Leaders Build People

Last week I said that Jesus’ leadership style was primarily winning people. Today I want to focus on building people. I remember the day, many years ago, when I was sitting at my desk and suddenly realised that the main thing Jesus did as a leader was build people. He invested in people and grew them.

Bill Hybels, pastor of Willow Creek Church in Chicago, used to say, when recruiting or employing people, to look for character, competency and chemistry. Character is who we really are on the inside – the values and beliefs that determine how we behave. It includes things like integrity, courage, loyalty, perseverance, compassion. Competency is our skills – what we are able to do. Chemistry is how well we relate to others on the team. Is this person going to be disruptive or hard to work with?

Jesus grew people in all of those areas. He grew their character. He grew their skills. He grew their ability to relate and work together. By doing that, He grew a strong team. Leaders grow people and build teams.

To grow people we can use a process like that of a master craftsman training an apprentice.

1. I’ll do it. You watch.

2.     You do it with me.

3.     You do it. I’ll watch.

4.     You do it without me.

5.     You train someone else to do it.

Last week we mentioned the washing of the disciples’ feet at the Last Supper. That was an example of “I’ll do it. You watch”, followed by some very specific teaching about following Jesus’ example. They had already seen Jesus serving in numerous other ways. Constantly, they saw servant-heartedness. It was so central to who Jesus was that there were regular examples.

The feeding of the 5,000 was another example of serving. Having heard of the execution of His cousin, John the Baptist, Jesus withdraw to a private place. He wanted time alone, but the crowds followed Him. When Jesus saw them, He had compassion on them and healed those who were ill. The disciples witnessed serving and compassion.

Then it got late and the people were hungry. The disciples suggested sending them away but Jesus said, “You give them something to eat”. Despite what they had just seen, the disciples did not think of serving. They thought of sending them away. But Jesus told them serve the crowd. They didn’t know what to do Jesus said, “Let’s do this together”. He organised them and prayed. The disciples distributed the loaves and fishes and were part of the miraculous multiplication.

Immediately after that, Jesus told the disciples to get into a boat and go ahead of him to the other side of the lake. He went up a mountainside to pray. They had a long night, making little progress in a storm. Shortly before dawn, Jesus walked out on the lake to them. Peter wanted to walk to Jesus on the water. Jesus said, “Come”. Peter got out of the boat and walked on water – until He saw the wind and the waves and became afraid and started to sink. “Lord, save me!” he cried.

Jesus reached out His hand and hauled him back onto the surface of the water. Then He had a question for Peter: “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Was Jesus disappointed with Peter for his lack of faith? I doubt it! I think He would have been delighted that Peter had walked on water at all. Maybe Peter had been inspired by the feeding of the 5,000 and his faith had grown. He knew impossible things were possible. He was willing to exercise his new faith. But faith doesn’t become perfect in one lesson. This was the next step. He had seen Jesus walk on water. The next step was for Jesus to invite Peter to do it with Him. The Master was there to make sure nothing went too wrong but the apprentice was given a chance to have a go.

Note the importance of reflection afterwards. “Why did you doubt?” That’s a really good question. Why had Peter doubted? If he had taken the time to think about that question, he would have learnt as much from the question as he did from the actual experience.

Those two examples are in Matthew 14. In Matthew 17 we have the Transfiguration. That was a major learning experience for three of the disciples but let’s look at what happened immediately afterwards.

READ Matthew 17:14-21.

The disciples had seen Jesus drive demons out of people many times already. While Jesus was up the Mount of Transfiguration, a father brought his demon-possessed son to them. It kind-of seems like a “You do it without me” opportunity. But they failed. They couldn’t do it. The father was frustrated; Jesus was frustrated. It seems the disciples should have done better: “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.”

Jesus rebuked the demon; the boy was healed. Again, there was a debrief afterwards. The disciples asked why they had not been able to do it. Jesus said it was because of their lack of faith. Some manuscripts add that Jesus said that that kind of demon would come out only by prayer, or by prayer and fasting.

It was a “You do it without me” moment but that doesn’t mean you won’t have to return to an “I’ll do it. You watch” moment, or a “You do it with me” moment.

Long before this, in Matthew 10, Jesus had sent the disciples out in pairs to the surrounding towns and villages to heal the sick, drive out demons, raise the dead and proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God. They came back all excited that the demons had submitted to them in Jesus’ name.

