The Foundations of Leadership

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THE FOUNDATIONS OF LEADERSHIP
Leading Like Jesus
Part 1
Rick Warren   Feb. 5-6, 2005

“Without wise leadership, a nation is in trouble.”
Pr. 11:14a (LB)

The_Foundations_of_Leadership.pdf

7 LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES THAT JESUS MODELED
1. IDENTIFICATION: KNOW WHO I AM
“I am ...the Light of the world... the Son of God...the Way, the Truth and the Life...the Bread
of life…” (Jn. 8:12, Mk. 14:62, Jn. 14:6, Jn. 6:35)
“I testify on My own behalf.” John. 8:18 (RSV)
2. CLARIFICATION: KNOW WHAT I WANT TO ACCOMPLISH
“...I know where I came from and where I am going.” Jn. 8:14
“I must proclaim the good news... for I was sent for this purpose.” Luke 4:43 (RSV)
3. MOTIVATION: KNOW WHO I AM TRYING TO PLEASE
“I only try to please the One who sent Me.” John 5:30 (NCV)
“No one can serve two masters...” Luke 16:13
“I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.”
John 17:4 (NIV)
4. COLLABORATION: WORK WITH A SMALL GROUP
“He appointed twelve – designating them apostles – that they might be with Him and that
He might send them out to preach.” Mark 3:14 (NIV)
“Then He said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay
here and keep watch with Me.’” Matt. 26:38 (NIV)
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5. CONCENTRATION: FOCUS ON WHAT’S IMPORTANT
“As the time drew near for His return to heaven, He moved steadily onward toward
Jerusalem with an iron will.” Luke. 9:51 (LB)
“‘Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him is not fit for the
Kingdom of God.’” Luke 9:62 (LB)
“Martha was distracted... So Jesus said, ‘You are worried and bothered about so many
things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one...’” Luke 10:40-42 (NAS)
6. MEDITATION: LISTEN TO GOD CONTINUALLY
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off
to a solitary place, where He prayed.” Mark 1:35 (NIV)
“News about Jesus spread even more. Crowds came to hear Him and to be healed...but
Jesus often slipped away to be alone so He could pray.” Luke 5:15-16 (NCV)
“Plant your roots in Christ and let Him be the foundation for your life. Be strong in your
faith, just as you were taught.” Col. 2:7 (CEV)
7. RELAXATION: TAKE TIME TO RECHARGE
“Crowds of people were coming and going so that they did not even have time to eat. He
said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves, and we’ll go to a lonely place to get some rest.’”
Mark 6:31 (NCV)
“Jesus came enjoying life...” Matt. 11:19 (Ph)
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THE FOUNDATIONS OF LEADERSHIP
Leading Like Jesus
Part 1
Rick Warren
Feb. 5-6, 2005
We’re going to begin a new series this week on leadership. For the next four weeks I’m going to
be talking about how God wants you to be the kind of leader that He’s always intended. We’re
going to be talking about “Leading Like Jesus” from the life of Jesus Christ.
This last week both Kay and I were both speaking to groups of leaders. She was in San Diego
speaking to the National Pastor’s Conference. I was in Washington D.C. speaking at the
National Prayer Breakfast where I spoke to a group of CEO leaders, then a group of pastor
leaders, and then a group of political leaders.
Leadership is one of the key essentials in helping us become all that God wants us to become. In
fact, the Bible says this in Proverbs 11:14 “Without wise leadership a nation is in trouble.”
That’s true of every single area of life. Without wise leadership a family’s in trouble. Without
wise leadership a business is in trouble. Without wise leadership a community is in trouble.
Without wise leadership a church is in trouble. Without wise leadership the world is in trouble.
Because everything rises or falls on leadership.
We have three big leadership problems in our culture and in our world today.
The first one is we’ve lost the difference between a celebrity and a leader. They are not the
same. Celebrities are simply famous. Leaders get things done. We’ve got far too many
celebrities and not enough leaders. Would you agree with that? We don’t need any more
celebrities in our world who are famous just for being famous. We need leaders who get things
done.
The second problem is there’s a real shortage of godly, good leadership around the world.
That’s why in the PEACE plan the E stands for Equip servant leaders. Because it’s one of the
five global giants facing our world today. There aren’t enough good leaders in the world.
The third problem we have is we’ve got the wrong kind of leaders in many areas today. The
wrong kind of leaders in the media. The wrong kind of leaders in government. The wrong kind
of leaders in sports, in entertainment, in business, in education. In so many areas.
You may have never thought of yourself as a leader but you are. You are a leader whether you
realize it or not. Leadership in one word is influence. Leadership is influence. And any time
you influence anybody you’re a leader. So the question is not whether you’re a leader or not.
The question is, Are you good one or a lousy one? Are you a godly leader or are you a poor
leader. Every time you interact with anybody you influence them. So every time you interact
with anyone you take on the role of leadership in that very moment. The Bible says that if you
are a believer, God expects you to lead others for good and for God. If you are a follower of
Jesus, He wants you to be a leader of others. For good and for God and for His glory.
So we’re going to spend the next four weeks looking at how to improve your leadership skills in
your home, with your friends, in your small group, with your business, with your job, if you go
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to school – wherever – in your community. God says I want you… you’re a believer, you’re one
of My children – I want you to lead others for good. I want you to influence them rather than
them influencing you.
That’s why for the last two years I have been praying for you. And for all the others who are
part of our church family. I have been praying that God would make you a great leader. I have
been praying that God would increase your personal influence. Why? Because you’re at least
trying to do the right thing.
