John 10:11-18 Leadership

Introduction

There was a young woman who wanted to go to college, but her heart sank when she read the question on the application form that asked, "Are you a leader?" Being both honest and conscientious, she wrote, "No," and returned the application, expecting the worst.

To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: "Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one follower."

This morning, we are reflecting on the subject of leadership. What are the qualities of leadership that we should be looking for as Christians? How does this relate to leadership within the life of the church, and what things can we learn for our own lives?

Our reading from John’s gospel sheds some very interesting light on the sort of qualities we should be looking for in our leaders.

The Good Shepherd: Leads from the front

Jesus used many different metaphors to describe himself, I am the true Vine, I am the way, the truth and the life, I am the bread of life, I am the light of the world, and I am the good shepherd.
What do we learn about leadership from the good shepherd? Firstly, the good shepherd leads from the front. Here in Walsall we don’t see many sheep, but I come from Cumbria where sheep greatly out number humans, and when moving sheep the shepherd drivers the sheep from behind, with the use of dogs. However, in the middle east the shepherd leads the sheep from the front. This is why in Psalm 23, known by many as ‘The Lord’s my Shepherd’, it talks of God leading us beside still waters.

And this is one of the first qualities of good leadership, a leader is one who leads from the front, and most importantly, they are people that others want to follow. However, the Bible warns against the blind leading the blind, and so vision is an important quality in leadership. In Proverbs 29:18 it states, that “Without vision, the people perish.” If we consider churches that are growing, and having a real impact on their communities, you will discover that the leadership within those churches have a clear vision of where it is they are heading, and what it is they hope to achieve. This sort of vision, needs to be rooted in prayer and careful study of scriptures, because what we seeking is God’s vision for the church. There is a quote which says, “Vision that looks inward becomes duty. Vision that looks outward becomes aspiration. Vision that looks upward becomes faith.” It is that sort of vision we need to look for.

When a shepherd leads his sheep, they choose to follow him, not because they are coersed to do so, but because they trust the shepherd. And the skill of a really good leader is to lead people to where they don’t necessarily always want to go, but ought to be. In order to achieve this, there are certain qualities which are essential in order to be a good leader.

During the second world war Dwight Eisenhower served as the supreme commander of allied forces in Europe, and in 1953 went on to become the 34th President of the United States of America. This is what he said in reference to the qualities necessary for leadership. “In order to be a leader a man must have followers. And to have followers, a man must have their confidence. Hence the supreme quality of a leader is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, on a football field, in an army, or in an office. If a man's associates find him guilty of phoniness, if they find that he lacks forthright integrity, he will fail. His teachings and actions must square with each other. The first great need, therefore, is integrity and high purpose.”

Lays down his life

The other thing we learn about leadership from John’s Gospel, is that the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Jesus makes a contrast between the good shepherd and the hired hand. The main difference is that the good shepherd cares for his flock, where as the hired hand doesn’t. Shepherding is a hard, demanding and costly way of life. In 1 Samuel 17:34-35 David describes what it was like to care for a flock, and protect it from wild animals. “Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.”

To be a good leader, in whatever sphere that may be, means caring for those you are responsible for, and this can be very costly. It can be costly, emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. Consider for example, the way in which those who Jesus loved, and had cared for during the course of his ministry, abandoned him at the moment he needed them the most. Being in a position of leadership can at times be very lonely.

Knows his sheep

The other thing we notice from this passage is that the good shepherd knows his sheep. To be totally honest, I cannot tell the difference between one sheep and another, they all look pretty much the same to me, but the good shepherd knows each sheep individually. In the context of God, the message is clear, God knows us all by name, he knows us better than we know ourselves. He understands our needs, he understands our struggles and our anxieties, and as the story of the shepherd who goes in search of the lost sheep reminds us, he loves us as if we were the only person in the world.

Applying this to leadership, a good leader knows and cares for those that they are immediately responsible for. It is about putting the interests of others first. Leadership can follow one of two routes. Either it is directed to the self life of the leader, or it is directed selflessly for the good of those who are led. The former is the way of the world, which leads to death; the latter is the way of Jesus, which leads to life. The understanding of leadership from a Christian perspective is about becoming the servant of all, and this requires humility. Again our greatest example is that of Jesus. When James and John came to Jesus and asked to sit one at his right and the other at his left, Jesus responded “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 10:44-45) Good leaders, must first become good servants.

The sheep know his voice

Just as the shepherd knows the sheep, so the sheep know the voice of the shepherd. I heard a story of one visitor to the Holy Land, who witnessed an extraordinary scene. There had been a storm, and several different flocks of sheep had sheltered in the one building. The flocks were all intermingled, so to the outsider it was impossible to see which sheep belonged to which shepherd. But one by one the shepherds came, and called by name, each of their sheep, and when the sheep heard their name called, and recognised the voice of the shepherd, they responded.

A good leader, is someone who others will listen to, and want to follow. And therefore integrity and conviction of beliefs is very important. But it is also a reminder, that as Christians, we should be listening to voice of our master, and faithfully responding to his call.

Leadership in church

So far I have been discussing leadership in general, I now want to turn briefly to consider leadership within church. There is a risk that when we think of leadership, within the church, we tend to think in very limited terms, thinking primarily of the ordained leadership. However Paul’s description of the church as a body in 1 Corinthians, reminds us that we all have a part to play within the life of God’s church. If you look through the New Testament, you will see that the burden of leadership is always shared.

We can draw some useful lessons about leadership from geese! Geese travel thousands of miles, and they have four very interesting habits.

1. Those in front rotate their leadership. When one lead goose gets tired, it changes places with one in the wing of the V-formation and another flies point. A recognition that leadership is tough, and it’s important that that burden is shared.

2. By flying as they do, the members of the flock create an upward air current for one another. Each flap of the wings literally creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. It has been estimated that by flying in a V-formation, the whole flock gets 71 percent greater flying range than if each goose flew on its own. It is often said that 80% of the work in church is done by 20% of the people, how true is this of St Paul’s, and what can we do to encourage greater collaboration so we can achieve more.

3. When one goose gets sick or wounded, two fall out of formation with it and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with the struggler until it's able to fly again. This reminds us of the importance of supporting one another, particularly those in public leadership roles. How do you support your clergy here at St Paul’s? Would you notice if one of your church leaders was sick or wounded? And if so, how would you respond. I tend to find that whenever someone announces in church that they feel they should move on, or do something different, the immediate thought is not for them, but for the job they do, and how are we going to find someone to do their job.

4. The geese in the rear of the formation are the ones who do the honking. I suppose it's their way of announcing that they're following and that all is well. The repeated honks encourage those in front to stay at it. Leadership can be lonely, and it is good and important to get encouragement. Are we quicker at giving encouragement or criticism?

One lesson stands out above all others: it is the natural instinct of geese to work together. Whether it's rotating, flapping, helping, or simply honking, the flock is in it together...which enables them to accomplish what they set out to do. And I think that this is a wonderful model of leadership in church, and something for us all to consider.