The Greatest Leader of All Time Paraugs

Why study the leadership qualities of Jesus?

I once saw a social media post that struck me. The post said

‘Jesus never spoke about leadership. But today we have more Christian leadership books than any other time in history.’

At first glance, I agreed with the post. I understood what the author was trying to get at. To many people, modern Christianity has moved away from the foundations of preaching the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ and towards a secular and business-centric gospel. However, shortly after agreeing, I believe the Holy Spirit reminded me of two verses.

Acts 1:1 - In my first book, I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach. (NLT)

Firstly, it is true that Jesus never spoke about leadership, but in Acts 1:1, we see that Luke thought it was important to not only capture what Jesus said but also to capture what He did. Meaning, that as we read the gospels there is room for us to examine and learn from the actions of Jesus as a person who walked on the earth and interacted with people.

I was also reminded of a verse in the first letter to the Thessalonians:

1 Thessalonians 5:21 - but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. (NLT)

Here, Paul teaches that whilst something may appear to be deep and meaningful, we are supposed to not only test what is said through the lens of the Word of God but also to hold on to what is good.

But what does that mean for our discussion on the leadership qualities of Jesus Christ? Perhaps we are to learn from His interactions with the characters in the New Testament and try to understand how Jesus transformed the world through these interactions in such a way that had not been done before Him and has not been replicated since. But at the same time, remember that it wasn’t His leadership skills or style that restored our relationship with God the Father, rather it was his obedience to the Father in dying on the cross for our sins. Salvation is primary but it is not mutually exclusive. We can appreciate the story of redemption and restoration found in the Gospels and learn from the daily interactions of Jesus and the characters within them.

Questions: Am I willing to learn from both what Jesus said and what He did? Is the work of salvation completed in Jesus’ obedience on the cross at the forefront of my Christianity?