There are no perfect leaders in the world. I’m not a perfect leader. You’re not. Nobody is. The
only perfect leader is Jesus Christ. But at least you’re making the effort and I’m making the
effort. I would certainly rather have people following you than some rock star who’s not even
trying at all. Does that make sense? At least you’re trying to do the right thing. So that’s why I
want you to be an influential leader and I believe God has called you to that. I believe that God
is going to raise up, I’ve been praying for this, the greatest generation of leaders out of this
church. And I think that’s why you’re here.
We’re going to look for the next few weeks at leadership. As we start the PEACE plan this year
we’re going to need tens of thousands of leaders around the world. And God wants to use you.
Today we begin with seven principles from the life of Jesus Christ. I want to tell you right up
front, these are by far not all the principles of leadership of Jesus. In fact, we’re going to cover
in four weeks and still not cover all the material. We’re going to look at seven today because
that’s all the time we’ve got – there’s a Superbowl going on! So write fast. We’re going to look
at seven principles but understand that’s not all there are. We’re going to have to cover them
each week for the next month.
1. The first principle of leadership that God wants to build into your life is the principle of
identification. I must know who I am.
That is the foundation of leadership. I must know who I am. This is the starting point of
leadership. Warren Bennis the USC professor who’s written a couple dozen books on leadership
calls this self-awareness. All good and great leaders now their strengths and their weaknesses.
They accept their strengths and they admit their weaknesses. You have some great strengths.
You also have some great weaknesses. So do I. I have some great strengths and I have some
great weaknesses. We’re all a bundle of both. Leadership is not ignoring one in favor of the
other. It’s being honest about both. Good leaders don’t try to be something they are not. They
are self-aware. They know who they are.
Jesus had no doubt about His identity. As we look at these 7 principles we’re going to take
statements directly from the words of Jesus Christ. Here’s the first thing that Jesus says. He
knew exactly who He was. He says this, “I am the light of the world. I am the Son of God. I am
the way, I am the truth, I am the life. I am the bread of life.” I just listed a few. The fact is in
the gospels eighteen times Jesus defines Himself He says I am… and then He tells us who He is.
He didn’t let other people define Him. He defined Himself. He said, I am this and I am this and
I am this. He knew exactly who He was.
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If you’re going to be a leader you’ve got to start with this foundational issue of knowing who
you are. Leaders do not look to other people for validation.
Jesus said, “I testify on My own behalf.” What in the world did He mean by that? I testify on
My own behalf. He’s saying this: I don’t depend on other people’s opinions to tell Me who I am.
I know who I am. I know exactly who I am. I know My own story and I tell it.
This is very, very important. If you don’t know what God has made you to be then you are going
to fall into three very common traps.
The first one is you will allow other people to manipulate you with their expectations. In
other words, you will allow other people to mold you into the image they want you to be instead
of what God meant for you to be. And other people will force you into their mold.
If you don’t decide who you are, other people will. God has a plan for your life but so does
everybody else. Have you figured that out? If you don’t decide yourself other people will
decide it for you. Your boss will decide it for you. Your parents will decide it for you. Your
spouse, your boyfriend, your girlfriend, some teacher. Other people will try to pressure you into
a mold of their expectations.
Some of you are still trying to live up to what your parents expected of you. It’s making you
miserable. You don’t need to do that. God did not create you to be what your parents expected
you to be. God created you to be what He intended for you to be. You’ve got to let it go. If
you’re going to live the life and be the leader that God wants you to be you have to let go of the
expectations of other people and say, “I’m going to focus on what God made me to be.” If you
don’t you’ll be manipulated.
The second thing is you’ll start living a phony life. You’ll live a lie. When you don’t know
who you are you live one way with one person and another way with another. You act one way
at work and another way at church. You act another way at home and another way in your small
group. You don’t really know who you are. As a result you end up living a lie. You live a
phoniness. You wear a mask. You pretend. You’re a hypocrite. You’re always pretending.
That inevitably leads to the third trap.
Third, stress. Stress happens when you don’t know what you were made to be. When you
don’t know that you try to please everybody and all these different things at work in your life. I
was at a dinner recently with a group of well known people. If I’d mention them you’d know
every one of them. The air in that dinner, the atmosphere was so thick you could have cut it with
a knife. It looked like none of these guys were having any fun. That they were just a little
uptight. That there was an unease in the dinner. After it was over I went back to my hotel room
and I asked Forrest Reinhart, one of our pastors, “What do you think was going on in that
meeting?” Forrest said, “I don’t think any of those guys were comfortable in their own skin.”
Have you ever met anybody like that? They’re uncomfortable being themselves. So they feel
like they always have to fake it to make it. They have to pretend. They have to wear a mask.
They keep up these presumptions that don’t let you get close to them. They’re afraid to let it
down and be themselves and be authentic and be real. As a result they weren’t having a good
time that night.
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There are two things that will limit your leadership and will weaken your identity. They are
comparing and copying. Comparing and copying will keep you from being the person and the
leader God wants you to be.
First, comparing. God says over and over again in scripture don’t do this. It’s dumb.
There’s nobody else like you in the world. God didn’t make you to be anybody else. When you
get to heaven God isn’t going to say, “Why weren’t you more like so and so?” No. He’s going
to say, “Why weren’t you more like you? I made you to be you and you weren’t meant to be
anybody else. Why we are you comparing? You’re not one in a million. You’re one in six
billion. There’s never been anybody before, after, or right now just like you.” Even twins are
different. So God says don’t ever compare yourself. Don’t compare your salary. Don’t
compare your appearance, or cars, or clothes, or kids. Don’t compare your husbands or your
wives. Don’t compare your degrees or anything. Because God wants you to be you.
