On one occasion, the prolific inventor, Thomas Edison, was asked by a reporter how he became so successful. Edison answered, “The ability to apply my physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly, without growing weary is my secret to success.” When a reporter suggested that Edison imposed a rather severe schedule on himself and was very smart, the inventor laughed, looked at the reporter, and said, “You do something all day long don’t you? Everyone does. If you get up at 7 AM and go to bed at 11, you have 16 good hours, and it is certain that most people have been doing something all that time. The only difference is—they do it about a great many things. I do it about one.” Edison overcame distractions to consistently stay focused.
We all know intuitively that success at most everything, be it discovering a filament for a light bulb, hitting a baseball, or leading our homes well requires us to keep our eye on the ball, staying focused on our mission. But in the real world it is so easy to lose focus, take our eye off the ball and lead inconsistently. We’re not real good at following through on our good intentions. Did you know that this past Friday, January 10th, the second Friday of January, has been dubbed “Quitters Day,” signifying that by then many who have made new year’s resolutions have already thrown in the towel? Staying focused is tough. This episode examines step # 1 in staying focused on our mission as spiritual leaders at home—formulating a clear picture of where we are going—what that mission is and then step # 2, shaping our lives to stay focused on that mission.
Last week, we saw that successful leadership at home requires 3 questions to be answered. Where am I going? How can I inspire my followers to come with me? How are we going to get there? The answers to these questions define the three functions of leadership. These we visualized in the graphic below.
Let's review the three functions of leadership:
Function # 1: (Orange arrow across X axis from Leader to Goal: Spiritual Maturity). The leader has a clear understanding of and stays focused on the goal: The leader is called the leader because he is out in front of his followers going hard after the goal. Paul said, One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus… Brothers, join in imitating me. (Phil 3:13ff). So, we must be striving hard after Christ, getting back up quickly when sin knocks us down.
Function # 2: (Green vertical arrow up Y axis from Leader to Followers). The leader motivates his followers to come with him by building his relationship with them. There are two vital components of leadership influence.
- Structural or positional influence. Bosses motivate their employees by paying them, giving them raises, or threatening to fire them. Fathers exercise structural influence by firmly disciplining their children. Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him (Prov 13:24). Structure with consequences for behavior teach a child self-mastery.
- The second component of leadership influence is relational. As children get older and parents transfer to teens responsibility for their lives, the strength and quality of our relationship with our kids dramatically impacts our influence. Researcher Virginia Hearn interviewed 37 Christian adults raised by Christian parents, asking the adults, “What did your parents do right to steer them towards Christ?” Here are a few responses: “My father was my counselor, pastor, teacher, and friend…My parent’s authority was not something that was beaten into me; they won my respect and loyalty with their actions…My father’s devotion to Christ was transparent. I think I grew to love the Lord because I loved my father, and you just couldn’t separate the two” (What They Did Right).
The next two episodes will focus on the green vertical leadership function of BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP with followers with the questions, How do I make sure I am strengthening my bond with my wife by meeting the needs of her heart, What does it mean to lead with a limp, i.e. win influence with my kids?
Function # 3: (Brown arrow across hypotenuse from Leaders to Goal Spiritual Maturity). The leader equips his followers to reach the goal. This may be the most neglected part of spiritual leadership at home. The leader EQUIPS and ASSISTS his followers to keep taking steps towards spiritual maturity, being shaped by the Word of God. Weeks 5-6 of will focus on the brown hypotenuse leadership function TO EQUIP/ASSIST followers with the questions, What basic truths of Scripture need to be built into my child’s heart, What are the worldview issues in our culture that I must equip them to overcome?
The rest of this episode zooms in on the first function of leadership—clearly defining and then staying focused upon our goal, spiritual maturity.
OUR GOAL: WHAT DOES A MATURE DISCIPLE LOOK LIKE?
