On Leading Well

Category: Leadership

  • Similarities in Leadership of Jesus and Paul – Part 2

    As servant leaders with a clear calling and vision for God’s glory to be spread to all nations, both Jesus and Paul exhibited core aspects of servant leadership. Recently, we looked at the first three similarities in their lives and ministries: calling, intimacy with God, and love.  Today we continue with three more.

    Humility

    The King of Kings and Lord of Lords said of himself, “I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Matt. 11:28). Paul frequently spoke of humility (e.g., Acts 20:19; 2 Cor. 10:1; 11:7; Eph. 4:2; Phil. 2:3, 8; Col. 3:12). Humility is the opposite of pride, which may be a servant leader’s greatest enemy. Humility is a dominant theme in the preaching and practice of both men.

    Zeal

    Both manifested intense passion for God and his glory among the nations. When Jesus cleansed the temple, he quoted Isaiah 56:7 “my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples (cf. Luke 19:45-46). His disciples remembered, “it was written ‘zeal for your house will consume me’” (John 2:17). Paul exhorted leaders to lead “with zeal” and not be slothful in zeal but “fervent in spirit, serving the Lord” (Rom. 12:8, 11).

    Empowerment

    Empowerment is about trust because it requires sharing power with others. Both Jesus and Paul invested in people as their primary strategy by aggressively entrusting others with the mission. Jesus bypassed the temptation to be enthralled with the crowds who followed him, choosing instead to prayerfully select twelve men, with an inner circle of three, to “be with him.” To these he imparted the majority of his teaching and training (e.g., Mark 3:13-20). Paul also had clear selection criteria for his missionary teams and local church leaders (e.g., Acts 15:36-40; 2 Tim. 2:2; Titus 1:5-9; 2:2-10). Both men actively involved women in their ministries (e.g., Luke 8:1-3; John 4:5-30; Acts 16:13; Rom. 16:3).* Both men trained and released other leaders by sending them out (e.g., Matt. 28:18-20; John 20:21; Acts 14:21-24; Titus 1:5). Thus they prayerfully, intentionally, and strategically risked the future of the church by empowering others.

    Where do you run the greatest risk of giving into the temptation of pride? 

    Merriam-Webster defines “zeal” as “eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of something.” To what degree does this currently reflect your pursuit of God and His glory?

    When was the last time you strategically risked the future of your ministry by empowering someone else?

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    *     Eckhard J. Schnabel, Paul the Missionary, page 251. Schnabel notes: “The circle of Paul’s coworkers included a considerable number of women. It has been estimated that 18 percent of Paul’s missionary coworkers were women.” He lists Paul’s female coworkers who shared in Paul’s work and were specifically identified with the Greek affix syn, or “with,” as Phoebe, Priscilla, Mary, Junia, Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Persis (all from Rom. 16), Apphia (Philem. 2), and Euodia and Syntyche (Phil. 4:2-3).

  • Similarities in Leadership of Jesus and Paul – Part 1

    Jesus and Paul both left immense spiritual legacies. Their approaches to leadership shared many similarities and one profound difference. As servant leaders with a clear calling and vision for God’s glory to be spread to all nations, both Jesus and Paul exhibited core aspects of servant leadership through their lives, strategies, and methods. This list is not intended to be exhaustive, but to capture some of the key similarities in their ministries.

    Calling

    Each viewed himself as called by God as a servant sent to proclaim the good news. Understanding and acceptance of one’s calling provides a deep personal sense of security and emotional stability. This stable foundation allows one to freely serve others without risking personal worth. A clear sense of calling also provides motivation to endure through inevitable difficulty and suffering. Jesus frequently referred to his calling and purpose (e.g., Luke 19:10; Mark 10:45; John 13:1-4), as did Paul in the majority of his letters (e.g., Rom. 1:1-5; 15:20-21; 1 Cor. 9:15-23).

    Intimacy with God

    Jesus and Paul constantly affirmed and modeled the fundamentals of pursuing unbroken fellowship and abiding intimacy with God. These practices included devotion (e.g., Mark 1:35; 2 Cor. 11:3), intercessory prayer (e.g., Luke 11:1-13; Eph. 1:15-23), and walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit (e.g., Luke 4:1; Gal. 5:22-23). A servant’s ministry shrivels up when an abiding first love for God is abandoned (e.g., John 15:1-8; Rev. 2:1-5).

    Love

    Both men constantly referred to the primacy of agapao love. Jesus summarized the entire Old Testament law in two commands: Love God and love people (Matt. 22:37-40). He gave a new commandment to his disciples to love one another “just as I have loved you,” promising that “by this all people will know that you are my disciples (John 13:34-35). Jesus connected love to obedience and to the indwelling presence of the Helper, the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-17). Love was Paul’s dominant ethic, far above service, self-sacrifice, faith, or hope (cf. 1 Cor. 13:1-8; Gal. 5:22-23). Paul’s missionary teams were controlled by the love of Christ as they served as ambassadors in the ministry of reconciliation (cf. 2 Cor. 5:14-21).

    How fresh is your sense of the Lord’s calling?  How intimate is your relationship with Him? Are you consistently growing in love for God and others?

  • Foundations of Leading Well over Distance

    Over the past 15 years I have constantly sought to answer this burning question, which I call the “Ten Day Rule of Heart:” If a global leader has no more than ten days per year of face-to-face time with his or her co-laborers in a multinational context, how can one appropriately serve, strengthen, inspire, align, equip, and coach those field leaders to live and lead well throughout the other 355 days?

    This question informed my recent thesis research on servant leadership across distance and cultures. This series of posts will share some of the insights I gleaned from exploring Scripture, current research and best practices, and interviews with more than 80 global leaders.

    The Need for a New Paradigm

    Effective spiritual leadership across distance and cultures is a crucial topic for all Christian missions right now as the lines between local and global cultures blur, as the majority world surpasses North America in sending missionaries, as hierarchical organizations flatten into peer networks, and as a new generation of volunteers and full-time laborers assume responsibility for the Great Commission. Ministry in the 21st century will require character-grounded, innovative servant leaders who can flex with God’s Spirit and who are comfortable leading over greater distances with less control over God’s people.

    Where do we find models of leaders like this? Whether you are leading across a city or across time zones, you are probably experiencing some of the challenges of 21st century global leadership. The New Testament offers abundant examples of servant leaders who led well in local and distance contexts.  If we focus on the ministries of Jesus and Paul, we find that while their immediate scope may have been different, many foundational elements of their leadership were the same.

    Jesus: Up Close and Personal

    Jesus’ ministry was primarily local and focused on one people group. The Jews to whom he ministered shared a common heritage, language, and culture. Geographically, the majority of Jesus’ ministry events recorded in the gospels took place within a 15-mile radius of two primary locations: the Sea of Galilee in the north and Jerusalem in the south.

    Paul: Loving Over Distance

    In contrast to Jesus, Paul’s ministry was primarily cross-cultural and conducted over great distance. Paul and his missionary teams would have covered about 1,200 miles as the crow flies from Jerusalem to Berea in Macedonia, one of their most remote areas of church planting. They covered great distances in relatively short periods of time, rarely lingering more than a few Sabbaths in any particular location.

    Though Jesus and Paul ministered in different contexts, their ministries had many similarities.  We’ll look at some of these similarities in the next three posts.

    If you have led locally and over distance, what are some of the similarities and differences you’ve encountered?