There’s always two downsides to comparing. Whenever you start comparing yourself to
anybody else two things happen. One is you’ll always find somebody who is doing a better job
than you and you get discouraged. Two, you’ll always find somebody that you’re doing better
job than and you get full of pride and ego.
Either way you’re dead in the water. It pulls you out of the game. You’re benched. You’re
sidelined. Pride and discouragement keeps you from being what God meant for you to be. So
you have to start by saying, “I’m not going to compare. I’m going to figure out my identity and
know who God made me to be. So I’m not going to compare myself again to anybody else.”
The second thing, I’m not going to copy. God does not want clones. If you don’t be you the
world gets hurt because nobody else can be you. God says I don’t want copies and I don’t want
clones. We all start off as originals but a lot of us end up as carbon copies of other people. We
do this even in our spiritual life. You become a believer and you’re talking to God and all of a
sudden you hear somebody pray one day and you go, “I really like that phrase that they use in
their prayer. I’m going to add that to my repertoire.” So the next time you pray you kind of
throw that phrase in. God’s going, “What?”
The best way to pray is the way you pray. If you’re not an eloquent person God doesn’t expect
your prayers to be eloquent. It may be “Hi, God. It’s me.” That’s good enough for God.
Because what God cares about is not your fancy words. What God cares about is your heart.
Are You really going, “God, I want to know You. I want to love You. I want to know Your plan
for my life.” You don’t have to be fancy and copy everybody else in the way that they do it. No.
Be yourself.
So here’s the first point. If you’re going to be a leader that influences others, and God wants you
to be that, you must first become comfortable with who you are. You don’t try to be anybody
else. You don’t try to copy or compare. You accept your strengths, which you have that are
unique. And you admit your weaknesses, which you have which are also unique. You know
who you are.
That is the first principle of leading like Jesus.
2. Clarification. Know what I want to accomplish.
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I must know what I want to accomplish. I must clarify what God has called me to do in life.
This is so important because the direction of your life is your choice. If you don’t like the
direction your life is headed right now, change it. Nobody’s holding a gun to your head.
Nobody’s making you a victim. Nobody’s forcing you to go a certain way. If you don’t like the
direction you’re headed right now, change it.
The direction of your life is your choice. And leaders now not only who they are, they know
where they’re headed. They know what God has called them to do. They know what they want
to accomplish. When you clarify your goal in life, your purpose in life, then you are set free
from the tyranny of the urgent. You know as well as I do that what’s urgent and what’s
important are two different things. A lot of things that are urgent won’t even matter a week from
today. But what’s important is going to matter forever and ever and ever. So we have to
distinguish this.
Jesus knew exactly what He was called to do. He knew what He wanted to accomplish. He was
a straightforward leader. And He established clear-cut goals. Again, from His own words in
John 8 Jesus says “I know where I came from and I know where I’m going.”
Do you ever get to the end of the day and you think, Did I accomplish anything today? You
know that there’s a big difference between activity and productivity. You can be busy but just
spinning in circles. Beware of the busyness that binds up your life and you never get anything
done. You’re just activity without productivity. What’s the difference?
What turns activity into productivity is purpose? When you have a purpose in what you’re
doing. You know why you are doing what you are doing and you’re headed down the road.
You’re strategic.
Jesus was not only straightforward, He was a strategic leader. This is an amazing verse of Jesus
out of Matthew 10:16 “Be shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves.” Honestly, that doesn’t
even sound like something that Jesus would say. He’s telling you to be shrewd. Shrewd as
serpents and harmless as doves. He’s talking to His own people, to believers, to you. What does
He mean here? He’s saying, “I want you to be strategic.” Some of us think that shrewdness, that
wouldn’t be something that’s Christlike. Yes, it is. He says, You should have a strategy for your
life. He says, I want you to be innocent as doves. I want you to be pure. Your motives are clear.
You’re not manipulating anybody. It’s not manipulation. But He said you need to be strategic
with your life because you’ve only got one life and this is preparation for eternity. Be strategic
in how you use your time.
Some of you have noticed that just recently I’ve started accepting more and more of these TV
interview invitations which I’ve turned down for years. Why am I doing that? There’s a strategy
behind that. I’m not doing it just to do it. There’s a strategy behind it. I am setting the stage for
the PEACE plan, which you are going to do which is going to change the world. We’re getting
ready to launch a revolution in missions. A new reformation in the church. It’s going to effect
millions of people in hundreds of thousands of churches. Just like living on purpose has. God is
going to use you. I’m setting the stage. When you look at what Saddleback does a lot of it looks
kind of casual and spontaneous and kind of put together at the last second. But the truth is
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everything we do has a strategy behind it. It’s too important to not have a strategy. He says I
want you to be strategic.
Jesus had His clear purpose. He knew not only who He was but what was He trying to do with
His life. He was a purpose driven leader. Luke 4 says this, “I must proclaim the good news for I
was sent for this purpose.” Notice He says I have a purpose and I must fulfill it. It’s not “I
should… I might… I’d like to…” It’s “I must!” And God has a purpose for your life and if
you don’t fulfill it, you have wasted your life. Because you weren’t put on earth to live for your
ideas. You were put on earth to live for God’s purpose that you were created. So God says, You
need to not only know who you are and what you want to be but where you’re headed. You have
a clear purpose driven life. You know what your purpose is.
You know what the first recorded words of Jesus were? He was twelve years old and He said
this. He wasn’t even a teenager yet when He said, “I must be about My Father’s business.”
