Joshua would face three key issues soon after his promotion to leader. They would not be the only issues, but they would be significant challenges. He would always face the ongoing challenge of leading the people of God, but he would also face the challenge of crossing the Jordan in flood, and facing Jericho. It’s interesting isn’t it that just because God promises to be with you, it doesn’t follow that life will get easier or the challenges smaller.
Crossing the Jordan
As Joshua prepares the people to cross the Jordan they face some critical questions.
How do we know this is the right thing to do?
How do we know which way we should go?
How do you cross a river that is in flood… in fact how do you cross a river without a ford or a bridge anyway?
When faith is on the line, the questions always come thick and fast.
#1 Crossing the Jordan will require: Complete obedience
Everything would have to be done in accordance with God’s express command. But how do you know what he wants you to do? If guidance was easy, no one who wants to follow God would ever get it wrong. No one would misread the signs, misinterpret the instructions.
6 principles for guidance
#1 Follow the book
2Tim.3:16-17—All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realise what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
“Generally speaking… the will of God for the people of God is in the Word of God.” John Stott
#2 Trust God to guide and he will
Prov.3:5-6—Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
#3 Use your mind
Ps.32 says, “Don’t be like the mule”
Jesus quoted an established contraction of the 10 commandments when he said: Love the Lord your God with all your mind
Why does God seem to guide less directly as we get older in the faith?
“God does not want us neurotically dependent upon him, but willing trustful in him.” Eugene Petersen.
#4 One step at a time
God doesn’t show us more than we need to know. Peter escaped from prison “one step at a time”.
#5 There is one God
And it's not you!
Don’t tell God how to guide. Sometimes we’re in danger of trying to manipulate God in subtle ways.
#6 Listen for God’s voice
It sounds obvious, but it isn’t easy.
Fortunately we are not alone in our quest for guidance. Jesus said he would send the Holy Spirit to guide us in all truth.
The Holy Spirit works within certain parameters. He will guide us in truth, according to the Father’s plans.
Above all, guidance is an “eyes-open” issues. Just as you don’t close your eyes, and step of the kerb to cross the road, trusting God to guide you between the traffic, so you don’t walk through life with your spiritual eyes shut tight.
#2 Crossing the Jordan: Relationship was central
The people spent three days in preparation. Three days staring at the river in flood, but also three days when they could listen to God. It’s no accident that the ark is central to crossing the Jordan. 20 times it gets mentioned in this passage.
It’s the Ark of the Covenant: the symbol of relationship
It’s the ark of the Testimony: the sign of God’s trustworthiness
It’s the ark of the Lord: The one true living God (3:10 This is how you will know that the living God is among you)
#3 Crossing the Jordan: Go!
In all of this it’s easy to forget that they had to go.
We can spend all our time getting our guidance right, and then forget to follow through.
It wasn’t an easy thing for the people as they stood by the flooded banks of the Jordan. But the fulfilment of God’s promise lay on the other side of the river and it was time to step out.
Risk-taking faith goes hand-in-hand with guidance. God doesn’t call us to step out without any clue at all about what he’s calling us to do. The clues may be vague, but they will be there.
Abraham had no map just a promised land. The same was true for the Israelites as they broke camp in the wilderness for the last time.
Risk taking faith in hand with guidance is summed up in this:
When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, who are Levites carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. (3:3,4)
Wait; Consecrate, go.
How will you know what to do next as you seek to serve God?
Wait, consecrate, go.
When you see, move out and follow.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Courage to conquer
Be strong and Courageous
It can’t have escaped you notice that Be strong and courageous gets repeated a lot in these verses. Four times, three from God to Joshua and one from the people to Joshua.
The same phrase occurs in three other contexts in the Old Testament.
First, there is Deuteronomy 31. This is Joshua being commissioned by Moses. Second there is David charging Solomon with the task of building the Temple (1Chron.22, 28). Third, is when Hezekiah and all the people of Jerusalem find themselves under siege by the king of Assyria. Be strong and courageous says Hezekiah to the people of the city.
But how do you define strength ad courage?
For Joshua and Solomon it’s connected with “seeing a job through”. For Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem, the issue was facing the enemy in an apparently hopeless situation. No one else had stood up to Assyria, what hope Jerusalem?
