A Study on Jesus' Leadership Style

As part of the requirements of my MBA in Biblical Stewardship, I need to make and submit a paper studying the leadership style of a Bible Character. I picked Jesus. Jesus was a very powerful and effective leader for me. Two thousand years after His death and resurrection, the church continues to be a thriving and growing entity despite the dark areas in its history. The following are some characteristics in our Lord that I believe makes Him a great leader:

Jesus was clear in His Mission and Vision. He knew what He was put on the Earth for. Even when He was twelve, He knew that He was placed on the Earth to do His Father's work. (Luke 2:49) And since He was clear with His life goal, He learned everything there is to know in the past related to His purpose: He was well-versed in the Scripture. Also, He was willing to sacrifice, even Himself, for the fulfillment of the purpose He was put on Earth for (Luke 22:42). Since the goal was clear, He knew His priorities. Even though He knew it was painful, humiliating and difficult, He did what had to be done for the fulfillment of the goal.

On the other hand, though, although it is known that Jesus was single-minded in His pursuit of the fulfillment of the goal, He wasn't extremely busy as most of the current generation are proud to be. He still took time to get away from the crowd and pray (Mark 6:46). Jesus knew the value of recalibration and being in-tune with the Father. This also prevented Him from burning out.

In His dealing with people, He saw potential in them. Even in today's setting, people would question the wisdom of Jesus' choice of His twelve apostles. But He saw in them something other people don't normally see. Even in Saul's case, this is seen. Saul was a persecutor, technically an enemy, of Christians. But instead of killing him off, Jesus chose to recruit His enemy. And given that the church is still thriving to this day, there must have been something in the people He chose that were perfect for the job.

Jesus knew how to delegate. Aside from the twelve, He had seventy disciples whom He sent out to do the work He did (Luke 10:1-16). He was not afraid to share authority (Luke 10:19). And this, in the proponent's opinion, comes from the confidence He has of His position; and in the knowledge that, the goal, the Will of God, comes before the putting up of the self. There is also open communication between Him and His disciples. In numerous passages in the Bible, Jesus is found in His disciples' homes, and with His apostles.

Jesus taught. He knew that if He wanted His purposes to last beyond Himself, He needed to train people. Nowadays, leaders are so afraid of being ousted or replaced that they keep their knowledge to themselves to be irreplaceable to their companies. But Jesus didn't think that way. He taught people what He knew. He modeled what He wanted done. And He even enabled His people to do greater things than Himself (John 14:12).

It was not always easy-sailing and, given the apparent flaws of His chosen ones, He often found them not meeting expectations. Peter denied Him (Mark 14:66-71). Thomas shifted between false bravado (John 11:16) and doubt (John 20:24-25). But after all these, He forgave them. He didn't even bring the faults up anymore. But He also didn't keep to Himself what He knew was wrong. Like when the people were treating the Temple as a marketplace, He had no qualms showing them His displeasure (Mark 11:15-17).

Jesus was also a charismatic leader. People were drawn to Him. On the one hand, He had authority. He could rebuke demons and illnesses. And when He wanted someone to follow Him, He never asked if they wanted to. With authority, He would tell them, “Come, follow me.” And they would follow Him (Mark 1:17). With authority, He would tell them, “Your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5) With authority, He would tell them, “Get up.” (Mark 5:41)

On the other hand, He had compassion. And people could come to Him, and He wouldn't turn them away. He felt for them (John 11:33). And He loved them (John 11:3). Jesus also had flair. This, to me, is not a bad thing as some would think. Human beings are attracted to wonder. And Jesus often used presentations to make a point. Take, for example, Lazarus. Instead of merely healing Him, Jesus allowed Him to die, and He resurrected him from the dead (John 11:43). The woman with the bleeding problem was already healed when she touched Jesus' robe (Mark 5:29). But Jesus had to stop and ask who had touched Him. It made more impact on the woman's life that Jesus stopped especially for her to tell her that her sins were forgiven.

The best way I could describe Jesus as a leader would be that He studied the past, He cared about the present, and He prepared for the future. Well, I guess I'd better learn from Him then.

