James – The Power of Secondary Leadership
“Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him” (Matthew 4:21-22).
The priority of James is seen throughout the Gospels. James is always mentioned first in relationship to his brother John. Initially, John is only known as the brother of James. When the inner circle of disciples is specified it is always, “Peter, James, and John.” If the order of arrangement is significant it at least suggests that James was the older of the brothers and recognized by the synoptic Gospel writers as one having precedence.
Perhaps as youths James would have defended his rights that came with being the eldest. They were both called “sons of thunder” by Jesus. They seemed in agreement when they made a request of the Lord that they be given special seating in the new kingdom on each side of the throne of Jesus. (See Mark 10:35-45.) The other disciples hearing the request were indignant. Jesus used the occasion to teach them a lesson about leadership and striving for position. Among the rulers in the world there is jockeying for advancement with the intention of flaunting their authority, but Jesus taught that his disciples should not be that way.
Jesus taught that disciple leaders would be greatest when they learned to serve. “Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.” Apparently, James learns the lesson in leadership. Never again is there a request for position or any evidence of selfish promotion. If anything James becomes less known as Peter and John assume leadership roles in the emerging church. Peter becomes the spokesman for the entire group, the preacher at Pentecost. John leaves an enduring legacy through his writing: the Gospel, the epistles, and the Revelation of Jesus Christ. There is nothing unique to James. But he teaches us something about leadership through his discipleship. He was in the big three but was contend to let others shine.
James learned that leadership is not always who is “first” or “eldest” or “positions of authority” but to serve from a secondary place, to prefer others, to prefer his brother. John will become one of the better known disciples. In Acts, for the first time James is referred to as the brother of John. It is in the context of his final epitaph, “Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword” (Acts 12:1-2). James paid the ultimate price for his faith, martyrdom at the hand of King Herod but his example in secondary leadership lives on.
James followed the example of the master, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45 NLT).
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Leadership through Discipleship #8
John – The Power of a Relationship
A relationship that trusts
“And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31).
The testimony of the Beloved Disciple was a thorough accounting of many of the signs verifying the deity of Jesus Christ. His Gospel is set apart from the others by his focus on who Jesus is rather than the things He had done. The close relationship of Jesus and John affords us an in depth eyewitness narrative of many details in the final week of Christ’s life. Only John is close enough to Jesus at the last supper to hear Jesus point out who it was that would betray Him. Only John stood at the foot of the cross and provided assurance that His mother would be cared for after Jesus was gone. Through this unique relationship John gained the trust and confidence of Jesus. John was the recipient of many insights and revelations because of this special relationship.
Trust only comes through time in a proven relationship. Friends may want to trust one another, but only when experience proves them worthy of trust can this rapport be enjoyed. Trust is not something we just decide to do but an affinity to be earned through the practice of life. When you have earned trust you can share the secrets of the soul with confidence in confidentiality.
No wonder John writes with such clarity of purpose in His Gospel. No wonder that he survives to become an elder to the churches and writes to them as little children in his epistles. No wonder he survives the exile on Patmos and records visionary insights of the apocalypse in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. John is a man who earned the confidence of Jesus and received an abundance of revelation for his writing.
A disciple who learns to trust and earns the trust of the master can expect to receive insights to share through this relationship. The conclusion of the Gospel speaks of John testimony, “This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true” (John 21:24).
A relationship that trusts
“And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:30-31).
The testimony of the Beloved Disciple was a thorough accounting of many of the signs verifying the deity of Jesus Christ. His Gospel is set apart from the others by his focus on who Jesus is rather than the things He had done. The close relationship of Jesus and John affords us an in depth eyewitness narrative of many details in the final week of Christ’s life. Only John is close enough to Jesus at the last supper to hear Jesus point out who it was that would betray Him. Only John stood at the foot of the cross and provided assurance that His mother would be cared for after Jesus was gone. Through this unique relationship John gained the trust and confidence of Jesus. John was the recipient of many insights and revelations because of this special relationship.
Trust only comes through time in a proven relationship. Friends may want to trust one another, but only when experience proves them worthy of trust can this rapport be enjoyed. Trust is not something we just decide to do but an affinity to be earned through the practice of life. When you have earned trust you can share the secrets of the soul with confidence in confidentiality.
No wonder John writes with such clarity of purpose in His Gospel. No wonder that he survives to become an elder to the churches and writes to them as little children in his epistles. No wonder he survives the exile on Patmos and records visionary insights of the apocalypse in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. John is a man who earned the confidence of Jesus and received an abundance of revelation for his writing.
A disciple who learns to trust and earns the trust of the master can expect to receive insights to share through this relationship. The conclusion of the Gospel speaks of John testimony, “This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true” (John 21:24).
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Leadership through Discipleship #7
John – The Power of a Relationship
A relationship that cares
When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!" Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home” (John 19:26-27).
Who would you trust to care for family members if you were no longer able to look to their interest? Naturally we would look first to other family members, but occasionally there is no one else able to be a caregiver. What do you do then? Close friends can be counted on to come to your aid when you need help, but which of your friends would you ask to care for an aging parent? This is a real test of a relationship … when a friend asks you to care for his mother!
The request that Jesus made on the cross is telling of the relationship that had developed between Him and the Beloved Disciple. In the painful last minutes of life Jesus felt that there was a sufficient quality to His relationship with John that He could ask this huge favor, “Take care of my mother. Treat her like your own.” John’s response appears to be immediate, “From that hour that disciple took her to his own home.”
