed a way of disseminating his message in an age when there was no such thing as printed books or magazines or newspapers, and no way of reaching large numbers of people at one time.
There was only one way to solve these two problems: He had to choose those on whose hearts and lives he could write his message and who would go out to carry that message abroad; He had to choose a TEAM to carry out His goals.
Jesus called them for two reasons according to verse 14:
First, he called them to be WITH him.
He called them to be his steady and consistent companions. Others might come and go; the crowd might be there one day and gone the next; others might be ?uctuating and spasmodic in their attachment to Him, but these twelve were to identify their lives with His life and live with Him all the time
Second, He called them to GO OUT FROM HIM to do what He was doing, and in so doing, to multiply His efforts. Jesus was delegating to them authority to minister as He ministered—to preach and to have authority to cast out demons. Jesus recognized that there was only one of Him on the earth and He would shortly leave them. He needed those whom He had trained to carry on the work after Him.
We know the results of that wise decision. These men formed the beachhead of Christianity once Jesus left the earth. They preached the Gospel and very quickly thousands were added to the faith just in Jerusalem alone. Then with the first wave of persecution, other disciples took Jesus’ message and carried it to the outer regions of Judea and Samaria. Finally, Paul was converted, and he carried the Gospel to Europe, and Thomas took the Gospel to the Far East, at least as far as India. With no printed books, no TV or radio broadcasts and no Internet, the Gospel spread from country to country. And in the modern age WE are called to carry out the work of the Jesus: to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Very few places on earth are left untouched without at least some witness of the Gospel.
This shows us the amazing power of teamwork! Christianity has always been a team effort. God never intended that the church and His work be furthered only by a few clergy. True, God has called special people to equip the church for ministry, but the work of the ministry itself is mostly meant to be carried out by ordinary people.
Paul says in Ephesians 4:11-12, “And he gave the apostles the prophets; the evangelists, the pastors and teachers; 12 For the equiping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.”
Paul is teaching that pastors and other unique equippers are not called to do all the ministry in a church or in our world. Wise leaders train and equip the people in the church to do the work of the ministry.
That’s how the church of God has prospered down through the ages—by leaders building teams of people to help do the work of ministry within local churches. That’s how good leaders in any organization leads: They train, equip and delegate to those under their care so that they can get the job done together as a team.
CONCLUSION
Today’s text, and in fact, all the gospels, provide those of you who aspire to leadership with valuable insights to help you become a good leader yourself. But there’s more that I want us to see in this text because not everyone is called to be a leader, but everyone is called to be a disciple of Jesus. Let me home in on some other applications we can glean from this text:
First, when we talk of Jesus as a leader, remember that He is really much more than that: He is really the KING!
Jesus calls all believers to discipleship—a life of self-discipline and self-sacrifice. He is not only our leader; He is our Lord and Master and we must strive to follow His commandments and obey Him. As God, He’s worthy of nothing less than our absolute obedience and worship.
If you have never recognized that Jesus is the King who commands you to turn from sin and trust in Him to be saved, the consequences of refusing to do that are severe—eternal death and separation from God. But the rewards are amazing and worth it: to be made right with God, to have a personal relationship with Him, to have your sins forgiven, to have eternal life and many other wonderful blessings.
If you’re already a believer, yet you’re disobedient to some of Christ’s commandments and unwilling to follow Him, you’ll lose rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ and you’ll be very sorrowful on that day. And you will be responsible for those who were not reached for Christ because of your poor testimony, or your laziness or fearfulness to tell others about Jesus. Become an obedient disciple of Jesus the KING!
Here’s my second application: Jesus is still calling people to be on His team. There are three teams I think every disciple should be on:
First, join a CHURCH team by becoming a member of a local church.
Illus. – I remember visiting a young couple that had attended our church. As we talked, they mentioned that they didn’t believe in joining a church because they were members of “the invisible church,” a theological term for the universal body of Christ. They would go to a different church each Sunday—spiritual gadflies. So I asked, “Well, will an invisible pastor come to visit you in the hospital? When you come home, will invisible members make meals for you? Will invisible teachers leave an indelible mark on your children. Or will none of those things happen in your family? You need to be part of a VISIBLE local church and be faithful to it and serve in it and support it financially.” They got the point and a few months later, they joined our church!
Believe me, your life will be simpler, you’ll develop much deeper relationships and you’ll be much more grounded if you settle down and join a church and become an active member in it.
Second, you should fellowship with a SMALL GROUP team.
Our church has several homegroups, ladies and men’s small groups and German, Spanish and Korean language women Bible studies. Why do we have these small groups?—So that you can experience fellowship and community with Christian brothers and sisters.
Listen, it’s imperative and a blessing to attend the Sunday services. But if you’re not also a part of a small group, you’re missing one of the greatest blessings God has for you.
Illus. – Let me illustrate the difference between church and small group. Back in March Susan and I took an airline flight to Portugal. Every passenger had the same experience; we heard the same safety briefing; we had the same turbulence; and we all arrived at the same time. Passengers on an airplane ASSOCIATE together, but they don’t really PARTICIPATE together. They have PROXIMITY, but they don’t have COMMUNITY.
If all you do is attend Sunday services, you’re experiencing “airline Christianity.” You experience the same music and the same preaching at Sunday church. As on an airplane, you have PROXIMITY, but this isn’t COMMUNITY. Community is another word for close fellowship, and it only happens in a smaller group where people know your name and your needs.
Finally, you should serve on a MINISTRY team.
There are two kinds of people in Grace Baptist Church: those who are serving and BEING a blessing, and those who are sitting and RECEIVING a blessing. You see, we’re like sponges: God keeps pouring blessings into our lives. – But if all you ever do is receive blessings and never squeeze out God’s blessings to others, you’ll become oversaturated and complacent.
If you aren’t involved in a ministry, you should be! I challenge you to move out from simply RECEIVING a blessing and start BEING a blessing. Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive, but you’ll never experience that until you volunteer to work in one of our ministries. Shoot me an email and let me know that as soon as the Coronavirus lockdown ends, you want to get on a ministry team. Susan will get back with you and let you know what opportunities there are to get involved once we start gathering again.
Brethren, there is remarkable power in teamwork.
Illus. – Years ago, back when most roads were dirt roads, a farmer who lived near a road prone to flooding would bring his old mule, Buddy, down to pull the cars out of the mud. On one occasion he arrived and hooked up Buddy to a car in the mud.
The farmer yelled, “Pull, Nellie! Pull!” But Buddy didn’t move.
Then the farmer yelled, “Pull Jenny, pull!” But Buddy didn’t move.
Then he said, “Pull, Buddy, pull!” And Buddy easily pulled the car out of the mud.
One motorist asked the farmer, “Why did you call those other names before you called Buddy’s name?”
The farmer said, “Old Buddy is blind and if he thought he was the only one pulling, he wouldn’t even try. I do that to make him believe he’s part of a mule team and motivates him to pull.”
There is remarkable power in teamwork. Jesus called a team to help Him. And He is calling you to be a part of His team today. — The team of the redeemed; His church team; a small group team; and a ministry team. Will you link up with Him?