That’s the first public statement of Jesus at twelve years old – I must be about My Father’s
business. In other words, even then He already knew what He wanted to accomplish with His
life. And at the end of His life on the cross He said almost His last words, “It is finished.”
Friends, those are the bookends of a successful life. I now what God wants me to do with my
life and I did it. That is what it means to be purpose driven. It means to know who you are and
what you want to accomplish, what God has called you to do.
Then comes the third principle of leadership.
3. Motivation. Motivation is not know who you are or know what you want to accomplish but
know who you’re trying to please.
Know who you are trying to please. This is so important to settle this issue of motivation that
you can’t please everybody. Have you figured that out? You can’t please everybody so you
have to know who you’re trying to please.
Just about the time you get Crowd A all happy, Crowd B gets ticked off at you. And when you
get Crowd B all happy and excited then Crowd A is upset with you. Even God can’t please
everybody. Some of you are praying for the Eagles and some of you are praying for the Patriots.
Who wins? And tonight half of you are going to be ticked off at God. Why is that? Some
people are praying for rain right now, some people are praying it’ll clear up and be sunny. Even
God can’t please everybody.
Only a fool would try to do what God can’t do. It’s dumb. So you can’t please everybody.
You’ve got to figure out who am I trying to please.
The other day I was talking to Kay about this. I said, “Leadership is the art of managing
disappointment.” That’s what it is. It’s the art of managing disappointment. I am acutely aware
as a leader that I am constantly disappointing a lot of people because I can’t please everybody.
Every time I say yes to one appointment I’m saying no to a dozen others. Every time I say yes to
one phone call I’m saying no to a dozen others. Every time I say yes to one project I’m saying
no to other projects. You cannot – even Jesus could not please everybody. Because everybody
has different expectations of you. If you’re going to be a leader you’re going to have to ask God
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to give you a tough skin and a tender heart. Lord, help me not to worry about what other people
think but help me have a tender heart. Help me not to worry about what people are saying.
How did Jesus handle this? He lived for an audience of One. All He tried to do was please the
Father, God the Father. John 5 it says this, “I only try to please the One who sent Me.” Notice
He says I’m not out to win a popularity contest. I’m just trying to please one person, God.
And every one of us have to learn the same lesson. If you’re going to be an effective great leader
then you have to learn to not care about so many different opinions but care about God’s opinion
and focus on that. Because you cannot please everybody. Life is a marathon and when you are
running the race there are people in the stands who will both cheer you and jeer you. If you pay
attention to either one you’re going to get sidetracked, you’re going to stumble and you’re going
to lose the race. You can’t do it. You can’t listen to the critics or the compliments at the same
time. You just focus on what God has called you to do.
Some of you know this last week I was on the cover of Time magazine. I’ve had a lot of nice
press lately. But what you probably don’t know is we are constantly criticized at this church. In
the last couple months there have been three books coming out very critical of me, very critical
of this church, very critical of Purpose Driven Life. We’re a pretty big target right now. That’s
to be expected. The moment you put out a shingle somebody’s going to start throwing rocks at
it. There are people here in Southern California, there’s a couple guys on the radio who their
whole personal goal in life is to make Saddleback a punching bag. They’re always saying
negative things. The thing is just ignore them. Kay was flipping channels the other day on TV.
She saw this tele-evangelist. His whole sermon was against the Purpose Driven Life. He was
ranting and raving across the stage. “Rick Warren’s a false prophet. He’s leading millions of
people astray. He’s not even a Christian. He needs to get saved and come to the foot of the
cross.” Kay’s writing this all down and thinking, “I married the antichrist!”
What do you do about that kind of stuff? You ignore it. I don’t have time, here’s too many
important things to worry about either the cheers or the jeers, the strokes or the pokes, the
criticisms or the compliments.
It’s kind of like I have to tell people, You handle critics and compliments the same way as you
chew guy. You chew on it a while then you spit it out. You certainly don’t swallow it.
I was talking to Billy Graham one time and said, “What do I do with all this criticism?” He said,
“Rick, if you wrestle with a pig, both of you are going to get muddy. But only one of you is
going to like it.”
So if you’re going to be a leader, you don’t listen to critics or compliments for very long. You
just say, “I know who I am. I know what God’s called me to do. And I know what we’re trying
to accomplish.” You keep moving forward. And say, “I know who I’m trying to please.”
One of the big myths that keeps you from being effective – you as a leader – is this: I have to be
liked by everybody in order to be happy. That is a myth, friends. You don’t. You don’t have to
be liked by everybody in order to be happy. The fact is God already loves you unconditionally.
He will never love you any more or any less than He does right now. So if God likes you and
you like you if somebody else doesn’t like you – they’ve got the problem.
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You don’t have to have that approval. Let me be honest with you. Some of you are still trying
to get today the approval of somebody who has never given it to you. From your dad. Or from
your mom. Or from a husband or from a wife. Somebody. You’re living to get the approval of
somebody. I hate to tell you this but it’s the truth. You’re an adult now. And if you haven’t got
their approval by now you’re not going to get it. You’re never going to get it. It doesn’t say
anything about you. It says a lot about them. It’s their problem. It’s their hang-up. You’re not
going to get it because of who they are and not because of who you are. The hurt’s in their heart.
But here’s the good news. You don’t need it. You don’t need it. You don’t need their approval
to be happy. Just live for an audience of One. God loves you and God has a purpose and a plan
for your life. Learn to please Him. He’s already said, “I accept you unconditionally,” because
it’s based on who He is and not your performance.
