Tone Deaf Leadership versus Servant Leadership

 A few months ago, I began to write down some thoughts about leadership, but they were not thoughts about good leadership. I decided to list a few characteristics that might identify the "tone deaf" leader. You can find the list below. Please feel free to add to it as needed.

Tone deaf leadership . . . 

1)  . . . thinks it knows the people it leads, when in reality it only knows a caricature of those people. 

2) . . . pretends to "belong" to the people while really keeping a safe "distance" from them.

3) . . . enjoys the perks and prestige of the position, enjoys acknowledgement and acclaim, but fails to identify with the lowest of the low or the humble people. This leader wants the "best" but refuses to identify with the "least."

4) . . . offers a message that is "emotional" in content while lacking intellectual context or perspective.

5) . . . pretends to be a great communicator while utilizing simple catchphrases or pithy emotional slogans instead of topics of substance. 

6) . . . talks in ambiguous terms and tries to make people think he is a "prophet" or a stellar intellect while simply saying what will gain the most attention or the largest audience. 

7) . . . desires attention and focuses on gaining an audience or attention without giving concerns to consistency or the needs of others. 

8) . . . tends to be idle--comfort and success are more important than anything else including the people he claims to "serve." 

I'm sure that there are more, but these are the characteristics I wrote down. For comparison and contrast, look at Jesus' standard of leadership as revealed in Philippians 2 by Paul. The materials in verses 1-8 of this chapter reveal the actions and heart of a servant leader. 

The servant leader . . . 

1) . . . strives for unity and has the purpose of helping others be more like Jesus. 

2) . . . does not lead out of selfish ambition or conceit. 

3) . . . in humility considers others as more important than himself. 

4) . . . does not look out only for his own interest but is concerned for the benefit and success of others. 

5) . . . obeys God even if it is costly to him personally. 

6) . . . does not think too highly of his own gifts or abilities, but sees gifts as an opportunity to equip others to succeed. 

7) . . . does not see "power" or "prestige" as the goal of leadership, but rather sees service and humility as necessary. 

8) . . . desires to see the people he serves succeed even if no one notices him or his activities. 

Matthew 20:25-28 is Jesus' personal statement on the issue and sets forth the principle that the one who desires to lead must first be humble and serve. 

Which leader would you rather follow? 

Thanks for reading! 

When Jesus Shows Up: This Changes Everything! John 20:19-31

 Here is a sermon I preached almost two years ago about the resurrection of Jesus. I thought it might be a good note for Easter. I hope it blesses you! 

John 20:19-31—When Jesus Shows Up, This Changes Everything

Introduction—Empty Tomb, Mary, A Transformational Encounter with the Living Lord/God; The empty tomb is evidence of the resurrection, but an encounter with the living Jesus is a transformational experience. The disciples believed Mary’s report about the tomb, but they lacked the encounter with the risen Lord. Think about it, how many Old Testament people of faith had a transformational encounter with God? Abraham met God, and we are told that he trusted God to the point to where his faith was counted as righteousness. His encounter with God caused him to believe the God was able to raise someone from the dead. How about Jacob? At Bethel, as he is scared for his own life as he prepares for a meeting with Esau--Jacob has a wrestling match and wins an injured hip. He realizes after the fact that he has encountered God, and he is transformed! Moses meets God in a burning bush, and the encounter with God's glory wrecks his life and gives him a new purpose. He is transformed from a shepherd living in exile to a shepherd of the flocks of Israel! In the New Testament we have the radical encounter of Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus. He encounters the resurrected Jesus and changes from a persecutor to a disciple and the apostle to the Gentiles.

Mary encountered Jesus and her testimony changed from “They’ve taken his body” or “The tomb is empty” to “I’ve seen the Lord!” This encounter changed everything for Mary. No longer concerned to find a corpse to prepare for burial, she has met the living Lord and can’t wait to tell others. She runs to the disciples, but would they believe her testimony? That is the topic of our text today. What happens to the disciples after Mary sees Jesus? What happens when Jesus shows up? This changes everything! (Read John 20:19-31)

Jesus Comes, He Speaks, He Shows

1) When Jesus Shows Up Behind Closed Doors—Scars and Fear (19-23)—The disciples didn’t believe Mary’s testimony about Jesus' resurrection apparently. On the same day that Mary has her encounter, they gather together and hide for “fear of the Jews.” They are scared, and they are hiding. Think of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3: they were scared and they were hiding, and God came to find them. We have a similar situation here, but it is not created by disobedience and sin. 

