From DIFFERENT KIND OF GREAT
THE GREATEST
When I think of that day, I imagine it to have been hot and dusty. A ragged and testy group of men and women are slowly making their way to the big city, every day bringing them a little closer. To say the tension among them is thick would be a gross understatement. The leader, stubbornly determined, entertains no alternative views in this matter. The others follow. Some hold their doubts close, silently and grimly putting one foot in front of the other. Others, more bold, cannot help making their dissent known. This journey is foolish, after all. Dangerously so. They are playing into their enemies’ hands. Conflict will be inevitable; their very survival hanging in the balance. And what if they don’t make it? What of the great dreams of God’s deliverance and salvation? What of the movement that was even now sweeping the nation so powerfully? It would all be crushed. Yes, there was plenty of tension that day.
But there was hope, too. These unlikely friends had seen too much to fully give in to despair. So much had happened that seemed more than unlikely just a few years ago. Something was stirring. Everywhere they went, there was a change. They could feel it. Something was in the air. The tired and oppressed people of this great land were coming awake. If they survived, this thing could not be stopped. This movement was going to overtake the nation. There was hope, and something more. Ambition. There would be opportunities for loyal men; opportunities few could have dreamed of. Great influence was just around the corner. Prestige. Honor. Power. It was right there. It was so close.
Hot. Dusty. Fatigued. Afraid. Hopeful. Proud. Ambitious. Tense. And the leader of this motley band tells a story that is probably actually relevant, but to be honest nobody finds it worth the effort just now to figure out how. He tells them of a wealthy farmer seeking day laborers to work his land, and how he hires groups of men throughout the day. He concludes the parable with this cryptic punchline: “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Matthew 20:16).
Nice story, Jesus.
A little later, with a somber look, He pulls the twelve aside — these apostles of a new age and messengers of the Day of the Lord; possibly even rulers of a new Kingdom? Jesus looks at His distracted friends and tries to get through to them yet again. He tells them He is going to die. Soon. In fact, He is going to be murdered in a cruel, humiliating, and excruciatingly painful way. But don’t worry! He is going to rise from the dead. The disciples are understandably worried and not a little confused. What does it all mean?
Something big is going to go down in Jerusalem. That much seems clear. But what does He mean? Surely there is some spiritual significance to all this talk of death that He will explain eventually. Jesus is like that. He loves to speak in riddles and shadows. Yes, something is about to happen — perhaps the great culmination, the Great Beginning. Maybe this will be the moment they have been waiting for. Perhaps this is the time faithful and courageous and bold men will be rewarded.
And so we come to this moment, saturated with doubt and confusion, hope and ambition. Heedless of Jesus’ warnings and ignorant of the message He has been trying to get across, the disciples approach what will prove to be a watershed moment. Jesus is about to redefine leadership for all time, upending the systems of power and authority that have dominated human society for millennia. He will announce that in the coming age, all ideas of leadership will not be simply tweaked or improved or fixed, but will be scrapped and replaced with something completely new. In nothing will the Kingdom make a more profound difference than in the way people exercise influence over one another, than in the way power is gained and wielded.
Matthew tells us that a zealous mother approaches Jesus with a request — at once both igniting the indignation and jealousy of the others and revealing the full extent of their lack of comprehension regarding all Jesus has been telling them. She petitions for her sons to receive the top two positions under Jesus in His new government. Jesus is not shocked by the request. He asks first if they are truly willing to pay the price in suffering that would be necessary. They enthusiastically — and perhaps naively — affirm that they are. He then tells them plainly that He cannot do what they ask because it is His Father who will make such decisions. The other ten followers of course do not appreciate this power play by the sons of Zebedee, and they let their displeasure be known. Things deteriorate. And then Jesus pulls them together and upends everything:
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” — Matthew 20:25-28
We know how leadership works. The leader is in control. The leader has authority. The leader makes decisions. The leader sets the vision. The leader... leads.
Not so with you.
How does one lead without lording? How rule without exercising authority or be great by becoming less? How can one influence by becoming a slave?
How indeed?
Wrestling with these questions will form the basis for much of this book. In these few chapters from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives the ultimate leadership instructions for His Kingdom...
