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Perhaps one of the most overlooked teachings of Jesus is from when he told the disciples how to pray. The second line is, "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven". The way we're supposed to behave right now is the same as how it should be in the next life.
Jesus reiterates this concept many times. His first command is for people to repent, because the Kingdom of Heaven has arrived. It's not something that happens in the next life. It's here, now. Well, it's supposed to be here, now. The less people practice Jesus' teachings, the less here now Heaven will be. The opposite is also true. Remember, the command is to pray that God's will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. It's a reminder that we are responsible for our part. There's nothing that he needs to do to get things moving in the right direction. He is already righteous.
The command for the Earth to be as it is in Heaven is for us, we who live on the Earth. For example, Heaven is a place where there should be no greed. If we want to behave like we're in Heaven, then we need to make sure we're dealing with greed properly, first in ourselves, and then in others. That's the way Jesus said to do it, e.g. take the beam out of your own eye, first, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."
A person who actively practices this concept of self examination will be more likely to see problem areas and correct them in an effective and just way. That is a leadership principle.
This theme of leadership is found all throughout the gospels and is important for Christians to understand because this life is training for the next. What would you do with authority? The teachings of Jesus serve as a means of discerning the real answer to that question, and regardless of what you may think of yourself, any person familiar with the teachings of Jesus will be able to compare your actions/words to those teachings to assess your spiritual condition.
For example, Jesus warned to be careful of leaders who indulge in things like special titles, fancy clothing, and respectability. The reason is that these people will likely have a warped sense of what is really important. Their reliance on things like social connections and outward appearances demonstrates this. They think their dress, or office, or position, or association somehow makes them better than they really are, while on the inside they are habitual liars who use whatever power they have to benefit themselves.
There are many things like this in the teachings of Jesus. If one were to practice them all, it would be like a kind of shelockholmes-esque hyper observation where one could so accurately assess a person's spirit that when talking about it, people will think you're some kind of miracle worker reading minds. That appears to be the case in a few different instances with Jesus, where the text says something like, "And Jesus, knowing what was in their heart, responded..." It's also the plot for a mystery comedy series called Psyche, where a guy pretends to be psychi to avoid jail time, when really all he's doing is observing what others don't see and forming conclusions. The Mentalist is also an example of this concept.
Remember what Jesus said, "From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks". In modern day parlance people have reworded it as, "When someone tells you who he is, listen to him!" The point is that you can know a person's heart (or at least get a more informed idea of it) by using the teachings of Jesus as a guide, especially since the way Jesus phrases it suggests that it won't always be easy to interpret when speech is indicative of some problem (or some good) in the heart. The more we practice, the easier it becomes.
So, let's prepare for leadership by practising Jesus' teachings, now.
Jesus reiterates this concept many times. His first command is for people to repent, because the Kingdom of Heaven has arrived. It's not something that happens in the next life. It's here, now. Well, it's supposed to be here, now. The less people practice Jesus' teachings, the less here now Heaven will be. The opposite is also true. Remember, the command is to pray that God's will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. It's a reminder that we are responsible for our part. There's nothing that he needs to do to get things moving in the right direction. He is already righteous.
The command for the Earth to be as it is in Heaven is for us, we who live on the Earth. For example, Heaven is a place where there should be no greed. If we want to behave like we're in Heaven, then we need to make sure we're dealing with greed properly, first in ourselves, and then in others. That's the way Jesus said to do it, e.g. take the beam out of your own eye, first, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."
A person who actively practices this concept of self examination will be more likely to see problem areas and correct them in an effective and just way. That is a leadership principle.
This theme of leadership is found all throughout the gospels and is important for Christians to understand because this life is training for the next. What would you do with authority? The teachings of Jesus serve as a means of discerning the real answer to that question, and regardless of what you may think of yourself, any person familiar with the teachings of Jesus will be able to compare your actions/words to those teachings to assess your spiritual condition.
For example, Jesus warned to be careful of leaders who indulge in things like special titles, fancy clothing, and respectability. The reason is that these people will likely have a warped sense of what is really important. Their reliance on things like social connections and outward appearances demonstrates this. They think their dress, or office, or position, or association somehow makes them better than they really are, while on the inside they are habitual liars who use whatever power they have to benefit themselves.
There are many things like this in the teachings of Jesus. If one were to practice them all, it would be like a kind of shelockholmes-esque hyper observation where one could so accurately assess a person's spirit that when talking about it, people will think you're some kind of miracle worker reading minds. That appears to be the case in a few different instances with Jesus, where the text says something like, "And Jesus, knowing what was in their heart, responded..." It's also the plot for a mystery comedy series called Psyche, where a guy pretends to be psychi to avoid jail time, when really all he's doing is observing what others don't see and forming conclusions. The Mentalist is also an example of this concept.
Remember what Jesus said, "From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks". In modern day parlance people have reworded it as, "When someone tells you who he is, listen to him!" The point is that you can know a person's heart (or at least get a more informed idea of it) by using the teachings of Jesus as a guide, especially since the way Jesus phrases it suggests that it won't always be easy to interpret when speech is indicative of some problem (or some good) in the heart. The more we practice, the easier it becomes.
So, let's prepare for leadership by practising Jesus' teachings, now.
