Yardstick Lesson

In looking at the life of Jesus, we discover leadership skills that we can apply at church, at work, at home and every walk of our lives. Jesus modeled leadership principles, and took advantage of situations in everyday life to “teach” people and to “develop” them for a purpose. He especially did this with his disciples as he knew one day he was going to send them out on their own. Scripture tells us that Jesus was sent to live among us and to be an example for us and that we are to have the same attitude as that of Jesus (Philippians 2:5 NLT): "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had."

In John 6 (vs. 1-10 NLT) as we discover one of these leadership principles in the lesson of the loaves and fish:

After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him. (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do. Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!” Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said.

Good leaders don't just "do" things for others or give them answers. The goal of a leader is to "develop" people and to lead them to a point of understanding and then growth so that they can carry out a task, or a mission to fulfill a purpose. Let's look again at verses 5-6:

Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.

Notice that the scripture says that while Jesus had the answer and knew what he was going to do, he was using this as an opportunity to "prove" or to test Philip. Testing is used in the process of learning, and development. Have you ever been tested for the purpose of stretching you personally? I’m a computer scientist by trade. I was very introverted and loved to work in the lab and develop my computer software projects. A mentor of mine during my career at NCR, Mark Campbell, came alongside and pushed me to stretch myself. The first stretch was to lead a project. I discovered I enjoyed working with a team and helping others to accomplish their tasks. The second stretch was to accept a role as a manager. I discovered that I enjoyed developing plans, building teams, learning from others and pouring some of my experience into other people. Probably, my most significant and impactful test was the one through which my mentor encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone of engineering management into leading the product marketing organization – and to top it off, it was for a major product line transition. I was probably the most afraid I’ve ever been in my career except that my mentor was there to support and encourage me. An executive at headquarters referred to me as a “lab rat.” He’s too introverted; how will he ever make it in marketing. Let’s “test” him in the role while we continue to search for a director of marketing. The executives and I were looking at my current experience, but not the potential. My mentor was looking at my potential. After one year in the role, we successfully launched the new product line and I was given the position officially becoming the youngest executive on campus. In effect, my mentor invested in me and played a major role in paving the way for my career and ultimately for my being here. Had he not stretched me, I may still be working in the lab writing computer software. Who are you pouring your life into? Who are you helping to stretch? Who are you investing in?

Jesus understood the concept of potential when the empowerment comes from him. A leadership lesson we see from Christ in the test of the loaves is: the yardstick lesson.

A yard·stick is a measure or standard used for comparison. Jesus wanted to teach the disciples and, in this case, Philip that our tool for measuring or determining our response to life’s problems or challenges is inadequate. The message is this: Do not measure a problem or challenge according to your own abilities.

Philip viewed this situation with his personal experiences and perspective as the basis of his measuring stick. In verse 7, he says: “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!” Andrew’s response wasn’t much better – he asked, “But what good [are these loaves and fish] with this huge crowd?” To Philip and Andrew, this was an impossible situation. But, Jesus had a different perspective – a different yardstick. He loves “impossible” circumstances. Why? Because these provide a perfect test, a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the power of God in our lives.

Each time [Jesus] said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT)

God puts us in impossible situations to stretch our undeveloped faith.
A lack of faith produces fear in our lives and in the lives of those following us. Jesus doesn’t want us to have a spirit of timidity but of boldness, confident of what he can do in and through us. Craig Groeschel, an innovative pastor who started lifechurch.tv, said at a recent leadership conference:

“The difference between where you are and where God wants you to be is the pain [or fear] you’re unwilling to endure.”

God puts us in impossible situations to strengthen our eternal hope.
As we see God work in our lives, our experiences then give us hope knowing that he can and will do what he says. I love Philippians 1:6:

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.

We are a work in progress. This holds true for the people we lead as well. As they experience the results of your Godly leadership, they will develop confidence in accomplishing tasks before them and have hope in the outcome.

God puts us in impossible situations to show His incredible love.
By allowing us to be tested, to experience the power directly, we can truly learn to trust him – because we find that the test was there to develop us, to grow us. We can trust his love for us knowing that he tests us for our benefit.

Each time [Jesus] said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT)

Do not measure a problem or challenge according to your own abilities. Don’t underestimate the power of God when looking at the circumstances in your life.