When I think of that day, I imagine it to have been hot and dusty. A ragged and testy group of men and women are slowly making their way to the big city, every day bringing them a little closer. To say the tension among them is thick would be a gross understatement. The leader, stubbornly determined, entertains no alternative views in this matter. The others follow. Some hold their doubts close, silently and grimly putting one foot in front of the other. Others, more bold, cannot help making their dissent known. This journey is foolish, after all. Dangerously so. They are playing into their enemies’ hands. Conflict will be inevitable; their very survival hanging in the balance. And what if they don’t make it? What of the great dreams of God’s deliverance and salvation? What of the movement that was even now sweeping the nation so powerfully? It would all be crushed. Yes, there was plenty of tension that day.
But there was hope, too. These unlikely friends had seen too much to fully give in to despair. So much had happened that seemed more than unlikely just a few years ago. Something was stirring. Everywhere they went, there was a change. They could feel it. Something was in the air. The tired and oppressed people of this great land were coming awake. If they survived, this thing could not be stopped. This movement was going to overtake the nation. There was hope, and something more. Ambition. There would be opportunities for loyal men; opportunities few could have dreamed of. Great influence was just around the corner. Prestige. Honor. Power. It was right there. It was so close.
Hot. Dusty. Fatigued. Afraid. Hopeful. Proud. Ambitious. Tense. And the leader of this motley band tells a story that is probably actually relevant, but to be honest nobody finds it worth the effort just now to figure out how. He tells them of a wealthy farmer seeking day laborers to work his land, and how he hires groups of men throughout the day. He concludes the parable with this cryptic punchline: “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Matthew 20:16).
Nice story, Jesus.
A little later, with a somber look, He pulls the twelve aside — these apostles of a new age and messengers of the Day of the Lord; possibly even rulers of a new Kingdom? Jesus looks at His distracted friends and tries to get through to them yet again. He tells them He is going to die. Soon. In fact, He is going to be murdered in a cruel, humiliating, and excruciatingly painful way. But don’t worry! He is going to rise from the dead. The disciples are understandably worried and not a little confused. What does it all mean?
Something big is going to go down in Jerusalem. That much seems clear. But what does He mean? Surely there is some spiritual significance to all this talk of death that He will explain eventually. Jesus is like that. He loves to speak in riddles and shadows. Yes, something is about to happen — perhaps the great culmination, the Great Beginning. Maybe this will be the moment they have been waiting for. Perhaps this is the time faithful and courageous and bold men will be rewarded.
And so we come to this moment, saturated with doubt and confusion, hope and ambition. Heedless of Jesus’ warnings and ignorant of the message He has been trying to get across, the disciples approach what will prove to be a watershed moment. Jesus is about to redefine leadership for all time, upending the systems of power and authority that have dominated human society for millennia. He will announce that in the coming age, all ideas of leadership will not be simply tweaked or improved or fixed, but will be scrapped and replaced with something completely new. In nothing will the Kingdom make a more profound difference than in the way people exercise influence over one another, than in the way power is gained and wielded.
Matthew tells us that a zealous mother approaches Jesus with a request — at once both igniting the indignation and jealousy of the others and revealing the full extent of their lack of comprehension regarding all Jesus has been telling them. She petitions for her sons to receive the top two positions under Jesus in His new government. Jesus is not shocked by the request. He asks first if they are truly willing to pay the price in suffering that would be necessary. They enthusiastically — and perhaps naively — affirm that they are. He then tells them plainly that He cannot do what they ask because it is His Father who will make such decisions. The other ten followers of course do not appreciate this power play by the sons of Zebedee, and they let their displeasure be known. Things deteriorate. And then Jesus pulls them together and upends everything:
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” — Matthew 20:25-28
We know how leadership works. The leader is in control. The leader has authority. The leader makes decisions. The leader sets the vision. The leader... leads.
Not so with you.
How does one lead without lording? How rule without exercising authority or be great by becoming less? How can one influence by becoming a slave?
How indeed?
Wrestling with these questions will form the basis for much of this book. In these few chapters from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus gives the ultimate leadership instructions for His Kingdom...