Sometimes you just have to call a spade a spade.
No, you’re not being faithful. You’re being ineffective. (Enough said.)
3. Leadership Cop-Outs: Jesus Didn’t Have a Strategy
People often tell me “Jesus didn’t have a strategy.”
Actually, he did.
He needed one. The opposition to his ministry was so intense, to approach it in a haphazard, poorly-thought-through way would have meant disaster.
Think about it.
He prepared for 30 years for a three-year mission. That’s a 10:1 preparation to accomplishment ratio. He spent 10 years preparing for every year of ministry he did.
During his active ministry, Jesus would disappear again and again to pray. He knew his private input would need to exceed his public output.
Jesus intentionally organized his community of disciples into concentric circles of 70, 12, three and then one. His prayer resulted in action…thoughtful action. He built a succession strategy directly into his ministry.
The night before he went to the cross, he talked to God all night in agony to prepare him for what was ahead. Do you know what that was? It was a strategy.
Leaders, a great strategy is a wonderful companion to a great prayer life.
And it’s not just Jesus who thought and acted strategically. God noticed that Moses had a bad leadership strategy that was ultimately going to wear out both him and the people. So God used Moses’ father-in-law (of all people) to give him a new strategy that required tremendous reorganization.
The early church continually rethought its strategy as the church grew and the mission expanded (see Acts 6 as examples).
