5 ways Jesus developed His team
If you’re a Christian, then it’s a no-brainer to think of Jesus in terms of the ultimate leader. After all, He leads heaven and earth, right?
But when He was on earth, clothed in humanity, how did Jesus implement the essential leadership skill of team building? Servant leadership is not only about building ourselves up, but building others too.
1. Jesus delegated
How many times have you heard about the importance of delegating? Church leaders should be great at this, but are often the worst. We’ve all heard the excuses: “I can do it better. I can do it faster.”
However, what’s behind the excuses is a fear of letting go, a lack of trust, and—bottom line—a lack of real desire to see others grow.
Jesus didn’t do everything himself even though some of the jobs He delegated weren’t very exciting. The disciples had to learn that life wasn’t surfing from one wave crest to the next. So, Jesus sent Peter fishing so that they could pay the temple tax (Matthew 17:27), and sent two of His disciples on a mundane job to fetch a colt (Matthew 21:1-2).
However, Jesus gave His disciples exciting jobs to do too. Once, He sent 70 people on a challenging excursion to preach the gospel and heal the sick (Luke 10:1-9). They weren’t even allowed to take with them any money or supplies!
Jesus’ disciples weren’t always thrilled at the possibility of a delegated task. For instance, in Luke 9:13 when He told them to feed 5,000 men, they balked at the idea and Jesus ended up doing it himself.
Even though Jesus could have done every delegated task better himself, He delegated anyway. That’s how you build a team.
2. Jesus gave stretch goals
A stretch goal is a goal that’s very challenging to achieve. Stretch goals stretch a person’s faith, abilities and sometimes their stamina, basically because they’re a little (or a long way) beyond reach and force a person to rely on God.
Examples of stretch goals were when Jesus commanded Peter to fulfill an impossible task and walk on water; the impossible mission that we call the Great Commission; or the calling to live by the impossible standards of the Sermon on the Mount.
No surprise that such goals stretch our faith, but stretching brings growth.
3. Jesus gave away authority
Many leaders balk at this.
They think that giving away authority to others will undermine their own. However, if the leadership team under the senior leader doesn’t have any authority, it will stifle growth and create an unnecessary bottleneck. In that setting, nothing happens without the senior leader’s OK, and often, that means that nothing happens.
Jesus wasn’t afraid to give authority to others. In Luke 9, He gave the 12 power and authority over demons as well as to cure diseases. In Luke 10:19, He gave authority to the 70. In fact, the whole point of the tiny parable in Mark 13:34 is that He has given authority to all of His servants.
Will mistakes be made when authority is delegated? Absolutely! But that’s another way the team grows. And besides, what senior leader can claim that they never made a mistake? Except for Jesus, that is.
4. Jesus gave feedback to His team
Jesus evaluated the efforts of His team and gave them feedback, both positive and negative. When the 70 returned from their mission, they were stoked to find that even the demons had been subject to them in Jesus’ name.
However, Jesus brought in a note of correction that kept their focus in the right place. They were not to rejoice about the subjugation of demons, but the fact that their names were written in heaven.
When Peter boldly declared that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus quickly commended him. But only a few short verses later, He rebuked him for not having the right priorities.
Feedback keeps the team on track, both spiritually and missionally.
5. Jesus gave His team a shared mission
Jesus gave His team both a shared mission and a common goal. Their shared mission was the Great Commission. Their common goal was to be witnesses empowered by the Holy Spirit as in Acts 1:8.
The overall commonality of the team’s vision, mission and goals is what keeps a church heading in the right direction. It makes use of the important principle of alignment which harnesses the power of a team and makes possible the unity that results in blessing.
The result is synergy.
But if authority is delegated to other leaders, how can you guarantee the alignment continues? Easy. Each leader in the church can develop their own vision for their particular area as long as it is subservient to the overall mission and vision of the church.
Photo source: istock
 | Tony Llewellyn is an Australian pastor, author, musician and songwriter. He and his beautiful wife Alli have two adult children. Tony authored 11 books on biblical and musical topics, released five CDs and runs two websites: HotSermons.com and HotPraise.com. |
More on Servant Leadership
- Six critical issues to prevent church members from dropping out (by Thom Rainer)
- Reflecting on twenty years of Blackaby Ministries International (by Richard Blackaby)
- A leadership assignment I hope you will take (by Tom Crenshaw)
- 3 ways to improve decision making and build a stronger culture (by Jenni Catron)
