The Leadership Style of Jesus: Is It Your Style? By Kelly Durant 11-15-20
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. Over the elections people always want to talk about leadership and what the next one should be like! What makes a good leader anyway? Do we want the tough legalistic kind, or a more softer spoken merciful kind? Some people love it when everyone gets insulted! Others want laissez faire, go with the flow types.
Let’s compare Jesus to John in their management styles. John was your tough legalistic accuser! He was the righteous law upholder, reminding that if you do not repent and be baptized that you would see the wrath of God!
When John saw sin, he exposed it with confrontation! He accused Herod the king telling him God would punish him, that it was not lawful for him to have his sister’s wife!
3. Jesus on the other hand was the merciful tender-hearted mercy giver. We can 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! 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, not even Him who actually was holy enough that should condemn her if she wanted to be forgiven.
He offered the woman caught in adultery forgiveness with a rebuke to 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 direct like John would, but he did expose sin by the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Jesus only confronted the hypocrites, not the sinners!
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 accuse and some forgive?
In the church when someone has a sin, the reaction of some is to want to throw stones, they want the pastor to expose the person and condemn them, to attack them with the truth. Frequently people complain in the churches, look, the pastor is not rebuking the ones with sin, he is not doing His job! Sometimes the pastors are not aware of the sin because people cover it up, and sometimes the stories people know are 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.
People who love confrontation do not seem to care if the person accused gets offended and lost from God and the church! All confrontational people care about is their own agenda of proving that that person is sinful, and their own agenda of showing what a great leader they are, because, after all, with their spirituality they see the sin in this person. This makes them feel righteous. But this detracts from the sins they have in their own heart!
5. Heb 12:12-15
12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 "Make level paths for your feet,"so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
14 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 great quote is this:
When we hear of sin exposed in someone, it is time we should examine our own heart to see if we have any sin too! (Repeat)
6. If you want to lead like Jesus, offering healing, forgiveness, and a new start in your life and for the life of others, here is how to deal with your character in the verses…
Heb 3:13
13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
So the scripture offers the forgiveness of sin and exposure of sin through exhortation through each other and the time is today, now, before you become like those who have their bitternesses on why they no longer come to church, nor worship God! You need Christian friends to point out your faults from God’s word from time to time!
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.
7. Recall what the people said about John, that he abstained from wine and ate locusts and was considered holy by some (or crazy!) for is abstinence, but Jesus drank wine, so that made Him unholy and a sinner by the ones who also drink wine?! The confusion is in who accuses who! Can the pot call the skillet black?
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 does, whether he is harsh or soft, a rebuker, or a healer, and unspiritual people 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!
We see this happens today over and over in the communities where we live and even within churches! Do you see the horribleness of human nature? When a person has a sin, people bad mouth them, when a person is really authentic, loving and pure, people still bad mouth them anyway!
9. When we look at this a little closer we can determine that men and women of God have a spiritual power, an intimidating authority that will expose sin either by word or good deeds and different people react in different ways to this authority. Let’s look at 4 different reactions to spiritual leadership.
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 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 to them. But wait don’t 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. Then there are the ones who want to be first. Instead of trusting in the authority of God’s chosen one, they want to challenge and show off the authority they want to 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?
10. 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 agenda. Do you recall that Judas was a zealot? He wanted Jesus to help him accomplish his agenda of 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 contradicted Jesus when he didn’t like something, like over the oil that Mary Magdalene washed Jesus feet with that he self-righteously wanted to 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 believers, the distant followers, but non committed. 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
65 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? 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
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 they 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, so the blessings compared to the assets they bring to God are at a deficiency! Are you a too comfortable follower doing very little to support winning souls for Jesus!
We can try to look good to others, but God knows our hearts! Which person are you? The submitted follower? The power tripping challenger? The deceptive manipulator? Or the too comfortable non committed one?
11. Today God is calling us to a higher level of service! Are you going to look at the sins of others or the sin in your own life? Do you want others dealt with harshly when they sin?
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.
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. The paradox is submission to Jesus = freedom! Do not let yourself and your plans remain your plans, obey Jesus today!
