The Wake We Leave

Have you ever had this happen to you? You read a book, hear a sermon or someone mentions it on the radio, or see it on a T.V. sitcom about a particular life area that you just happen to be going through at the time.  Your friend makes a comment and it points you back to your topic. In fact, everywhere you turn this life issue is placed front and center.  If not, then you probably haven’t been listening to the life around you and the Holy Spirit who orchestrates such promptings. I have been in that learning zone lately. 

I was asked to be a “mentor” for a friend who is taking a seminary class on leadership.  One of the books that he is reading for the class is called “Lead Like Jesus”.  The title intrigued me so I too made the purchase and commitment to read along with him.  Prior to all of this I had been frustrated on so many life and ministry fronts.  The main issue for me has been dealing with many ministry decisions that simply did not make a lot of sense.  If I was making these decisions I would at least be able to claim insanity, a reaction to medication or that I was dropped on my head as a child.  The problem isn’t whether or not these decisions made sense to me, but whether or not I was going to step up as a leader and support them anyway.  Remember when Jesus asked Peter to go fishing and inside the mouth of his catch he would be able to pay for their taxes, or for Peter to get out of the boat so he can walk on water, and what about the Passover meal…find a man carrying a jug of water and follow him to the place where we will eat?  Which one of those made any sense?  Making sense wasn’t the issue; it was all about walking in obedience and being a servant leader. How quickly we forget Jesus’ words when we are asked to do something that we disagree with or that will make us uncomfortable: Mark 10:43-45 (NLT) But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  When we stop serving as leaders and feel entitled above certain roles, believe we are right and “they are wrong” etc. we have replaced Jesus from His rightful throne and usurped His authority in our lives.

I like this leadership quote: Our leadership legacy is not just limited to what we accomplished, but it includes what we leave behind in the hearts and minds of those with whom we had a chance to teach and work. (Ken Blanchard)  When I complain to you about a ministry decision or a particular event or direction, I leave behind a wake of apathy, frustration, and entitlement…not an obedient and servant’s heart that strives to honor the Lord in any and all aspects.  For this I repent! My candor can often be misunderstood as negative or even used as a mask for pride and dissension. I don’t want that to be the wake I leave or the lasting impression of my leadership style. I want to point you all to Jesus and His way of thinking, speaking and doing. That too should be your life mission for others as well.  So take time to do a heart check, ponder your motives your feelings and whether or not you have drifted from being Christ’s slave to the master of your own universe.  You might be surprised what you uncover. I know I was!

Things to ponder and apply:

·      What is the Holy Spirit trying to communicate to me?

·      In what ways is He trying to get your attention?

·      What attitudes do you need to adjust or change completely?

·      Who truly sits on the throne of your life? Really?

·      What wake are you leaving for your leaders? Do you need to change course and start a new wake?

·      What does servant leadership look like to you? Make a list of those characteristics.

Who is Jesus to you?

100% God

100% Man

To have a balanced and accurate perspective of Jesus one must embrace both characteristics of His being. The God part which leaves us to view Him as Savior and Lord, holy and in total awe, as the Son of God.  This expression of reverence and deity causes us to fall down in humility and utter helplessness as the vapor and dust that we are. It is He the Creator and we the created. A sense of approachableness, the "see the face of God and die" or "His glory filled the temple" this glorious weight was impossible for any human to endure His presence. This and infinitely more describes the “Holy God being” of Jesus. The “ALL” of everything, mighty, majestic, powerful, Omni, words that unfortunately language cannot begin to describe His vast immenseness.

Then you have the 100% man part of Jesus. The "Son of man" humble, common, vulnerable, poor, and every other descriptor of the dust of the earth. Lord became servant, the Master now self-reduced to the lowest of slaves. Yet, this is the God, the "brother Lord" that we can relate to, converse with, share struggles and know we are understood. He is the "friend" that is closer than a sibling who counts us as valuable, as special, as worth dying for. We can relate to this Jesus as one who was tested beyond comprehension and yet did not sin. He spoke with authority and without hypocrisy. Without the human side of Jesus we would not be able to relate to God, we would not be able to connect with our Creator. This truth alone is awesome! God desires and pursues us, loves us so much that He took the ultimate step not just dwelling among us like He did with Adam and Eve, but became like us. We were made in his image and yet He came in ours, minus the sin. When we approach Him, when we address and seek Him there is an aspect of duality and tension. He is Holy Lord and unapproachable and yet He welcomes us into His arms as little children. He walks with us, coming alongside in all circumstances as a dear friend. He is both the Shepherd and the spotless lamb, the Master and the slave, the Mighty conqueror and the one submitted to be conquered.  This spiritual and physical tension is difficult to comprehend and yet He extends Himself by dwelling inside us, God in us who was God with us. His Holy Spirit guiding us and shaping us more and more into His image and likeness.

When I think about the sheer magnitude of this ominous truth I am again reminded of my sinful finiteness, my lack of everything and my desperate need for God. The irony is that I ask God to help me to be more like Him who created me and who also died in my place. I long for the intimacy of a close friend and yet need a connection with the majesty of Him who rules the Universe. The journey continues!

     

Second Best?

Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, "The LORD has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her." And Abram agreed with Sarai's proposal. So Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.) (Genesis 16:1-3)

Both Abram and Sarai were at a place in life where they had given up hope in God’s promise. Much time had gone by since God made that seemingly impossible promise that they would be parents of vast descendants too many to count. It was common practice of their time to give a servant as surrogate wife. What an awkward situation. No barren woman today would tell her husband to go sleep with another women in order to have a child with her. The cultural thought was that the child would be in some way connected to and through Sarai. Imagine Abram listening to his wife’s directive and then in his mind trying to decode her message, “Ok, did I just hear her correctly? It must be a trap! Go sleep with her young servant girl Hagar so I can get her pregnant? Hmmmm!” We never hear how Hagar felt about the whole arrangement. I bet she was hoping to marry someone much, much younger. The physical and spiritual result of this encounter between Abram and Hagar has cause immense discord around the world and especially for the nation of Israel.

When we take over God’s role, we don’t give our faith a change to grow. In Abram and Sarai’s case, they believed they had waited long enough. They must have figured that they could help God out by this cultural condoning act. How often do we do the same? No, not the actual act itself, but trying to help God move a little faster or at all in a situation that we are passionate about. Abram and Saria were willing to settle for “second best”, which we all know is not best at all. In fact, it isn’t even good at all. When we try to play God, when we try to make things happen on our own, something that we really want to happen hoping that God might somehow bless it only leads to future pain and despair.

So here are a few questions to chew on:

1.   What situation have you been trying to control? How can you wait for God's timing?

2.   Think of a time on your life where you settled for “second best”. It might have been a relationship, a job, some purchased item, etc. What was the result?

3.   What promise in the bible that you once held onto is now a mere forgotten memory? What must you do to rekindle the faith and passion for that promise?