Activity: Lost at Sea (separate sheet)
• How were decisions made?
• Who influenced the decisions?
• How?
• How could better decisions have been made?
• Did people listen to each other? If not, why?
• How was conflict managed?
• What kind of behavior helped or hindered the group?
• How did people feel about the decisions?
Lesson:
-Leadership often just kind of happens. Some people are absolutely born to lead…they are wired that way and they often just naturally take control.
-You can see that the first question deals with who takes control.
-The questions in the middle dealt with the quality of the leadership.
-The last question deals with how other people feel about that.
-This is the three step process we’ll talk about throughout the course of our time together tonight.
What is a Leader: Who Leads?
-Basically a leader is anyone who is followed by another.
-When we think of leaders we think of powerful, influential people who take control over large portions of people and intricate situations.
Who are some of the leaders you are thinking of?
-The president, pastors, CEOs, Pro athletes, Principals, Doctors, Lawyers, Celebs.
-No doubt these people are leaders with large responsibilities.
-These are definitely people we put our trust in. The people we follow are often those we look up to and trust.
-I trust doctors…maybe too much. Doctor man, what you say is why I believe
cause I have no idea what is inside me or what its doing there…if it isn’t
working…I’m depending on you to fix it!
-Lawyers…hopefully I won’t need one…but if I did…yeah
-The President: I don’t even watch the news…I’m glad someone cares…
ya know.
-Its darn near impossible not to betray someone’s trust when there are so many people looking to you for guidance, assistance, or in my case with doctors…to just completely run the show.
-Sometimes, most times, there is a lot at stake emotionally, physically, or even spiritually.
Quick View: Get a group of three together and share your experience with Leaders. When was a time when your trust was betrayed? What did that leader do? What did you do?
-Return to the large group and share one thing from your small group.
-The contrast is interesting to me. You notice that I follow pretty blindly in some situations. Like the doctor situation…he could that in order to get over a cold I needed to take up smoking and I would be like…”whatever you say doc”.
-That simple fact may be why some people want to lead. It’s a means by which they can push their own agenda. These are the leaders that most often cause us pain…and hurt many people in the process of their leadership.
Who are some of these leaders in our world?
-Sadam Hussein, Hitler, Bank folks and business people who launder money.
-These people don’t understand that power and leadership equals responsibility.
Video Clip: X Men:
In the beginning we have two men with great power…they are both great leaders. Somewhere along the lines, their philosophies of leadership and power take separate turns. One man believes that mutants have a responsibility to help people and to control their power. While the other believes that mutants should have full usage of their powers and take over society as a superior race. This scene depicts a climax of the conflict when one of the most powerful mutants either of them has ever seen is trying to decide which philosophy of leadership and power to buy into.
Chapter 10:
-X men, Last Stand. With great power comes great responsibility.
-Here we have a classic Angel on one shoulder, devil on the other shoulder situation.
-The Angel is attempting to help gene understand her power and how she can best use it for others and for herself.
-The devil wants to convince her that she should use the power for herself.
-Gene Says, “I have no home”. Hard to understand our power or leadership without the context of where our home is or who our home is with.
-Devil Says, “He wants to control you” about God.
-God says, “I want to help you”.
-Gene Says, “What’s wrong with me?”
-Devil Says, “Nothing.”
-God Says, “ Look at me!”
-Jesus is our example of leadership and what to do with our power/Leadership. When we take our eyes of off him, we not only forget where our home is but we also forget that being a servant is the purpose of our being.
Scripture: Matthew 20:20-28
V22: You don’t know what you’re asking.
-The most prominent Biblical examples of leaders are stories about people who would just assume not fulfill the requests of God.
-Moses, Jonah, Balaam, Jeremiah
-They knew what God was asking and what such leadership would
entail.
-Moses-Had to put up with a bunch of whiners and enter into
dangerous or unknown situations so the people wouldn’t have to.
-People-give us this…without fully understanding what was
happening.
-Jonah wanted to fulfill his own agenda and let everyone die…not
God’s agenda.
-Jeremiah was the weeping prophet…everyone thought he was crazy.
-“Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”
-Jesus is asking? So you want power? You want to be a leader? Well do you want the kind of leadership that I have? Do you want to make the sacrifices that I make?
-If that’s what you want…that’s what you’ll get.
V25: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and their high officials exercise authority over them.”
-Jesus is saying, you know what kind of leaders those who don’t know God
have. You know their idea’s of leadership and power. They use it for
personal gain.
V26: Not so with you…
-This isn’t the way it works in my kingdom.
-If you want to be a leader…you have to follow my example.
-If you want to be great, be a servant.
-If you want to be first, be a slave.
V28: Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
-Because I am the standard of leadership…and no one has ever been more of
a servant than me.
So if you want to be a great leader…you must be a great follower of the best leader ever and give of yourself.
-I’ve shared a couple characteristics of a great leader so far…we’re going to talk about that a little bit more in your small groups.
Small Group: (bring back to large group top three characteristics and why)
-What are the characteristics’ of a great leader?
-great follower, give of self, humility, good listener, not quick to assume
or make assessment of others, not judgmental, inclusive, gives up
immediate needs to fulfill the needs of another, etc.
-Why are these characteristics important?
-Who is someone you think embodies great leadership?
-Why would you follow them?
-In what ways are you a leader?
-I’m a big bro/sis, I’m a high school athlete with younger kids looking up to
me, I’m the only Christian in my family, people at school know I’m a Christian
look to me for what a Christian is, I stick up for outcasts at school, etc.
-What Characteristics of a leader do you see in someone in the group? What are they? Encourage that person right now by telling them what you see in them.
Large Group: What were your top three characteristics of a leader and why? Alternate groups sharing one at a time.
-The last couple questions focused on your ability to lead as well as the qualities you see in others around you.
-I believe that we are all called to lead.
-Earlier we said that a leader is anyone that people follow. The truth is, that every one of us has at least one follower. It may be friends at school or a sibling. But we all have someone who follows us. People are always watching.
-This is no mistake…God made you someone with influence…we are a relational people…in close proximity, and so a people with responsibility. We are also a curious people, we watch others so that we know what is right and how we should act. Which is one reason why Paul says in Colossians 3:17: “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
-This is not easy: Look at Celebrities. They have many people watching them…and they don’t understand the leadership and power they have…and they use it for themselves instead of for the gain of others.
-We all have the opportunity to take the power we have and use it for our own good. Or we can lay down what we have and become a servant. Philippians 2:2-4 is a great passage about leadership. It basically describes Jesus’ leadership. “The make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love, being one in Spirit and in purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
-No Leader But God is perfect. Earlier we talked about leaders that have hurt us, betrayed our trust. I promise leaders will screw up…and I promise that you as a leader will mess up a time or two…
-One of the Characteristics of a good leader we mentioned is humility. Good leaders will admit when they’re wrong, ask for forgiveness, and do the best they can to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
-One of the questions in the forum was what type of leadership are you looking for in us, the youth? This is the type of leader I’m looking for. Someone who wants to learn from the best leader ever…will build each other up, admit when they’re wrong, and do everything they can to think of others before they think of themselves.
-The first step in this is to acknowledge that you are a leader, and that you have much to learn. Gary gave everyone a note card with Matthew 20:26-27. On the back of that card I want you to write one characteristic of a great leader you do not yet have, or you want to work on. Be in prayer this week over this verse and over that characteristic. Maybe even ask a friend to pray for you as well.
Closing Blessing:
The Lord Bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. This to him who is able to keep you from falling to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy. To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord before all ages, now and forevermore. Amen
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