Leading out of Love

Jesus Washes His Disciples’ Feet

¹ Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.^a]">[a] ² It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas,^b]">[b] son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. ⁴ So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, ⁵ and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.

In yesterday’s Director’s Meeting pastor Steve challenged by asking: do you really love the people that you are assigned and called to lead? For me, the answer was surprisingly and resoundingly: YES! I guess it’s not easy for me to truly love the people I work with, work for and supervise.

The more interesting part of the meeting for me was the discussion about Which People are Hard to love and which ones are Easy to love. Here’s what I wrote down in our quick brainstorm:

People that are Hard to lead are:

• unyielding
• inflexible
• too much needed in their position: you’re afraid to move them
• non-contributors
• grumpy
• ready to talk, slow to listen

People that are Easy to lead are:

• grace-centered
• available
• reliable
• trustworthy
• people I have a personal connection with
• like-minded
• people with a cool personality
• people who like what I do
• people with a positive attitude
• growing people
• people you have fun with
• loyal
• people who carry your burden with you

One of the reasons why Jesus led so effectively led through loving was because of all that He knew about himself, as described in this passage-

1. He knew “what time it was” in his life and ministry. He knew the “season” he was in. He knew what lay ahead.
2. He knew He was leaving (“Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father.”)
3. He knew where his authority came from: his authority came from God (“Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything”)
4. He knew that His authority was a gift from God (“the Father had given him authority”)
5. He knew the scope and limitations (in Jesus’ case: none) of his authority (“authority over everything”)
6. He knew where he came from (“he had come from God”)
7. He knew where he was headed (“and would return to God.”)