The Listening Leader

"Everything rises and falls on Leadership."
- John Maxwell


I've just finished the Leadership Module of my MBA class. And one of my take-homes is about the Listening Leader. In the old model of leadership, the leader commands and controls. There's not much listening involved. But in the new model, leaders are more open. They don't know everything, but they know how to find the answers. And here are the practical benefits of being a Listening Leader:

• A bond of respect is forged between the leader and his followers.
• There is more productivity.
• Heads are cooler.
• Everyone has more confidence.
• There is more accuracy.
• Innovative solutions are generated.
• There is total quality management.

I agree to this wholeheartedly. I am not always the strong and compassionate leader I aspire to be. I often find myself interrupting or raising my voice when someone annoys me. But I do believe the new model of leadership, where leaders listen, is the way to go, especially in the game industry. I have observed that many times, the followers, who came into the industry because of their love of games, are more in tune with what players like than their leaders. The demands of running a business sometimes takes too much of the leader's attention that many a time, we forget about why we went into this in the first place.

For my Dream House

I was surfing the net this afternoon, and came upon some home interior stuff that I found quite interesting. When I have my own family and my own house, I'll have a carpeted room with only these rock pillows by Livingstones in them. Imagine, kids plus a bunch of these pillows. They'll be imagining climbing a mountain one day, then playing hide-and-seek the next day, and then pretending to be in a stream the next day. The creative possibilities are huge!

Plus it would be fun to just laze among the rocks on quiet days.

For my Dream House

I was surfing the net this afternoon, and came upon some home interior stuff that I found quite interesting. When I have my own family and my own house, I'll have a carpeted room with only these rock pillows by Livingstones in them. Imagine, kids plus a bunch of these pillows. They'll be imagining climbing a mountain one day, then playing hide-and-seek the next day, and then pretending to be in a stream the next day. The creative possibilities are huge!

Plus it would be fun to just laze among the rocks on quiet days.

Inquire of the Lord

"Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Sea. It is already in Hazazon Tamar” (that is, En Gedi). Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the LORD; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him"
-2 Chronicles 20:2-4

This is so strange. Our lesson the other day was on 2 Chronicles 20. Then my devotional yesterday was the same chapter. Then this morning, it was a different set of verses but the same chapter again! I guess what struck me this time is this: inquire of the Lord.

If something's up, inquire of the Lord. If you're entering something new, inquire of the Lord. For anything, inquire of the Lord. There are battles we have to fight ourselves. There are battles that the Lord will fight for us. To know what kind of battle this is we are facing, inquire of the Lord. That's probably why I keep getting lost.

Am I going in the right direction? Am I not seeing something in the whole equation? What must I hope for? I inquire of You, Lord.

It does not make us timid

My Lord's response to my prayer (previous entry).

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."
- 2 Timothy 1:7

I guess You're telling me this is a battle I have to fight. Anyway, You've equipped me. I had seven months of equipping. I should be able to withstand this storm should it erupt into a full-blown storm. But anyway, i think it's just a stray. I was worrying about nothing.

You are right, Lord. I am Yours. I need not be afraid. I can wield power. I have chosen love, and that love will give me the self-control to not hate, to not hurt. Not just in this circumstance, but in all the others You choose to put me through.

Battles to not Fight

"Our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you."
- 2 Chronicles 20:12

They didn't have to fight this battle, Lord. I've always thought I needed to fight all the battles that come my way. But they didn't need to do anything but turn their eyes to You.

I've just started my MBA class at the Asian Theological Seminary. Funny how what I thought would be an intellectual class on Biblical Leadership is turning out to be something that is pointing out and examining the causes and effects of how I deal with what life throws at me.

Today, our speaker presented that he believed we have three types of storms in our life: storms we need to rebuke, storms we need to weather, and storms we don't need to go through.

You know my battles, Lord. And actually, something's biting. Just a little bit. But I am afraid. I think I need to kill this. Or, if possible, if You want this dead, can You do it, Lord? This storm took more than half a year to weather. And now suddenly, a tiny green spark. Initially, I thought I could fight it this time. You had me brave it before. Maybe I'm strong enough now. But I dare not underestimate these things. I may become powerless when I'm suddenly face-to-face with it again.

Maybe I'm just thinking about it too much. The tiny green spark could be a stray. Nothing is catching fire anyway. Nothing caught fire before the silence. There were more sparks then. I don't think anything will catch fire now. Besides, you've shown me recently something I can aspire for. Maybe it's time to put the man of steel to rest... Unless his bones are suddenly suffused with adamantium, and the broken gains resolve. But the likelihood of that happening... Well, I guess I need to throw all of this out the window. Anything is possible with You so I can never really tell. Here, Lord, I give You the spark. Do with it as You wish. Also, here's my heart, Lord. Take me where You wish me to go. My eyes are on You.

