The Hospitable Leader DevotionalExemplo

In our contemporary culture, our reflections on Jesus yield a meek man who had wise words. He walked around and gave inspiring ethical talks, and maybe said a few crazy things. However, this dislocated historical view is certainly not correct! Jesus was not just a quiet teacher, or even an overly pious ascetic; Jesus, as Scripture says, “came eating and drinking,” or “enjoying life,” and people in his time thought he was a drunkard because of it! Imagine the lifestyle Jesus must have lived that elicited such public opinion of him. His first miracle, in fact, was the turning of water into wine.

For many of us (who grew up with the former conception of Christ), we immediately ask the question, “Why did Jesus come eating and drinking? What was the purpose of this?” The reason is that Christ was celebrating the fulfillment of God’s great plan; he was celebrating, with those around him, the coming of the kingdom of God to creation. With such glorious plans, what could anyone do but celebrate? Feast? Enjoy life? It’s important, of course, to note that Christ did not abuse the wine he drank, and taught temperance to the effect of balance. But there is no doubt that he celebrated in a holy way, and in a way appropriate to his holy task.

So how can we as leaders, if we are doing something great that’s reflective of God’s plan, not also feast? If we are working with people who are teamed up in accomplishing wonderful things, things from God, then we should celebrate in light of the kingdom of God coming to earth through our God-inspired work. We should sit around with those around us and not sulk about the task at hand, or duck our heads in false piety, but stand up tall in front of God, in a posture of worship, and thank him for the feast he offers us, and the feast we can participate in in this world. Certainly we face the suffering and the struggle of a dramatic task that faces resistance (just as Jesus did), but it’s in the context of feasting with God.

As driven leaders, we can frequently forget to engage in the feast when the task seems so big. As Terry Smith says, “I am so serious about my work—and so intent on being a great leader—that I know I simply must get better at enjoying life.” This is something all of us can work on; we can learn to enjoy the feast, and help those who follow us to enjoy it as well.