Here’s my question: who are you depending on for your happiness? “If my husband would just
change then I could really be happy… If my girlfriend… If my boyfriend… If my wife would
just change then I’d really be happy … If I just had a different boss then I’d be happy… If I
could get married then I could be happy.” No, you won’t! That’s not a joke. That’s the truth.
The fact is you are a sinner and you marry a sinner and there’s no way you’re going to have a
perfect relationship with two sinners getting married. You’re going to have problems in
marriage just like you have problems in the single life.
We love to blame other people for our stress. I must… I have to… I can’t… I should…
Nobody’s holding a gun to your head. No one can pressure me without my permission. If you
feel under pressure from the expectations of others it’s your fault. You need to live for an
audience of One. You need to settle the issue of motivation. Know who you’re trying to please.
What is the ultimate motivation in life? It’s the motive that Jesus modeled for us, the only
perfect leader. In John 17:4 He says this “I have brought You [talking to God, the Father] glory
on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do.” I accomplished what You put me on earth
to do and I brought You glory. That is the ultimate motivation in life. Living for the global
glory of God. You say, “God, more than anything else – more than fame or wealth or comfort or
security – what I want more than anything else in my life is I want my life to bring You glory. I
want my life to make You smile. I want it to bring You glory. God, this week use my life to
bring glory to You.” That is the highest motive.
You have to settle this issue of motivation because leading is hard work and if you don’t know
why you do it, you’ll give up. When you figure out the why in your life God will show you how.
You must do it for His glory. “All for You! God, we want to do it all for You!”
4. The fourth principle of great leadership, of learning to lead like Jesus is the principle of
collaboration. That means work with a small group.
Leadership is never by itself. It is always in a context of a team, of a small community, of a
small group. To be a leader, you have to build a team. All great leaders are great team builders.
In fact, if you don’t have a team, you’re not a leader. You’re a loner. The test of leadership is
look over your shoulder. If nobody’s following you, guess what? I have a proverb that says this,
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“He who thinketh he leadeth and hath no one following him is only taking a walk.” The test of
leadership is one thing. Is anybody following? Is anybody agreeing? You start with a team.
That’s why we’re always stressing small groups in this church. You cannot be a leader if you
don’t have a team. You cannot be a leader if you’re not in a small group. We are better together
because none of us sees the whole picture. We need each other. We compensate for each other’s
weaknesses. Teams are far more effective than any individual. That’s why we’re always
stressing small groups.
Again, Jesus was the model. He never did any of His ministry by Himself. He was always in the
context of a small group. Mark 3 “He [Jesus] appointed twelve [the disciples] designating the as
apostles that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach.” So Jesus
gathered a small group of friends. And He enlisted other people to serve the cause with Him.
Why did He choose twelve? Why didn’t He choose fifty? Why didn’t He choose a hundred?
Why didn’t He choose five hundred?
Because Jesus knew if you get more than twelve people in a small group somebody stops talking
and somebody stops listening. The bigger the group gets the more it tends to get dominated by
those who talk the most. That’s why in small groups, small really is better. Six people is a good
number in a small group. Eight is a good number. If you get more than twelve people you might
consider splitting so that more people can participate and can be active. Jesus said, I’m going to
have twelve. Everything He did in ministry He did it with a team. Paul did the same thing. The
Apostle Paul traveled with seven different people. In fact, in Acts it tells us their names. These
are guys who traveled with Paul. It was his small group.
When I travel I never go anywhere by myself. I haven’t since we started the church, basically, in
the early years. This last week I was in Washington D.C. I took a team of four of our guys with
me. We’re more effective. We’re better together. So you need to get other people.
I learned this from Billy Graham. Billy Graham has had the same five or six people serving with
him for 62 years. That’s a model. When you’ve been together that long there’s no ego any
more. There’s no politicking. You can read each other’s minds. You’re very comfortable. It’s
like an old shoe. You’re more effective with a team.
One of my favorite things to do as pastor here at Saddleback is to stand out on the patio after the
service. I love to talk to people. People come up and they get ideas. “Rick! I’ve got this great
idea for a ministry.” I love to hear that because I love the creativity that comes, that bubbles up,
that God puts in our people. We have over two hundred ministries here at Saddleback that
minister out in the community. Almost every one of them were started by people out on the
patio that said, “I’ve got an idea.” They were started by me or our staff. They were started by
people who said, “Why don’t we do this?”
When people come to me and they share their idea, share their dream – if God has given you a
dream, a vision, a passion, something you say, I’d really like to do this. This could be my part in
the body of Christ. This could be my niche. This could be how I make my impact on the world
– what is the first step after you get the idea. Step one is get the idea. Step two is build a team.
You start praying for God to bring other people into your life who share the vision.
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That’s what Kay and I did when we started Saddleback. I had a little card that I put in my desk.
It said this: “Great people are ready to help me at the right time, people I don’t even now yet.
God, I promise I will never give up because You will bring just the right people at just the right
time into my life and I will marvel how You arranged it so wonderfully.” I have seen Him do
that over and over and over again for 25 years.
If God gives you a dream, gives you a vision, and that idea is really from God, He’s going to
bring other people with the same idea together with you. If nobody agrees on your idea, guess
what? It’s not from God. If it’s from God, other people will want to be a part of it.
Think about this. We stopped counting at about 80,000 but we’ve got 80,000 plus names of
attenders – people who attend this church – on our Saddleback role. You figure in 80,000 people
there’s got to be at least a dozen others who would want to do the same thing that you’d like to
do. Don’t you figure that? The key is just getting the connection. So you start praying, “God,
bring the people into my life supernaturally, by coincidence, whatever, that we could build the
team to do the dream.” It takes a team to fulfill a dream. God never blesses a one-man show. It
violates the whole principle of better together. That we were made for community.
