Are you a Good Shepherd type Leader

Lessons on Leadership form the parable of the Good shepherd – John 10:1-18. A good shepherd/leader has a personal relationship of trust with each of his followers/sheep that they respond to his leadership because they know him and he knows them. How are you as a leader building trust with your sheep/followers? How are you as a leader getting to know by name your followers/sheep? A good shepherd/leader cares about his followers/sheep, wanting for them each to experience abundant joy in daily living, which comes from faith in and fellowship with God and righteous living. A good shepherd/leader stands firm in battle, a warrior who provides protection for his followers/sheep and does not flee when the battle gets heavy. A good leader/shepherd gives his life (psuche), his very heart, mind, and soul for his followers/sheep.

As you reflect on the parable of the Good Shepherd, don't dismiss yourself as not being a leader. To some extent we are all leaders, whether to your children, your spouse, to others who serve with you, or to whom you serve.

Also think of yourself as being a sheep. How well do you know your shepherd/leader? Whether that be God or a spouse, a leader in ministry, or your leader at work.

God places on the mind and heart of the leader what he wants the leader to do; then God gives him followers/sheep who are skilled to do the work. To be successful in accomplishing what God has for the leader to do the leader needs to know his followers/sheep in such a manner that they have confidence to follow him at all times and in all circumstances. How would you measure your effectiveness as a leader?

Leading and Serving

In reading the story of Abraham’s servant’s journey to find a wife for Jacob in Genesis 24 what can we learn about leadership and serving? The leader, Abraham, had confidence in what God had called him to do. This gave Abraham, the leader, confidence in what he asked the servant to do. The leader had someone he trusted to carry out a very important assignment that required faith. The servant, had confidence in the leader having witnessed God’s favor on the leader over a period of time. The servant was committed to doing the will of the leader, and to bringing about the success of the leader, and his goals and objectives. The servant had faith in the leader, and in the God of the leader. The leader assured the servant that his work would be successful and that the same God who guided and blessed the leader would also guide and bless the servant.

All of us are servants and leaders. Abraham, the leader, was following and serving God, and the servant in this story was leading others to fulfill Abraham’s mission in finding a wife for Jacob. Serving requires confidence in those we serve. It requires confidence in the leader and the leader of the leader. Serving also requires an intentional focus and effort to achieve the success of the one we serve, rather than drawing attention to yourself (see also Matthew 23:1-12). In this story, we don’t know the name of the servant, this servant was not out to make a name for himself, but to bring about the success of his leader. This servant’s attitude resulted in the leader trusting this one servant, above all other servants, with this very important assignment.

Why was this servant successful? Because he believed Abraham, his leader, and he believed in the God of Abraham, and his mission was to fulfill the goals of his leader. Our end goal in life is to glorify God, our ultimate leader. Does your leadership and service reflect a confidence and willingness to serve and attain the success of your leader, and ultimately of God our Father. Remember it is God who guides and directs us to lead and serve where we are. It is ultimately, as it was in this story, God who receives all the glory, and that is good because the chief aim of mankind is to glorify God.

Passing the Test

Although my days of attending school are long past, we are constantly learning and therefore constantly being schooled in life. In Genesis 22 Abraham is over 100 years old and he is still being tested, and the test is much greater than a math or English exam. This test involves the life of his only son, which he has waited most of his life to have. Abraham’s relationship with God was something special. His reverence for God was so great that when God spoke to him he listened and obeyed. He did not question God, as many of us would especially under the circumstances of sacrificing our only child. Abraham did not rationalize within himself that he must have misunderstood the voice of God, as certainly God would not want him to do such a foolish thing to his son. Abraham believed what God’s voice told him to do, and he just went forward in obedience to fulfill what God asked him to do. Abraham passed the test, would you? Are you walking with God in such a manner that you hear his voice? When God asks you to do something is your reverence for God so great that your thoughts are centered on doing it no matter what the danger or consequences are before you? Abraham believed God and because of his faithful obedience God blessed Abraham and the generations that followed. For myself I can say in those times when God has tested me I have not always passed the test as did Abraham, but I am learning to trust the hearing of God’s voice and to have the confidence to obey it without reservation. Hopefully in my next test my heart will have the faith of Abraham and succeed in doing all God ask of me.