When it comes to being effective spiritual leaders of our homes, we must begin by asking, “what is our destination?” Leaders take their followers somewhere. There is a goal to achieve, a destination to reach. Many men fail to lead well because their destination is fuzzy and ill-defined so they can’t formulate steps towards it. As the Cheshire Cat said to Alice, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.” The goal of our spiritual leadership at home is mature disciples. This target is like a diamond with many facets; so, it is described slightly differently in many biblical texts. But it is the same diamond. Paul calls the goal, “growing up into Christ the Head” (Eph 4:16), “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27), “being conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom 8:29). Jesus described the same goal by saying “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matt 6:33) and in his command to “make disciples” (Matt 28:19). Let’s examine what the word “disciple” meant to Jesus’ hearers.
Jesus' Command: “Make Disciples”
When Jesus gave us this Great Commission, “Go and make disciples,” those hearing it had a clear understanding of the word, disciple. Bands of disciples with their masters were common in Jesus’ day. The noun “disciple” (MATHETES) means “learner.” It is the word from which we get mathematics. But it described a particular kind of learner—one who followed a master. Jesus’ hearers knew three things about disciples:
1) The disciple had the deepest kind of PERSONAL FRIENDSHIP with the master because they did life together. So, a disciple is called TO Christ—to enjoy a love relationship with him. Christ’s primary role as HIGH PRIEST is to enable us to achieve this foundational part of our mission, experiencing a personal relationship with God through Christ. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:16-17).
2) The disciple PATTERNED HIS WHOLE LIFE on the teaching and example of his master. The disciple’s greatest goal was to be like his master. So, as Christ-followers, WE are called to BE LIKE Christ—to holy, Christ-like attitudes. Christ’s primary role as PROPHET helps us achieve this part of our mission. The Word proclaimed calls us to repentance and we are sanctified, i.e. made holy, through the truth (see John 17: 17).
3) The disciple, as a “follower” joined in HIS MASTER’S CAUSE. Jesus came into the world to overthrow the kingdom of darkness and establish his kingdom of righteousness over earth. Joining in that mission means we are called to EXERCISE DOMINION FOR Christ—to implement Christ’s righteous agenda in our role as husband, father, employee/employer, neighbor, church member, steward, and ambassador of the kingdom.) Christ’s primary role as KING is to overthrow evil and establish his kingdom of righteousness over the earth. He sends us out to further his mission.
Years ago, as I started my family and wanted to stay focused on Christ’s mission for me, I did a personal study of the Biblical statements describing our mission. I soon saw three themes constantly recurring. We are called TO Christ to enjoy a love relationship with Christ, called to BECOME LIKE CHRIST to Christ-like character, called to EXERCISE DOMINION FOR CHRIST, to implement Christ’s agenda in every sphere of life including, most importantly, our homes. In 45 years, I have never been able to improve upon this summary’s accuracy. The call to maturity as Christ’s disciple is living out of this three-fold calling.
HOW JESUS STAYED FOCUSED ON HIS MISSION
On the night before he died, Jesus made an astonishing claim. He said to his Father, "I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” We wonder how Jesus could have talked about a completed work. His three-year ministry seemed all too short. For every prostitute whose heart he touched, hundreds remained untouched. For every blind man enabled to see, hundreds were still blind. Yet on that last night, with many urgent human needs unmet and tasks undone, the Lord said he had completed the work God had given him. How did he do that? How did he stay focused on his mission? Let’s look. Mark 1:32-39.
That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
As busy as life is in the 21st century with ten-thousand opportunities available to us screaming for our time, I’m not sure any of our lives were as hectic as Jesus’ life was. Talk about opportunities, Jesus had the power to heal everyone everywhere and remove so much pain, not to mention the power to change hearts by the preaching of His Word. So, what does Jesus do? He takes time to get alone with his Commander-In-Chief, the Father, to talk about his mission.
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may PREACH there also, for that is why I came out.” And he went throughout all Galilee, PREACHING in their synagogues and casting out demons.
We are not told what Jesus talked to the Father about, but it had to be about his mission. The whole town wanted healing. Overnight the word about Jesus’ miraculous healing power would have gotten out to the surrounding countryside. No doubt many precious human beings with broken bodies had traveled in the wee morning hours to Capernaum to be healed. Yet, Jesus’ decision about his mission is to leave Capernaum and the opportunities to HEAL and go to other towns primarily to PREACH. I believe Jesus was meditating on his mission statement: The mission of the Messiah is revealed in Isaiah 61, which Jesus had quoted in the synagogue at Nazareth at the beginning of his ministry.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor (vs1-2a).
