The past two weeks we have looked at how Jesus led toward
the goal of transformation. Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer, authors of Transformational Church, see Jesus
through a similar lens and offer ten observations about his leadership, the
first five of which are recounted this week:
1. Jesus invested in people. Jesus
invested in people because he believed in people…Jesus demonstrated incredible
confidence in the potential of people to let him use them for a higher purpose.
2. Jesus saw long and far. Jesus’
leadership was evident in John 17:20 when he said, “I pray not only for these,
but also for those who believe in me through their message.” Jesus was living
beyond the moment. With the pressures of local church leadership, it is
possible for us to shorten our sight. We must never reduce God’s desire to
inconsequential measurements. Transformational church leaders are looking
further than ever before. Instead of a two-year church calendar, we need to plan
for the next century of impact. Jesus prayed for thousands of years into the
future.
3. Jesus sent people away from him on mission. Luke
9:1-2 and 10:1-2 give the picture of Jesus sending the believers away to do
ministry. He sent them to touch the hurting and work for the harvest. The
environment around Jesus had disciples constantly coming and going.
4. Jesus grieved for communities. “As
he approached and saw the city, he wept over it…(Luke
19:41-42). Jesus was heart-broken over the rebellious nature of Jerusalem’s
inhabitants. Jesus wept over a community and calls us to love ours. “How often
I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under
her wings, yet you were not willing!” (Matt. 23:37)
5. Jesus led a balanced life. By
the use of the word balance, we mean his perfect investment in multiple
environments. Jesus knew the value of time away from the crowds. On several
occasions he retreated from crowds to spend time in prayer. The Bible reports,
“After dismissing the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of
Magadan” (Matt. 15:39). He pulled away from the crowds to rest and pray.
Rather
than ask ourselves WWJD, perhaps a better question is What Would Jesus Be? Before
we seek to ignite transformation in our congregations (or presbytery), we might
do a bit of self-reflection. As leaders, how would we rate ourselves? At which
of these five actions are we most
like Jesus and least like Jesus? How
can we lean into our strengths? How can we invite and enlist those around us to
help us minimize the damage we do because of our weaknesses?
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