Lead like Jesus 1 – Heart of a Leader

Leadership is an important part of our lives. From our parents teaching us how to succeed in school, to managing our finances – leadership is vital. Many successful people would try to sell you a complicated formula to make you into a leader. However, leadership is defined as influence. Jesus is the greatest leader, because no one else has anything close to the amount of influence that Jesus has with his followers, and even the world at large. This leader, wants to shape you, mold you, and perfect you into the leader you are meant to be. How many of you are leaders? Raiseyour hands today if you are a leader.The world is in need of leaders. At everylevel the world is looking for leadership. • Governments at every level… federal,state, & city. We are constantly firingone leader in hopes of finding a betterleader.• Every business that wants to make it inthis turbulent economy is looking forleadership.• The culture is looking for leadership.• Your family, your children are looking forleadership. The world is in need of leaders. Christians should be the bestleaders In a world in need of leaders, a Christian,a follower of Jesus should be in greatdemand. Churches should be leadership centers.People should drive by a church andexclaim “Those are some problemsolvers. There are some wise people.There are those brave innovators. Thereare those people who seem to see whatcan’t be seen, almost like they knowwhat is going to happen before ithappens and without fail marchundaunted into the struggle.” Christians should be the bestleaders because Jesus is thegreatest leadership model. Perhaps you are hearing me say that andyou are questioning if it is true. How canJesus be a better leader than… JeffBezos, Elon Musk, or Bill Gates? Is Hereally a better leader than some on theworld’s government leadership stage.In order for me to prove to you thatJesus is the greatest leader, you need tounderstand what leadership is. Leadership is Influence I asked you to raise your hand if youwere a leader, and some you did notraise your hand. Let me tell you why youdid not raise your hand. You believethat leadership is… A position or a title that appears on anorganizational flow chart.• A degree or certificate someone earnsafter years in a school.• A skill that you are born with and somepeople just seem to have it.Leadership is influence – the capacity toeffect change.Every one of you should have raisedyour hands, because all of you haveinfluence. You may be a single parent and thinkyou are not a leader, but I would tell youthat you are hugely influential to yourkids and to your peers around you.You may be a young person today andfeel like you are not old enough to be aleader, but I would tell you that youhave a lot of influence on those aroundyou. You may be a retired grand-parent whosays “I am too old to be a leader.” Iwould tell you that grand-parents aremore important than ever, and the nextgeneration is looking to their grandparents for influence. Every single person in this room hasinfluence. The kind of influence may bedifferent. The area of influence may bedifferent. The amount of influence maybe different, but every person listeningto me right now… YOU HAVEINFLUENCE. Leadership is influence and I want to tellyou that NO ONE has ever influencedour world more than Jesus. No one has influenced ourworld more than JesusWe mark our time by the birth of Jesus.We mark our time B.C. & A.D. Whatdoes that mean? B.C. means “BeforeChrist” and A.D means “Anno Domini –Latin for “The year of our Lord.” Why is it the year 2021? Because 2021years ago a single person named Jesuswas born in Bethlehem.What are the 2 most widely celebratedholidays in the world? Christmas &Easter are celebrated throughout theworld. Christmas celebrates the birth ofone man Jesus and Easter remembersthe resurrection of one man Jesus. The teachings of one man named Jesushave changed the world. His teachingsinfluenced the creation of colleges &hospitals. His teaching have influencedlegal systems & government formations. Imagine you lived 2000 years ago youwere going to gamble. You were goingto gamble on who would have the mostlasting influence… The world empire ofRome with their military and Caesar or asingle Jew in Israel. There is NO WAY you would have placedmoney on a Jewish man named Jesus…Imagine a little baby born in poverty…born in a stable and laid in a manger.Imagine a child born under the shadowof the Roman government and underthe emperor Caesar. Imagine this man working as an ordinarycarpenter.Imagine this man calling simpleuneducated followers.And yet… All throughout the world wename our children after the followers ofJesus – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John… andwe name our dogs after Nero & Caesar.BECAUSE NO ONE HAS INFLUENCEDOUR WORLD MORE THAN JESUS. He isthe greatest leader you could everfollow. You can go to the book store and youcan go to a section called “self help.”You will find many leadership books inthis section. I recommend you readthese books. There are many books Icould recommend you find at Barnes &Nobles, but I really want to suggest thatthe best leadership book is your Bible,8 | Pagebecause it shows you the greatestleadership model in Jesus.Lead Like Jesus Over the next 5 weeks we are going tobe studying