Good Morning Friends,
Many people want hope, comfort, and security but they refuse to take the first step of turning away from sin and seeking to obey God. Some cohorts never seem to repent and turn to God in obedience. They are like a bad crop with a lousy harvest. They cycle through but leave a lousy legacy not realizing that out of darkness can come light. Thankfully, some ages surrender to God and become blessed with a wholeness and abundant provision of a fulfilling life. Perhaps you have such a life. You can. It is God’s promise to those who profit from His teaching and let the Holy Spirit lead their life. Good leaders in this regard are critical but some of the bests are not so hardnosed or as well-known as you might imagine. So, Does Your Generation Lead Like Jesus, Filled With The Holy Spirit Molding Their Character?
Scripture: Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you for your own good, who leads you in the way you should go. O that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your prosperity would have been like a river, and your success like the waves of the sea; your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me.
Isaiah 48:17-19 (NRSV)
“But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
Matthew 11:16-19 (NRSV)
So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.
Matthew 1:17 (NRSV)
Message: The style of leaders and their integrity varies widely. Let us look with an advent mind set at the leadership styles in today’s lectionary readings. John the Baptist, for example, was your tough legalistic leader. He was the righteous law upholder, reminding everyone that if you did not repent and be baptized that you would see the wrath of God. When John saw sin, he exposed it with blunt confrontation. John accused Herod the king telling him God would punish him because it was not lawful for him to have his sister-in-law as his wife, and it cost him his head. But despite his rough confrontational style John was sincerely holy and loved God’s righteousness. This type of righteous aggressiveness served a purpose and may be needed for exposure of the evil of certain people’s sins and situations, but it really is very different from the tender-hearted merciful leadership style of Jesus. So, something interesting is happening with these two leadership styles. John attacks and condemns with the truth, but Jesus loves and forgives with the truth. The original carrot and stick team. Undoubtedly you know certain people that reflect both styles. Some people will accuse their leaders as being hard, harsh, and unforgiving while, yet others offer understanding and forgiveness. Jesus was confronted with religious leaders that accused him and John falsely, arguing points with the only purpose being to discredit them. They rejected the Messiah and that was the most serious of sins. Still aside from the incident with the Temple money changes, Jesus was a tender-hearted mercy giver. Remember how Jesus reacted when the people caught the woman in the act of adultery. It was a set up and Jesus knew it. But Jesus did not hit the plotters with rebuking words direct like John might have, instead he exposed sin by the conviction of the Holy Spirit. And for the woman, he did not say let God’s judgments reign down and stone her. He replied that she should go and sin no more. The point is that everyone can and should repent and be forgiven to start a new life in God’s will. The power of the Holy Spirit should not be underestimated.
And So, leadership that follows Jesus is a process of influence in partnership with the Holy Spirit that is connected over many generations and cultures and comforts sometimes and convicts at others. When we seek to influence the thinking, behavior, or development of people toward accomplishing a goal in their personal, professional or community life we are taking on the role of a leader but to be successful we need to consider the history of the situation in which we are called to lead and the approach the Holy Spirit is calling for. The approach can be as intimate as words of guidance and encouragement to a loved one or as formal as instructions passed through extended lines of communication in organizations though policies and procedures. The process is about equipping people to follow when we are not with them in the flesh to guide each step they take. So, to lead like Jesus engages the Holy Spirit to sustain and sometimes redeem the effort. That is how Jesus leads and a generation that understands this will profit. Not everyone will be a leader in the grand sense that transforms but if we are willing to follow Jesus as a role model everyone can be a leader in some part of life to the Glory of God. We were made for this. Whether it is through the life we lead or the organization we provide to fill a societal need, the focus is to be one of servant leadership. So, know the times and season and lead with love in the power of the Holy Spirit. Recognize that the common barrier of each generation to embrace Jesus in a leadership role and as a model lies in skepticism about the relevance of His teaching to our specific leadership situations. So, it helps to realize that Jesus is the answer in all situations and that unfortunately not all will see the answer. We like John need to decrease so that Jesus can increase. Each individual and each generation must choose who they will follow.
Pray we realize that our future depends on our past and present attitude and actions toward God. Pray people’s hearts of stone turn to Jesus and his rule of love. Pray we realize that even if we have thwarted God’s purposes in our past, God is willing to restore us, for God is a God of redemption. Pray we accept God’s gracious promises and turn to the Jesus Way in a willingness to be obedient to His Word and His Truth. Pray we realize that there is a time and season for just about everything but that ultimately the wisdom of Jesus must be followed. Pray we realize that the conviction of the Holy Spirit paired with love is not weak and milquetoast but the strongest leadership force in the universe because its influence can transform the world.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 