Of course we know that it was not the measure of the individuals that made the difference, but the character of God who invested in them. The strength and courage that Joshua needed was born out of three things:
Faith in God
Faith, in Joshua’s case, is seen in the courage he needs to see the job ahead through to it’s completion. His faith would be tested and he would need the courage to commit and to trust God. Courage based on faith, based on trust in God.
Marj Saint, the widow of Nate Saint prayed this prayer when she was 16: God’s will in my life whatever the cost. That’s courageous faith. That’s not the lightweight kind of faith that buckles under stress.
This kind of faith goes on trusting God when the fog descends, when there’s no clear distinct direction to follow. When things are not getting resolved, faith goes on trusting God who is able to resolve all things.
Faithfulness to God
Of course faith does not walk unaccompanied. Joshua is also told to stick with the relationship. He is to meditate on the law, learn it, and obey it.
In other words, Joshua is called to have faith in God and faithfulness to God.
The faithfulness of God
So far this has looked like a one-way street. But we know that a relationship with God is a two-way street.
In the Old Testament we read often a phrase like: If you will be my people, I will be your God. Ezekiel, Isaiah and Jeremiah all have a sense of it.
You cannot read far through the Bible without realising that God is committed to people. Time after time he demonstrates his faithfulness, even when the people don’t show theirs.
The outworking of God’s faithfulness in our lives is the strength we receive from him.
In Psalm 28 we’re told: The Lord is my strength and shield; in Ps. 46: God is our refuge and strength, and ever-present help in trouble. Isaiah says: The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and song. And Paul tells Timothy that when he made his first defence, not one stood by him but the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength (2Tim. 4:17)
And it was Paul who wrote those words we know so well: I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Phil.4:13)
The faithfulness of God is expressed through:
The enduring presence of God
As I was with Moses, I will be with you
The enduring promise of God
The land I will give you
The enduring power of God
God would demonstrate his power by providing safe passage through the river, by tearing down the walls of Jericho and ultimately by keeping his promise to give the land to the people.
Conclusion
It all sounds great doesn’t it?
Be strong and courageous. But what if your courage had failed, what if your strength has gone, what if your faith has come up short? What then?
Jesus offers us great hope.
In the first place he says: Faith as small as a mustard seed can move a mountain. That’s pretty encouraging. If he will move a mountain based on a little faith, then what can he do with the faith you’ve got!
In the second place, he promises never to leave or forsake us. That holds true even when our faith wavers. God is not fickle, he’s not driven by feelings. If he promises his presence he will give his presence.
The challenge of this passage is quite simple: Do you have the kind of faith that trusts God with your life.
Joshua was about to step out in faith like he’d never done before. I don’t know how nervous he felt, I don’t know how prepared he felt, but I do know that he’d decided to follow God, to take him at his word. But even then God had to tell him several times to be strong and courageous.
It can’t have escaped you notice that Be strong and courageous gets repeated a lot in these verses. Four times, three from God to Joshua and one from the people to Joshua.
The same phrase occurs in three other contexts in the Old Testament.
First, there is Deuteronomy 31. This is Joshua being commissioned by Moses. Second there is David charging Solomon with the task of building the Temple (1Chron.22, 28). Third, is when Hezekiah and all the people of Jerusalem find themselves under siege by the king of Assyria. Be strong and courageous says Hezekiah to the people of the city.
But how do you define strength ad courage?
For Joshua and Solomon it’s connected with “seeing a job through”. For Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem, the issue was facing the enemy in an apparently hopeless situation. No one else had stood up to Assyria, what hope Jerusalem?
Of course we know that it was not the measure of the individuals that made the difference, but the character of God who invested in them. The strength and courage that Joshua needed was born out of three things:
Faith in God
Faith, in Joshua’s case, is seen in the courage he needs to see the job ahead through to it’s completion. His faith would be tested and he would need the courage to commit and to trust God. Courage based on faith, based on trust in God.
Marj Saint, the widow of Nate Saint prayed this prayer when she was 16: God’s will in my life whatever the cost. That’s courageous faith. That’s not the lightweight kind of faith that buckles under stress.
This kind of faith goes on trusting God when the fog descends, when there’s no clear distinct direction to follow. When things are not getting resolved, faith goes on trusting God who is able to resolve all things.
