Be, Know and Do

By John Wright

If you are going to teach, it’s usually good to teach a subject that you know something about. So at the very least, this lesson should discuss something that I should know a little something about. For those of you that don’t know, the Army and God’s will brought my family here to South Carolina. For the past 2 and ½ years, I have had the awesome privilege of teaching leadership classes at USC’s Army ROTC Department.

In the Army, our leadership doctrine identifies 16 leadership competencies. They are all listed on a form that we call a “Blue Card” which is used to evaluate a Cadet on his or her leadership abilities. On the top of the Blue Card are our values, our absolutes if you will, Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. Then on the bottom are the leadership competencies. They include such things as physical fitness, resiliency, interpersonal tact, communication skills, and leading by example. These competencies are further organized into a model based on all these attributes being things that a leader should Be, Know or Do. I believe that Jesus was the greatest leader that ever lived and fully exemplified the Be, Know, and Do model.

So, let’s begin with “Be”. In my opinion, there is no greater example of being as a leader as God coming to earth as a man in the person of Jesus. In Philippians 2, Paul explains it so beautifully and I like how it is translated in the New Living Bible

3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross

The great singer and songwriter, Rich Mullins, the man who wrote Christian classics like “Awesome God” and “Step by Step”, never performed or recorded what I think was his most profound song. The song was titled “A Man of No Reputation” and was inspired by this passage. Mullins could never perform it because when he thought about the level of humility that Christ brought on himself out of love for us, he didn’t think he could keep his composure. Fortunately, this song was recorded after Rich’s death and I recommend that you listen to it some time. Just have some Kleenex handy.

Recently, Pastor Mike preached yet another of his great sermons .The subject was Jesus and the woman at the well. One of the things that strike me about this story is just how the humanity of Jesus is displayed. As a quick recap, Jesus chose to travel through Samaria, a region of the area inhabited by a group of people that were despised by the Jews. In fact, any self-respecting Jew at that time would not have been caught dead in Samaria. So here’s Jesus in Samaria, sitting beside a well when a woman walks up. And this is how John recounts the story in Chapter 4:

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. (NIV)

Now, let’s think about this. “Will you give me a drink?” Compare this passage with Genesis 1:

6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. (NIV)


So, why was the creator of all water, earth, and sky lowering himself to ask this half-breed, tramp, Samaritan woman to give him a drink? And I truly believe that he was thirsty because if you remember that one of the things that he cried down from the cross was; “I thirst.” It’s very simple. Jesus was “being” and a huge part of being is getting your hands dirty, making yourself uncomfortable, not worrying about the opinions of others and building relationships. That’s why Jesus asked this woman for a drink of water because he was getting ready to change her life. So how are we doing with being? If you are we are in a position of leadership, do we merely see those that we supervise as tools to use to check things off our list and further our own selves. Is the homeless person holding a cardboard sign at the interstate on-ramp an indicator of the deplorable situation in this nation that “someone” needs to do “something” about or, instead, is he an opportunity given straight from the hand of God to pour part of ourselves into someone else?

Now let’s discuss knowing. Have you ever been in a bookstore and seen all the books about leadership and management? Many of these books will tell you that an effective leader needs to clearly communicate their vision to their organization. In the 22nd Chapter of his gospel, Matthew says this:

35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (NIV)

Pretty eloquent for a homeless man with no formal education who grew up blue-collar in a hick town, huh?

We must remember that Jesus knew and used the scriptures.
The Ten Commandments on at least 4 separate occasions, Leviticus, Isaiah, Psalms, when face-to-face with Satan himself, those are just a few of the over 40 occasions that Jesus quotes what we would now call the Old Testament in the four gospels.
It doesn’t surprise me that this series “The Bible” on History Channel is doing so well. People are thirsty to know the word and nature of our wonderful Heavenly Father. Check out this amazing illustration. Pick up a bible, put your finger on the account of Adam and Eve’s sin. Now notice how much more there is in the Bible between that account in Genesis and the end of Revelation. In those pages there are many characters and stories, but from that incident in the Garden of Eden the Bible is really all about Jesus. It’s all about God’s desire to love us his children and have a relationship with us. So how are we doing with the attribute of knowing? Do we live 1 Peter 3:15 that says:

15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. (NIV)

OK, now for the final attribute of doing. A trait that most effective leaders have is charisma. How’s this for an amazing illustration of charismatic leadership:

18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. Matthew (NIV)

Wow, now that’s making a first impression! I know that the Bible is perfect and God has ordained what is in the scriptures but wouldn’t you love to know what was going through those four men’s minds right then? What made them decide to drop everything and to follow Jesus? I often tell my students that they will never be good leaders unless they learn to be great followers. Right now, in our men’s Bible Study (MOVERS ) we are studying the book “Multiply” by Francis Chan (I knew that I could find a way to get a shameless plug in here). The cornerstone scripture of this book is this:
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew (NIV)

Of course, we know this passage as the Great Commission, not the Great Recommendation, or the Great List of Really Good Suggestions. And, if that doesn’t make you wiggle in your seat a little, check this out:

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew (NIV)

I’m not making any of this up. I’m just trying to move the plank in my eye enough that I can see my Bible and share some scripture. You see, it doesn’t matter if you are a teacher, manager, coach, mom, or dad, if your identity is based in your relationship with God Almighty through his son, Jesus, you are a leader. Therefore, Jesus is the perfect role model for any leader. Furthermore this is what Bible says about our commissioning as leaders.

(all from the NIV)
Exodus 19:6
6 you[a] will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’

John 1: 12-13
2 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

1 Peter 2:5
5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ

Revelation 1:5-6
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

We are greatly loved, mighty and powerful indeed. I pray you have a great week and you start to be, know and do like you never have before.