How Best to Lead Others | Matthew 20:25

[00:00:00] Real Truth Daily This is Daily Truths with Dave Ahlman.

[00:00:08] Everybody, the last few days we've been talking about the disciples and how indignant they

[00:00:12] were when James and John's mom came to Jesus and said, grant them my two kids, might sit

[00:00:18] on your right and on your left hand and then Jesus has a conversation with them, kind of

[00:00:22] straightens them out.

[00:00:23] And when the other 10 heard about it, they were indignant.

[00:00:26] Now Jesus knew that and he says this in verse 25, but Jesus called to them and said, you

[00:00:33] know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their great ones exercise

[00:00:39] authority over them, but it shall not be so among you.

[00:00:44] What does Jesus mean by that?

[00:00:46] He says basically abusing power is by exercising authority over those with less power.

[00:00:53] You can abuse your power if you want to.

[00:00:56] And that's what Jesus was saying.

[00:00:58] Now he gave an example of the Gentiles, namely the Roman government and also the Jewish leaders,

[00:01:03] right?

[00:01:04] But especially the Roman government, think about what they did to Jesus.

[00:01:07] They nailed them to the cross.

[00:01:09] Think about what Herod Agrippa did when he basically killed James, bad at him, and then

[00:01:15] said I'm going to do the same thing with Peter.

[00:01:17] And then think about what Nero did in the first century to Christians, persecuting them

[00:01:22] by killing them.

[00:01:23] I mean, they've lorded over their exercise.

[00:01:26] They abused their authority over other people for their own glory and out of spite and

[00:01:32] to show their authority.

[00:01:33] Now, think about that.

[00:01:35] What current day examples do we have of those who are abusing their power?

[00:01:41] Think about Vladimir Putin.

[00:01:42] Think about what he did in attacking Ukraine, the innocent people of Ukraine.

[00:01:46] I mean, killing innocent children and women.

[00:01:49] And of course, civilians, he did it over and over and over again.

[00:01:53] And he won't stop.

[00:01:54] That is abusing power.

[00:01:55] I remember in third grade, I had a third grade teacher that loved power.

[00:02:01] She loved to intimidate kids.

[00:02:03] And every day I would wake up with a stomach ache because was so stressful for me to go to

[00:02:08] class when she would abuse her power in such a way.

[00:02:11] She intimidated kids and kids would shake in their boots when she'd get angry.

[00:02:16] Why?

[00:02:17] Because the power had gone to her head and she loved abusing that power.

[00:02:22] So here's the bottom line of this devotion.

[00:02:25] If you're in charge, now I've had some ladies who've come to me and said, well, I'm in charge

[00:02:30] of my husband.

[00:02:34] If you're in charge, think about the folks down through the course of your life who you

[00:02:39] really respected as those who are in authority.

[00:02:43] What were they like?

[00:02:44] They probably were filled with grace and empathy and kindness.

[00:02:50] I've worked for some people that were really good bosses and some people that weren't

[00:02:54] such good bosses, right?

[00:02:56] And the three characteristics that my good boss is pretty much out in common is they

[00:03:01] led with kindness.

[00:03:03] They led with grace and they led with empathy.

[00:03:06] They exuded kindness to the people that they ministered to and were over an exercise

[00:03:11] to authority.

[00:03:12] They exercised kindness.

[00:03:14] They covered people with grace when they made mistakes and when people were hurting,

[00:03:19] they would identify, try to identify their pain, feel their hurt and try to put themselves

[00:03:24] in those people's shoes.

[00:03:25] So think about your leadership style.

[00:03:28] Are you the kind of person who exercises and abuses authority over other people?

[00:03:33] Or do you lead with kindness, grace and empathy?

[00:03:37] May I encourage you to lead that way.

[00:03:40] Jesus was giving the disciples an example saying don't be like the Gentiles who lord over

[00:03:46] who abuse their authority over other people.

[00:03:49] Lead with kindness, grace and empathy.

[00:03:52] And that is today's daily truth.

[00:03:54] Have a great day in Jesus Christ.

[00:03:57] Thank you for tuning into daily truths with Dave Alman.

[00:04:00] Pastor Dave Alman is the pastor of Mount Hope Church in Boulder, Colorado.

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