In Matthew 20, Jesus sheds significant light on the topic of leadership, authority, and greatness as He offers an amazing contrast between what people perceive and what actually is.  Far too often, this passage is quoted without the all-important context that is vital for understanding.  He concludes a grand discourse that has presented several parables and, most recently, announced to His disciples that He would die at the hands of the Jewish and Gentile leaders.  At the end of this teaching, a mother approaches Jesus to ask for her sons to have preferential treatment in His kingdom.  She was exhibiting faith that He was the promised Messiah but also betraying a misunderstanding of the Messiah.  Needless to say, the other ten were not happy and then we hear leadership gold from Jesus!

Saul, the first Hebrew king, offers us an example that cannot be overlooked - particularly for those that are business starters or hold a newly created leadership position.  He made decisions that are typical of an "initiator" and we would do well to learn from his example to save us from expensive AND extensive difficulty.  To unpack his life and leadership, we will go to the book of 1 Samuel for a summary explanation of his life and decisions.  Please note that we cannot cover the majority of one Old Testament book in a short blog, so this will only hit the highlights.  We will close with five specific applications of those lessons for leaders.

This blog entry will start a new series (The Mess of the Monarchy) and a new category (Hebrew Kings).  For the longest time I struggled with Hebrew history with a particular focus on the mess that men made of the monarchy.  In my quest to analyze and figured that out, I stumbled upon the work of J. Robert Clinton and his conclusions from studying hundreds of Biblical leaders (should you want to learn more, see his article "Listen Up, Leaders!").  Still, that article did not dig deep enough into the specifics of the Hebrew kings and how they varied greatly.  Yes, I recognize that some served God and others did not, but why?  That question is the heart of my pursuit going forward so that I can learn to leave the right legacy behind.  First, here are a few foundational thoughts.

If you know anything about me, you know that I am an avid archer.  An abundance of life (and leadership) lessons exist within archery, so I am starting a new category to focus on those lessons.  Take a look at the image to the left - it teaches us that connection IS direction.  If you want to learn more, then keep reading below as we will talk about the 4 parts to the image and get into the specifics of the lesson that we can learn.

As you look at this photo, what do you see?  You may have responded something like this:  blue sky, golf course, ball on the green, trees, flagstick, clouds, etc.  There really is not a right or wrong answer here BUT take a look at where the ball is located.  It is close to the flag, and that's good, but you do not know several things:  (1) how many strokes it took to get there; (2) how many are considered "par" for that hole; and (3) what happens after this picture was taken.  All of these descriptions are wonderful set-ups for accountability - the real kind of accountability that we need in our daily lives.  The term and process called "accountability" is often viewed with disdain; however, that should not be the case.  We need to learn to do accountability correctly to maximize relationships and results.