Remember, these men had expected Jesus to overthrow Rome, to take on the job of Ruler/Messiah. They watched him ride in triumphantly to the praise of the crowd. Expectations were running high, and then everything was dashed to the ground by a single betrayal and a horrible crucifixion. Jesus took on the sin of the world and by dying as a perfect sacrifice provided a means to atonement between fallen humanity and a righteous God. 

The disciples didn’t seem to see that. They saw the gore, they saw the horror, and they were afraid that they might be next on the “hit list” of the Jews and Romans (Remember Don Francisco’s song “He’s alive”). Even though Mary told them the good news of the resurrection, they weren’t having any of it. They hid because they were scared. 

Fear may not be the opposite of faith, but fear can keep us from being faithful. The disciples were afraid. How are we afraid? How does our fear cause us to hide? Maybe we’ve been hurt, and that hurt has driven us to hide from fear of being hurt again. As Adam and Eve (and later, the disciples) learned, hiding in fear doesn’t stop the pain. Maybe we hide in things that cover or mask our pain? Maybe we find ways to ignore or “hide” our scars? Like the disciples, we hide because we are afraid. When we are afraid, we close the doors to keep danger (and others) out. God isn’t hindered by a closed door or by fear. In just these situations, Jesus shows up. 

See how he responds to the disciples. He comes—the door is no obstacle. Whatever you fear, whatever has hurt you cannot keep Jesus from showing up. In fact, those situations are often the special times where he regularly shows up. Think of Abraham, Moses, David, or others in the Bible.

He speaks—Peace be with you. Jesus speaks “Shalom” (wholeness, peace, well-being) to his frightened disciples.

He Shows himself (scars and all)—after he speaks he showed them his hands and his side. Why? To prove it was Jesus, the very same Jesus that they saw horribly murdered just a few days ago. Also, Jesus showed them his scars to remind them that sometimes scars are God’s way of dealing with fear or even bringing peace. Jesus’ scars are the price for our salvation, his suffering brings us peace with God and peace with others. The scars remain EVEN after resurrection as reminders that there is no crown without a cross. There is no salvation without suffering. 

Scars tell our story: Think of your own personal scars. They may be victorious (I won the game!) or sorrowful (I was mistreated or I did something foolish), but scars are part of our identity. Jesus’ scars are part of his identity. They are the reminder of what he did to save us. Yes, scars sometimes come from fear (or maybe fear causes scars), but even those scars (gracefully redeemed by a merciful God) can identify us in our redemption. 

Scars and Fear—when Jesus shows up, these are changed. (Even ugly scars can become beautiful reminders of redemption when God shows up—the scars remain, but they tell a different story because of God’s work—forgiveness story). The presence of Jesus changes everything.

Jesus gives the disciples the Holy Spirit and tells them that he will send them as the Father sent him. They are agents of forgiveness who may well suffer for the ministry to which God has set them apart. Suffering may result in the healing of others (kind of like Jesus’ suffering saves us from our sins), but we are sent nonetheless. As the Father sent Jesus, we must go so that others can meet Jesus and receive his forgiveness. 

People may be afraid of what Jesus has to offer through us, but his presence will be their redemption too. Scars and Fear—when Jesus shows up, these are changed. The presence of Jesus changes everything. But in our story Jesus didn’t just show up to the fearful behind closed doors, he also makes himself known to the bothered and bewildered—to Thomas. When Jesus shows up, even the bothered person can find peace. This changes everything

2) When Jesus Shows Up to the Bewildered and Bothered—Scars and Doubt (24-28)—Thomas is known primarily for one thing—he is the Doubting one. Nonetheless, this isn’t "beat up on Thomas" day, so I want you to see Thomas’ story through different lenses. Just like the fear of the other disciples caused them to hide (and even created some scars—think of Peter’s denial and his later restoration in John 21), the doubt of Thomas creates a scar for him. 

This is the Mary story all over again. The disciples saw Jesus, and their story went from “The tomb is empty” to “We’ve seen the Lord!” Their radical encounter with the living Jesus had changed everything for them, but Thomas wasn’t having any of it. He wanted to see for himself. A good empiricist, Thomas wanted hard evidence—the warm body of Jesus and not just the hot words of testimony from the disciples. 

