We are all leaders and followers. We follow the perfect one who goes before, behind, and walks alongside of us. We are also leaders, leading others on the path of righteousness for His name sake. Jesus’ last request before to His disciples was Matthew 28:18-20. This is the Great Commission that calls all believers to be a spiritual leader and a follower of God.
Jesus asks His disciples to go, make disciples, baptize, and teach others His words of love. At first, He says in verse 18, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” He reminds them that God is the true leader of all of us. He says this first before He entrusts them with His work on earth. Then in verse 20 Jesus says, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus promises that He will walk, guide, and comfort His disciples as they step into their calling. It’s funny how this is Jesus’ last words. His last request is to encourage them to lead and remind them where they should be leading others: to Christ.
I’ve learned quite a bit from Jesus’ example of a leader, but also from Jesus’ last words; the words that were pressing on Jesus’ heart to say. As I read this passage the Lord revealed 7 main lessons to me (that spells out LEADERS). These are the lesson that He wanted to teach His disciples and us about leadership. My hope is that through these points God grows, teaches, and prepares you to walk in leadership too.
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L: Lean on Him alone. All good leaders lean on God. We can see Jesus’ example all throughout the gospels. Even Jesus, God’s perfect son, choose to rely on the Lord for strength, wisdom, perseverance, and many other things. Not even Jesus could live this life alone and walk in the will of God without coming to the Father for everything He needed. In the Great Commission, Jesus advises His disciples to rely on Him when He says, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” God is offering to help us if we let Him. We don’t have the strength to persevere without Him. If Jesus needed to lean on God then how much more do we need to lean on Him as well? Rejoice in the fact that the Lord offers Himself as a resource for us to walk in the path of righteousness. Now let’s use this tool (Him) to be great leaders and good followers.
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E: Express life not death. We express life in both our words and actions. In whatever we do or say we represent Christ. Words are important and can bring kingdom or be a weapon of destruction. Jesus knew the power of our words and warns us throughout scripture to be on guard and wise with what we say. In Jesus’ last words He calls His disciples to use their words to bring life by “teaching them [others] to observe everything I have commanded you.” We bring kingdom by sharing our testimonies of God’s steadfastness and His story of redemption and love for all people. So let’s bring life and not death. If it isn’t edifying, glorifying, or bringing kingdom don’t say it. Let’s be men and women who strive to bring kingdom with our words and actions. Let’s start to understand the power and weight of our words and use it for the sole purpose of love!
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A: Act upon your words. God created us to be men and women of honor and integrity. He created us to reflect Him and stand upon His words. Words our powerful and like I mentioned above it can bring life or death. Being true to our words and acting upon them also brings kingdom. When we stand upon our promises we are also reflecting how the Lord stands upon His too. God calls us to action and not just say we want to bring kingdom or be used for His glory, but actually do it! That’s why Jesus’ first command to them is “GO”. He is pushing His disciples and us higher. Be a man or woman of your word! This is what God is asking you to do and where our identity is found. If we want to be apart of His plans, used by God, and ambassadors of the kingdom then go and do what the Lord is calling you to do. What’s stopping you?
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D: Dream big with God. God wants to hear your dreams, values, and thoughts. He wants to dream with you! Those dreams in your heart was put there by God and Jesus knew this. He also knew that we would think that our dreams are impossible sometimes. So He made it a point to say “therefore go.” It may seem like two irrelevant words, but it’s not. The point Jesus is trying to express is that we can go, do, accomplish, and live out our dreams because we have God on our side. Without God our dreams would be impossible, meaningless, and we may not have dreams to begin with. If Jesus encourage us to therefore go to God with our dreams because we have that authority in Christ, why not do so? God wants to make your dreams a reality and use it for His kingdom. He wants to make the impossible possible if we are willing and step out in faith with a ‘yes’ in our spirit.
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E: Elevate others before yourself. Jesus was the perfect example of a leader. He was humble, kind, and caring. Jesus didn’t care about a title, He just showed the world what true love looks like. In the same way that Jesus humbled Himself to wash the disciple’s feet, Jesus is asking them to humble themselves and baptize others. He called them to baptize others in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He called them to show true love in humility. Jesus requests all of us to do this too. Sure, not everyone is a pastor, but that doesn’t matter. If we are sons and daughters of God we can baptize others. Jesus has given us the authority to do so. If this is what the Lord is calling us to do don’t hesitate from this opportunity to honor God and others. Exercise your authority in Christ! For God has given us authority so we can use it to bring kingdom. So, let bring kingdom!
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R: Remember remember remember. We are a very forgetful people. Time and time again we forget our identity, God’s words and promises, and our calling. Therefore, God repeats things multiple times in the Bible so we don’t forget what is important. Even in the Great Commission Jesus asks them to remember in verse 20. He asks them to remember that they aren’t alone, everything God has done, what they saw and experienced, and who they are. He wanted them to stack stones of remembrance in their hearts so they could look back and rejoice in all that the Father has done. We too are called to remember. If we don’t remember God’s words, what He has done, and who we are how can we walk with the Lord on the path He has set before us? How can we be good leaders without knowing where we are leading the lost? Let us be people who choose to remember and rejoice.
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S: Store His words in your heart. If someone took your Bible away how much would you recall? How much value does the Bible have to us? How often do we meditate on His word? The New Testament describes God’s word as a double-edged sword. If we don’t store His words in our hearts then what weapon will we have against the enemy, what truth can we stand on, and how can we be comforted? God doesn’t want us to study His word because it’s a religious act. He asks us to store His words in our hearts so we are not waivered by Satan and we can grow in our intimacy with Him. He gave us the Bible to protect, love, comfort, and draw us closer to God. That is why Jesus mentions in Matthew 28, “observe everything that I have commanded you.” Observe, meditate, and use His words to bring freedom to yourself and others. I encourage you to pick up your swords, walk in you identity, stand upon truth, and lead with knowledge, grace, and love!
These are the lessons God taught me through His Great Commission. This is what it looks like to be a true leader and a reflection of Christ. Leading isn’t about a title or authority. Leading is about leaning on Him, expressing life, acting on our words, dreaming big with God, elevating others before ourselves, remembering, and storing His words in our hearts. This is how we can be a true follower and leader.
I’ve been trying to apply the LEADERS acronym along with other tools to help me become a better leader. Some of the other tools I’ve been learning are: self-awareness, perspective, responsibility, walking in freedom, recognizing my role in the church, dreaming big with God, leaning on Him, etc. I’ve been learning these lessons and striving to use them in everyday. You can use these tools in everyday life too. We don’t have to have a leadership role to practice these tools and walk in leadership. Leadership is simply stewarding what God gives us well.
For me, stewarding these lessons is applying it to ministry. It’s choosing to be aware of my thoughts, actions, attitudes, perspectives, and words because they affect others. It’s choosing to lead in the little things even if I am just cleaning toilets, washing dishes, or serving food. These tools have fanned the flame of determination inside of me to do better. In whatever I say and do I am a reflection of God. I can either bring life or death.
I know that my next steps are to continue to steward what the Lord gave me well. I am determined to follow Him, exercise what I’ve learned, and use them for His kingdom. Now, what’s your next steps? How are you going to apply Jesus’ wise words in the Great Commission? Are you going to step into your identity and steward these gifts well? It’s up to you friend, but know this is who you are: a follower of Christ and a spiritual leader of the lost.
