The Leadership Style of JesusSample

Day 1: Loveless Shepherds?

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, said, “I know my own and my own know me.” But a shepherd who does not love the sheep does not care to know the sheep as persons. To a shepherd who does not love, the sheep are just members. In many churches today they call them audiences. They are just employees on the payroll, a faceless set of statistics: “We had a 12 percent increase in church membership this year,” or “Our workforce was 6 percent more productive this year.”

Our society places a great emphasis on numbers. TV programs, radio shows, and even internet sites are judged by the size of their audience, and advertising revenues rise or fall based on those numbers. The value of a corporation or stock is determined by numbers, such as price-to-earnings ratio (P/E), earnings per share (EPS), market capitalization, and so forth. And even churches are sometimes judged on numbers, such as the increase (or decline) of membership or donations.

This focus on numbers, while understandable, can be misleading and even harmful. An excellent television drama series about important social issues may lose in the ratings to a mindless reality show that subtracts from our cultural IQ. An excellent but undervalued corporation may struggle because it is underestimated and under-valued. And a church may become wildly successful (by the world’s standards) by preaching an unbiblical feel-good gospel, while God does his real work through a struggling storefront church where the shepherd knows his sheep.

The Leadership Style of Jesus is not focused on statistics. It’s based on Love. The leader who practices shepherd-leadership knows his sheep personally and cares about them individually. His love for the sheep is not an abstract idea or empty slogan. He and his fellow shepherds know each member of the flock, and the flock knows them.

How do Jesus’s sheep know him? They don’t know him merely intellectually. They don’t merely understand certain facts about him. They know him intimately and personally because they sense the shepherd-love that radiates from him. As one of his sheep, I may experience doubts and fears. But when I see my Shepherd, my fears melt away. I know my Shepherd, I trust his leadership ability, and I know he cares for me.

Consider the sheep and shepherds of Jesus’s day. Shepherds in ancient Palestine put the safety of their sheep ahead of their own safety. In the Old Testament, the young shepherd David fought and killed a lion with his bare hands because the predator had come to attack his sheep. By understanding this deep level of commitment that shepherds had for their flocks, we can better understand the metaphor Jesus used when he called himself the Good Shepherd.

The Good Shepherd even lays down his life for the sheep. Jesus quoted Zechariah 13:7 when he predicted his death to his disciples. He said, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered’ ” (Matthew 26:31). When the Good Shepherd was struck down, he ensured the safety of his sheep. He willingly sacrificed his own life to save the sheep.

You may be accustomed to thinking of a leader as the person in the ivory tower, the corner office, the apex of the pyramid. In the traditional top-down leadership model, the leader remains aloof from the followers.

It’s true that leaders must lead. Leaders must cast the vision, set the direction, inspire and motivate, and give orders. However, the Leadership Style of Jesus shows us that a leader does much more than that. A true shepherd-leader knows, serves, and sacrifices for the sheep.

Most leaders want to be the boss. Jesus says that a leader is called to serve. Most leaders want to give orders. Jesus says that a leader lays down his life for the sheep.