What a change has taken place in the life of the disciple John. Here one of the “sons of thunder” has become so close to Jesus that he is willing to be a caregiver to His mother. A “hot-head” becomes a caring friend. The man who once wanted to call fire down from heaven to consume Samaritans who refused to welcome Jesus now risks his own life among those who crucified Him as he stands with Mary near the cross. While other disciples fled in fear and Peter denied knowing Him, John apparently was the only one to stay near through the trial and became the only eyewitness to write of the crucifixion.
John truly cared about Jesus. A caring relationship develops over time and demonstrates genuine love. Anyone can say they love, but it is only proven by caring actions. This same disciple wrote of the true essence of love, “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18).
We can say we love, but do we care? We can say we care, but do our actions demonstrate our devotion? All the disciples would have confessed their love for Jesus, but only one had the kind of relationship that caused him to stay near the Lord until the end.
What kind of relationship do you have with Jesus? How much do you care?
A relationship that cares
When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!" Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home” (John 19:26-27).
Who would you trust to care for family members if you were no longer able to look to their interest? Naturally we would look first to other family members, but occasionally there is no one else able to be a caregiver. What do you do then? Close friends can be counted on to come to your aid when you need help, but which of your friends would you ask to care for an aging parent? This is a real test of a relationship … when a friend asks you to care for his mother!
The request that Jesus made on the cross is telling of the relationship that had developed between Him and the Beloved Disciple. In the painful last minutes of life Jesus felt that there was a sufficient quality to His relationship with John that He could ask this huge favor, “Take care of my mother. Treat her like your own.” John’s response appears to be immediate, “From that hour that disciple took her to his own home.”
What a change has taken place in the life of the disciple John. Here one of the “sons of thunder” has become so close to Jesus that he is willing to be a caregiver to His mother. A “hot-head” becomes a caring friend. The man who once wanted to call fire down from heaven to consume Samaritans who refused to welcome Jesus now risks his own life among those who crucified Him as he stands with Mary near the cross. While other disciples fled in fear and Peter denied knowing Him, John apparently was the only one to stay near through the trial and became the only eyewitness to write of the crucifixion.
John truly cared about Jesus. A caring relationship develops over time and demonstrates genuine love. Anyone can say they love, but it is only proven by caring actions. This same disciple wrote of the true essence of love, “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18).
We can say we love, but do we care? We can say we care, but do our actions demonstrate our devotion? All the disciples would have confessed their love for Jesus, but only one had the kind of relationship that caused him to stay near the Lord until the end.
What kind of relationship do you have with Jesus? How much do you care?
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Leadership through Discipleship #6
John – The Power of a Relationship
A relationship that costs
They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" (Mark 10:37-38).
The excitement of the call of Jesus left James and John with the feeling of amazement and pride. This Rabbi from Galilee had walked along the shore where they were occupied with their fishing trade working with their father and asked them to follow Him and become “fishers of men.”
From that initial introduction to the stranger from Galilee these brothers grew in their admiration and loyalty to their teacher. They became associates, then friends, and then inseparable companions. Along with the other fisherman, Peter, they formed the inner circle of three in the close-knit dozen disciples who left all to follow Jesus and learn His teaching.
Perhaps that accessibility and familiarity gave them the confidence to ask a favor of the Master. They asked for places of prominence in the coming kingdom of which they were sure Jesus had come to initiate. His response gave the first indication that this developing relationship would require a commitment beyond filling an office or finding a place of privilege. This relationship would exact a cost and there would be a price for the position they sought. James and John would soon learn what every disciple comes to understand, real relationship requires sacrifice. Jesus used this occasion to teach the value of service, “Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all” (Mark 10:43-44).
The closer they got to Jesus the more they learned of the cost of discipleship. Jesus unfolded great revelation and also revealed the price of understanding. “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24).
It was great to be associated with Jesus as long as the crowds were seeking Him and the miracles were sensational. When He began to teach them the cost associated with discipleship many begin to leave Him. A leader that loves the Lord must learn of the cost of relationship and remember His word, “A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also” (John 15:20).
A relationship that costs
They said to Him, "Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" (Mark 10:37-38).
The excitement of the call of Jesus left James and John with the feeling of amazement and pride. This Rabbi from Galilee had walked along the shore where they were occupied with their fishing trade working with their father and asked them to follow Him and become “fishers of men.”
From that initial introduction to the stranger from Galilee these brothers grew in their admiration and loyalty to their teacher. They became associates, then friends, and then inseparable companions. Along with the other fisherman, Peter, they formed the inner circle of three in the close-knit dozen disciples who left all to follow Jesus and learn His teaching.
Perhaps that accessibility and familiarity gave them the confidence to ask a favor of the Master. They asked for places of prominence in the coming kingdom of which they were sure Jesus had come to initiate. His response gave the first indication that this developing relationship would require a commitment beyond filling an office or finding a place of privilege. This relationship would exact a cost and there would be a price for the position they sought. James and John would soon learn what every disciple comes to understand, real relationship requires sacrifice. Jesus used this occasion to teach the value of service, “Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all” (Mark 10:43-44).
The closer they got to Jesus the more they learned of the cost of discipleship. Jesus unfolded great revelation and also revealed the price of understanding. “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24).
It was great to be associated with Jesus as long as the crowds were seeking Him and the miracles were sensational. When He began to teach them the cost associated with discipleship many begin to leave Him. A leader that loves the Lord must learn of the cost of relationship and remember His word, “A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also” (John 15:20).
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