Humble and Driven
John 12: 24 ‘I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.’ I believe Jesus is giving us a powerful truth in life - that holding on to our personal ego, our own way of doing things (including ministry) leaves us alone and ineffective. By dying to self, willing to be part of community, listening to others, inviting all gifts to the table - bears much fruit.
So often we celebrate the lone ranger, the maximum leader, the autocratic leader, as the most effective and successful leader. Jesus is telling us - this is not the way. By dying to self and inviting others to contribute, we can better build the kingdom. Jesus lived this example. At the start of his ministry he called to him an intimate group of disciples, who would later become, the apostles.
In Jim Collins seminal book ‘Good to Great’ he identifies one of the attributes of great companies as having ‘Level 5 Leadership’. He describes this leadership style as ‘a diffuse power structure’, a combination of personal humility and professional will. To quote Jim Collins “Level 5 leaders are a study in duality; modest and willful, humble and fearless”. He identifies level 5 leaders as having a compelling modesty combined with an unwavering resolve.
Jesus lived his parable of the wheat grain - he was humble (willing to die to self) - Philippians 2: 6-11 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. And yet through his humility he was wilful to carry out the will of his Father - Luke 22: 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”
As followers of Christ we have to be willing to also die to self so that we may bear much fruit. We build the kingdom of God by bringing forth persons to do the Father’s will. Our ambition is not for ourselves but for the building the Kingdom of God on earth. We build disciples for even greater success than ourselves. We are self-effacing and understated. Yet we are driven to build the Kingdom. We have a singularity of vision.
The challenge is to cascade this vision into our daily work in our station of life. We work within companies and small businesses and personal entrepreneurial ventures that have very materialistic objectives. We must endeavour to align these worldly objectives to the greater objective of building the Kingdom of God on earth. We also must be level 5 leaders in the Jesus mold - humble yet driven to build the kingdom.
How can we adapt our personal, family and career missions to align with the bigger mission of building the Kingdom of God on earth? How can we practice level 5 leadership in the Jesus mold? Abba, through our Lord Jesus Christ, please give us the grace, courage and patience to embrace our new missions with a leadership style of Jesus Christ.