August 15, 1999

Rev. Charles S. Mims

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.

Rev. Charles Mims

South Peninsula Baptist Church

Daytona Beach, FL

NOTE: The outlines for the What Would Jesus Do series come from "Proclaim" magazine