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Leadership is an important part of our lives. From our parents teaching us how to succeed in school, to managing our finances – leadership is vital. Many successful people would try to sell you a complicated formula to make you into a leader. However, leadership is defined as influence. Jesus is the greatest leader, because no one else has anything close to the amount of influence that Jesus has with his followers, and even the world at large. This leader, wants to shape you, mold you, and perfect you into the leader you are meant to be.

How many of you are leaders? Raise
your hands today if you are a leader.
The world is in need of leaders. At every
level the world is looking for leadership.

• Governments at every level… federal,
state, & city. We are constantly firing
one leader in hopes of finding a better
leader.
• Every business that wants to make it in
this turbulent economy is looking for
leadership.
• The culture is looking for leadership.
• Your family, your children are looking for
leadership.

The world is in need of leaders.

Christians should be the best
leaders

In a world in need of leaders, a Christian,
a follower of Jesus should be in great
demand.

Churches should be leadership centers.
People should drive by a church and
exclaim “Those are some problem
solvers. There are some wise people.
There are those brave innovators. There
are those people who seem to see what
can’t be seen, almost like they know
what is going to happen before it
happens and without fail march
undaunted into the struggle.”

Christians should be the best
leaders because Jesus is the
greatest leadership model.

Perhaps you are hearing me say that and
you are questioning if it is true. How can
Jesus be a better leader than… Jeff
Bezos, Elon Musk, or Bill Gates? Is He
really a better leader than some on the
world’s government leadership stage.
In order for me to prove to you that
Jesus is the greatest leader, you need to
understand what leadership is.

Leadership is Influence

I asked you to raise your hand if you
were a leader, and some you did not
raise your hand. Let me tell you why you
did not raise your hand. You believe
that leadership is…

A position or a title that appears on an
organizational flow chart.
• A degree or certificate someone earns
after years in a school.
• A skill that you are born with and some
people just seem to have it.
Leadership is influence – the capacity to
effect change.
Every one of you should have raised
your hands, because all of you have
influence.

You may be a single parent and think
you are not a leader, but I would tell you
that you are hugely influential to your
kids and to your peers around you.
You may be a young person today and
feel like you are not old enough to be a
leader, but I would tell you that you
have a lot of influence on those around
you.

You may be a retired grand-parent who
says “I am too old to be a leader.” I
would tell you that grand-parents are
more important than ever, and the next
generation is looking to their grandparents for influence.

Every single person in this room has
influence. The kind of influence may be
different. The area of influence may be
different. The amount of influence may
be different, but every person listening
to me right now… YOU HAVE
INFLUENCE.

Leadership is influence and I want to tell
you that NO ONE has ever influenced
our world more than Jesus.

No one has influenced our
world more than Jesus
We mark our time by the birth of Jesus.
We mark our time B.C. & A.D. What
does that mean? B.C. means “Before
Christ” and A.D means “Anno Domini –
Latin for “The year of our Lord.”

Why is it the year 2021? Because 2021
years ago a single person named Jesus
was born in Bethlehem.
What are the 2 most widely celebrated
holidays in the world? Christmas &
Easter are celebrated throughout the
world. Christmas celebrates the birth of
one man Jesus and Easter remembers
the resurrection of one man Jesus.

The teachings of one man named Jesus
have changed the world. His teachings
influenced the creation of colleges &
hospitals. His teaching have influenced
legal systems & government formations.

Imagine you lived 2000 years ago you
were going to gamble. You were going
to gamble on who would have the most
lasting influence… The world empire of
Rome with their military and Caesar or a
single Jew in Israel.

There is NO WAY you would have placed
money on a Jewish man named Jesus…
Imagine a little baby born in poverty…
born in a stable and laid in a manger.
Imagine a child born under the shadow
of the Roman government and under
the emperor Caesar.

Imagine this man working as an ordinary
carpenter.
Imagine this man calling simple
uneducated followers.
And yet… All throughout the world we
name our children after the followers of
Jesus – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John… and
we name our dogs after Nero & Caesar.
BECAUSE NO ONE HAS INFLUENCED
OUR WORLD MORE THAN JESUS. He is
the greatest leader you could ever
follow.

You can go to the book store and you
can go to a section called “self help.”
You will find many leadership books in
this section. I recommend you read
these books. There are many books I
could recommend you find at Barnes &
Nobles, but I really want to suggest that
the best leadership book is your Bible,
8 | Pagebecause it shows you the greatest
leadership model in Jesus.
Lead Like Jesus

Over the next 5 weeks we are going to
be studying the greatest leader of all
time and learning how we can lead like
Jesus.
I promise you that if you will come to
every installment of this series that you
will be a better leader.
In this series we are going to talk about
5 things.
The heart of a leader
The hands of a leader
The head of a leader

The habits of a leader
The legacy of a leader
Today I want to talk to you about the
Heart of a Leader.

