COMMENTARY: Dedication To Purpose – A principle of successful leadership

The name Jesus of Nazareth tops every leadership short list, and is included in every serious conversation about influential characters. Over two thousand years have passed since he walked the earth, but his example of dedication to his purpose still inspires many leaders to greater levels of commitment and success.

At the tender age of twelve, Jesus stayed back alone in Jerusalem to engage the doctors of the law in conversation. He later explained his reason to his anxious parents: “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be about my father’s business” (Luke 2:49 NASU)? Mary was not sure what all those words meant, but, it was clear to Jesus that he was a man on a mission.

At Jacob’s well in the Samaritan city of Sychar, Jesus’ single minded focus on his purpose is again evident in conversation with a woman. Amidst the uncomfortable weariness of his journey, he challenges the social conventions and racial segregation that are reflected in the woman’s words to Him: “The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans” (John 4:9). Ethnic hostility is not new, but between these groups it was long and bitter. The fire of these tensions was ignited after the deportation of the ten northern tribes of Israel to Assyria about 722 B. C. (II Kings 17:21-40). Not only did SargonII take the Israelites to Assyria, but he also brought foreigners from countries northeast of Israel and planted them in the then sparsely populated cites of Samaria. These none Israelites, possessing a different culture and religion, intermarried with some of the remaining Jews and gendered a new ethnic group called “Samaritans”. The feelings of hatred of the Jews toward the Samaritans were met with similar feelings of hatred of the Samaritans for the Jews, and over the years, often boiled over into violence. In Jesus’ way of thinking, this had been the reality for too long. At the risks of insults, misunderstanding, and disfavour even from his Jewish apostles, Jesus pursued his purpose and gathered a harvest of love and hospitality in the unlikely fields of Samaria (John 4:39 -42).

In the city of Jerusalem, where Jesus was asked about the reason for a man being born blind, he answered, drawing connections between the man’s visual challenges and his purpose. Rather than reiterate the standard view that sickness and impairment resulted frompersonal or parental sin, Jesus instead explained that the reality of the man’s condition provided an opportunity for God’s power to be manifested, and his ministry to be authenticated. His hands, constantly put to the plough, revealed his awareness that the clock was always winding down on his time on earth, and that the night of death, in which none could work, was rapidly approaching (John 9: 4).

Moreover, in the waning weeks of his earthly ministry, when God’s purpose would point him toward Calvary, Jesus was even more resolute. On his way there he would experience betrayals, denials, and abandonment from his most trusted disciples.  Anticipation of drinking the bitter dregs of crucifixion would deeply trouble his soul;however, his commitment to his father’s purpose prohibited him from requesting an unqualified deliverance (John 12:27). His words on the cross, “itisfinished” (John 19:30), speak of his knowledge of, and commitment to his life’s purpose to the very end. The writer of the book of Hebrews provides valuable insight into Jesus’ thinking and resultant tenacity toward his purpose. He writes: “…Who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2b NKJV). Through the six bitter hours of his passion, all the benefits that would come to humanity through his suffering and death absorbed his thoughts. This passage may have provided the inspiration for Jason Crabb’snow popularsong, “When He Was On The Cross, I Was On His Mind”.

Since Jesus alone, by his sinless life, qualifies to be man’s propitiation, it is certain that God’s purpose is not for any present leader to die for the sins of the word as he did. Indeed, parents, health care professionals, ministers of the gospel, and political leaders have less important missions;nevertheless, for them, the road is often rough, and the load often heavy. At times like these, leaders, emulating the example of Jesus, can find joy in the knowledge of their fulfilled purpose. This is why Christians are exhorted in Scripture to run their races with their eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith (Heb. 12: 2-4). No one has had a higher mission, faced a greater danger, and showed a deeper commitment. His unparalleled dedication still motivates many.