My, it's cold tonight.

Emotions

Yesterday, we did a recording for a game we're making. Macky, who's our head writer for this project, played the character with the saddest lines. He gave me the role of his mother. We all did a run through. And I told him I couldn't do it. But the truth was, there was a battle inside me. I wanted to do the mother's lines because I felt I could do the voice he wanted for her. I didn't want to do it because I knew I had to feel what she was feeling in order to do it properly. In the end, I lost the battle. I said I couldn't do it.

As I was watching Macky really step into the character as he did his parts, I couldn't help but think, "Wow, this guy isn't afraid of emotions." ... Afraid of what? Emotions. You're afraid of emotions? I liked to think not, but I can't deny the fact that I didn't want to feel it. You're afraid to cry? Hard to answer yes, when I keep crying when things get overwhelming. But yes, I'm afraid to cry. But more than that, I'm a little afraid to be swept in the emotion. Gah. It feels so good (in my brain) when I read about it. But when I'm actually in it, I kind of panic. I'm afraid to feel. And acting, well, acting requires that you get in it.

Oh, Lord, I'm not actually afraid of strong emotions (not counting rage), am I? I can't be. I love it!.. In the books anyway. I love Gen's emotional struggle. I love Percy's bleeding heart. I like the epic characters' tears and feeling of helplessness. And I also love the passions and stolen kisses and gentle touches in the romance novels. But then, no, it's different in the books. In the brain it's controlled. In the heart... it's too hard for me to control.

But this is absurd. How can someone be afraid to feel? But then, even my discipler thought I kept running away from my emotions...

Waaah! Lord! Am I? Is that why I hardly ever fell in love? Is that why I dislike retreats with testimonials because their tears will sweep me?

That's it, isn't it? I'm afraid of the loss of control. Lord! Help! I'm a control freak!

Young Couple

Yesterday, I had lunch at friends' house. They were old friends. I first met them, I think, a decade ago. We did comics. Anyway, these two just got married last year, and had just recently moved to a new apartment. It was quaint, just the right size for the two of them. Well-lit. And it had a small veranda. And my friend said he and his wife would just spend the evenings out there, talking about problems and life in general.

I thought that was a beautiful picture. A young couple, on their own in the big city. There are problems, yes. But they were in this together.

Young Couple

Yesterday, I had lunch at friends' house. They were old friends. I first met them, I think, a decade ago. We did comics. Anyway, these two just got married last year, and had just recently moved to a new apartment. It was quaint, just the right size for the two of them. Well-lit. And it had a small veranda. And my friend said he and his wife would just spend the evenings out there, talking about problems and life in general.

I thought that was a beautiful picture. A young couple, on their own in the big city. There are problems, yes. But they were in this together.

The Existence of Such

Lord, no matter what happens, Your will be done. I know Your plans for me are good. But You wouldn't show me that a man with that kind of thinking can exist, then deny me of it, right? Lord, be kind to me.

3HM Hang-out

Three-headed Monster (3HM). That was what we called our trio. Well, it's been a long time since my two sisters and I hung-out for a whole day. What with work and all. Most Saturdays, we'd just stay home and laze around, too tired to go anywhere. Other Saturdays, Maita or I would have an event. Other Saturdays, Marie would have to work. But finally, this Saturday, we were able to have the day to ourselves.

The plan was to watch Sherlock Holmes. But the first show in Market Market was not until 1:15pm. So we decided to have brunch at Mercato before the movie. The sun was shining, and there was a cool breeze. It was a beautiful day. And brunching over dinuguan, burger, cheesy potatoes, and tofu with mushroom over conversations of dreams on a grand-scale... perfect. For an hour or so, we didn't have to think of negligent bookkeepers, demanding bosses, or frustrating financial situations. For that hour, we were in our world where everything was  beautiful, delicious, and epic.

We had gelato to go for dessert, which we ate in Marie's car over 90's boy-band music. Ah, 90's Pop, how we liked you then. So we were singing to Nsync. Maita was explaining to us what the singers must have meant with the lyrics. And we all kept laughing and making fun of each other.

