Followship: The secret ingredient to being a great Leader

By John Wright 

The last opportunity that I had to speak to the V Class, I talked about leadership and how Jesus was absolutely the greatest leader that ever lived.  Well today, I will continue on that theme but talk about a leadership quality that is sometimes overlooked and that quality is followership.  I have had the opportunity over the years to work with some of the world’s greatest leaders and one thing that I am convinced of is that you cannot be a good leader without being a great follower.  There is no gray area in Jesus’ teaching about this. In John 14;15, Christ says “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” 

So let me start this discussion of followership by saying that I love a good story.  Growing up in southern Appalachia, a great part of our Scotch-Irish heritage is the handing down of history through the oral tradition.  In fact, the little town that I am from hosts the National Storytelling Festival every year.  Every year, people from all over the world pour into this little town to hear world-renowned story tellers.  I could get the same thing by sitting in my grandmother’s kitchen or the local country store.  And the good thing about those options, in addition to being free, I was usually able to eat what was left in a mixing bowl or have someone buy me a grape or peach Nehi.  In fact, Susan’s and my alma mater now offers a storytelling program of study, so hopefully this tradition is not going away in our modern times,

I say all this because this year, I am reading through the Bible using a chronological version and I am constantly amazed at how fascinating God’s word is as a literary work.  And what you have to appreciate is that all those great stories and historic accounts began with an oral tradition, generations and generations passing these stories down.  So, this morning, I would like to use two stories from the Old Testament as examples of good and bad followership. 

The first story is the account of Saul as the first king of the Israelites in the book of 1st Samuel.  The fact that Saul is the king of Israel is even an account of corporate bad followership by the entire nation of Israel.  If you remember, before Saul becoming king the affairs of the nation were overseen by judges whose job was to interpret the will of God for the people.  But like so many times in our lives, we have God’s perfect will but we think we know what is best.  So the people of Israel come to Samuel and say “well all the other nations have a king why can’t we have one.” The problem was that they already had a king.  God was their king and by wanting a king they, in turn, were telling God that he was not good enough.  Do we ever do that? Do we say to God, “well this person has this and that, and I want it, too.” When Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray, remember that he taught them to ask for their daily bread. Trust God for exactly what you need because not only is He Jehovah Jireh that can provide it, he is the God of Infinite Wisdom and he knows exactly what you need.  So fast-forward a few years. Saul has been doing a pretty good job as king.  After claiming the land that God had promised to them, there was one nation that continue to be a thorn in the side of Israel and that was the Amalekites. So let’s pick up the story in 1 Samuel 15.

15 Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord. 2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. 3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy[a] all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”

Now that sounds pretty rough, doesn’t it? It does to me and I have had the unfortunate opportunity to experience ground combat.  But, remember that this about followership, obedience to a perfect God, with perfect wisdom. 

So let’s pick up the story again:  

7 Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt. 8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. 9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves[b] and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

Did you catch that?  Everything that was good they kept, everything that was despised and weak they destroyed.  Saul has got clear instructions from God Almighty and he’s following those instructions right down to the letter. Nope.  Sound like anyone you know? Sounds like someone that lives in your mirror?

I love the next part of the story.  I think Samuel must been just a really cool old guy.

11-12 Samuel was angry when he heard this. He prayed his anger and disappointment all through the night. He got up early in the morning to confront Saul but was told, “Saul’s gone. He went to Carmel to set up a victory monument in his own honor, and then was headed for Gilgal.”

By the time Samuel caught up with him, Saul had just finished an act of worship, having used Amalekite plunder for the burnt offerings sacrificed to God.

13 As Samuel came close, Saul called out, “God’s blessings on you! I accomplished God’s plan to the letter!”

14 Samuel said, “So what’s this I’m hearing—this bleating of sheep, this mooing of cattle?”

Yes, you heard that right. Saul had gone to erect a monument to his own honor.  Oh, but he’s not done.  He’s standing in a hole already and shoveling as fast as he can.  He goes on tell Samuel:

15 “Only some Amalekite loot,” said Saul. “The soldiers saved back a few of the choice cattle and sheep to offer up in sacrifice to God. But everything else we destroyed under the holy ban.”

Of course, we know the rest of the story. God decides that Saul’s descendants will not serve as the king of Israel and Samuel will go on to find their next king.  He’ll find a country boy, Jessie’s youngest son, a kid named David.  But listen to what Samuel says to Saul after learning about what he has done.

What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices
or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.

23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft  and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
So because you have rejected the command of the Lord,he has rejected you as king.