This passage foresees the ministry of the Messiah. It pictures his DEED ministry, binding up the broken hearted by healing horrible diseases and bringing liberty to the captives—setting free those overpowered by disease and Satanic influence. It also pictures his ministry of the WORD, “proclaiming good news, proclaiming liberty to those held captive by sin, proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor.” I believe Jesus was talking with his CO, The Father, about how to balance his WORD and DEED ministries. Late into the evening before, Jesus had devoted himself to his DEED ministry of healing and casting out demons. But he tweaked his direction to leave Capernoum and focus on his WORD ministry—preaching. Jesus stayed focused on his mission by carving out time to talk over his mission with his CO.
This story from Mark 1 was not an isolated incident. Other texts of Scripture show this as Jesus’ way of life. For example, when Jesus had to decide which followers to call as apostles he withdrew and prayed all night (Lk 6:12). The classic withdrawal of Jesus to wrestle with his CO about his mission was in the Garden of Gethsemane. Luke saw a pattern, Great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray (5:15-16). The result of constant connection with his CO about his mission was a clear sense of direction. A few months before his death we read that Jesus set his face towards Jerusalem (Lk 9:53). When messengers told Jesus that his friend Lazarus had died, Jesus said, “We must remain here two days” (Jn 11:6).
Following Jesus: Consistent Leadership by Staying Focused on Our Mission
There are just two requirements to stay focused, as Jesus did, on our mission.
1. The first is having—a clear picture of what our mission is from which we shape a game plan for how we will accomplish it. That is what Jesus did. In this episode, we’ve summarized our mission which will become the basis of our game plan in coming weeks. Our mission is responding to Jesus' 3-fold call. We are:
- Called to CHRIST, to enjoy a love relationship with him
- Called TO BE LIKE Christ, to Christ-like character
- Called to EXERCISE Dominion for Christ, implementing Christ’s agenda in every sphere of our lives, especially in our homes. The upcoming episodes in this series will help formulate game plans for each part of this mission
Jesus did not spend the minutes of his life carelessly or haphazardly. He was moving in a direction--to fulfill his mission. The familiar warning, “if you fail to plan, plan to fail is as true of completing Christ’s mission for us as it is of any other part of life. Few men I know would try to run a business without a business plan. Even if it is not written down, they still have in mind the steps they will take to succeed. Few of us, however, have a LIFE plan. But, which is more important, our business or our life? When God has ordained a world in which success in every other area of live requires a plan, why would we think accomplishing Christ’s mission for us would be different?
2. The second requirement for staying focused on our mission is a regular time built into our schedule to get away with our Commander-in-chief to talk about our mission. Certainly, this includes the daily habit of being in God’s Word. In Proverbs 8:34-35, God’s wisdom says, Blessed is the one who listens to me watching daily at my gates. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. But what Jesus modeled was much closer to sabbath rest. He worked on the Sabbath teaching in the synagogue—but he regularly shut out the world for a chunk of time to spend with his Commander In Chief focusing upon his mission. Can you find 1 hour out of 168 perhaps sometime on Sunday (which I believe is designed for this weekly reflection) to discuss with him your mission?
If we are to be consistent in our leadership, we need to live, not out of drivenness but out of our calling from Jesus which is what empowers our consistency. Os Guinness writes, Answering the call of our Creator is “the ultimate why” for living, the highest source of purpose in human existence…Calling is the truth that God calls us to Himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion, dynamism, and direction lived out as a response to His summons and service” (The Call).
For Further Prayerful Thought
- Why does it make sense that spiritual leadership at home which seeks to lead our families to be fully devoted mature followers of Jesus, requires us to stay focused on this mission ourselves?
- What are the differences you can think of between having a clear picture of mature discipleship versus a fuzzy picture of mature discipleship?
- What does Jesus’ routine withdrawal into his private world with the Father to discuss his mission imply for his followers? Why don’t more Christians follow this pattern?