A week after that first dinner appearance, Thomas is with the disciples when Jesus shows up again. Jesus comes, he speaks, and he shows. Thomas is changed by the encounter: “My Lord and my God!” Thomas got it. This appearance of the living Messiah, this resurrected, warm, breathing, and scarred Jesus wrecked the doubt of Thomas. Doubt (like fear) isn’t necessarily the opposite of faith (faithlessness is the opposite of faith—to disobey is the opposite of faith). Thomas wanted to see for himself, he wouldn’t accept the testimony of many others. He’d been scarred before. Maybe the words of others didn’t pan out for him? Maybe the testimony of others caused him harm or didn’t work out positively? 

Maybe you can identify? Yeah, you hear the testimonies of others and you wonder “I’m not sure I buy it. Things don’t work out for me that way.” But note what Thomas’ doubt did for him—he asked he hard questions—“Jesus show us the Father” and “Where are you going, Lord?” (John 14) and now he is asking for hard evidence. Maybe our doubt keeps us locked in fear, and we simply don’t speak up. We don’t want to be the “odd duck” in the crowd. Remember, Jesus shows up when we are locked up in our doubt. Jesus shows up and shows his scars. 

Thomas sees his scarred Lord and makes a bold confession. Jesus wants to show up in our doubts, he wants to apply the balm of his scarred body to our scars of doubt and fear, but we must respond to him. Will we? Will we speak up? Will we confess him as “Lord and God” even when things don’t seem to be going well? Do we have to see to believe? Jesus shows up, and his presence changes everything. But there is really good news—you don’t need a physical revelation of Jesus. He comes, he speaks, and he reveals himself in many ways even today.

3) When Jesus Shows Up Beyond Sight to Faith—Scars and Faith (29-31)—Most of us have never had a “burning bush” or a “Damascus Road” vision with God (but if you have had one, I’d love to hear the story), but we can experience God’s presence by the testimony of others and by the words of his revelation (his Scripture and his Spirit). In fact, Jesus says here that we are more blessed than even those who first heard, first saw, and first testified of the living resurrected Lord. When we believe in him without the empirical or mystical experience, we are living breathing tabernacles of the living God, we are his examples.

Jesus comes to us—in our problems, our scars, our fears, our doubts

Jesus speaks to us—by his Book and by his Spirit

Jesus shows himself to us—in his community of faithful people and in creation around us.

We have scars, but in the midst of these struggles Jesus calls us to faith—faith is faithfulness, it is responding to God’s revelation with obedience and trust that Jesus will do what he promised. It is the child trusting his Father to act like a good father. Faith is hearing the testimony about and of God, and responding with obedience. When we do that, we’ll find that we are adding to the written (and spoken) testimony of centuries of believers. We become some of the “other signs” performed by Jesus.

Conclusion—What now?

How do we respond to this? Will we continue to hide in fear or abide in doubt, or will we choose to believe in this transformational God and embrace him as a person who wears scars to save us even in our fear and doubt? 

Here are some practical applications for this sermon.

1) Admit your fear, but don't let it keep you from seeing Jesus. Remember, he is among us as the Suffering Servant, the one who bore our sins in his scars. This week, ask God to show you where you are letting your fear hinder you from obeying God. This week confess your fear, admit your doubts, then step out and obey God anyway. Do a search in Scripture for the words "Peace" and "Do not be afraid." Note how many times God shows up to his people when they are fearful or in need of his peace. Note also how many of those people then acted in obedience to God in spite of their fear.

2) Embrace your scars. I'm not saying that we need to celebrate or rehearse the wounds that have harmed us or hindered our spiritual growth. What I mean is we need to remember that the scars are part of life, and they tell part of our story. Let God redeem those scars and change them from ugly wounds to marks of redemption. How do we do that? We have to come to the wounded Savior, to recognize that his wounds heal us and make our wounds beautiful. Your scars and the story that goes with them may well speak grace and peace to someone else. Let God use your scars . Imitate Jesus here. His scars identified his suffering, but they also showed his victory. Jesus' scars heal us, and he can use our scars to help others. 

3) Renew your relationship with Jesus. Remember that a personal transformational relationship is possible, but relationships run two ways. We must invest time with Jesus if we hope to grow in relation to him. Any relationship to which we do not devote time and communication is pretty much destined to fail. God has spoken to us in Scripture and in the life of Jesus. This week spend time in God's Word, spend time in prayer with him, and grow in your knowledge of and relationship to him. Make time for Jesus. 

Remember, when Jesus shows up, this changes everything! 

Thanks for reading!