Heart of a Leader
Before we talk about any strategy, any
habit, any piece of knowledge, we must
talk about the heart.

The most important part of a leader is
the heart.

Proverbs 4:23(NIV) Above all else,
guard your heart, for everything you
do flows from it.

Good leadership does not flow from a
book, a business plan, or a really
inspiring speech. Good leadership will
flow from the heart, because everything
flows from the heart.

This simple concept is where everyone
messes up. Every book on leadership,
conference, or seminar focuses what to
do and how to do it. But to lead like
Jesus you start with the heart… you start
with the WHY!

If your heart… if your why is not right,
then your WHAT & HOW will never be
right.

Why do you want to lead?
What is your Motivation?
Your motivation to be a leader is
essential. Before you ever call your
meeting, before you ever start your
organization, if you do not correct your
heart’s motivation you will fail before
you begin.

The question of why is all about the
heart. What is the heart of the leader
saying?

The Motive book
Leadership author Patrick Lencioni in his
book “The Motive” does one of the best
jobs at addressing the motivations to
lead. He boils it all down to 2 driving
motivations.
Reward & Responsibility
Let’s explain what he means by reward
& responsibility.
Reward – You are motivated by the
perks and power of leading.
Responsibility – You are motivated by

the responsibility to serve and care for
the people you lead.
Reward wants the bigger salary, the
bigger office, the higher position on the
org chart… Reward wants people to
notice them and to think higher of them.
Reward wants fun, so you use the power
to assign all the boring menial junk
assignments to those below you so that
you can have the fun tasks.

Responsibility wants to serve, help, and
lift up the ones we lead.
When we think about Jesus as the
ultimate leadership model, which of
these 2 motivations does Jesus display?
Everything Jesus did as a leader was out
of a heart to serve. Nothing Jesus did
was for personal reward.

Think about the posture of Jesus…
He knelt down to write in the dirt to
rescue the woman caught in adultery.
He bends down to take dirt to heal the
blind man.
He reaches down to take up little
children.

He kneels in prayer.
Jesus teaches us this.
When you bend down to
serve, God can lift you up to
lead.

When you focus on the responsibility it
allows God to focus on the reward.
It allows God to say “Well done good
and faithful servant, enter into my
happy reward…” Matthew 25:23.
Jesus is a servant leader. Jesus did not
just bark out orders and then sit in a
cushy office.

Jesus served out of
responsibility & love.

Are you leading like Jesus in this area?
Are you focused on reward or
responsibility?

Lead like Jesus
Turn with me to Matthew 20:20 where
we will see a great example of
responsibility & reward motivation.
Jesus had just told the disciples for the
3rd time that He will suffer death on the
cross… and then this happens.

Matthew 20:20-21(NIV) Then the
mother of Zebedee’s sons came to
Jesus with her sons and, kneeling
down, asked a favor of him. 21
“What is it you want?” he asked. She
said, “Grant that one of these two
sons of mine may sit at your right
and the other at your left in your
kingdom.”

2 disciples, James & John come to Jesus
with their mom. What are they seeking?
They are seeking reward… promotion…
status… in Jesus’ Kingdom. James & John
who have been walking with Jesus for
around 3 years bring their mom to ask
Jesus for them…

When was the last time you brought
your mom to your boss to help you
negotiate a raise? This is exactly what
James & John did. The mom asks Jesus
to pick one of her sons to sit at his right
hand as 2nd in command, and the other
son to sit at his left as 3rd in command.
Jesus had been trying to instill in his
disciples the responsibility of serving, yet
James, John & their mom are focused on
the reward. But James & John where
not the only ones with the wrong
motivation…

Matthew 20:24(NIV) 24 When the
ten heard about this, they were
indignant with the two brothers.
The other 10 disciples heard about what
James & John were trying to do, they all
became indignant with the brothers.

Why? Because they too were after the
reward & not the responsibility.
They all thought that this Jesus was
going to become an earthly king and
that following Jesus would lead to
position, power, & money in the bank.
All 12 of the disciples are jockeying for
the reward of being big on Jesus’
organizational flow chart when He comes
into His kingdom.

The other 10 disciples
were mad at the brothers because they
thought “Why didn’t I think to do that!?
Hey maw come talk to Jesus for me…”

Jesus revealed his heart of responsibility
as he just told them for the 3rd time that
he was going to serve the whole world
by dying a horrific death on the cross…
and they couldn’t even understand this
because they were all thinking about the
reward.

Here is how Jesus responds to this bold
request for reward…

Matthew 20:22(NIV) “You don’t
know what you are asking,” Jesus
said to them. “Can you drink the cup
I am going to drink?” “We can,” they
answered.

