Jesus' Leadership

Dear Victor,

I'm taking a leadership class at our church, and the guy who's teaching it has referred to Jesus' leadership a few times now. So I guess Jesus was a leader of sorts. But what did He do that allows us to draw the conclusion that He was a leader? And what were the things He did that we could pattern our own leadership after?

Tyndall P. - Spokane, WA

Dear Tyndall,

Okay, the evidence that leads us to conclude Jesus was a leader is simply that people follow Him. They did then (when He walked the earth in human form), and they still do now. That's the basic criteria for any leader --- look and see if anyone will follow!

Jesus did several things that were practical, and which we could model in our own efforts to lead others. Here are just some that come to mind:

1. He empowered His disciples - delegating authority and power.
2. He gave His disciples specific instructions - so they knew exactly what to do.
3. He told His disciples how to deal with challenges and adversity.
4. He assured His disciples that He would be there to back them up.
5. He held His disciples accountable.

Clearly these are not "rocket science" kinds of things. But in terms of leadership virtues, they are very fundamental. Oddly enough, they are also remarkable in that so few human leaders do them.