IN HIS STEPS: NAVIGATING LEADERSHIP WITH CHRIST. Part 3

Leadership rises and falls on leadership, and Jesus stands as the perfect model for how God wants people to lead. Leadership is influence, and every person carries some measure of it, whether in a home, a business, a church, or any place where others are following. Jesus did not start ministry by building a platform for himself only. Jesus came out of the desert, overcame temptation, and chose a team.

Jesus’ call to Peter was not simply, “come work for me.” The call was, “follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Empowerment was already in his mind from the first day. True growth is not just gathering people around a leader, but making people capable of doing the same thing and carrying the assignment forward.

Jesus’ choice of the twelve shows that godly leadership honors people according to their potential, not according to their present condition. Christ saw greatness in fishermen, sinners, and people at the bottom of society. Jesus treated them as fishers of men before they looked like fishers of men. Patience, compassion, mercy, and trust flowed from that vision, even when they failed, misunderstood, or went back to fishing after his death.

Matthew 10 shows the Jesus style of delegation. Jesus summoned the twelve and gave them authority and power over unclean spirits, sickness, and disease. This did not happen at the end only, when Jesus was leaving. This happened while they were still learning, still being trained, still walking with him. Jesus did not remain a performer who wanted everybody to say, “wow, wow, wow.” Jesus shared what he had so that the disciples could do what he was doing, and even do more in the book of Acts.

Delegation is not dumping work on people when a leader is tired or unavailable. Delegation is a conscious, deliberate, intentional process of empowerment. Authority has to be shared in the right measure so the task can be completed well. Jesus gave the disciples clear instructions: where to go, what to preach, what to carry, where to stay, and how to respond when people reject them.

Clear communication protects delegation from failure. Staged responsibility matters because people in training cannot be given everything at once. Godly leadership does not groom people only when the burden becomes heavy. Godly leadership builds people because the work is God’s project, a Jesus project, and everything God puts inside a person is meant to be transferable.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Empowerment begins at the calling. Jesus called the disciples with their future already in view. The invitation was not only to follow, but to become. Godly leadership sees formation from the beginning, not as an afterthought when the leader needs help. [07:57]
• 2. Potential sees what status hides. Jesus honored the disciples according to what God could make out of them, not according to where society placed them. Fishermen at the bottom were treated as people who would stand at the top of kingdom assignment. Such vision gives dignity before performance appears. [10:06]
• 3. Delegation is not dumping work. Delegation is intentional empowerment, not last-minute panic. Dumping gives responsibility without formation, but delegation trains, equips, and shares capacity. A leader who refuses to delegate may look busy, but that leader is not truly multiplying anything. [28:12]
• 4. Clear instruction carries shared authority. Jesus gave power, but he also gave detailed instruction. Authority without clarity can frustrate the person receiving it and damage the work itself. Good delegation gives enough direction for obedience and enough space for growth. [31:16]
• 5. God’s project resists hijacking. Jesus kept turning the disciples back to the Father, even though all authority had been given to him. The work never became a private empire or a personal brand. Whatever comes from God must remain transferable, because kingdom work belongs to Christ. [39:10]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [03:22] - Leadership Inspired by Jesus
• [04:47] - Every Person Leads Somewhere
• [06:19] - Jesus Chooses a Team to Empower
• [09:06] - The Disciples as Family
• [10:06] - Seeing People by Their Potential
• [15:03] - Jesus’ Style of Delegation
• [16:13] - Matthew 10: Authority and Power
• [21:36] - Delegation Done the Right Way
• [22:01] - Familiarity, Integrity, and Respect
• [27:21] - Delegation as Proper Deployment
• [31:16] - Clear Instructions for the Mission
• [34:03] - Staged Responsibility in Training
• [37:33] - Grooming People Before Crisis
• [38:45] - The Mission Belongs to God

Bible Reading

Matthew 10:1
“And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.” [16:13]

Matthew 4:19
“And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’”

Matthew 10:5-15
“These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics nor sandals nor a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.’” [31:16]

Observation questions

1. In Matthew 4:19, what two parts are found in Jesus’ call to Peter: what was Peter told to do, and what did Jesus promise to make him? [07:57]
2. In Matthew 10:1, what did Jesus give the twelve before sending them out, and what specific works were they enabled to do? [16:13]
3. In Matthew 10:5-15, what kinds of instructions did Jesus give the disciples about where to go, what to say, what to take, and how to respond to rejection? [31:16]
4. What were some of the ways Jesus treated the disciples as people with future potential rather than just as they were in the moment? [10:06]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” What does that show about the kind of leadership Jesus gives—especially the fact that formation and empowerment were part of the call from the very beginning? [08:00]
2. Jesus gave the disciples authority and power while they were still learning. What does that suggest about how people usually grow best in God’s work: only after they are fully ready, or while they are still being trained? [33:20]
3. Jesus gave very detailed instructions in Matthew 10:5-15. Why does shared authority need clear instruction, and what kinds of problems happen when responsibility is given without clarity? [34:03]
4. Jesus kept pointing everything back to the Father and treated the mission as God’s project. How does that protect leadership from becoming personal, possessive, or centered on image? [39:10]

Application questions

1. Every person carries some measure of influence. Where is that influence most real in your life right now—at home, at work, in church, or among friends—and how are you using it at the moment? [04:47]
2. Jesus saw people by their potential, not just by their present condition. Is there someone in your life whom you have quietly reduced to their current weakness, past failure, or social status? What might it look like to begin seeing that person through the lens of what God can make out of them? [10:06]
3. Delegation is not dumping work when pressure rises. Have there been moments when you handed something off too late, with too little guidance, or mainly because you were overwhelmed? What would intentional empowerment look like instead? [28:12]
4. Jesus gave people real responsibility while they were still growing. Is there an area where you need to trust someone with a next step instead of waiting for them to become perfect first? What would a wise, staged opportunity look like? [34:03]
5. Clear instruction matters. When you ask others to help, do you usually explain the mission clearly enough—what needs to be done, why it matters, and what success looks like? Where could your communication become more helpful and more specific? [31:16]
6. Kingdom work belongs to Jesus, not to personal ambition. In the places where you serve, build, or lead, what helps you remember that this is God’s project and not your private platform? [39:10]
7. Everything God puts inside a person is meant to be transferable. What has God given you—wisdom, experience, skill, encouragement, prayer, hospitality, discernment—that should now be intentionally passed on to someone else? [40:15]