WHICH IS BETTER?

As President Abraham Lincoln said, “You can’t trust everything you read on the internet!” Therefore, I’m not sure whether Bill Gates actually did say it or not, but the claim is made that he once said, “I always choose for a lazy person to do a difficult job. Because he will find an easy way to do it!” This contrasts with the different approach, “If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it!” The question therefore is: Which is better?The lazy approach or the busy approach?

 ¶  Lazy people consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors.
Prov. 26:16

While Bill Gates may assume that lazy people are incredibly smart people, I think they also deserve another compliment. Lazy people are often energetic people as well. In fact, many lazy people are so energetic, they can look downright busy! 

I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.
Ecclesiastes 3:10

It is wrong to assume that all lazy people are inactive people. They can be very energetic. Laziness is thus not necessarily about the amount effort or activity involved. For example, riding a horse requires effort and can be a very effective means of transport. But not if the horse is a rocking horse! This is despite the effort involved to ride a rocking horse possibly being even more intense than riding an actual horse! Some very active and energetic people get quite offended if they are accused of being lazy.

Conversely though, we shouldn’t assume that the person doing nothing is necessarily a lazy person either.

Feel it no shame, at proper times, to be doing nothing.
F. W. Boreham, DRUMS OF DAWN

Laziness has more to do with a lack of effectiveness and appropriateness. Someone may be busy trying to scale a wall using a ladder. They may build a ladder, move it into position, test it, and vigorously go up and down it. But if it is the wrong type of ladder, or the wrong size ladder, or worse still, the wrong wall – they are being lazy, despite their hard work and busyness! Diligence, not busyness, is the opposite of laziness. Diligence strives for effectiveness and appropriateness. This requires self-discipline and persistence. It does what must be done – what has to be done – even when we are tired, afraid, uncomfortable, or uninformed.  Laziness is rarely prepared to make sacrifices in order to be effective. Diligence nearly always, if not always, involves having to make sacrifices.  

The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.
Proverbs 13:4

I know many good people who all work very hard, but don’t seem to be very effective. They always seem to be running out of time. They are forever misplacing things. Their solution would be to relearn how they do everything. Diligence is therefore not merely a matter of working as long and as hard as they can. Rather, it is finding out the best way to do something then working as hard as possible to do that. 

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.
Proverbs 21:5

So which is better: lazy or busy? If someone is considered ‘lazy’ simply because they are not busy, when in fact it is merely because they are efficient and effective (and consequently have time to do nothing), this type of lazy would be better. But if someone was ‘busy’ (and also efficient and effective), it may simply be that they are in a season of demand whereby they are helping many others. In such circumstances, busy is better. 

And translating this stand-off into the spiritual arena we can soon see that spiritual depth comes from resting in the finished work of Christ for our salvation. In this sense, we are saved by works – it’s just that it’s not our own, but Christ’s. Yet diligence and hard-work is also required for spiritual depth. The Apostle Peter told believers that they needed to be diligent to be found in Christ (refer to 1Peter 1:10), and the Apostle Paul told the Corinthians that they needed to work diligently to continually be beholding Christ (2Cor. 3:18).

¶ Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish, and at peace.
Second Peter 3:14

This kind of diligence is the same as other forms of diligence. It strives for effectiveness (Philemon 6) and giving appropriate glory to God. It’s the kind of diligence which makes sacrifices in order to practice the spiritual disciplines which are deepening for a soul and glorifying to God (daily Bible reading, prayer journaling, witnessing, Sunday worship, fasting, giving, and contemplation). This is better.

Pastor Andrew Corbett

JESUS IS NOT INCREDIBLE

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6

The One we follow expects people to follow us. This gives Christianity a leadership culture. If you are a follower of Christ, you must be leader. Whenever the Church is at its strongest it is because it is led well. Because leadership is a part of the fabric of Christianity and the Church that Christ is building, His followers will display Christ-like leadership in their homes, their schools, their clubs, their workplaces, and the marketplace. Christ's leadership shows us that it is not about how many are following, but how they are led that matters. As great as The Christ's leadership was and is, He is most definitely not an incredible leader!

¶ But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 
Acts 2:14 [This verse highlights the remarkable transformation in Peter by Christ] 

Jesus is deservedly considered the greatest leader ever. His leadership was so attractive it commanded the highest loyalty from the least likely. It produced leaders who were bold, daring and courageous from people who were shy, uncertain, and unreliable. There was something about Jesus of Nazareth's leadership that was irresistibly attractive and inviting. If you watch Jesus lead you will be informed about how to be a better father, mother, student, employer, manager, or employee. This is not an exhaustive list, but note the following leadership traits of Jesus and consider how they apply to you.

