RARE Leadership and the Joy of Jesus

Leadership is hard. Problems are always present. People present problems. There are so many people, so many problems. 

I sound a little fatalistic—a little nihilistic. Okay, maybe I’m being a bit hyperbolic to make a point. I am a preacher. We make hyperbolic statements sometimes for shock value. Nonetheless, I’m not wrong. People present problems. Leading people through problems is hard. 

I was speaking with a long-time school leader who is nearing retirement. I asked, “Are you looking forward to retirement even though you still have so much energy?” 

He looked at me, cocked his head, and said, “You know Tim, I still do have a lot of energy. Honestly, I’m going to immediately miss 95% of the job, but that 5%...” He didn’t need to finish the sentence. I did it for him.

“That 5% will get ya…”

“Yep,” he admitted, shaking his head.

What is the 5% that can get us, especially over time? It’s sin. My sin. The sin of others. Sins of commission and omission. How leaders prepare for, walk through, and guide others through the 5% makes all the difference between a ministry of joy and a ministry of misery. 

I recently read the book Rare Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead by Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder. It came out in 2016. I don’t know how I missed it. Jim Wilder also wrote The Other Half of the Church (another book I highly recommend). Warner and Wilder dig into the brain science of leadership to help define what makes some leaders RARE. It’s not the cleanest acronym, but it gets the book’s main points across. 

Remain Relational (belonging)

Act Like Yourself (identity)

Return to Joy (being glad to be together)

Endure Hardships Well (using hard times to bring us closer)

RARE leaders are able to walk through the 5% of hard stuff and build resilient relationships. Warner and Wilder highlight how many leaders are overly fixated on data and problem solving. Many leaders love management of problems. Often, this management of problems leads us to try to fix problems by fixing people. More data does not change people. More accountability does not change people. 

What changes people? Creating a space for relational belonging, where individual and group identities are strong (Oh, this is how my people act?), is what changes people. Joy is the fuel in the brain to transform us to transform others. Joy fueled by the love you have for the people you lead. 

This should not be surprising to Christians. Joy is what Jesus came to bring His disciples…in and through the struggle. Jesus’ upper room discourse in John 13-17 is one of my favorite pieces of Scripture. Jesus has spent three years building a strong sense of belonging between Himself and His disciples. He’s now trying to prepare them for what is to come—the cross and empty tomb. The disciples are anxious and confused. 

Into this confusion Jesus says, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

What is Jesus’ goal for his disciples? His joy! His complete joy! His unadulterated joy! Joy flowing from the Father to the Son to the Holy Spirit…to us…to the world! 

If you lack joy—if you are living with anxiety or something or someone is stealing your joy—ask Jesus for help! Jesus wants to restore your joy—joy overflowing! If your heart lacks joy, stop right now, and pray: Jesus, I need Your joy. Please give it to me! Then stop, really stop, and let these words from Jesus fill your heart: You’re my child. I smile and delight over you. I don’t just love you—I like you. I like spending time with you. Gaze upon My face of love and experience My joy. I know you’ll forget from time to time, but the everlasting truth is I am with you. My joy is in you because you are in Me.

Even in typing these words, a love (Jesus’ love) too deep for words fills my heart and mind. I’m not an “enthusiast,” but a little lump of love sits in my throat as I contemplate Jesus’ joy over me. Nothing can separate me from Jesus’ love and joy. Honestly, I’m pretty enthusiastic about this fact of faith. 

Jesus’ joy naturally moves me to enjoy the people Jesus has placed all around me. They are miracle makers—filled with the Holy Spirit—on mission to make Jesus’ joy accessible to the world. 

At its core, pastoral ministry is not…programmatic—it is relational. 

It’s not about getting as many “butts into seats on Sundays,” but creating a space where everyone from every walk of life can belong to God and others. 

It’s not about mandating people keep a bunch of laws. It’s about inviting people to return to the joy of their identity in Jesus and building a group identity that collectively governs the way Jesus’ people live and behave. 

When hard times inevitably come, it’s not about power and authority. It’s about the Holy Spirit reminding us of the joy of Jesus, which collectively carries all of us (not just a few of us) through the hard times. 

This sort of leadership is RARE. We need more leaders at every level of the LCMS who lead like this.

uniteleadership.org

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