I wonder if Jesus would have used a search firm to find disciples? If he had, I wonder if he would have gotten his money back on Judas? Jesus managed to accomplish what he came to earth to do with mostly untrained, inexperienced men. He was even willing to pour time and effort into a dead-end project like Judas. Although his progress was slow, the eventual results were incredible.
While occasionally it is helpful to bring someone in with a fresh perspective, it seems like the biblical pattern is to develop local leaders rather than recruit outside talent.
We Choose People No One Else Would Choose
If a leader is only as good as the people around him, then Jesus is in trouble; Judas is just the most glaring example of incompetence in the people surrounding Jesus. King David is another leader who led through some pretty miserable characters:
So David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. Soon his brothers and all his other relatives joined him there. Then others began coming—men who were in trouble or in debt or who were just discontented—until David was the captain of about 400 men. (1 Samuel 22:1-2 NLT)
If people are the mission, then we can take risks when we choose leaders. Some of our leaders should be too young or too old for the role they are in. Some leaders should not have enough education, not enough experience or not enough talent to lead their area. The goal isn’t to assemble a circle of incompetence, but if we’re not taking risks on people, we’re not leading like Jesus.
Some of Our “Projects” Will End Badly
Jesus invested three years into Judas. He modeled a godly lifestyle, he taught Kingdom principles and he mentored Judas every day. In the end, however, Judas chose to go his own way. Although Jesus knew it was coming, Judas’ kiss in the Garden had to be one of the most painful parts of his life on earth. He gave Judas every opportunity to become a reflection of God, but Judas failed.
If we take risks on people, some of them will fail. They will steal, they will lie, they will betray us. No matter how committed and talented we are as leaders, we will occasionally encounter a Judas, and when we do it will be painful both individually and to the organization. How do we respond? Do we commit to weeding out every potential Judas, or do we continue to focus on helping people become who God created them to be?
Our Job Is to Participate in God’s People-Development Process
Developing people isn’t about always overlooking character flaws and forgiving mistakes; most of Moses’ training as a leader came during his 40 years in the desert after he blew his opportunity in Pharaoh’s house. There are times, such as in the case of Judas, when leaders self-destruct. There are other times when leaders have to be disciplined, demoted or fired. The key is our focus; are we more concerned about our mission or our people? I love how Paul prays for his friends in Thessalonica:
So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. (2 Thessalonians 1: 11 NLT)
When we discipline or fire a leader, how can we help them become more like the person God created them to be? How can we keep the mission from running over the people?
Jesus is the greatest leader the world has ever known. In three years, he established an organization that continues to touch every corner of the globe 2,000 years later. If we want to learn to lead like Jesus, we can’t ignore any facet of his leadership, including wrestling with the question of Judas and its implications on how we lead today. How will you deal with your Judas?