A Life of Impact: Leadership Principles of Jesus - Softcover

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What will be the net result of your existence?

Some people are content to be molded by the world they live in. Others are satisfied to sit back and watch the world change around them. But others seek to change the world.

A Life of IMPACT is for people who want to do something significant with their lives. It offers many practical lessons which aim to maximize personal impact.

The theories and philosophies of motivational speaker can be helpful, but a living example is worth a thousand lectures. A Life of IMPACT draws insights from the account of a man who not only had a tremendous personal impact, but also demonstrated an ability to train common people to live extraordinary lives. Many books have been written on success, personal fulfillment, leadership and management skills. Yet Mark's Gospel of Jesus is a surprisingly rich sourcebook of fresh insights about how to become more influential.

This is a book full of provocative questions, straightforward teaching, age-old wisdom, and creative analogies. Prepare to be transformed as you examine the character and habits of one of the most influential men of all time.

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Compassion

Mark 1:40-45 A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, ''If you are willing, you can make me clean.'' Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ''I am willing,'' he said. ''Be clean!'' Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: ''See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.'' Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

Jesus was willing to get radically and unconventionally involved with people. He didn't minister from a safe distance; instead, he came close to people and got his hands dirty-literally. We all know what it means to have problems and to be embarrassed about certain aspects of our lives. Someone who gives us pat answers when we are in need or who pays little or no attention to our deeply-felt concerns will certainly never win us over. Conversely, Jesus demonstrates that we can have a powerful and lasting impact on someone else if we are willing to go deep.

Mark describes Jesus' emotional state as he is confronted by this man with leprosy. In order to understand his reaction, it's important to try to imagine what it must be like to be ''filled with compassion.'' There was absolutely no room left in Jesus for fear, disgust or apprehension. Most of us would probably have a significant portion of these other emotions in a similar situation. Perhaps the only time we experience the undiluted emotion of compassion is at the movies when the hero or heroine suffers grief at the death of a loved one. Because we are observing from a safe distance, there is no need for fear. But how can we, with our fear and suspicion and self-interest, relate to Jesus in a real-life situation that demands compassion? And what does compassion have to do with having an impact?

Jesus demonstrates that it is sometimes good to go along with the overflow of our emotions-when these emotions cause us to do something good for the other person and not something bad against him. Jesus knew that his emotional state was righteous, and because of this he did not hesitate to reach out and touch this diseased man. He didn't try to ''control himself,'' to act only on the basis of reason; instead, he let his emotions move him. How many other people may have felt compassion for this same man without ever acting on their feelings? How many may have even caught themselves reaching out with a loving touch and then had abruptly pulled back, realizing the personal danger inherent in such an act? Surely the well-meaning people who walked by with their compassion bottled up inside them had only a negative impact on the leper.

Some of us are so afraid of being too emotional that we go through life all bottled up inside. We are so disciplined and calculating that our touch turns cold, soon to be followed by our hearts. The world is in dire need of people who don't withhold their love. It's sad that in many circles it's considered a strength to ''control'' or suppress emotions and a weakness to act on them. Real strength is displayed in a man like Jesus who was able to deny himself when his emotions were against what is good and who acted without hesitation on emotions that produced good.

Vision Although this passage teaches us about the calling of the first disciples, it was not the first or only time Jesus would call these men to follow him. In the gospel of John, chapters one and two, we read about the time when these men first met Jesus. He invited them to follow him, and they did. Then they went with him to a wedding at Cana in Galilee a couple of days later. There Jesus performed his first miracle, ''and his disciples put their faith in him.'' After this they went down to Capernaum with him and eventually up to Jerusalem for the Passover. While on this trip to Jerusalem they watched Jesus clear the temple. It appears that these were contiguous events and Jesus' new disciples were with him the whole time. It also appears, though, that after this episode they all went back to their nets. With this understanding of the order of events we can see another powerful leadership quality in Jesus: he had vision for his followers. He believed in them. He continued to give them opportunities even after they had parted company with him. In fact, he had to call them back to following him again and again.

How many second and third chances do we give to people? Do we continue to believe in them even after they make a mistake, even if they are ''clued out'' about what we are trying to do? Suppose an employee of yours has let you down or disappointed you. Do you continue to have a vision for how he could change and what he could accomplish? Typically I feel somewhat discouraged after I have had to correct someone or call him back to his commitment or responsibilities. I tend to share his doubt that he can and will change. But it's at these times that he needs to be believed in more than ever. He needs to be shown that I still believe in him and that I will give him another chance. An ineffective leader frequently expresses doubt in his people's abilities. People will tend to not surpass our expectations or our vision for them. We need to believe in people, like Jesus did, and in so doing, give them hope.

It is mind-boggling to think that Jesus planned to turn the world upside down through twelve plain ordinary men. No one would have believed him if he had announced it in advance. Jesus not only had an unrelenting vision for these men; he also had a radical vision, for them to become men who would change the world. He didn't limit his vision for these men due to their low ratings on all the conventional measures. They lacked formal education. They didn't have long resumes stating that they were talented or that they could lead effectively. They may not have had natural speaking ability or people skills. One thing that anyone could see, however, was that they were tough and could work long and hard. They weren't ''wimps''-fishing back then wasn't the cushy hobby that it has become today. But other than this one quality they weren't all that impressive. Jesus didn't let their existing qualities or lack thereof affect his dream for what they could become.

Do we dare to dream the incredible? Do we fight for our dreams and refuse to live ordinary lives? If we truly want to be like Jesus and to be men and women of impact, we must dream great dreams. We need to look and see the bigger picture. We must accept that all great projects begin with a humble infancy stage. Greatness does not suddenly appear. It is the end product of a process which begins with a dream. As an example of this, consider the developmental process of a human being. In a purely physical sense a human being starts out as one cell with a spectacular plan. This one cell multiplies itself and copies the same plan into each new cell. Cells with discordant plans (ie. viruses and cancers) are destructive to the whole body and must be eliminated. Eventually these new cells carrying the original plan mature and associate themselves with other cells to do what they are best at doing, and together they successfully achieve their goal. This very familiar process is commonly referred to as the miracle of life. The developmental process reveals a paradigm illustrating what it takes to make an impact in this world. What an amazing concept, that a single cell could develop into a mature, diversified, multifunctional, adaptable and intelligent being! In the same way, each of us is destined for greatness, but we must first dream great dreams. We are, after all, created in the image of the God who envisioned this universe and then said, ''Let there be light....''