Tonight I sat at a Starbucks in Medina, OH, and had coffee with three of the brightest Christian authors in recent history.  Well, those are their code names, given to each of the young men I talked with.  They each mentioned one of these thinkers, and I agreed to refer to them using code names on the blog, so… I hope they can figure out who they are!  Me, I brought up John Maxwell, so I’ll be him.

We were meeting for the first of several summer sessions on leadership.  Particularly, we are looking at Jesus’ example in the gospels, asking questions about both his words and his actions, then discussing how we can apply Jesus-like methods in our daily lives right now.  We don’t want to have just another Bible study where we sit around and talk with nothing coming of it in our lives.  Our desire is to hone in on Jesus and his leading, with open discussion and poignant questions that can affect our lives immediately.

Why This Method of Study?
Sharing with the guys tonight, I mentioned that asking good questions is one of the best things we can do as leaders.  Active listening requires asking questions.  Some questions clarify the meaning of the speaker (when you said that, did you mean _______ ?).  Other questions cause us to look further (why would Jesus say _______ ?).  Still other questions compare or contrast (if Jesus led like _______, what can we do to be more _______ ?).  Good questions are hard to come by, but when we find them they help to shed light on a passage or idea in ways that simply don’t come with ordinary book study.

Discussion encourages ownership and participation.  It is one thing to study alone in our basement or in our library, but another thing altogether to flesh out ideas in a forum.  When the forum is trusted and any question goes, the potential to learn grows exponentially.  I made it clear to these guys that we can ask difficult, challenging questions of each other, and that is part of this process of discipleship.  Iron sharpens iron, and that process is one of heat, pressure, and repeated pounding.  This means it is okay to challenge one another, so long as it is done with grace and truth, and a good helping of brotherly love.

I would submit that this is perhaps the best possible learning environment when combined with daily life.  I don’t have a boat load of scholastic research to support this, but I know in my life the things I’ve learned the most are those which I have been taught in word, shown in action, and discussed in retrospect.  If we can see, do, and then assess, we can improve upon our failures, anticipate mistakes, and grow as individuals.  When I say “learned the most,” I mean those are the lessons I remember and try to live out today.  We hear, but we must do, and verbalizing what we do helps to solidify the experience and the lessons involved.

Luke 4
Today our focus was on Luke 4.  In this chapter, Jesus is led by the Holy Spirit to be tempted in the wilderness, ministers in Galilee in several ways, and then moves on to minister in other parts of Judea.  We asked 4 main questions to prompt discussion:

…1) What are some of Jesus’ leading qualities in this passage?
…2) What are some of your leading qualities that may help you as a leader?
…3) Who are you already in the process of leading this summer?
…4) What is at least one thing you can take away from this chapter and try to apply in your life and the lives of those around you?

Here are some of the answers to the questions from each of my co-conspirators, Piper, Chan, and Tozer… you know who you are!

Question 1
What are some of Jesus’ leading qualities in this passage?
Piper
— Knowledge of God’s Word and the ability to use it with authority
— Compassion and servanthood
— Knew where true authority came from (vv. 5-8)
Chan
— He had purpose and a goal in mind (vv. 42-44)
— Focused, stayed on task
Towzer
— He had the Word dwelling in him (used it to rebuff the Devil’s attacks)
— He had discernment about when and how to use it (not just head knowledge)
Maxwell
— Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit, and continued throughout the chapter to work in power together with the Holy Spirit

Question 2
What are some of your leading qualities that may help you as a leader?
Chan
— Connecting and unifying the people that I lead, so that we’re all leading, not just me
— Help to get everyone focused outward, instead of everyone just looking to me for leadership
Piper
— Compassion and hunger for God’s Word (John shared an inspiring story here about leading a boy to accept Christ as Savior during summer camp this year)
Maxwell
— Patient leadership (not complacency, but willingness to wait on God to act in the lives of others)
Towzer
— Desire to see young men grow in intimacy with God
— Organizational and planning skills

Question 3
We skipped it!  Organic discussion for the win!

Question 4
What is at least one thing you can take away from this chapter and try to apply in your life and the lives of those around you?
Piper
— Using the power and authority of God’s word to avoid giving the Devil an opportunity.
— Using the TIME in my life for God
Maxwell
— Learning more about the Holy Spirit, what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit
Towzer
— Having the word of God abide in me
Chan
— Need to be more prepared, as Jesus was, to talk to and relate to those who are unsaved.

Conclusions
Wow!  All of these things out of 1 chapter in the book of Luke!  Amazing.  These guys are, by God’s grace, totally amazing!  It was refreshing to “talk in the round” about Luke 4, its impact on our daily lives, and the incredible example that Jesus was.  This and so much more came out of our discussion tonight.  Wish you could have been there with us.

The young men of today’s generation need to be given opportunities to lead.  We, as members of the older generations, must WORK to provide them with these opportunities.  Yes, each of us must listen to God’s call on our lives, but we cannot assume that He won’t use us to make that call clear in someone else’s life.  I really am amazed at everything that could come out of that one chapter in the story of Jesus’ life on earth.  Given our time tonight, I am certain we just scratched the surface of everything that passage has to offer.

We have some upcoming vacation weeks to throw off our meeting schedules, but we are going to continue working out these leadership topics, not only in discussion, but also in our everyday lives.  The Gospel was meant to be lived, not just read.  A city on hill cannot be hidden….