Why don’t we accept help from each other? Two reasons: insecurity and pride. We want to do it
on our own. But as I said, then you’re a loner and not a leader.
Last week I was at our annual Saddleback Men’s Retreat at Marietta Hot Springs. We had about
1000 guys out there. Our guest speaker was Stu Webber, a wonderful guy, who is a pastor up in
Oregon. But Stu was also a Green Beret. He said this: Every soldier needs a battle buddy. And
every pilot needs a wingman. He told this story about the head of Delta Force. They asked him
“What kind of person would you like as a battle buddy?” He said “Somebody who’s strong
enough to carry me off the field when I get hurt.”
Do you have anybody like that in your life? Do you have anybody who’s strong enough to carry
you off the field when you get hurt? Life is a battle. You are going to be hurt – emotionally,
maybe physically. In your life. Do you have one person in your life whose strong enough
spiritually to drag you off the field and nurse you back to health when you’re going through the
tough times. More important, are you that kind of person to anybody else? Is there anybody
who can depend on you?
That’s why we tell everybody that you need not only a small group but you need a growth
partner. You need a spiritual friend. It’s probably somebody in your small group. But you can’t
call everybody in your small group every week and talk to them. But you could call one and you
could check up on each other and encourage each other in your leadership. How you doing? I’m
praying for you. What are you going through? Do you need me to carry you off the field this
week? You help each other out. So you need a group and one person who is a spiritual friend, a
battle buddy, a growth partner in the Lord. Because you’re going to go through tough times.
Even Jesus needed human companions and He was perfect.
Do you remember when Jesus went into the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before He was
going to be crucified. It was a time of agony because He was thinking and praying about what
was going to happen the next day. You remember this scene. If you saw the movie The Passion
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it starts with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He is in emotional anguish. He is a tortured
soul. He’s thinking about not only all the pain and suffering and torture He’s going to go
through but the emotional pain of carrying every sin ever committed in the world on His life.
Think about this. Jesus said, “I’m going to take every rape that was ever committed, every
molestation that was ever committed, every murder, every jealousy, every rejection, every
disloyalty. I’m going to take every sin – past, present and future – on My life and take all that
guilt on Myself.” I can’t imagine how that would feel. And neither can you. That’s why we
sing, “I’ll never know how much it costs to see my sin upon that cross.” It wasn’t just the
physical pain. It was the emotional pain, taking all the sin of the world on Himself so I wouldn’t
have to take my sin and pay for it. He paid for my sin so I could be free, so you could be free, so
we could go to heaven. That’s the good news. All my sins, even the ones I haven’t committed
yet, have been paid for. And yours too. You must accept that free gift of God’s grace.
In that moment when Jesus was agonizing what did He need? He needed friends. He needed a
team. He needed companions. He needed Peter, James, and John. He takes them in and He says
this, “Then He said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.’” He
said I feel like I’m dying inside. I’m so depressed. I’m grieving so much. I feel like I’m dying
inside. Then He says, “Stay here and keep watch with Me.’” Even Jesus needed a small group in
His grief.
He didn’t say stay here and give advice. He just said stay here and be with Me. When
somebody’s grieving, they’re going through a tough time, you don’t need to give some fancy
words of wisdom. You don’t need to give advice. They don’t want it. All they need is you.
Hold their hand. Put your arm around them. Sit there in the room and stay silent. Just being in
the room is comfort. You don’t have to be so wise and think up something clever to say. Just
stay here with me and watch. Just be with me. You need that. You need a small group and you
need a spiritual friend.
Tom:
5. There’s a fifth principle we learn from the life of Jesus. It’s the principle of Concentration
That’s the decision to focus on what’s important. You make this decision to focus on what’s
important because life is filled with things that will distract you from what’s important.
Anybody else notice that one? Life is just filled with distractions. We’ve got cell phones going
off, beepers going off. I think this is the only time in the church I wished a cell phone would go
off just as an illustration of this. Some of you are reaching for your cell phone right now making
sure it doesn’t go off. Our lives are filled with so many distractions, so much busyness, it’s easy
to miss what’s most important in life.
And not only distractions, there’s a lot of good things to do in life. You can get caught up in
doing so many good things you don’t have any time for the one important thing. If Satan can’t
mess up your life by getting you to do wrong things then his Plan B is to mess up your life by
trying to get you to do too many good things. There’s so many good things you’re trying to do
you don’t focus your life in a way that you could really lead in that area.
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Jesus, again, is our model. He was a master of concentration. He focused His life like a laser.
He refused to be distracted. Luke 9:51 “As the time grew near for His return to heaven, He
moved steadily onward toward Jerusalem with an iron will.” He was heading toward Jerusalem
to die on the cross for us, to be resurrected for us. He did it with an iron will. He was persistent.
He was determined. He was focused. He would not let anything distract Him from the one thing
that was important.
The truth is you have incredible spiritual potential. Whether you see any of it in your life or not
up to this point, you have incredible spiritual potential. But that spiritual potential is not going to
be realized in any of our lives until we break through this barrier – the barrier of deciding what’s
really important. What’s the one thing that’s really important? When you settle on what’s most
important then God’s going to do things in your life that you could never imagine.
Some guys were talking to Jesus one day. He was saying the one thing, the important thing is I
want you to follow Me. They said, Oh, yes, that is important. But first we want to go do this.
First we need to go over here and do this. Here’s what Jesus had to say to them. Luke 9:62
“Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him is not fit for the kingdom of
God.” Whoa! Jesus was pretty serious about this thing of distraction, how dangerous it can be
in our lives.
