Invitation Into Leadership: Mark 1:29-31
How do you recognize a leader that you want for your life? Do you look for a charismatic speaker that can hold a crowd in awe while the crowd hangs on every word the leader speaks? Do you look for someone with scores of followers and join their mighty throng? Do you seek someone with lots of assets that can be wielded as their plans move ahead? Do you look for someone with similar interests who can teach you a thing or two?
In today’s passage, Jesus heads to Peter’s house with His disciples. When they get there, it just so happens that Peter’s mother-in-law is sick. Something cool happens next. Yes, Jesus heals her. But the cool part happens before the healing. The cool part is that the disciples tell Jesus about Peter’s sick mother-in-law.
Why is this cool? Often, when human leaders have power, they are the ones who dictate terms to their underlings. It is usually the leaders who move assets to accomplish their own goals. But that’s not what happens here. In this story, it is Jesus’ followers who come to Jesus. Jesus invites the disciples into His life. It is the disciples who seek to employ the assets Jesus brings to the table, not the other way around.
This tells us a good bit about the relationship Jesus already developed with His fledgling disciples. Jesus knows that to genuinely make disciples, He needs to be open to them. He needs to make time for their lives and walk through life with them. His disciples need to know they can come to Him and lean on His understanding, power, and wisdom.
This is the paradigm of Jesus. Jesus doesn’t collect underlings so He can give orders and have His underlings do His bidding. Jesus takes on followers so He can enter their lives and teach them about relationship with God. Jesus finds people willing to learn servant leadership as He models servant leadership to them.
In the end, Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law. Yes, the healing is also a cool part of the story. Even in the healing, though, notice Jesus’ action. Jesus continues to model servant leadership. Jesus uses His power to help Peter’s mother-in-law. In a twist of leadership, the leader employs His own power to meet the need of a follower.
There are many leaders in the world. Some leaders serve their own goals while the rest look for ways to serve the needs of others. Some leaders look for resources in other people to use and exploit for their own purposes while the rest look for ways they can employ their own resources for the sake of people around them. Jesus leads by inviting His followers into His own life to meet them where they are. How do you recognize a leader that you want for your life?
