Jesus Christ, Colin Powell, and Words of Life
In my Clark Kent life I do some work as a consultant, sharing with small groups the meanings of leadership and teamwork. I discover more about leadership and teamwork each time I work with a group; I also discover more about myself, and more about the wisdom of Jesus.
Jesus is God’s wisdom lived out in human life. He is the Master of Life—not just eternal life—but life here and now. Whether I am working with businesses, governments or non-profits, I discover again and again how the words of Jesus find application in very practical settings. I also repeatedly discover the powerful human tendency to twist his wisdom to our own purposes.
For example, I recently shared with a group of leaders a powerful tip from Colin Powell regarding how we see the world. Powell’s example is a reworking of the Lord’s wisdom. “Remove the beam from your own eye, then you can see to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7: 2-5) Powell used this metaphor: when things go wrong we can examine the results by using a piece of glass. One type of glass is a window. We look through the glass at others and examine their actions. Another type of glass is a mirror, which shows us ourselves. The wise leader reaches first for the mirror—“What have I done in this situation?” asks the leader. “How did I contribute to the problem?” The unwise leader reaches for the window-glass and looks at others. “What did they do? How could they have failed so badly?”
The mirror/window example is useful and true, and not particularly novel in leadership circles. Like the earlier saying of Jesus, it requires humility of heart and courage to face the truth. It benefits all who embrace its wisdom. But we are a frail lot, us sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve. We can take the wisdom of God and twist it to our own devices. Here’s what happened next with this group of leaders.
After sharing the Colin Powell version of this principle with a leadership team, I gave the team an exercise: use 15 minutes and take a recent problem at your workplace. Apply the mirror, and report back what you learned. This team was a group of old-school leaders, the kind who believe leadership is about command and control, about telling others what to do. When they returned from their exercise, the spokesman suggested this use of the mirror: “We think it would be effective to use the mirror by turning it toward our employees. We would hold the mirror up to them and say, ‘Look at what you’ve done! It’s not very professional, is it?’” These leaders, in effect, recommended using the mirror as a tool of discipline instead of self-reflection. They came to a conclusion 180-degrees from the purpose of the exercise. Their conclusion reinforced their way of doing things and asserted their right as leaders to be the judge of others! (And yes, at that moment I quickly grabbed my own mirror and asked myself, “How could I have screwed up this concept so completely?!?”)
The lesson for Students of Jesus is a warning: it is not enough to know his principles. We must have his heart as well. We—all of us—have a powerful tendency to think his words are meant for someone else, and we are the chosen vessels to deliver his words. We are bent toward self-preservation and defensiveness, even when we hear words of life. If Jesus teaches us to first remove the beam from our own eye, we rush off to deliver his message to others before we have tried the remedy ourselves.
The world-changing power of Christ starts small and works outward, like ripples on a pond. Most of us are surprised, however, to discover the center of the circle looks like us.
Reader Comments (3)
For what it's worth I agree. Old school is often looking at and accepting the strong emotional leadership of our mentors at birth and never growing to understand Jesus Christ as our Mentor today. We can't seem to trust the reality of the Holy Spirit enough to fully accept His lead. Sometimes we out right choose to please our community over our Father in Heaven.
I believe there must daily be equal time looking out of the window and back at ourselves. Have you ever noticed that when we stand back and look toward the window when there is light outside we see what is beyond and when it is darker out than in we can only see a reflection of our self? The greater the light within our room, compared to outside, the better we can see the reverse of how we appear to those looking in. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
That's a vivid image, Herm.
THE WILL OF THE FATHER?
It is the will of the Father that all men be saved. The question is can men reject what the words of Jesus and still be saved.
John 6:40 For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."
The Father wants all men to be saved. Can men say God only wants a select few to be saved and claim to believe the words of Jesus?
John 12:48-50 He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day........
Can men be a true believer in Jesus and at the same time reject His word?
How many times can men say, "Jesus did not mean what He said." Can men proclaim their creed books and other denominational teaching takes precedent over the words of Jesus and still be saved?
THE WORDS OF JESUS
Mark 16:16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
Can you reject the fact that Jesus said "Has been baptized shall be saved?" Are you receiving the sayings of Jesus when you proclaim that water baptism does not precede salvation?
Matthew 24:10-13 At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.......13 But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.
Can men oppose what Jesus said and declare that men that are once saved are always saved? Will they still be saved?
John 3:5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
Can men proclaim that Jesus was saying, in order to enter the kingdom of God you have be born by natural child birth. Can you imagine Jesus saying that a requirement to enter the kingdom of God is being born of amniotic fluid?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father but through Me."
Can believers in Christ say that Jesus is just one of many roads to salvation and remain saved?
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son , that whoever believes in Him shall not perish , but have eternal life.
Some say, that John 3:16 actually means that whoever God has preselected, will believe and be saved and all others will burn in hell for all eternity.
Can men give their private interpretation of Scripture and still be saved?
CAN MEN REJECT THE WORDS OF JESUS AND STILL BE SAVED?
(Scripture from: NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE)
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