Jesus had some friends, Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus. Every once in a while He
would drop by their house for dinner. You’ve got to realize that when Jesus dropped by for
dinner He brought twelve hungry men with Him. Sort of a traveling Superbowl party, that kind
of a thing. Jesus dropped by for dinner and Martha, particularly, gets pretty distracted. There
are so many things to do that she gets distracted and worried and anxious about all those things.
A lot of us suffer from what I would call the Martha syndrome. That is this: you get so caught
up in the many things you have to do that you lose sight of the one thing that’s most important,
the reason you’re doing it in the first place. It happens to all of us. Jesus knows. Jesus
understands. Look at what He had to say to Martha. It can be encouragement to you if you get
so caught up in doing the many things that you’ve lost sight of the one thing. Martha was
distracted so Jesus said, “You’re worried and bothered about so many things. But only a few
things are necessary. Really only one.” So you focus on that.
Rick:
6. The sixth foundation of great leadership, learning to lead like Jesus is the principle of
meditation.
That means listen to God. Listen to God continually. Listen to God throughout your day. Make
listening to God a habit of your life.
The Bible tells us in Mark 1 “Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left
the house, and went off to a solitary place where He prayed.” We think prayer is talking to God.
But that’s only half-right. Prayer is conversation. And in a conversation you both talk and
listen. What would it be if you had a conversation with a friend and you did all the talking and
they never talked back? Or they did all the talking and you never talked back. That wouldn’t be
called a conversation. That’s a monologue.
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You hear about these people who pray thirty minutes a day. You think, “How do they do that? I
run out of stuff to say after ten seconds. What do I say?” How about this? Talk to God for ten
minutes then sit still and be quiet for the next twenty. Some of you are frightened by silence.
My guess is you’ve never sat still for twenty minutes in total silence. Maybe in your entire life
you’ve never done it. You’ve always got to have a radio on or a TV on. As a result you can’t
hear what God wants to say.
You study Jesus who was clearly busy His entire life. No matter how busy He got He takes time
to get alone. It says, He goes to solitary place to pray. If you’re going to be a leader, you’re
going to be around people because that’s what leading does. You can’t lead without being
around people. But you also need time away from people. I find that the bigger Saddleback gets
the more I love solitude. Because it’s one place nobody’s going, “Hey! How’s it going?” The
truth is you need both. You need time with people and you need time alone. Alone with God.
Luke 5 says this, “Now news about Jesus spread even more and crowds came to hear Him and
to be healed. But Jesus often slipped away to be alone so that He could pay.” Circle “often.” It
was His habit. If Jesus felt the need to get alone and listen to God, don’t you think that you need
to? You need quiet times to reflect, to renew to recharge. Pascal said, “All of man’s problems
comes from his inability to sit still.” That’s true. Psalm 46 God says “Be still and now that I am
God.” You can’t know God unless you be still.
If you’re always moving and you’re always busy and you’re always listening to something, how
many would agree that noise is a stress? It is. It is a stress. You need time to just get alone and
be quiet and listen to God.
Many, many times, several times a week I will pray a three-word prayer. It’s often in the middle
of the day. I’ll just stop, pause, and say this: “Lord, what’s next?” Three words. That’s all I
pray. Then I just stop and I listen. I listen to God and just be quiet. Sometimes an idea will pop
into my mind. An inspiration, an idea. Then I’ll go and act on it. Sometimes nothing happens.
When than nothing happens, I just go on with the schedule that I think is the best for that day.
But I give God the opportunity to rearrange it. I go, “Lord, what’s next?”
As a leader you want to say, What’s next? What’s next for my family? What’s next for my
business? God, what do You want to do next in our church? What do You want to do next with
our small group? What do You want to do next in this relationship that I’m in? You give God
the opportunity to give you advice.
I’ll be honest with you. I have never heard God speak verbally – out loud. He doesn’t need to.
God doesn’t need to. He goes direct to my mind. When the devil speaks to you, he puts an idea
in your mind and we call it temptation. When God speaks to you, He puts an idea in your mind,
we call it inspiration. That’s what inspiration is, God speaking into your mind. He doesn’t need
to say it aloud. Why go through your ears? He knows your thoughts. He’ll drop an idea in your
mind and you’ll go, “I would have never thought of that one!” You think, “This is what I need to
do at this point in time.”
Colossians 2:7 says this “Plant your roots in Christ. Let Him be the foundation for your life.
[And, by the way, the foundation for your leadership] Be strong in your faith just as you were
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taught. This is the foundation of good leadership.” The point is you can’t lead like Jesus until
you know Jesus personally.
The single greatest source of stress in your life is when you get disconnected from God.
Anytime throughout my day when I get disconnected from God, there’s always a warning sign.
It’s called stress. Stress is the warning light that at that moment in my life I’m disconnected
from God. And I need to get reconnected. Stress is the sign that says “Hello! You’re out of
contact with God at this moment. You’re not walking in the Spirit. You’re not connected to the
source.” When I get disconnected I get angry, cantankerous. I get irritable. It creates all kinds
of problems like fear and worry and shame and guilt and loneliness and bitterness. All kinds of
those things when I’m disconnected from God.
If you’ve never opened your life to Christ you need to do it today. That’s the starting point. We
can’t help you become the leader that Jesus needs you to be if you don’t have Jesus in your life.
So you say, “God, I don’t understand it all but today I wnt to open my life to You. I’m saying
yes.” Let me tell you what a Christian is. A Christian is giving as much of myself as I
understand, to as much of Jesus Christ as I understand, at this point in my life. That’s what it
means to be a Christian. Giving as much of myself as I understand to as much of Jesus Christ as
I understand at this point in my life. As you grow you learn more about you and more about
Him. And you’ll give more and more and more.