Humble 

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
Philippians 2:5-7

In his book, HUMILITAS, Dr. John Dickson gives a great definition for humility and an even greater example of it. Humilty, he says, is withholding your power for the good of others. And he offers the following illustration-

Three young men hopped on a bus in Detroit in the 1930s and tried to pick a fight with a lone man sitting at the back of the vehicle. They insulted him. He didn't respond. They turned up the heat of the insults. He said nothing. Eventually, the stranger stood up. He was bigger than they had estimated from his seated position - much bigger. He reached into his pocket, handed them his business card and walked off the bus and then on his way. As the bus drove on the young men gathered around the card to read the words: Joe Louis. Boxer. They had just tried to pick a fight with the man who would be Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World from 1937 to 1949, the number one boxer of all time, according to the International Boxing Research Organization (second on the list is Muhammad Ali). They apparently said of Louis that he could knock out a horse with one punch. I struggle to think how he got that reputation, but the point is simple. Here is a man of immense power and skill, capable of defending his honour with a single, devastating blow. Yet he chooses to forgo his status and hold his power for others - in this case, for some very fortunate young men.
John Dickson, Humilitas, pages 26-27 

Jesus was the epitome of humble. He withheld His infinite power for the good of others. He didn't promote Himself or seek His own glory - even though He is the only person who deserves it! If you are a person who is easily and often offended, you have a humility deficiency problem. By following Christ with the daily prayer, Lord have Your way in my life. Make me into the person You want me to be, you will find the path to strength is down not up. A humble leader is a servant-leader.

Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and He is the judge.
John 8:50

Missional

¶ When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
Luke 9:51

Leaders have a destination in mind. Parents as leaders have the destination of developing character, competency and chemistry in their children that shapes them into well-equipped ambassadors for Christ. Pastors have a destination in mind for those they lead that looks like fully-devoted, humble, responsible, Biblically-informed, followers of Christ who know how to serve each other and lead others closer to Christ. Christ's leadership was focused on His mission. Ours should be too.

Authentic

Jesus didn't have a public face, then another face that was His non-public face. He was authentic when in sight and when He was out of sight. In the past few weeks over 400 pastors have been exposed as adulterers when the Ashley Madison ("Life is short. Have an affair") adultery website was hacked and made public by the hackers. Some very high profile 'pro-marriage' church leaders have now been shamed and disgraced. They were not authentic leaders. (They obviously didn't grow up in homes where their mothers repeatedly quoted Numbers 32:23 to them!)

Your best chance of having any parental leadership sway with your kids is to be authentic. Do you tell them to clean up their room as they hop into your pig-sty of a car? Being authentic involves walking the talk not just talking the talk. If I'm not spending time daily with God then my pastoral authenticity is a sham if I am telling you to spend time daily with God. Jesus calls His followers to follow Him - not perfectly (although that's the goal) - but authentically. 

¶ Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
Matthew 16:24

Diligent

Diligence means with great care and persistence. Leadership is a marathon and a regular series of sprints (not just one sprint). It costs to be diligent. It costs sleep. It costs leisure. It costs social time. It costs financially. It costs me-time. It involves giving of oneself. Nehemiah is one of the greatest examples of a diligent leader. Have a read through his book and you can only admire his achievements and the diligence that enabled him to accomplish them. 

As humble, missional, authentic and diligent as Jesus was as a leader, He was not an incredible leader. Thus, the final aspect of this brief survey of Christ's leadership deals with His credibility.

Credible

To be credible is to be trustworthy, honest, reliable, believable. When someone describes you as unbelievable they are not complimenting you! When someone describes you as incredible they are insulting you. Incredible means cannot be trusted, cannot be believed, cannot be relied upon. It is the opposite of credible. Jesus was not an incredible leader - He was a credible leader. And while we live in a generation with many incredible leaders, it is our time to shine as Christ's light bearers in a dark world by learning from Jesus how to be credible leaders. 

Father, help us to lead like Jesus. Help us to learn how to follow Him more closely so that we can have others follow us more closely. Help us to care for those we lead. Help us to be humble, missional, authentic, diligent and credible. Help us to do those things that enable us to be so. As we spend time with You prayerfully in Your Word each day. And may Your Word instruct us, empower us, and guide us to be the leaders You want us to be in our homes, schools, work, businesses, and clubs, we pray, in Jesus' Name,
Amen.

Ps. Andrew