Saul had a pretty good gig going.  The first king of Israel and he lets his pride get in the way and blow it for him.  You see, there is a major difference in following the instructions of God and the instructions of man.  When you follow the instructions of another person, there can be that little sliver of doubt as to whether or not this is really the right thing to do.  When following God there is never a reason to doubt his instruction, it’s perfect.  Many folks would tell you that The Bible is an antiquated book full of instruction and wisdom for people that lived a long time ago and in times very different than others.  I will tell you that they are wrong and will further say that there is not a conflict or crisis in your life that the Holy Spirit and the words of God himself in this book aren’t answered.  Followership is so easy but still so hard.

I am a big fan of the movie, Forrest Gump. I especially love the scene when he has just assembled his M-16 and the big drill sergeant asks him “Gump, why did you put that weapon together so fast?” Of course, his reply was “Because you told me to Drill Sergeant!” Do you think God would like to hear us justify our actions by saying, “because you told me to God?"

I told you that I would give you a good and bad example of followership from the Bible.  Obviously that was the bad one.  Not only do I love stories as a result of my childhood, I also have a tendency to express myself using euphemisms.  That’s just the way people communicate where I’m from.  I went my whole childhood wondering who Cooter Brown was and why he didn’t get help for his drinking problem. And while I didn’t know who this guy named Dick was, I certainly wondering why he never adjusted his hatband. Southern mamas have some of the best ones.  My mother used to tell me to “get next to myself” and I never understood what that meant.  Anyway, one of my favorite metaphors is that “you have to drink upstream from the herd” and really no explanation is required for that one. So this story is about a guy who drank upstream from the herd both figuratively and literally.

Our next story takes place before Saul back in the time of the judges and begins the way that so many stories begin in the Old Testament, “The Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord.” He we go again.  I think I could write my autobiography starting chapters that way. “Then John did evil in the sight of the Lord.” Then just like Scott talked about last week, God’s gotta do a little work on me.  Now a man named Gideon is chosen by God to be the judge for Israel. Now unlike Saul, who struggled with his pride, Gideon is like so many others who doubt their own abilities when God promises to side with us to do his own will.  For seven years, the people of Israel have been tormented by the nation of Midian.  So God tells Gideon that he is going to deliver the Midianites into the hands of the Israelite army. Preparing for battle, Gideon receives his first order from God:

Judges 7

2The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength. 3 Therefore, tell the people, ‘Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain[a] and go home.’” So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight.

Oh, it gets better.  The last time you heard this story might have been on a flannel graph in Sunday School and if you don’t know what a flannel graph is, I’m sorry your childhood just wasn’t complete.

4 But the Lord told Gideon, “There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.” 5 When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord told him, “Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.” 6 Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream.

If I’m Gideon, I’m thinking, “OK, surely God is going to tell me to send those 300 home and I’ll take the 9,700 left and go defeat the Midianites.” Right? Nope

7 The Lord told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home.” 8 So Gideon collected the provisions and rams’ horns of the other warriors and sent them home. But he kept the 300 men with him.

But God did something very special for Gideon. He encourages him just like he will encourage you through the Holy Spirit when you resolve to do his will.  Like any great military leader, He instructs Gideon to go on a little recon. So Gideon and his servant, Purah go creeping down to the Midianite camp where they overhear this conversation: 

13 Gideon crept up just as a man was telling his companion about a dream. The man said, “I had this dream, and in my dream a loaf of barley bread came tumbling down into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent, turned it over, and knocked it flat!”14 His companion answered, “Your dream can mean only one thing—God has given Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite, victory over Midian and all its allies!”

Well, the rest of the story is pretty simple.  Gideon and his 300 troops go on to totally annihilate the Midianites.

Do you notice the difference between Saul and Gideon?  Both leaders were faced with huge tasks that can only be accomplished with the help of God. And unlike Saul, every time Gideon was given instruction he followed it with complete obedience.  You see not only was Gideon displaying obedience in his personal life, the fate of the entire nation of Israel rested on his decisions.  Think about the leadership roles that you have assumed (mom, dad, teacher coach, manager) and how your ability to follow God affects those around you.

In the latter chapters of John, Jesus had just washed his disciple feet and he is preparing for this terrible death that he will soon face.  This is what he tells His disciples:

John 14:

12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!15 “If you love me, obey[d] my commandments. 

When you read this that this whole concept of followership seems so elementary. Why wouldn’t we follow God with complete obedience? But there’s good news.  In the same passage, Jesus goes on to say

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.

Folks, never forget that when you become a Christian that the Spirit of God lives within you.  After Saul’s sin with the Amalakites the Bible says that the Spirit of God left him.  How sad does that sound?  But Jesus promises us that if we belong to him the Holy Spirit will never leave us.

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.