That is an amazing example of Jesus trusting them with real ministry very early in the training process. Would you have trusted them? It was a “You do it without me” moment although, of course, Jesus was still hovering in the background, ready to debrief them and provide more teaching.

They had been successful at driving out demons in Matthew 10, why couldn’t they do it in Matthew 17? Maybe again it was a case of some lessons having to be re-learnt. Or, maybe this was a particularly nasty demon. Jesus did say, “This type comes out only by prayer”. Their learning moved to a new level.

Of course, the real “You do it without me” moment came when Jesus was about to leave permanently. Because the commission was to make disciples, it also involved teaching others to do it; “Baptise them and teach them to do everything I have commanded”.

This is not just about Jesus. What Jesus shows is that good leaders grow people. One of the key functions of leaders is to build people. The expansion of the Kingdom of God happened not so much during Jesus’ ministry but afterwards because He had focused so intensively on growing that small group of men. Investing in people says you see the potential in them, and you value them. But it also means that the workforce expands, and another generation have been readied to continue the work. Every leader should look not only at the fact that Jesus prioritised growing people but should study how He did that.

Here's another way of understanding how Jesus grew people.

The top half is the responsibility of the teacher. The teacher models and instructs. The corresponding responsibilities for the student (or disciple) are to reflect and imitate. Reflect on the instruction; imitate the teacher’s actions. The left-hand side is the practice; the right-hand side is the theory. Good training includes both.

All of that is in the context of both challenge and safety, and affirmation and accountability

In churches we tend to rely too much on theory. We use a lot of words. We preach sermons and run courses and watch videos and have Bible studies – all of which are good; they belong on the right-hand side, although we might not even encourage much reflection. We just speak and absorb words.

One way Jesus required reflection was by asking questions: Why did you doubt? Who do you say that I am? What were you talking about on the road? Which of these was a neighbour? Peter, do you love me?

The teaching is likely to go in one ear and out the other if there is no reflection. What exactly was said? What did it mean? Is it true? How can we put it into practice?

Who agrees that teaching without reflection might be wasted time? Why do you say that?

As we have already seen, it is not just the instruction that requires reflection. Jesus debriefed with the disciples after events and times when they had been involved in ministry. Debriefing provides an opportunity to identify the lessons.

Let’s be generous and say that churches are good at both the instruction and the reflection. We are certainly not so good at modelling and imitating. Jesus did everything He taught. The disciples and the crowds could watch it being lived out. They saw compassion; they saw Jesus praying; they saw how He responded to opponents; they saw Him healing; they saw Him disappointed and how He dealt with that.

The first two steps in the apprenticing process involved being able to watch the master modelling the behaviour or the skill: I’ll do it; you watch. You do it with me.

So, how might we help someone know how to lead a Bible study? Members of a Life Group will have seen someone leading. But the learning would be far greater if they had also seen the preparation, and sat alongside the leader while he/she wrestled with the questions and figured out which ones to use and how to rephrase them if necessary, or how to illustrate the answer, and as he/she prayed about the group?

How might we help someone know how to parent? Hopefully their parents were a good example but that is not always the case. Can you learn parenting out of a book? Can you learn any practical skill by reading a book? Books can help, but can we show them how good parents operate?

I suspect we need to shift our thinking away from just theory and more towards having people alongside us as we serve; allowing them to see us – including allowing them to see us when things go wrong and how we handle that. I want to encourage every leader in our church to have an apprentice.

Jesus-like training is much more demanding. Do we want people to see us in those less-than-pretty moments? Have we got time to mentor another person?

On the other hand, would we be much more successful? Are we meant to do it Jesus’ way?

A few years ago, I spent a couple of nights in hospital. I was fascinated to see how training is baked into the everyday practice of doctors and nurses. I would see two nurses talking, then one (the trainee) would come and attend to me, then they would talk again to debrief. There is even a special word for a mentoring nurse: a preceptor. Doctors would do their ward rounds with medical students with them. While the doctor was attending to me, he was constantly asking the students questions about how they would assess me, what diagnosis they would come to, what they would recommend. There is also classroom time and there would be times when the trainee is even more involved – even more hands-on. But we train our medical professionals the same way Jesus trained the disciples.

I’ve watched flight attendants being mentored. A more experienced flight attendant watching a trainee and then they talk. It is fascinating. Some occupations have got training the next generation sorted.

Leadership is not just about accomplishing goals; it is about growing people. The results follow because there are skilful, competent people of character who know how to work in a team. Those people make things happen. And those people then train yet another generation.

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