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of Leadership o o o o >
eadership and Modeling
Acts 20:18-35 When they came to him, [Paul] said to them: `You yourselves know
how I lived among you the entire time from the fi rst day that I set foot in Asia,
19serving
the Lord with all humility and with tears, enduring the trials that came to me through
the plots of the Jews.
20I did not shrink from doing anything helpful, proclaiming the
message to you and teaching you publicly and from house to house,
21as I testifi ed to
both Jews and Greeks about repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus.
22And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what
will happen to me there,
23except that the Holy Spirit testifi es to me in every city that
imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me.
24But I do not count my life of any
value to myself, if only I may fi nish my course and the ministry that I received from the
Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God's grace.
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25 `And now I know that none of you, among whom I have gone about proclaiming the
How are Paul and Jesus a model in these
kingdom, will ever see my face again.
26Therefore I declare to you this day that I am not
passages? What seems important to
responsible for the blood of any of you,
27for I did not shrink from declaring to you the
communicate?
whole purpose of God.
28Keep watch over yourselves and over all the fl ock, of which
the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained
with the blood of his own Son.
29I know that after I have gone, savage wolves will come
in among you, not sparing the fl ock.
30Some even from your own group will come
distorting the truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them.
31Therefore be alert,
remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to warn everyone with
tears.
32And now I commend you to God and to the message of his grace, a message
that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctifi ed.
33I coveted no one's silver or gold or clothing.
34You know for yourselves that I worked
with my own hands to support myself and my companions.
35In all this I have given you
an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of
the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." '
John 13:12-17 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had
returned to the table, he said to them, `Do you know what I have done to you?
13You
call me Teacher and Lord--and you are right, for that is what I am.
14So if I, your Lord
and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
15For
I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.
16Very truly, I
tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the
one who sent them.
17If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
INTERVARSITY ®
Sketches of Leadership #47
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of Leadership o o o o >
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do Jesus and Paul train their followers in this passage?
Jesus served his disciples, not just by washing their feet but in everything he did with them. From healing Simon's
mother-in-law to his death on the cross, he modeled a life of service to others.
· Servanthood was tangible, and the model was accessible. Jesus washed the disciples feet--something
they could do for others. Paul was generous with his resources, and called others to the same. "You know how I lived
among you."
· Both Paul and Jesus' model was costly--they both live in these passages in the shadow of their
impending suffering and death. And yet both speak of and live in the confi dence of the blessing of this kind of a life.
Yet he didn't simply serve in silence. At this key turning point in his ministry, when his time had come, he
explained what it was that he was doing. If he hadn't explained it, they might have drawn very different conclusions.
· Modeling is not enough. Our actions are not
· is not multiplication. Jesus served today so that his disciples would serve for a lifetime, not so that
they'd "pay him back."
It isn't enough that Jesus called his disciples to serve as he did: he explained why: "You are blessed if you do
them." Jesus served his disciples by washing their feet, but it is true that their feet will get dirty again. Jesus served his disciples
most by calling them into a life of servanthood, for this service will bless them for their entire lives.
· Because they aren't looking for admiration, but We don't want people to be amazed at our nobility and
goodness, but inspired by our model to live as we have lived. This is multiplicative.
Talk about the modeling issues present in the following Case Studies.
What could be done to help clarify the model and to be more multiplicative?
1. At the end of the school year, a member of your small group is clearly moved by your kindness and generosity over the course of the year.
She takes you out to dessert and gives you a thank-you present, as a small token in gratitude for all that you have given over the year.
2. You would like to invite Sam, a member of your small group, to join leadership team next year. As you start the conversation, Sam gushes
that he is very impressed by your knowledge of scripture and his admission that he could never do what you have done.
3. A summer missions team returns to your church or fellowship and gives a presentation about their experience. In their presentation, they
report with surprise and perhaps a little chagrin, "We went there to serve, but we received more than we gave."
INTERVARSITY ®
Sketches of Leadership #47
©2007 InterVarsity Christian Fellowship 6400 Schroeder Road, P.O. Box 7895 Madison, WI 53707-7895
tel 608.274.9001
email info@intervarsity.org
web www.intervarsity.org
SKETCHES
L
@
of Leadership o o o o >
eadership and Modeling
Acts 20:18-35 When they came to him, [Paul] said to them: `You yourselves know
how I lived among you the entire time from the fi rst day that I set foot in Asia,
19serving
the Lord with all humility and with tears, enduring the trials that came to me through
the plots of the Jews.
20I did not shrink from doing anything helpful, proclaiming the
message to you and teaching you publicly and from house to house,
21as I testifi ed to
both Jews and Greeks about repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus.
22And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what
will happen to me there,
23except that the Holy Spirit testifi es to me in every city that
imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me.
24But I do not count my life of any
value to myself, if only I may fi nish my course and the ministry that I received from the
Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God's grace.
@
25 `And now I know that none of you, among whom I have gone about proclaiming the
How are Paul and Jesus a model in these
kingdom, will ever see my face again.
26Therefore I declare to you this day that I am not
passages? What seems important to
responsible for the blood of any of you,
27for I did not shrink from declaring to you the
communicate?
whole purpose of God.
28Keep watch over yourselves and over all the fl ock, of which
· Paul and Jesus both remind their listeners
the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained
of their servanthood of them, and they each
explicitly point out their model to call others
with the blood of his own Son.
