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Christian Network The Sermon of The Revd Charles S. Mims

Jesus Would Be A Leader
Matthew 4:18-25

The Holy Bible, King James Version

Matthew 4:18 through Matthew 4:25 (KJV)
18And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called
Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were
fishers. 19And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of
men. 20And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. 21And going on
from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his
brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called
them. 22And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.
23And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching
the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of
disease among the people. 24And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they
brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and
torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were
lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. 25And there followed
him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from
Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.

Leadership. It is such a simple word. It is easy to pronounce, relatively easy
to spell, yet a perplexing enough word to many. Volumes have been written about
leadership, and even the lack of leadership. Take a stroll through your local
Books-a-Million and check out the self-help section. The careful shopper can
find books to teach him or her to be a leader, what their leadership style is,
and even how to emulate another person’s style.

From our text today we can learn a bit about leadership as well. Let us
continue to look to God’s word to discover how Christ lived His life, in order
that we might live our lives as Jesus did.

Many people today have a warped idea about what leadership really means. We
have all experienced it from time to time, that government official who has a
little power and is determined to wield it mercilessly, that foreman who sends
the lower grade employees to do the scut work just because he can; the parent
who insists that his children do as he says rather than as he does. True
leadership is not necessarily a position of power contrary to popular belief.

Just what is the difference between a “boss” and a leader? H. Gordon Selfridge
posits this idea:

· The boss drives his men; the leader coaches them.
· The boss depends upon authority; the leader on good will.
· The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm.
· The boss says “I”; the leader says “we”.
· The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader fixes the
breakdown.
· The boss knows how it is done; the leader shows how it is done.
· The boss says “Go”; the leader says “Let’s go.”

Which are you? A boss or a leader? Which was Jesus? What would He do? What
approach to leadership would our Lord take? This is an important question for
us to explore because we are called to pattern our own lives after the master.
So what would He do? What did He do?

The answer of course should be obvious. Jesus was, and would be today, a
leader. A true leader in all forms of the word. We can find a true portrait of
Christ as a leader not only in our scripture today, but through out scripture.
We can even ascertain His leadership style if we look closely enough.

Jesus Would Have Relationships (V.18)

The first facet of Christ’s leadership style we will look at is the
relationships he took the time to build with people. To be sure, in v. 18 we
are not told explicitly that Jesus knew the fishermen. Some things we do know,
which can be brought in to form the basis for a relationship. We can know that
Jesus knew these men. He knew their hearts, and their passions. He knew them
in a way that even their families could never know. He selected them especially
to be His disciples.

We also can assume, that while not explicitly stated, these fishermen were
familiar with who Jesus was. They quite possibly knew his message, and could
have even heard Him teach. They may not have had a personal relationship with
Him, but at the very least it is likely that they at least had a familiarity
with Him.

Obviously we are not able to know people in the same fashion Jesus did.
Therefore we must cultivate relationships with people. We are called to be
leaders. It’s obvious from even a casual glance at conditions in our society
that we are not being the leaders.

In our bulletins the past few weeks you may have seen the statement “Friendship
Evangelism” Now, the thing is I don’t just put these things in the bulletin to
take up space. There is usually a reason I put these things in. The reason
this time was to encourage us to think about making friends before we attempt to
win them to Christ.

If you and I will take the time to get to know the people around us and truly
attempt to become friends with them we will be more successful when it comes
time to share the gospel. Jesus had a relationship with those around Him, and
if we are to follow in His footsteps, we too must form relationships.

Jesus Would Guide a Process (v. 19)

In our text Jesus told the men to come and follow Him. He didn’t leave the
invitation open ended and give them multiple options, instead he told them
explicitly what to do. In order to do what they were told, they were to drop
their nets and immediately follow Him.

Imagine what might happen if we became specific? If we began to guide people
towards the Lord? Instead of “Why don’t you come to church” we try “Why don’t I
come pick you up for Church”. Instead of saying “You shouldn’t be drinking that
shot of whiskey,” we might try “Let me help you quit this habit.” Instead of
telling someone not to gossip, perhaps we could show them how to encourage
others by our own actions.

Jesus carried them through the discipleship process step by step, showing them
the way. We can do no less. In other words, Jesus taught the apostles how to
follow Him. What we do many times is share the gospel with someone, then leave
them hanging so to speak. We expect them to be full blown mature Christians
with all of the applicable attributes already in place. We must guide people in
the process of becoming a Christian, then in the continuing process of becoming
a disciple.

Jesus’ Leadership would be Followed (vv. 20-22)

A good leader has followers. The enthusiasm and energy of a great leader is
contagious. We want to be around people who make us feel like winners. People
will follow someone whose methods work, and encourage others to follow as well.
Jesus went from town to town, place to place, preaching and teaching; and the
people followed Him. Everywhere He went, the crowds grew, and at times thronged
around Him because His message was contagious.

If people you know, the people you run into in the course of your daily
activities can truly believe that you enjoy worshipping then they might desire
to be a part of it as well. If you are happy, then others around you will be
happy. Our own lives might very well be the best advertisement this church
could ever have. I know of several of you that are here today because someone
from our congregation told you how much fun they were having worshipping here at
South Peninsula. It is indeed fun to worship our Lord. If we are enthused
about our Leader, which is Christ the Lord, then we in turn will enthuse others.

Jesus would have us to follow Him, and in doing so encouraging others to follow
as well. Jesus followed God, man followed Jesus. If we too are following
Jesus, then we will be an encouragement to other to follow Him. Sometimes
people are just waiting for that little nudge to get them to do what they know
is right. Are we following the Lord?

Jesus Would Be A Leader (vv. 23-25)

Finally, Jesus would lead. He wouldn’t and didn’t sit around waiting for
someone else to take the initiative. He went from city to city preaching and
teaching and led others by His words and His life. Jesus did not lead from the
sidelines, but rather from the front line. He put Himself up as an example and
said “Come follow me.”

In the midst of difficulties in International negotiations President Wilson felt
the need for divine guidance. Pres. Wilson came into a cabinet meeting with a
serious look on his face and said “I don’t know whether you men believe in
prayer or not, but I do. Let us pray and ask the help of God.” Then the
President of the United States fell upon his knees and asked God for help.
---Aquilla Webb

He could have ordered the Chaplain of the Congress to come over, or called one
of the prominent religious leaders of the time, instead the President of the
United States dropped to his own knees and lead by example.

It is one thing for us to say that people should pray for the affairs of our
nation, yet another for us to get down on our own knees and actually do it. We
are too be the spiritual leaders in our world, and more often than not we pass
that responsibility on to someone else. It is OUR job, no one else’s. It is
our job to pray for our nation, our job to pray for our government leaders, our
job to pray for societies ills.

It is our job to be out in front on affairs that affect the morality of our
children. It is our job to be the teachers, it is our job to instill values.
It is our job to teach our children to be moral people. It is our job to teach
right from wrong. It is our job to teach others to obey the law, to obey God’s
law. It is our job to teach others about Christ. It is our job to lead. We
can no longer sit back and be the followers. It is our responsibility to lead.

If we are to do what Jesus expected of us, we must get out in front and begin to
lead. It is every Christian’s job. We must lead by example, not by rhetoric.
We must cease being the hypocrites that we are accused of being and show the
world by our actions that we know the Lord.

What would Jesus do? Jesus would be a leader, and it is my conviction this
morning that He would have us to be a leader as well. Are you willing to step
out in front and lead this morning? Are you willing to take the first step
towards a closer walk with the Lord? Let us do what Jesus did, let us lead.

Jesus Would Be A Leader Matthew 4:18-25