Faithfulness to God
Of course faith does not walk unaccompanied. Joshua is also told to stick with the relationship. He is to meditate on the law, learn it, and obey it.
In other words, Joshua is called to have faith in God and faithfulness to God.
The faithfulness of God
So far this has looked like a one-way street. But we know that a relationship with God is a two-way street.
In the Old Testament we read often a phrase like: If you will be my people, I will be your God. Ezekiel, Isaiah and Jeremiah all have a sense of it.
You cannot read far through the Bible without realising that God is committed to people. Time after time he demonstrates his faithfulness, even when the people don’t show theirs.
The outworking of God’s faithfulness in our lives is the strength we receive from him.
In Psalm 28 we’re told: The Lord is my strength and shield; in Ps. 46: God is our refuge and strength, and ever-present help in trouble. Isaiah says: The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and song. And Paul tells Timothy that when he made his first defence, not one stood by him but the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength (2Tim. 4:17)
And it was Paul who wrote those words we know so well: I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Phil.4:13)
The faithfulness of God is expressed through:
The enduring presence of God
As I was with Moses, I will be with you
The enduring promise of God
The land I will give you
The enduring power of God
God would demonstrate his power by providing safe passage through the river, by tearing down the walls of Jericho and ultimately by keeping his promise to give the land to the people.
Conclusion
It all sounds great doesn’t it?
Be strong and courageous. But what if your courage had failed, what if your strength has gone, what if your faith has come up short? What then?
Jesus offers us great hope.
In the first place he says: Faith as small as a mustard seed can move a mountain. That’s pretty encouraging. If he will move a mountain based on a little faith, then what can he do with the faith you’ve got!
In the second place, he promises never to leave or forsake us. That holds true even when our faith wavers. God is not fickle, he’s not driven by feelings. If he promises his presence he will give his presence.
The challenge of this passage is quite simple: Do you have the kind of faith that trusts God with your life.
Joshua was about to step out in faith like he’d never done before. I don’t know how nervous he felt, I don’t know how prepared he felt, but I do know that he’d decided to follow God, to take him at his word. But even then God had to tell him several times to be strong and courageous.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
The ongoing conversation
Church is, by its very nature, dynamic. It's meant to be more organic than mechanical. It's a garden to be nurtured rather than a engine that needs servicing. This means that stuff grows, changes, develops.
An engine is well defined, with known parameters by which it works. If it isn't working you fix it. You strip it down, replace parts, and rebuild it. Gardens don't work like that, in fact they don't "work" at all. Gardens grow. Without careful, regular attention they become a mass of long grass and weeds. (Weeds are just flowers that grow in the wrong place at the wrong time,—but that's a whole different picture to think about!)
In a garden something of great beauty can happen quite by chance. A combination of plants and soil types (some plants change colour depending upon soil type) can sometimes produce an eye-catching display that was neither planned nor expected. Other things can be more unusual. I remember one time seeing tomatoes growing on a potato plant. Trust me I really did see it, it was the strangest thing, and I've never seen it again.
So, if the church is more organic, more garden, how does this affect vision and strategy? In the first place it makes it more dynamic. Things become more fluid and less fixed. You begin to see church happening in all sorts of new ways because you no longer have a single, mechanical model, but a living, breathing organic model. It also means that you don't need all the parts in all the right places for the garden to be a garden. Most gardens I know are usually in a state of change and development. New lawns, new flower beds, new plants. There are also fallow times for parts of the garden.
With an engine, little changes may stop the engine from being an engine altogether. A garden can change in huge ways, but it remains a garden. One year it can be all plants, the next all vegetables, but it's still a garden.
Do you get the picture? If the church is organic, not mechanical then it won't fit a mechanised world view. The way we do stuff has to change.
So far, this has had apparently little to do with the title "The ongoing conversation", but here's the link. If church is organic, then part of the nurturing process is the ongoing conversation we have about things. With a mechanical view, we have meetings, we decide strategy and away we go and keep the engine running. With a garden, we plant, we nurture, we tend. The growing happens naturally, we just make room for it. The "ongoing conversation" is part of the nurturing process.
Everyone is welcome to bring ideas to this conversation. You don't have to be an expert gardener to do so. So why not join the conversation?
