Jesus is a Hands-Off Leader

Today’s reading: John 15:9-17

Who knew that Management 101 could also be a good guide to Christianity?

“I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” (Verse 15)

After coming across that again in today’s reading, I headed straight for Google and gave myself a quick refresher on what college kids learn during their first year or so of business school.

Yep, Jesus’ way of leading us sure does have a lot in common with the “laissez faire” style of management. He just supplies us with all the resources and information we need for our lives and trusts us to do a great job on the rest.

Management experts have identified other common styles of leadership, of course. Namely, “autocratic” — in which subordinates do exactly what the boss says — and “democratic” — in which bosses solicit plenty of counsel from their underlings, but their final decisions are still expected to be followed precisely.

But laissez faire is Jesus’s style.

That mean’s Jesus is not necessarily our “boss.”  He could be, of course. But, then he would be practicing another management technique. In the style he has chosen, Jesus simply leaves it to us to do the right thing with our lives.

Now, there have been times in my life when I have wished Jesus was my boss, when I wanted him to tell me, very clearly,  exactly what to do. But He simply doesn’t work that way.

People do work that way, of course. I can always find a person who will be glad to tell me what to do in any situation — especially if I ask. And their advice is often helpful.

But, notice that I called it advice. What human “bosses” expect, desire, require, demand is never mandatory — no matter how stubbornly they may insist upon it.

Jesus’s style is sometimes tough. It requires me to figure a lot of things out on my own, and sometimes I even end up feeling as if I’m entirely by myself (especially after I’ve made a series of bad decisions that have led me away from Christ).

But, in the end, I always feel Him guiding me.  (That’s the key to laissez-faire management.  It’s done by feel, not by touching or dragging.) And things always come out perfectly.

Thanks be to God for His glorious leadership. May I always know how to follow Him gracefully.