Competent leaders deserve and should insist on loyalty and commitment from their team. Read Luke 14:25-35.

During His three years of public ministry Jesus gave Himself wholly to His assignment from God and to His team. He demonstrated His ability, commitment, resourcefulness and intelligence in private settings, to the masses, and to the political and religious leaders of His day. Jesus’ example tended to drive the uncommitted away but attracted the committed. His passion to honor God and His competence in carrying out His assignment gained the trust, respect, loyalty and commitment of His team. Jesus never hesitated to tell His followers to count the costs of following Him because He wanted their all or nothing.

Wise leaders know that before demanding high levels of commitment, they must demonstrate a level of competence. Competence is required to gain the trust and respect of their team. John Maxwell discusses competence in a note in The Maxwell Leadership Bible:

Competence goes beyond words. It’s the leader’s ability to say it, plan it, and do it in such a way that others know you know your business – and know that they want to follow you. Competence must be sought at every organizational level. Incompetence can be tolerated nowhere, John Gardner once wrote, “The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.”

Once a leader has demonstrated competence they must identify what it is within their organization that is worthy of their team’s commitment. I personally have found that rather than asking the question, “How do we get commitment?” it is better to ask, “To what or to whom are we committed?” No matter how competent the leader, until their team understands what they are doing that is worthy of commitment it will feel shallow to the team to be asked for commitment. For the Christian leader, when their organization’s goals and outcomes are properly related to God and the organization’s activities honor Him, commitment will make sense to the team.

Jesus said that His team’s love for Him needed to be so great that all other human relationships would pale by comparison. While it is true that only Jesus would qualify for that kind of devotion, leaders can learn from Jesus’ example and should not hesitate to ask their team to count the costs of being on the team so they can chose to get on board or leave for a cause and leader they can commit to wholeheartedly.

 Job 11:13-15 “Yet if you devote your heart to Him and stretch out your hands to Him, If you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear.”

Effective leaders have compassion for their team even during the administration of justice for unacceptable attitudes or behavior. Read Luke 13:31-35.

As Jesus approached Jerusalem, some religious leaders warned Him that He would not be safe in Jerusalem and told Him He should not go there. Jesus already knew He would be killed while He was in Jerusalem and He knew that was part of God’s plan to redeem people to Himself. Jesus also knew that Jerusalem would be harshly judged by God for their actions in the past, for what they were about to do, and for their unbelief. The prophecies about Jerusalem were fulfilled in 70 AD when the Roman General Titus leveled Jerusalem. Jesus expressed deep sorrow as He thought about the future suffering of those living in Jerusalem.

A leader’s priorities can keep the good from becoming the enemy of the great. Read Luke 12:13-21.

Jesus’ words were so life changing that people followed Him where ever He went. At times the audience asked Him questions which triggered His teaching on a specific topic. At other times someone in the crowd would ask Jesus to use His authority to resolve a situation. On one such occasion someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” Jesus did not give the man advice on how to resolve his situation with his brother but Jesus addressed the real issue that would affect the rest of the man’s life, the man’s priorities.

As important as success, security, and significance are there is something far more meaningful. It is possible for a leader to achieve their wildest dreams for success and significance and still lose everything in the end. This does not mean success, security and significance are always bad but according to Jesus’ story there is a danger if these priorities dominate a leader’s thoughts and actions. Matthew 16:26 says, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul.”

The way Jesus’ story ended warned against the attitude of greed and pointed out the futility of priorities that are not in line with God’s will. For Christian leaders the highest priority should be to bring recognition, glory, and honor to God rather than just pleasure to themselves. First Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” When a leader has that purpose in mind their priorities tend to sort themselves, and bring focus on what will bring the greatest recognition to God.

Write down your top five life priorities. How many of them focus exclusively on your personal benefit or gain? How many of your top five priorities focus on bringing glory to God (even if you do not receive financial gain or recognition)? Wise leaders can learn from Jesus’ teaching and discern bad priorities from good priorities from great priorities.

Every leader will be pressured to focus on the urgent over the important. Effective leaders do not replace well-planned activity with chaos or frantic busyness. Read Luke 10:38-42.

As part of His final ministry trip, on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus stopped at the home of some friends, Lazarus and his two sisters Mary and Martha. This wouldn’t be a long stay but He was simply taking time for a few moments of R&R and a meal. By now wherever Jesus went He wasn’t traveling alone so when Jesus showed up for dinner so did a lot of other people. It is not difficult to imagine how much stress Jesus’ arrival put on the women of the home who were charged with preparing dinner.

Leaders are in a unique position to help their team develop their own leadership skills and reach their full potential. Read Luke 10:1-24.

Jesus was in the final year of His earthly ministry and according to Luke 9:51, “As the time approached for Him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.” In order to maximize the number of people He would talk to about the kingdom of heaven as He traveled to Jerusalem He “…appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place where He was about to go.” These 72 were to “Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘the kingdom of God is near’” (10:9). Jesus used their assignment to develop the leadership skills of His teammates.