To top the day, we watched Sherlock Holmes, which was a nice movie. Then we made a short stop at Saizen (currently our favorite store), then called it a day. All in all a wonderful day. Thank you, Lord, for this day. Please bless my sisters and protect them always.

Now, if we could do this again in April... at the RT Booklovers Convention in Chicago. Magical thinking! I will continue to hope. ^_- <3

Whom shall I fear?

"The LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?"
- Psalm 27:1

This passage appeared twice to me this day. Once during my quiet time this morning. And again when I was checking my phone later in the day. Is there something about this passage that I need to really understand?

The Lord is my light and my salvation. I have experienced the darkness. It is a dark hole that robs you of the energy to climb back out. In that hole, you are both hurt and dead at the same time. You are sad, but nothing matters at the same time. And even if you are able to climb out of the hole, on top are rickety wooden planks that, if you're not careful, will break and you'll find yourself falling back into the pit. Only the Lord was my light there. Nobody could take me out of that darkness. Not my family. Not my friends. And certainly not me. He was the light that chased away the darkness. He was salvation, the one who pulled me out of the pit. He still saves me, even now. And I have to have faith that He will continue to do so. And as my light, I have to trust that He will guide my way. He is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? But I do fear, don't I? The fact that I'm anxious, or worried, or irritated shows that I fear, doesn't it? But, Lord, whom shall I fear? Why should I fear them? My God is bigger. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, so that I could see Your true nature. So that I would see that You are indeed bigger than my problems.

The Lord is the strength of my life. I will draw my strength from Him. For his strength is infinite. And so, of whom shall I be afraid? I shouldn't be afraid. I won't be afraid, and trust in the Lord.

Ask, Liz

"Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession."
-Psalm 2:8

Last Sunday, I attended the service of Building Bridges at Salvatore Bar on the 6th Floor of Pacific Star Building in Makati. I must admit it was my first time to attend service at a bar. But the place was pretty good and besides, why not there, right?

The worship team was practicing when I arrived. And, man, we're they good! They said they were just fooling around, but their Bossa/Techno rendition of "Lord, I offer my life to you" was just...aaaaah! I mean, it was an old song. Who'd have thought they could make it sound so new again. They practiced other songs and they were just...heavenly~...

Lord, I wish I could serve You as well as they do. But look at me, Lord. I'm still trying to run away when already You said--

Anyway, worship started, and they played "You Said" by Hillsong. I had never heard that song before. Or if I did, it had never resonated with me before. But that Sunday, when Micah sang that song, it was like words from my heart were being verbalized. Not quite with the same feeling Hillsong had intended, I'm sure. Because, if I am to be honest about it, my words were slightly accusing. "You said, Lord! You said! You said You have plans for this little empire You have entrusted to me. You said You would show me Your glory. You said You would give me a life that would glorify You. You said!" And yet...

In the same song, He gave me the answer to the questions I couldn't put together. Ask.

Why don't you usually ask? Why do you go about trying to fix everything yourself? Are you afraid He wouldn't pull through for you? Where is your faith? He knows you by name. What is my name? Liz. Lizabeth. What does it mean? God's promises fulfilled. My very name declares God's faithfulness to His promises.

The song talked of His promises. My name declares they will be fulfilled. And how apt when what I am currently doing with some of the good folks from Building Bridges is a game for the nations.

Lord, I ask for the nations...


YOU SAID
Hillsong

You said, Ask and you will receive
Whatever you need
You said, Pray and I'll hear from heaven
And I'll heal your land

You said Your glory will fill the earth
Like water the sea
You said, Lift up your eyes
The harvest is here, the kingdom is near

You said, Ask and I'll give the nations to you
O Lord, that's the cry of my heart
Distant shores and the islands will see
Your light, as it rises on us

You said Your glory will fill the earth
Like water the sea
You said, Lift up your eyes
The harvest is here, the kingdom is near

You said, Ask and I'll give the nations to you
O Lord, that's the cry of my heart
Distant shores and the islands will see
Your light, as it rises on us

O Lord, I ask for the nations


Your name, little raven, is Liz. Not Thomas. Doubting doesn't suit you. Not Mara. Bitterness doesn't fit you, either. Your name, your definition, your very existence is a declaration of God's promises. It is high time you remember that.