Fear or Confidence

As a child I used to love to walk in the rain with the wind blowing in my face, even with thunder and lightening there was something exhilarating about challenging nature. Perhaps it was my naivety as a child that gave me confidence to be fearless amidst the storm. What about today. I am no longer naive, but has my knowledge of life and God given me confidence to keep walking when the storms of life hit?

Today in my Bible reading fear and confidence were on display. In Genesis 15 God told Abram to look to the sky and count the stars, if he could count them, and that would be the number of his decendents. God says this to a man in his 80's whose wife was barren. But Abram believe God. Abram had confidence that God would fulfill His word - and God did. Contrast Abram's confidence with Peter's fear in Matthew 14:30. Peter ask's the Lord to call him out onto the stormy sea, and the Lord says come. Peter has enough confidence to step out onto the water, but within moments as he looks at the waves his confidence fails and he begins to sink.

As I reflected on these stories of Abram and Peter I shared with the Lord my own fears and asked the Lord to give me a confidence in my heart to discern His voice amidst the noise and distractions around me. A confidence of clarity of hearing to believe as Abram the words of God. A confidence that does not soon forget the mighty power of God. A confidence that keeps me walking amidst stormy waters, as if on dry and solid ground.

Are you a person of fear or confidence. If you want an exhilarting experience, step out with confidence and join God on the water.

A Safe Place

A righteous man is invited by God into a safe place in the storm. Read the account of Noah. In Genesis 7:1 God invites Noah to enter the ark, a place of safety and refuge. The Bible says, of all the people living on the earth at this time, only Noah’s heart was right before God. Imagine living today surrounded by people, and you alone are seen as righteous. Would you prevail or give into the pressure to do evil with the society around you? Not Noah, he prevailed in keeping all that God asked him to do. And because Noah’s heart was right before God and Noah was willing to do all God asked of him, God provided Noah a safe place. When the storm came to wash away the wicked of the world, Noah and his family was saved. Notice the righteousness of one man saved also his family. Better to be the one righteous man in a wicked culture who is safe in the protective arms of the Lord God Almighty then to be among the multitudes of the wicked who although feel safe in the multitudes are really not. It may not feel like it at this moment, but the safest place is to not in the crowd, but walking with God.

Does control increase glory

Think about it! Why does God sometimes prevent people from seeing him? In my reading of Luke 24 today it is clear that God controls our hearts and minds. In verse 16, "their eyes were prevented from recognizing him." In verse 31, "their eyes were opened." In verse 45, "He opened their minds to understand." Do you think that God's glory is increased when he sometimes prevents people from seeing Him?

The Source of Joy, Greatness, and Strength

Listen to the words of David's prayer in 1 Chonicles 29:10-20 - "Yours O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom. O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all."

If you truly examined your heart would you find your attitude and actions in life to be more centered on you than it is on the glory of God? In this story we learn from David, one of the greatest kings in the history of the world, what he learned - "everything comes from the Lord." How different was David's thinking about the stewardship of his talents and resources than ours. God put in David's heart a desire to build a house of worship for the Lord and David was eager and willing to give all of his talent, energy, and resources to accomplish this purpose. David recognized that his position of greatness was not his doing, but it was given to him as a gift from God.

Notice the attidude of David's heart and how that played out in his life. David did not focus on enlarging his own greatness. God had a greater purpose for David and this God planted in David's heart to do. Did you pick up the focus of David's energy? David's heart was fully engaged in releasing all he possessed to glorify God and in getting others to join him. So much so that David prayed that the Lord would preserve the heart of the people to be intent on completing the house for the Lord, that the Lord would direct their heart toward Himself, and that the Lord would give to Solomon, his son, the same passion and intention to keep the commandments of the Lord.


There is much to learn from this prayer of David? Read again 1 Chronicles 29:10-20 and think about your own heart attitude as you read it. It is a powerful lesson. We are all passionate about something - where is your passion directed. It is the Lord who is the source of all greatness and strength and it is He who directs the hearts of men and women to accomplish his purposes. You are in a very a powerful and satisfying position in life when your heart is passionate about fully engaging in what God has put on your heart to do for His glory. Joy comes when all your intentions are directed toward that purpose. And as you learned from David's pray your desire is that everyone else will experience that same joy and that the Lord would direct everyone's interest likewise.

I pray that God directs your heart to find his purpose for your life so that you can discover the joy of releasing all the talent and resources you have been given to glorify Him, our Lord.