An engine is well defined, with known parameters by which it works. If it isn't working you fix it. You strip it down, replace parts, and rebuild it. Gardens don't work like that, in fact they don't "work" at all. Gardens grow. Without careful, regular attention they become a mass of long grass and weeds. (Weeds are just flowers that grow in the wrong place at the wrong time,—but that's a whole different picture to think about!)
In a garden something of great beauty can happen quite by chance. A combination of plants and soil types (some plants change colour depending upon soil type) can sometimes produce an eye-catching display that was neither planned nor expected. Other things can be more unusual. I remember one time seeing tomatoes growing on a potato plant. Trust me I really did see it, it was the strangest thing, and I've never seen it again.
So, if the church is more organic, more garden, how does this affect vision and strategy? In the first place it makes it more dynamic. Things become more fluid and less fixed. You begin to see church happening in all sorts of new ways because you no longer have a single, mechanical model, but a living, breathing organic model. It also means that you don't need all the parts in all the right places for the garden to be a garden. Most gardens I know are usually in a state of change and development. New lawns, new flower beds, new plants. There are also fallow times for parts of the garden.
With an engine, little changes may stop the engine from being an engine altogether. A garden can change in huge ways, but it remains a garden. One year it can be all plants, the next all vegetables, but it's still a garden.
Do you get the picture? If the church is organic, not mechanical then it won't fit a mechanised world view. The way we do stuff has to change.
So far, this has had apparently little to do with the title "The ongoing conversation", but here's the link. If church is organic, then part of the nurturing process is the ongoing conversation we have about things. With a mechanical view, we have meetings, we decide strategy and away we go and keep the engine running. With a garden, we plant, we nurture, we tend. The growing happens naturally, we just make room for it. The "ongoing conversation" is part of the nurturing process.
Everyone is welcome to bring ideas to this conversation. You don't have to be an expert gardener to do so. So why not join the conversation?
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Easter Sunday—Truth or fiction
On Easter Sunday we celebrate the most momentous event in the whole of history—the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our faith as Christians is built upon this truth. As Paul puts it:
if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. (1Cor.15:14)
Now we know that earlier in the same letter Paul reminds us that our faith is not built on human wisdom, but on the power of God. In Ephesians he reminds about something of the nature of this power, describing it as the power of God that raised Jesus from the dead.
There are three things for us to consider about the Easter story and it’s implications for our lives and our faith.
Is it true?
The question isn’t whether you believe it to be true or not, it’s simply a matter of fact: Is it true? Establishing truth is never an easy thing, especially in an age when everything appears to be relative. We no longer deal in absolutes.
We are all familiar with courtroom dramas where the establishing of truth is a matter of weighing the evidence. When it comes to the resurrection, it’s possible, as many have found to weigh the evidence and decide whether the case is proven or not. But beware, just because you believe something to be true doesn’t make it true, and possibly more significantly, just believing something isn’t true doesn’t make it untrue.
It the end the question is not: Do you believe that the resurrection really happened? The question is more like: What are you going to do about it if it is true?
Is it trustworthy?
The Bible is big on trust, especially trust in God. Throughout its pages God demonstrates his trustworthiness. In the wisdom of the Old Testament we read:
Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. (Psalm 9:10)
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding (Prov.3:5)
Paul reminds us that our hope, a delicate thing, is safe in God’s hands. He tells Timothy:
This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labour and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe. (1Tim.4:9-10).
Jesus too, spoke about trust. He said:
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." (John 14:1)
And he demonstrated his trustworthiness by coming back for the dead. He’s kept his promise once, he will keep again. When Jesus said, “I will come back for you,” we can be sure that one day he will return.
Is it transforming?
You only have to read the gospels to see how Jesus Christ transformed lives. People were healed; they were set free from things that had beset them sometimes over many years. The blind could see again, the deaf could hear again and the lame and paralysed danced once more.
And it the list doesn’t end there. A woman ostracised by her community suddenly finds herself accepted once more, another facing the anger of a crowd finds herself alone with no one left pointing an accusing finger.
If you could travel back in time and stand among the crowds that followed Jesus, if you could ask the disciples, “Did Jesus change lives?” The answer would be a resounding, “Yes.”