Whether you’ve been at Saddleback for 25 years or this is your first time today I invite you
to follow me in this prayer. In your mind just say, “God, I want You to use me. I want to
make a difference with My life. I want to influence others instead of being influenced. I
want to become the leader that You want me to be. Help me to know who You made me to
be, who I am. Help me to clarify what You want to accomplish with my life. Help me to
focus on pleasing You and not worry about everybody else. I want my life to bring glory to
You, Lord. Help me to work with a small group, to build a team, to not try to do it all on my
own. God, help me to focus on what’s important. Forgive me for the times I get distracted.
Teach me to listen to You, continually through my day, to pause, to take a minute and just
listen to You I want You to be the foundation of my life. I want to plant my roots in You.”
If you’ve never invited Christ in your life says this, “Jesus Christ, I open my life up to You.
Today, I’m saying yes to You. I want to know You and learn to love You and learn to trust
You. I’m stepping across that line today. In Your name I pray. Amen.”
7. There’s one more very, very important principle. It’s a fun one. It’s the principle of
relaxation, which means take time to recharge.
Take time to recharge. Why? Because leadership is draining. Leadership is hard work. And
leadership means you have to, in the long haul, take time to recharge.
We find that when we read through the Bible that Jesus frequently retreated to the desert. There
we have the Biblical basis of a Palm Springs vacation! He didn’t say anything about Big Bear or
Mammoth. He said go to the desert. Palm Springs. Palms and springs …that’s kind of biblical.
Mark 6:31 says this “Crowds of people were coming and going so that they [that’s the disciples]
did not even have time to eat [that’s pretty busy!] He said to them, ‘ Come away by yourselves
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and we’ll go to a lonely place to get some rest.’” Jesus looks at the disciples. They’d been
ministering. They’re tired. He says, “Fellows, you deserve a break today!” He says, “I want to
take you out.” I love the King James Version. It says, “Come ye apart for to rest.” If you don’t
come apart to rest occasionally you’re going to come apart.
Rest and recreation are never wastes of time. They’re so important that God put them in the Big
Ten. I’m talking about the Ten Commandments. The Fourth commandment says this: Every
seventh day you take a day off. God wired the human being on a six-day cycle. He says I want
you to work six days and on the seventh day you take a day off. He said this is so important He
puts it right up there with Don’t murder anybody and Don’t commit adultery. You would never
think of murdering anybody. You’d never think of committed adultery. But you violate the
fourth commandment, and I do too, all the time. Because what you do is on your day off you
end up catching up on work that you haven’t finished yet. You end up working your whole day
on your day off trying to catch up the work that needs to be done. That’s not rest. That’s work.
God says every seventh day you take a day off. My day off is Monday. Monday night for 25
years we’ve had family night. We go do something fun every Monday night. It’s so important.
Jesus modeled this. Matthew 11:19 says, “Jesus came enjoying life.” I love that in the Phillips’s
paraphrase. Actually in the Greek it says, the Pharisees were accusing Him saying that Jesus was
a glutton and a wine bibber – a glutton and a drunk. The worst thing that the Pharisees could
accuse Jesus of was that this guy’s a party animal. He goes to parties all the time. Why?
Because Jesus knew life was meant to be enjoyed, not just endured.
As a leader you will carry the load of your leadership. But that doesn’t mean you walk around
all the time frowning. So you’re to enjoy life not just endure it. You take time to recharge just
like Jesus did. He served and He pulled back. He’d serve and He’d pull back. He had times of
rest.
Kay and I have learned this the hard way. That if we don’t schedule time to recharge there will
always be something more urgent and more pressing. Have you found this out? This last week
we both had very busy weeks. I was in D. C. speaking all week at the National Prayer Breakfast.
Kay was busy speaking in San Diego speaking three times at the National Pastor’s Conference.
We knew that this was going to be a busy week. So we scheduled. Tomorrow we’re leaving for
a three-day get away.
That wasn’t some thing we planned on Friday – we’re tired, we need to get away together. No.
Looking at the calendar we go, This is going to be a busy week, let’s schedule the time now.
Does that make sense?
Years ago I learned a little formula that is the key to lasting in leadership. It’s this Divert Daily,
Withdraw Weekly, Abandon Annually.
Divert Daily means every day you do something fun. I don’t care what it is. Just get
something. Get a hobby. You want to paint, play the piano, sing, go shoot some hoops, work
out, go work in your garden, wrestle with your kids. Whatever relaxes you. Different things
relax people differently. But you need to have a little bit of fun every day in your life. Divert
daily.
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Withdraw Weekly. Every week you take a day off and you relax and restore.
Then you Abandon Annually. You go away and you forget the whole thing.
So this week what I’m telling you to do is I want you to go out and practice some creative
loafing. It is better to have loafed and lost than to have never loafed at all.
Prayer:
Father, I thank You for our church family. I pray that You will raise up the greatest leaders
of the 21st century out of this church. I pray specifically that you will bless this person
standing right now. Bless them God! Transform them into a great and godly leader to those
around them. I ask that You will increase their influence for Your glory in our world. And
Father, I pray this week that they will have a clearer understanding of what You made them
to be and what they’re living for and what’s most important and what You want to
accomplish through the gifts You’ve given to them. May they hear Your voice in their
mind. May they see the incredible potential in their small group and in their team. And may
You use them this week for Your glory as Your Spirit helps them to become the leader that
You intend for them to be. I pray this in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit. Amen.