"follow The Leader" Series

LIVING LIFE ON PURPOSE

“Follow the Leader”

Matthew 4:18-20

Perhaps like me, you grew up playing either Simon says or follow the leader. Everybody know what I’m talking about? And very early on you realize there were some kids you didn’t want to be the leader. Cause they always knew how to trick you to get you to do the wrong thing. It might go something like this. Everybody knows how to play this game right? If I say Simon says, then you must do it; if I don’t say Simon says then you don’t do it. Got it, ready?

• Simon says raise your left hand. Simon says put your left hand down. Simon says raise your right hand. Put your right hand down. 😊

Then you think, oh you tricked me. I don’t really like it when you’re the leader. I want somebody else to be the leader. 😊 As we grow older, we start thinking, you know there are good leaders and there are not so good leaders. You realize that what leaders do, we often mimic/follow. And it doesn’t always take us to a good place. Things can go wrong. Leadership often determines where the people go and a lack of leadership can lead to confusion and even conflict. Dr John Maxwell, who has written over 70 books on leadership and has sold over 21 million copies – puts it this way.

“He who thinks he is leading and has no one following, is only taking a walk in the park.”

Because if no one is following, you really are not leading. Basically, everyone thinks they want to be a leader; until they do and then they realize that great leadership requires great responsibility. And it may be more responsibility than you want. Everyone has something to say about leadership. So far this year there have already been over 1200 books published on the topic of leadership. Everyone wants to be a leader; everyone may have something to say about leadership but not everyone is cut out to be one.

So far, we have looked at the spiritual gifts of service, mercy, encouragement, giving and today we look at leadership. Paul refers to this gift as the gift of administration/ruling. In today’s world, we call it the gift of leadership. Now one of the things I have said each week is this.

• Just because you don’t have the spiritual gift of service doesn’t mean God won’t call you to serve.

• Just because you don’t have the gift of mercy doesn’t mean God won’t ask you to be merciful.

• Just because you might not have the spiritual gift of leadership doesn’t mean God will never call you to lead.

This is how we would define the gift of leadership. Leadership is the gift of orchestrating the gifts and resources of others to accomplish the work of God. Leaders move people toward a God given vision of service and they enable others to use their gifts to the best of their abilities.

When we look at the Bible, we quickly discover that it is filled with leaders. Many were successful, many experienced defeats. Many made wise choices; they also made mistakes. That was the way leadership was then; it is the way it still works. But if you have the gift of leadership, being knocked down a few times will not stop you from getting up and continuing to lead.

The Bible makes it clear that people were following Jesus. Think about this.

Jesus is the only leader we know of who had followers before he was born.

Thousands of years before Jesus arrived on the scene – in the flesh, Old Testament prophets were committed to following him. Then we step over into the New Testament and see the same thing. There were the 12 – resulting in hundreds – than thousands and now literally billions of people have chosen to follow Jesus in the past 2000 years. And you’re one of them if you have made that decision. The wise men came to follow someone they had never met. John the Baptist was so committed that he gave his life to prepare a path for others to follow Jesus.? There never has been nor will there ever be a leader like Jesus.

I want you to see five things that we find about leadership in the life of Jesus. This is what it takes to be a godly leader.

1. To be a godly leader, you must first be a good follower. You cannot lead until you first understand how to follow. Aristotle said this (400 BC), “he who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader. So instead of rushing to the finish line and telling everyone what a great leader you are, take time first to be a good follower and learn from other leaders. This is where most of us struggle. We don’t like to follow. Perhaps you’re one of those who when you were in school, your parents would often receive a note on your report card that read like this, your child does not follow directions well. Or your child doesn’t play well with others. You may have been a good listener. You may have even understood the directions; you just didn’t want to follow. As many followers as Jesus had, there were even more who chose NOT to follow him. It’s the same today. Also, some who chose to follow him and then left. Many others just said no from the beginning. Remember, leadership is a choice. Deciding to follow is also a choice. Not everyone will make that choice. So don’t be disappointed when people choose not to follow your direction.