{"id":36088,"date":"2024-02-22T21:44:31","date_gmt":"2024-02-23T05:44:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=36088"},"modified":"2024-02-22T21:46:19","modified_gmt":"2024-02-23T05:46:19","slug":"looking-into-jesus-rare-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/looking-into-jesus-rare-brain\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking into Jesus’ RARE brain…"},"content":{"rendered":"

JESUS AND RARE LEADERSHIP<\/strong><\/p>\n

In John chapter 8, the religious teachers show great disrespect to Jesus and those in the synagogue by interrupting Jesus\u2019 teaching and bringing in a woman in front of the crowd who was caught in adultery.1<\/sup> But Jesus is a RARE leader. According to Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder, RARE means:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Remain Relational<\/li>\n
  2. Act Like Yourself<\/li>\n
  3. Return to Joy<\/li>\n
  4. Endure Hardship Well2<\/sup><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Now back to Jesus\u2019 RARE leadership. As Jesus listened to the people accuse this woman of adultery, they reminded him the law says she needs to be stoned to death. I wonder if Jesus chuckled inside because he is the one who wrote the law. Anyway, Jesus remained relational. Even though this was a big problem, he \u201ckept the relationship bigger than the problem\u201d3 <\/sup>\u201cRARE leaders are the ones who find relational ways to solve problems and thus, keep relationships bigger than problems.\u201d4 <\/sup>Jesus wrote something in the sand which I\u2019m sure made everyone curious. He did not say, \u201cGo ahead and stone her.\u201d He remained relational because he knew it was about his relationship with the woman.<\/p>\n

    The second thing he did was act like himself. \u201cProtectors are those who have a well-trained set of fast-track habits…they have a tender heart toward weakness.\u201d5 <\/sup>The religious teachers demanded an answer and Jesus said, \u201cAll right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!\u201d6<\/sup> Jesus\u2019 response reminds me of what Nicholas Janni said in his book, Leader As Healer. <\/em>\u201cEmotions are the gateway to our deeper humanity. Connecting more consciously with our feeling states allows us a richer, more heartfelt and empathic relationship to life and leadership.\u201d7 <\/sup>Jesus\u2019 emotions were not frazzled by the demands of the crowd even though their demand was Scriptural and justified.<\/p>\n

    Third, Jesus was actually able to return to joy because according to Colossians 3:15, he allowed his own peace to rule in his heart. Warner and Wilder communicate in their book, RARE Leadership that Colossians 3:15 really says, \u201dLet the peace of Christ be the referee in your hearts.\u201d8<\/sup> The Prince of Peace did an excellent job refereeing between the antagonistic crowd and the frightened woman who was like a lamb going to slaughter.<\/p>\n

    Fourth, Jesus endured hardship well. \u201cSuffering and unpleasant emotions can\u2019t be avoided.\u201d9 <\/sup>I am sure it was hard for Jesus to feel her pain of despair. But there may have been wives in the crowd who wanted this woman dead because she had a relationship with their husbands. There may have been husbands in the crowd who wanted this woman dead because this way she could never tell their wives what happened. If this is so, Jesus was well aware of everyone\u2019s inner pain and he endured feeling their pain well.<\/p>\n

    In Rare Leadership<\/em> Warner and Wilder write about the fast-track and slow track systems in the brain. \u201cThe slow track is optimized for management. It\u2019s primary job is to monitor results and provide explanations and solutions to the problems we face.\u201d10 <\/sup>The fast track\u2019s \u201cprimary job is relational reality…controls how we regulate our emotions, how we remember who we are, who our people are…acting like the self God gave us.\u201d11<\/sup><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    JESUS, FAST TRACK AND SLOW STRACK SYSTEMS AND NEUROSCIENCE 101<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Whenever we get information through our senses, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and body it is relayed to a structure in the brain called the thalamus. The thalamus immediately makes two reports. The first report is brief and is sent down to the amygdala. Let\u2019s call this the fast-track. The thalamus makes a more detailed and full report and sends it to the cortex. Let\u2019s call this the slow track. Here\u2019s an example. You place your hand on a hot stove and the amygdala communicates to the brain to take your hand off the stove. You take your hand off before the cortex receives the information from the thalamus. All this happens in a millisecond. When the amygdala detects something to be a threat it sends off warning signals throughout the brain. When these warning signals hit the cortex, they start to make us feel anxious and have anxious thoughts. So how does this relate to leadership?<\/p>\n

    Janni said in Leader as Healer, \u201cThe way we relate to \u2013 or, more often, do not relate to \u2013 our emotions is one of the biggest sources of fragmentation and disconnectedness in our culture.\u201d Since Jesus had spent a life time building those fast track relational leadership habits (motivation, emotional control, ability to focus, care for others),12<\/sup> he was able to remain calm when confronted with a very difficult situation. His amygdala did not send out any warning signals of stress, anxiety, or panic. This is what the book Rare Leadership<\/em> is all about. It is about being an emotionally mature leader. Emotionally mature leaders operate through joy, \u201cwhich is that feeling of well-being in the deepest parts of the soul.\u201d13 <\/sup>Without joy, leaders are just managing. Working through the four habits of being RARE will enhance a leader\u2019s joy and influence…just like Jesus.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    LEADING LIKE JESUS<\/strong><\/p>\n

    In the book The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety, Tim Clark says, \u201cThe need to be accepted precedes the need to be heard.\u201d14<\/sup> The woman caught in adultery needed to be accepted and Jesus accepted her. After he accepted her, he knew she was ready to be heard, so he asked, \u201cWhere are your accusers? Didn\u2019t even one of them condemn you? \u2018No, Lord\u2019 she said.\u201d15 <\/sup>Don\u2019t miss how she addressed Jesus. With worshipful gratefulness she calls him, \u201cLord\u201d. Therefore:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Who are the people in our sphere of influence who need our RARE leadership. In other words, who are the people that are ashamed, unaccepted, unseen, and\/or neglected because they have done something or had something done to them which left them emotionally unhealthy?<\/li>\n
    2. Will we text them, call them, email them, stop by their home or place of employment simply because that\u2019s what a RARE leader does?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Who will be the next person in our leadership context to be restored because of our RARE leadership and end up saying, through worshipful gratefulness, \u201cLord, thank you for pursuing me through ____(insert your name)________!\u201d<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. John 8:1-11 NLT<\/li>\n
      2. Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder. Rare Leadership. 19.<\/li>\n
      3. Ibid. 23.<\/li>\n
      4. Ibid. 23.<\/li>\n
      5. Ibid. 48.<\/li>\n
      6. John 8:7 NLT<\/li>\n
      7. Nicholas Janni. Leader As Healer. 63.<\/li>\n
      8. Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder. Rare Leadership. 159.<\/li>\n
      9. Ibid. 175.<\/li>\n
      10. Ibid. 26.<\/li>\n
      11. Ibid. 27.<\/li>\n
      12. Ibid. 27.<\/li>\n
      13. Ibid 24.<\/li>\n
      14. Timothy Clark. The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety. 24.<\/li>\n
      15. John 8:10-11 NLT<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        JESUS AND RARE LEADERSHIP In John chapter 8, the religious teachers show great disrespect to Jesus and those in the synagogue by interrupting Jesus\u2019 teaching and bringing in a woman in front of the crowd who was caught in adultery.1 But Jesus is a RARE leader. According to Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder, RARE means: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[3071],"class_list":["post-36088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-warner-wilder-rare-ledership-dlgp02","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36088"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36090,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36088\/revisions\/36090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}