And the good news is that this transformation is still available to you and me today. Because Jesus died and rose again, we have the opportunity to experience God’s transforming power in our lives. The question is: Do you want it?
if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. (1Cor.15:14)
Now we know that earlier in the same letter Paul reminds us that our faith is not built on human wisdom, but on the power of God. In Ephesians he reminds about something of the nature of this power, describing it as the power of God that raised Jesus from the dead.
There are three things for us to consider about the Easter story and it’s implications for our lives and our faith.
Is it true?
The question isn’t whether you believe it to be true or not, it’s simply a matter of fact: Is it true? Establishing truth is never an easy thing, especially in an age when everything appears to be relative. We no longer deal in absolutes.
We are all familiar with courtroom dramas where the establishing of truth is a matter of weighing the evidence. When it comes to the resurrection, it’s possible, as many have found to weigh the evidence and decide whether the case is proven or not. But beware, just because you believe something to be true doesn’t make it true, and possibly more significantly, just believing something isn’t true doesn’t make it untrue.
It the end the question is not: Do you believe that the resurrection really happened? The question is more like: What are you going to do about it if it is true?
Is it trustworthy?
The Bible is big on trust, especially trust in God. Throughout its pages God demonstrates his trustworthiness. In the wisdom of the Old Testament we read:
Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you. (Psalm 9:10)
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding (Prov.3:5)
Paul reminds us that our hope, a delicate thing, is safe in God’s hands. He tells Timothy:
This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labour and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe. (1Tim.4:9-10).
Jesus too, spoke about trust. He said:
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." (John 14:1)
And he demonstrated his trustworthiness by coming back for the dead. He’s kept his promise once, he will keep again. When Jesus said, “I will come back for you,” we can be sure that one day he will return.
Is it transforming?
You only have to read the gospels to see how Jesus Christ transformed lives. People were healed; they were set free from things that had beset them sometimes over many years. The blind could see again, the deaf could hear again and the lame and paralysed danced once more.
And it the list doesn’t end there. A woman ostracised by her community suddenly finds herself accepted once more, another facing the anger of a crowd finds herself alone with no one left pointing an accusing finger.
If you could travel back in time and stand among the crowds that followed Jesus, if you could ask the disciples, “Did Jesus change lives?” The answer would be a resounding, “Yes.”
And the good news is that this transformation is still available to you and me today. Because Jesus died and rose again, we have the opportunity to experience God’s transforming power in our lives. The question is: Do you want it?
Thursday, April 6, 2006
Palm Sunday—Sold out for Jesus
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”
These are possibly the most well known words from the journal of Jim Elliot. Jim Elliot, along with Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully and Pete Fleming gave their lives in the cause of Christ. The story has been told before, most recently in the film The End of the Spear. But this single story is not the whole story.
Jim Elliot did not become a committed follower of Jesus when he arrived in Ecuador, it began long before that. In Shadow of the Almighty we are introduced to Jim through his letters and journal entries. Jim Elliot’s overriding passion was to follow Jesus whatever the cost might be. Wherever he went he challenged himself and other to commit wholeheartedly to serving God.
But let’s think about the story of Ecuador for a moment. When Jim Elliot went to the jungle region of Ecuador there was an already established mission work amongst some of the indigenous Indian people. He could have continued that work, (there were even those who thought he could best be used by God back home in a teaching ministry). But he knew that there were others who had yet to hear about Jesus. He wanted to reach them too. Everyone knew the dangers—the Aucas were well known for their violent reaction to outsiders. They had suffered violence at the hands of foreigners and they had responed with violence. But still Jim Elliot and his fellow missionaries wanted to try to reach them.
Was he foolish to do this? Perhaps Jim Elliot’s answer would be something like: “Better a fool for Christ than a fool for anyone else.”
Those five men and their families knew the risk, they knew what the price could be, but they were willing to pay that price in order to bring the gospel of Jesus to a lost people. Without their sacrifice it’s hard to imagine that the story could have unfolded in the way it did. And the truth of the matter is we will never know if there was another way. All we do know is that Jim Elliot and his friends decided that the price was worth paying for the sake of these people.
So, what price are you willing to pay for the purposes of God? Could you stand with Jim Elliot and the others and say, “All for Jesus”?
