{"id":39691,"date":"2024-12-02T11:45:28","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T19:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=39691"},"modified":"2024-11-29T14:47:45","modified_gmt":"2024-11-29T22:47:45","slug":"following-the-lamb-relational-discipleship-that-changes-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/following-the-lamb-relational-discipleship-that-changes-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"Following the Lamb: Relational Discipleship That Changes Lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two men attended an outdoor event where they heard a powerful speaker. Thousands of people from all over the region were at the event. They were all entranced by the eccentric man who held them spell-bound.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The two men listened to the speaker for days, following what he said, learning from him, and being challenged by the man to confess their sins and be baptized. They became his disciples.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the man told his disciples to look for someone even greater than he was.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One day, as the speaker spoke with the two disciples, another man walked by. The speaker pointed to him and told them, \u201cLook, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I was telling you about.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When the man\u2019s disciples heard this, they turned and followed this new man.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He turned to them and asked, \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

They said, \u201cTeacher, where are you staying?\u201d Presumably what they wanted was going to take some time to explain.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCome,\u201d he replied, \u201cand you will see.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Taken mostly from John 1, this story shows how Jesus began leading his disciples by inviting them into a relationship. He wanted to know what was important to them and he spent time getting to know them and allowing them to begin to know him.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this example we see how Jesus models the ultimate servant leader, inviting others to follow him in transformative relationships. We\u2019ll explore how Jesus\u2019s leadership model sets the foundation for life-on-life discipleship through the Holy Spirit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Defining Leadership<\/span><\/h2>\n

In his seminal work, <\/span>Leadership; Theory and Practice<\/span><\/i>, Peter Northouse defines leadership in general terms: \u201cLeadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.\u201d [1]<\/span><\/p>\n

Northouse explains that it\u2019s a <\/span>process<\/span><\/i>, a transactional event between leader and follower. Each affects the other.<\/span><\/p>\n

He also says leadership involves <\/span>influence<\/span><\/i>. \u201cWithout influence, leadership does not exist.\u201d [2]<\/span><\/p>\n

Next, the focus is on <\/span>groups<\/span><\/i>. A leader can\u2019t lead in a vacuum.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, an individual leads a group to help it achieve <\/span>common goals<\/span><\/i>; they are working together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Within that broad definition, there are multiple types of leadership. Let\u2019s look specifically at three types, especially through the lens of following Jesus:<\/span><\/p>\n

Servant Leadership<\/b>. Servant leaders are attentive to their followers, \u201cempathize with them, and nurture them. Servant leaders put followers <\/span>first<\/span><\/i>, empower them, and help them develop their full personal capacities.\u201d [3]<\/span><\/p>\n