the greatest leader of alltime and learning how we can lead likeJesus.I promise you that if you will come toevery installment of this series that youwill be a better leader.In this series we are going to talk about5 things.The heart of a leaderThe hands of a leaderThe head of a leader The habits of a leaderThe legacy of a leaderToday I want to talk to you about theHeart of a Leader. Heart of a LeaderBefore we talk about any strategy, anyhabit, any piece of knowledge, we musttalk about the heart. The most important part of a leader isthe heart. Proverbs 4:23(NIV) Above all else,guard your heart, for everything youdo flows from it. Good leadership does not flow from abook, a business plan, or a reallyinspiring speech. Good leadership willflow from the heart, because everythingflows from the heart. This simple concept is where everyonemesses up. Every book on leadership,conference, or seminar focuses what todo and how to do it. But to lead likeJesus you start with the heart… you startwith the WHY! If your heart… if your why is not right,then your WHAT & HOW will never beright. Why do you want to lead?What is your Motivation?Your motivation to be a leader isessential. Before you ever call yourmeeting, before you ever start yourorganization, if you do not correct yourheart’s motivation you will fail beforeyou begin. The question of why is all about theheart. What is the heart of the leadersaying? The Motive bookLeadership author Patrick Lencioni in hisbook “The Motive” does one of the bestjobs at addressing the motivations tolead. He boils it all down to 2 drivingmotivations.Reward & ResponsibilityLet’s explain what he means by reward& responsibility.Reward – You are motivated by theperks and power of leading.Responsibility – You are motivated by the responsibility to serve and care forthe people you lead.Reward wants the bigger salary, thebigger office, the higher position on theorg chart… Reward wants people tonotice them and to think higher of them.Reward wants fun, so you use the powerto assign all the boring menial junkassignments to those below you so thatyou can have the fun tasks. Responsibility wants to serve, help, andlift up the ones we lead.When we think about Jesus as theultimate leadership model, which ofthese 2 motivations does Jesus display?Everything Jesus did as a leader was outof a heart to serve. Nothing Jesus didwas for personal reward. Think about the posture of Jesus…He knelt down to write in the dirt torescue the woman caught in adultery.He bends down to take dirt to heal theblind man.He reaches down to take up littlechildren. He kneels in prayer.Jesus teaches us this.When you bend down toserve, God can lift you up tolead. When you focus on the responsibility itallows God to focus on the reward.It allows God to say “Well done goodand faithful servant, enter into myhappy reward…” Matthew 25:23.Jesus is a servant leader. Jesus did notjust bark out orders and then sit in acushy office. Jesus served out ofresponsibility & love. Are you leading like Jesus in this area?Are you focused on reward orresponsibility? Lead like JesusTurn with me to Matthew 20:20 wherewe will see a great example ofresponsibility & reward motivation.Jesus had just told the disciples for the3rd time that He will suffer death on thecross… and then this happens. Matthew 20:20-21(NIV) Then themother of Zebedee’s sons came toJesus with her sons and, kneelingdown, asked a favor of him. 21“What is it you want?” he asked. Shesaid, “Grant that one of these twosons of mine may sit at your rightand the other at your left in yourkingdom.” 2 disciples, James & John come to Jesuswith their mom. What are they seeking?They are seeking reward… promotion…status… in Jesus’ Kingdom. James & Johnwho have been walking with Jesus foraround 3 years bring their mom to askJesus for them… When was the last time you broughtyour mom to your boss to help younegotiate a raise? This is exactly whatJames & John did. The mom asks Jesusto pick one of her sons to sit at his righthand as 2nd in command, and the otherson to sit at his left as 3rd in command.Jesus had been trying to instill in hisdisciples the responsibility of serving, yetJames, John & their mom are focused onthe reward. But James & John wherenot the only ones with the wrongmotivation… Matthew 20:24(NIV) 24 When theten heard about this, they wereindignant with the two brothers.The other 10 disciples heard about whatJames & John were trying to do, they allbecame indignant with the brothers. Why? Because they too were after thereward & not the responsibility.They all thought that this Jesus wasgoing to become an earthly king andthat following Jesus would lead toposition, power, & money in the bank.All 12 of the disciples are jockeying forthe reward of being big on Jesus’organizational flow chart when He comesinto His kingdom. The other 10 discipleswere mad at the brothers because theythought “Why didn’t I think to do that!?Hey maw come talk to Jesus for me…” Jesus revealed his heart of responsibilityas he just told them for the 3rd time thathe was going to serve the whole worldby dying a horrific death on the cross…and they couldn’t even understand thisbecause they were all thinking about thereward. Here is how Jesus responds to this boldrequest for reward… Matthew 20:22(NIV) “You don’tknow what you are