In an interview shortly before her death, Marj Saint, Nate’s widow, talks about her personal prayer long before she met Nate. Her Prayer was imply this: “Lord, you will in my life at any cost.” She lost two husbands, and faced cancer four times. But even at the end of her life she said that if she could go back and do it all again, the prayer would still be the same. Could you pray that prayer? God may not ask you to lay down your life, he may not ask you to leave the comfort of your home, but he does ask you if you are willing to follow him with all your heart. If you are ready to do this, then you are ready to pray that prayer.
These are possibly the most well known words from the journal of Jim Elliot. Jim Elliot, along with Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully and Pete Fleming gave their lives in the cause of Christ. The story has been told before, most recently in the film The End of the Spear. But this single story is not the whole story.
Jim Elliot did not become a committed follower of Jesus when he arrived in Ecuador, it began long before that. In Shadow of the Almighty we are introduced to Jim through his letters and journal entries. Jim Elliot’s overriding passion was to follow Jesus whatever the cost might be. Wherever he went he challenged himself and other to commit wholeheartedly to serving God.
But let’s think about the story of Ecuador for a moment. When Jim Elliot went to the jungle region of Ecuador there was an already established mission work amongst some of the indigenous Indian people. He could have continued that work, (there were even those who thought he could best be used by God back home in a teaching ministry). But he knew that there were others who had yet to hear about Jesus. He wanted to reach them too. Everyone knew the dangers—the Aucas were well known for their violent reaction to outsiders. They had suffered violence at the hands of foreigners and they had responed with violence. But still Jim Elliot and his fellow missionaries wanted to try to reach them.
Was he foolish to do this? Perhaps Jim Elliot’s answer would be something like: “Better a fool for Christ than a fool for anyone else.”
Those five men and their families knew the risk, they knew what the price could be, but they were willing to pay that price in order to bring the gospel of Jesus to a lost people. Without their sacrifice it’s hard to imagine that the story could have unfolded in the way it did. And the truth of the matter is we will never know if there was another way. All we do know is that Jim Elliot and his friends decided that the price was worth paying for the sake of these people.
So, what price are you willing to pay for the purposes of God? Could you stand with Jim Elliot and the others and say, “All for Jesus”?
In an interview shortly before her death, Marj Saint, Nate’s widow, talks about her personal prayer long before she met Nate. Her Prayer was imply this: “Lord, you will in my life at any cost.” She lost two husbands, and faced cancer four times. But even at the end of her life she said that if she could go back and do it all again, the prayer would still be the same. Could you pray that prayer? God may not ask you to lay down your life, he may not ask you to leave the comfort of your home, but he does ask you if you are willing to follow him with all your heart. If you are ready to do this, then you are ready to pray that prayer.
In the Footsteps of Jesus—Lead as Jesus Led
Walter Wright suggests in his book Relational Leadership that whenever one person influences another, they are expressing leadership at some level.
Take giving directions as a simple example. When someone stops their car and asks you how to get "there" from "here", they are asking for your leadership. Or when someone asks you how to complete a task, again it's the guidance of leadership, it's influence that they are looking for. Now they might not say that, but essentially it is what is required.
To lead as Jesus led is all about transformed influence.
Wright expresses this pattern in five principles:
Principle #1: Influence and service
Servant leadership... is community-directed. It uses its power for the growth of those who are being led and the accomplishment of the shared mission of the community.
Principle #2: Vision and hope
Leadership articulates a compelling vision for tomorrow that captures the imagination of the follow and energizes their attitudes and actions in the present.
Servant leadership offers hope, it offers vision and it delivers on its promise.
Principle #3 Character and trust
Leadership is grounded in the faith, beliefs, commitments and values of the leader.
Leadership that produces fruit is rooted in the character of the leader.
The three things people want from leaders are: direction, trust and hope.
Principle #4 Relationships and power
Power is the potential for influence. It denotes the character or resources that others see in you that cause them to accept your influence.
... power exists only when someone sees in you a reason to accept your influence.
Power needs to leashed to a purpose.
Principle #5 Dependency and accountability
Leadership is about people. It is about relationship. Leadership is a relationship of influence with a purpose; the achievement of the shared mission and the nurture of the community.
Leaders are dependent upon the people.
How did Jesus Lead?
Jesus led by example. He said that his purpose was to serve rather than to be served (Mark 10:45), he chose willingly to give up his life for us (John 10:15ff), he even washed the feet of his disciples to show them the pattern of leadership which they were to follow.
Jesus was the ultimate example of a true servant-leader.
