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Leaders Led by Jesus Part 3 of 4
By C. Gene Wilkes

The Power of Presence

We have observed in the previous articles how Jesus led an “activist” follower and “narcissistic” leader named Simon Peter to become a servant leader who accomplished the mission he commissioned him to complete. Peter is the everyman of biblical leadership. We are like him in so many ways. So, how do we become humble servant leaders like Peter eventually became?

One way Jesus mentored Peter was through presence; that is, simply being with Peter, teaching, guiding, and mentoring in the moment. Jesus molded Peter into a humble servant leader not through conventional methods but by mentoring him as they did life together.

Ruth Hailey Barton in her work, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, (IVP, 2008) observed, Jesus himself, when he was here on this earth to do God’s will, did not create a high-performance team to get the job done. He did not put together a high-powered board or complex organization. Nor did he even choose the most strategic individuals from a human point of view! He chose a few individuals “whom he wanted,” the Scriptures say (Mark 3:13), and he chose them first and foremost to be with him and, by virtue of their relationship with him, to be present with each other. Out of that togetherness and without much of a strategy, they changed the world. (174, italics mine)

I realize Barton’s words are an oversimplification of Jesus’ development of his disciples, but I must agree that it was the power of Christ’s presence with his followers that changed them. The Romans knew how to organize, build, plan and govern. There were plenty of schools around to learn how the rulers of the Empire trained future leaders, but Jesus did not adopt any of their methodologies when it came to choosing and developing the leaders for his movement.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against learning the art and skills of leadership. I have books, articles, and syllabi that show the value I place in those; but, when I observe those whom Jesus led, I see them mostly in the school of his presence. One result of their time together was courageous leadership in the face of opposition, the test of a leader’s mettle in times of change. (See Acts 4 when Peter and John stood up to the religious leaders who opposed the Jesus movement they led.)

In Jesus On Leadership, I concluded that Jesus empowered his followers with the authority of his name and power of his presence. (224-227) At their commissioning, “Jesus promised the power of his presence [in the Holy Spirit] before he shared the scope of his mission.” (Acts 1:8) Not only did he led with presence while on earth, he insured those he chose to continue his mission would not be left without his presence when he ascended to the Father. Jesus showed us the power of presence transforms a follower into a leader.

Here are two points of dialogue:

1) Leaders led by Jesus spend time in the presence of their Leader. You cannot be a tight end on a championship NFL team if you never spend time with the coach. You’d never know the game plan or the plays. How do we think we can lead like Jesus if we never spend time with our Leader? We all know the spiritual exercises that make room for Jesus in our leadership lives. We just don’t do them. (Barton has several good suggestions in her book if you need a reminder or two.)

2) Leaders led by Jesus share the gift of presence with those they choose to transform into leaders. This may seem obvious to you, but with email, texting, and other electronic means of communicating data—not passion, emotions, or heart—we have lost the gift of presence to those we lead. Time is the most valued commodity he can give those he leads. This presence methodology may limit the number of leaders we develop in our lifetime, but those we do develop may end up more like Peter than the Rich Young Ruler.

Next week we will conclude these articles with a look at what I call “The tipping point of Brokenness” as we become leaders led by Jesus.