asking,” Jesussaid to them. “Can you drink the cupI am going to drink?” “We can,” theyanswered. Jesus says you “You don’t get it.” Theywanted a place at his right and his left,and Jesus had just told them about hisdeath on the cross. On the cross… whowas on his right & left, but two outcastsdying upon the cross. Jesus asks “can you drink the cup I amgoing to drink?” This should remind allof us of Jesus praying in the garden ofGethsemane where he drank the cup ofwrath for us. (Matthew 26:39) And these brothers James & John say“We can.” They are only thinking aboutreward… The rest of the disciples areonly thinking about reward. All 12disciples are now angry at one anotherbecause they think someone else isgoing to receive a greater reward thanthey will receive. So Jesus calls a leadership timeout.Jesus has a conference with his 12 andteaches them the true heart of a leader.Matthew 20:25(NIV) Jesus calledthem together and said, “You knowthat the rulers of the Gentiles lord itover them, and their high officialsexercise authority over themJesus tells them something they alreadyknow… He says “YOU KNOW.” Jesus says the “rulers of the gentiles.”Jesus here is directly referencing thegentile nation of Rome and how theirleaders exercise authority over others.Every leader in Rome was a rewardmotivated leader. Every leader built upmore power so that they could get moreriches and also use their power to pusheveryone down. Jesus told the disciples“YOU KNOW THIS…” and the disciplesare like “yeah Jesus… that’s what wewant.” Looking back at the text the words “lordit over them” and “exercise authority”both have the same root Greek word“kata” which means TO PUT DOWN.The disciples were ok with puttingothers down so that they could receivereward. Our world is overflowing with this kindof leadership. It is the leadership modelof Rome… it is the leadership model ofthe world to put others down so thatyou get more reward. It is actually easyfor us to justify this kind of leadershipbecause it is so prevalent. We can tellourselves that it is ok for us to putothers down because that is just howthe business world works…But Jesus says these 4 words to Hisfollowers. NOT SO WITH YOU Jesus draws a line in the sand and saysNO. My followers will NOT be like this.My kingdom is not motivated by puttingothers down so that you can gain morereward.Jesus is telling them “I don’t want you toever have a heart motivation that is allabout you.” And so Jesus offers them analternative heart for leadership.Matthew 20:26-28(NIV)Not so withyou. Instead, whoever wants tobecome great among you must beyour servant, 27 and whoever wantsto be first must be your slave—2 WORDS. One is easier to receive thanthe other. Servant – focused on doingthings for others rather thanoneself.If you are anything like me you are okwith this, but you are already bracingagainst the next word. You are sawing inyour heart that I will serve others but IAM SLAVE TO NO ONE… But this is theexact word Jesus uses. What does itmean to be a slave?Slave – Someone bound toobey their master’scommands & teachings.Serving is not a suggestion but acommand of our master & Lord JesusChrist.We don’t get to decide when and howwe will serve… We are slaves to Jesus…BOUND TO OBEY HIS COMMAND.This means when Jesus tells me to servesomeone… I don’t get to say no.When Jesus says to forgive someone… Idon’t get to say no.If you are having trouble with this Iwould ask you to check your heart. Iwould ask you to check your motivationbecause I guarantee you are focused onreward and not responsibility.If you lead for any reason other than toserve others, you will never be a greatleader. It’s impossible to lead like Jesus, if youwon’t serve like Jesus.Jesus Christ did not just give us theprinciple… He gave us the model byliving it out. Here is the next verse. Matthew 20:28(NIV) just as theSon of Man did not come to beserved, but to serve, and to givehis life as a ransom for many.” The greatest leader ever said that He didnot come to be served, but to serve…Not to receive a reward but to give hislife as a ransom. Lead Like JesusI want you to think about the peoplewho had the biggest influence on yourlife. I am certain that it is someone whoserved you. A parent who gave their life for you dayafter day.• A coach that spent extra time with youand saw something in you that othersdid not see.• A teacher… Everyone else said youwould never amount to anything butthey poured themselves into you… notfor themselves but to serve you.What kind of leader are you?Reward leaders want you to realizetheir greatness. Servant leaders want you to realizeyour greatness.Reward leaders find their value intheir performance + the approval ofothers.Servant leaders find their value in oneplace – God. Reward leaders hate criticismbecause it is all about them.Servant leaders willingly receivecriticism and use it to help themserve at a higher level. The world is in need of servantleaders.The world has over 2 billion peoplewho call themselves Christian… butthe world is lacking those that leadlike Jesus. Do you want to lead like Jesus?Come ask Him to effect your heart.Don’t run from the conviction you arefeeling from him… run fully towardsthat conviction and allow Him toshape and mold you into the leaderthe world needs.Disciples hear the words of Jesus…NOT SO WITH YOU.