One writer defines a servant leader this way:
Servant leadership is not a particular style of leadership, but rather relates to the motivation behind a leader's thoughts, words and actions.
They go on to say:
Servant leaders are not leaders on the basis of their position or leadership role, but rather lead according to their calling, vision and principles. One of the challenges for servant leaders is to ensure that their vision and principles are in line with others in their organisation, and therefore it is highly important for them to engage with others to develop a common vision and shared values.
If we aspire to lead as Jesus led, if we aspire to be people of influence, then we must seek to commit to developing the pattern of servant-leadership we see in the ministry of Jesus.
What might this mean for us?
Followers first, leaders second.
Perhaps the most important principle is the rearranging of our priorities. First and foremost we are followers of Jesus Christ. If we don't get this relationship right then we will fall into patterns of leadership that seek to have power over others, to control and manage more than to serve.
Secure in Christ.
If we are "in Christ" then we have all that we need. We don't need power, we don't need position, we have everything already. In other words, if we have security in Christ we are free to serve him and others in his name because we have nothing to prove and nothing to protect and nothing to gain.
Christ-like character.
All through this series we have seen that in the end it all comes down to character. The Bible is a book about character. To lead like Jesus demands that we develop character like Jesus.
Three questions then remain: Who are you like? Where is your security? Who are you following?
Take giving directions as a simple example. When someone stops their car and asks you how to get "there" from "here", they are asking for your leadership. Or when someone asks you how to complete a task, again it's the guidance of leadership, it's influence that they are looking for. Now they might not say that, but essentially it is what is required.
To lead as Jesus led is all about transformed influence.
Wright expresses this pattern in five principles:
Principle #1: Influence and service
Servant leadership... is community-directed. It uses its power for the growth of those who are being led and the accomplishment of the shared mission of the community.
Principle #2: Vision and hope
Leadership articulates a compelling vision for tomorrow that captures the imagination of the follow and energizes their attitudes and actions in the present.
Servant leadership offers hope, it offers vision and it delivers on its promise.
Principle #3 Character and trust
Leadership is grounded in the faith, beliefs, commitments and values of the leader.
Leadership that produces fruit is rooted in the character of the leader.
The three things people want from leaders are: direction, trust and hope.
Principle #4 Relationships and power
Power is the potential for influence. It denotes the character or resources that others see in you that cause them to accept your influence.
... power exists only when someone sees in you a reason to accept your influence.
Power needs to leashed to a purpose.
Principle #5 Dependency and accountability
Leadership is about people. It is about relationship. Leadership is a relationship of influence with a purpose; the achievement of the shared mission and the nurture of the community.
Leaders are dependent upon the people.
How did Jesus Lead?
Jesus led by example. He said that his purpose was to serve rather than to be served (Mark 10:45), he chose willingly to give up his life for us (John 10:15ff), he even washed the feet of his disciples to show them the pattern of leadership which they were to follow.
Jesus was the ultimate example of a true servant-leader.
One writer defines a servant leader this way:
Servant leadership is not a particular style of leadership, but rather relates to the motivation behind a leader's thoughts, words and actions.
They go on to say:
Servant leaders are not leaders on the basis of their position or leadership role, but rather lead according to their calling, vision and principles. One of the challenges for servant leaders is to ensure that their vision and principles are in line with others in their organisation, and therefore it is highly important for them to engage with others to develop a common vision and shared values.
If we aspire to lead as Jesus led, if we aspire to be people of influence, then we must seek to commit to developing the pattern of servant-leadership we see in the ministry of Jesus.
What might this mean for us?
Followers first, leaders second.
Perhaps the most important principle is the rearranging of our priorities. First and foremost we are followers of Jesus Christ. If we don't get this relationship right then we will fall into patterns of leadership that seek to have power over others, to control and manage more than to serve.
Secure in Christ.
If we are "in Christ" then we have all that we need. We don't need power, we don't need position, we have everything already. In other words, if we have security in Christ we are free to serve him and others in his name because we have nothing to prove and nothing to protect and nothing to gain.
Christ-like character.
All through this series we have seen that in the end it all comes down to character. The Bible is a book about character. To lead like Jesus demands that we develop character like Jesus.
Three questions then remain: Who are you like? Where is your security? Who are you following?
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