Jesus says you “You don’t get it.” They
wanted a place at his right and his left,
and Jesus had just told them about his
death on the cross. On the cross… who
was on his right & left, but two outcasts
dying upon the cross.

Jesus asks “can you drink the cup I am
going to drink?” This should remind all
of us of Jesus praying in the garden of
Gethsemane where he drank the cup of
wrath for us. (Matthew 26:39)

And these brothers James & John say
“We can.” They are only thinking about
reward… The rest of the disciples are
only thinking about reward. All 12
disciples are now angry at one another
because they think someone else is
going to receive a greater reward than
they will receive.

So Jesus calls a leadership timeout.
Jesus has a conference with his 12 and
teaches them the true heart of a leader.
Matthew 20:25(NIV) Jesus called
them together and said, “You know
that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it
over them, and their high officials
exercise authority over them
Jesus tells them something they already
know… He says “YOU KNOW.”

Jesus says the “rulers of the gentiles.”
Jesus here is directly referencing the
gentile nation of Rome and how their
leaders exercise authority over others.
Every leader in Rome was a reward
motivated leader. Every leader built up
more power so that they could get more
riches and also use their power to push
everyone down. Jesus told the disciples
“YOU KNOW THIS…” and the disciples
are like “yeah Jesus… that’s what we
want.”

Looking back at the text the words “lord
it over them” and “exercise authority”
both have the same root Greek word
“kata” which means TO PUT DOWN.
The disciples were ok with putting
others down so that they could receive
reward.

Our world is overflowing with this kind
of leadership. It is the leadership model
of Rome… it is the leadership model of
the world to put others down so that
you get more reward. It is actually easy
for us to justify this kind of leadership
because it is so prevalent. We can tell
ourselves that it is ok for us to put
others down because that is just how
the business world works…
But Jesus says these 4 words to His
followers.

NOT SO WITH YOU

Jesus draws a line in the sand and says
NO. My followers will NOT be like this.
My kingdom is not motivated by putting
others down so that you can gain more
reward.
Jesus is telling them “I don’t want you to
ever have a heart motivation that is all
about you.” And so Jesus offers them an
alternative heart for leadership.
Matthew 20:26-28(NIV)Not so with
you. Instead, whoever wants to
become great among you must be
your servant, 27 and whoever wants
to be first must be your slave—
2 WORDS. One is easier to receive than
the other.

Servant – focused on doing
things for others rather than
oneself.
If you are anything like me you are ok
with this, but you are already bracing
against the next word. You are sawing in
your heart that I will serve others but I
AM SLAVE TO NO ONE… But this is the
exact word Jesus uses. What does it
mean to be a slave?
Slave – Someone bound to
obey their master’s
commands & teachings.
Serving is not a suggestion but a
command of our master & Lord Jesus
Christ.
We don’t get to decide when and how
we will serve… We are slaves to Jesus…
BOUND TO OBEY HIS COMMAND.
This means when Jesus tells me to serve
someone… I don’t get to say no.
When Jesus says to forgive someone… I
don’t get to say no.
If you are having trouble with this I
would ask you to check your heart. I
would ask you to check your motivation
because I guarantee you are focused on
reward and not responsibility.
If you lead for any reason other than to
serve others, you will never be a great
leader.

It’s impossible to lead like Jesus, if you
won’t serve like Jesus.
Jesus Christ did not just give us the
principle… He gave us the model by
living it out. Here is the next verse.

Matthew 20:28(NIV) just as the
Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve, and to give
his life as a ransom for many.”

The greatest leader ever said that He did
not come to be served, but to serve…
Not to receive a reward but to give his
life as a ransom.

Lead Like Jesus
I want you to think about the people
who had the biggest influence on your
life. I am certain that it is someone who
served you.
A parent who gave their life for you day
after day.
• A coach that spent extra time with you
and saw something in you that others
did not see.
• A teacher… Everyone else said you
would never amount to anything but
they poured themselves into you… not
for themselves but to serve you.
What kind of leader are you?
Reward leaders want you to realize
their greatness.

Servant leaders want you to realize
your greatness.
Reward leaders find their value in
their performance + the approval of
others.
Servant leaders find their value in one
place – God.

Reward leaders hate criticism
because it is all about them.
Servant leaders willingly receive
criticism and use it to help them
serve at a higher level.

The world is in need of servant
leaders.
The world has over 2 billion people
who call themselves Christian… but
the world is lacking those that lead
like Jesus.

Do you want to lead like Jesus?
Come ask Him to effect your heart.
Don’t run from the conviction you are
feeling from him… run fully towards
that conviction and allow Him to
shape and mold you into the leader
the world needs.
Disciples hear the words of Jesus…
NOT SO WITH YOU.