How Would Jesus Lead

Mark 1:22

And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.

The greatest leader of all time often never gets the credit for His leadership. There is no doubt that Jesus is the greatest leader of all time. He took twelve men and trained them, one of them turned on him, and the other eleven turned the world upside down for Christ. These eleven men Jesus trained were considered unlearned and ignorant by the “educated” of their day. Jesus had no building to bring them to so they could meet in it, yet these men were willing to forsake their businesses and livelihood to follow Him.

There is a phrase that became popular years ago that many churches still use to this day. The phrase is, “What would Jesus do.” They used an acronym that became popular as well, WWJD. However, I would like to take this same thought and say that leaders should ask, how would Jesus lead? There are great examples in Mark that show us how Jesus led that, if every leader copied, they would find they could lead people to do right as Jesus did. Let me share five attributes of Jesus’ leadership.

First, He led by the Spirit. Though Jesus was the Son of God, He allowed the Holy Spirit to guide Him in all He did. Every leader would be wise to be yielded to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will guide everyone into all truth, so as a leader, being led into truth is exactly what we would desire.

Second, Jesus led by soul winning. The first thing Jesus did after He was tempted by Satan was to reach people with the Gospel. The greatest leader will reach people with the Gospel. There is wisdom that God gives to soul winners that others will never have. If you want God’s wisdom to lead you, you would be wise to become a soul winner. God promises in Proverbs 11:30, he that winneth souls is wise.

Third, Jesus led with authority. You cannot be a good leader and lead by question. The leader must never be afraid of being a leader. Leaders don't ask for permission; they lead. When you lead by authority, you will find many will call you a dictator, but this is not true. Leadership must be an authority who is not afraid to make decisions and direct where they believe those they lead should go. There is a fine line in leading with authority and meddling in one’s life, but being filled with the Spirit will help you not to cross this line.

Fourth, Jesus led with compassion. Compassion keeps you from running over people. Compassion helps the leader to be longsuffering. Compassion will do all it can to help those they lead to become what God wants them to become. A leader who leads with compassion will create followers who know their leader cares for them and wants the best for them. A leader must have the best interest of those they lead at heart, and compassion is what allows the leader to have this type of heart.

Fifth, Jesus led with prayer. Jesus often resorted away from the crowds to pray. The greatest leader is the one who knows they need the Leader of leaders to lead them. A great leader will know they need the mind of God to help them as they lead, and they will only get this mind through prayer. If you are unwilling to get alone to pray, you will find yourself cleaning up many messes that you create. Never get too busy to pray. The greater the load you carry as a leader is what demands you to pray more to carry that load.