29I know that after I have gone, savage wolves will come
to the same kind of lifestyle.
in among you, not sparing the fl ock.
30Some even from your own group will come
· Paul says that he didn't shrink back from
distorting the truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them.
31Therefore be alert,
proclaiming the whole purpose of God:
remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to warn everyone with
everything he got from God he gave to them.
tears.
32And now I commend you to God and to the message of his grace, a message
He didn't get insight and wonder if he should
speak up--he delivered whatever clarity God
that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctifi ed.
gave him, to the appropriate people.
33I coveted no one's silver or gold or clothing.
34You know for yourselves that I worked
· Paul speaks about why he lived how he
with my own hands to support myself and my companions.
35In all this I have given you
lived: for the sake of the blessing. Jesus
an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of
as well stressed the blessing involved in
service. Paul didn't want to be thought
the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." '
of as unique--he wanted his followers to
make the same choices he did, for the same
John 13:12-17
reasons. He wanted people to think, "I could
After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had
be like Paul in this way." Paul isn't looking for
returned to the table, he said to them, `Do you know what I have done to you?
13You
admiration, but emulation.
call me Teacher and Lord--and you are right, for that is what I am.
14So if I, your Lord
· Jesus asks, "Do you know what I have done
and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
15For
to you?" Rhetorical question: they do not
understand it. If he hadn't explained it, they
I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.
16Very truly, I
might have thought, "He washed our feet,
tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the
we ought to ... wash HIS feet! Yeah!" So he
one who sent them.
17If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
spells it out. He isn't looking for reciprocity,
but multiplication.
V28: How does HS make us shepherds, overseers? 1) Puts into us the heart of a shepherd
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for the sheep, and 2) puts trust in us in the hearts of the sheep.
V13: Jesus is both: (Human) Teacher and (Divine) Lord
Sketches of Leadership #47
V35, v17: Both proclaim the blessing of living this way
SKETCHES
H
of Leadership o o o o >
ow @
do Jesus and Paul train their followers in this passage?
Modeling: Jesus served his disciples, not just by washing their feet but in everything he did with them. From healing Simon's
mother-in-law to his death on the cross, he modeled a life of service to others.
· Accessible: Servanthood was tangible, and the model was accessible. Jesus washed the disciples feet--something
they could do for others. Paul was generous with his resources, and called others to the same. "You know how I lived
among you."
· Attractive: Both Paul and Jesus' model was costly--they both live in these passages in the shadow of their
impending suffering and death. And yet both speak of and live in the confi dence of the blessing of this kind of a life.
Articulation: Yet he didn't simply serve in silence. At this key turning point in his ministry, when his time had come, he
explained what it was that he was doing. If he hadn't explained it, they might have drawn very different conclusions.
· Modeling is not enough. Our actions are not self-interpreting.
· Reciprocity is not multiplication. Jesus served today so that his disciples would serve for a lifetime, not so that
they'd "pay him back."
Rationale: It isn't enough that Jesus called his disciples to serve as he did: he explained why: "You are blessed if you do
them." Jesus served his disciples by washing their feet, but it is true that their feet will get dirty again. Jesus served his disciples
most by calling them into a life of servanthood, for this service will bless them for their entire lives.
· Because they aren't looking for admiration, but emulation. We don't want people to be amazed at our nobility and
goodness, but inspired by our model to live as we have lived. This is multiplicative.
Talk about the modeling issues present in the following Case Studies.
What could be done to help clarify the model and to be more multiplicative?
1. At the end of the school year, a member of your small group is clearly moved by your kindness and generosity over the course of the year.
She takes you out to dessert and gives you a thank-you present, as a small token in gratitude for all that you have given over the year.
You receive the present and the thanks humbly, appreciative of her show of gratitude. But you want her to understand that just as you have
received, so you freely gave. You tell her the story of when you were a small group member, and how much your small group leader did for
you. You remind her that you have called her, likewise, to serve others and experience the joy and blessing that comes from such a life.
2. You would like to invite Sam, a member of your small group, to join leadership team next year. As you start the conversation, Sam gushes
that he is very impressed by your knowledge of scripture and his admission that he could never do what you have done.
Though you are tempted to bask in Sam's adoration, you want to be clear that you have been able to be a small group leader because of
the leadership and training you have received, and you have confi dence that Sam could do it as well. You acknowledge that, as much fun
as it is to be in a small group, the leader is the one who learns and benefi ts the most. You invite Sam to join you in this experience.
3. A summer missions team returns to your church or fellowship and gives a presentation about their experience. In their presentation, they
report with surprise and perhaps a little chagrin, "We went there to serve, but we received more than we gave."
The summer mission team's enthusiasm for their ministry experience is endearing, but the fact that they are surprised that they received
more than they gave means that they didn't really hear or understand the words of Jesus in the passages above. Rather than mission teams
"going out to serve" and being constantly surprised by the blessing found in serving, wouldn't it be better and more God honoring just to
acknowledge that "We are going to receive from God what we can only get when our hands are absolutely empty and we need to depend
on him"? In this way, God is seen as the ultimate servant, not only of the people to whom we minister but also to us as missionaries. This
makes God big, us small, and acknowledges the words of Jesus, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
INTERVARSITY ®
Sketches of Leadership #47
©2007 InterVarsity Christian Fellowship 6400 Schroeder Road, P.O. Box 7895 Madison, WI 53707-7895
tel 608.274.9001
email info@intervarsity.org
web www.intervarsity.org
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