Leadership 101: Take Care of The Troops 

Yesterday I talked about "Mission first, people second" and I focused on the mission. As Christians, we are called to disciple all nations. We are given the high privilege of educating folks in what Jesus said and teaching them to follow his commandments as we try to do the same. That's the big picture mission. As Christians we're given smaller missions all the time. Some make sense and we can complete without wondering why. Others leave us questioning because we don't see the whole picture. However, if we can remember the overall plan, we can still march forward, carrying out our duties to the glory and honor of our God. 

But in the pursuit of our missions, we must be mindful of others. Jesus came to save us. His death on the Cross said we matter to Him. And though you and I can't comprehend why the all-powerful God of the universe would care about us so, the Bible is clear in telling us He does. Everyone matters to Him. He doesn't play favorites and love some and hate others. He offers a gift of grace to any who would come. If people matter so much to Him, they must matter as much to us. Don't get me wrong. We should never place people ahead of the mission God gave us. But on the same token, we should not justify our actions when they cause harm to another by saying, "But I was just following what God wants me to do." If we're stuck in that situation, we need to re-evaluate our approach. Perhaps we've missed something or becomes so over-zealous in our pursuit of what we think God wants we've forgotten the big picture. 

This isn't to say everything is going to go swimmingly perfect. It's not. And it's not to say everyone is going to always come out all right. That's not true, either. Sometimes in the pursuit of God's mission people do get hurt, whether physically, emotionally, or both. People out of the will of God expose themselves to the world and reap the consequences. But lest we believe that only bad people get hurt, that's not the way it works. When folks have the free will to sin, the innocent sometimes get caught up, too. It's heart-breaking but such is the effect of sin on the world.  

God cares about people. He cares about every single one of us. And sometimes He just floors me with how much He does. A great example is Christ's return in order to begin the healing process in Peter. Peter boasted he would stand with Jesus even if everyone else fled. We know the rest of the story. When it came time to be identified as standing with Jesus, Peter denied Christ three times. Peter was human. He reacted in the same way most of us would. But when the rooster crowed, Peter was devastated. He realized fully what he had done.  

Jesus knew this was going to happen. He knew Peter was going to be hurt. However, the bigger mission was to go to the Cross in order to pay the price for sin. Jesus, when faced with a choice between mission and Peter, chose the mission. That was the right choice. But Jesus didn't forget about Peter. He couldn't do anything for Peter on the way to the Cross. But He did afterwards: 

Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, "It is the Lord," he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. 
           - John 21:7-8, NIV 

Jesus' purpose was simple. He needed to have a face-to-face talk with Peter. He knew Peter needed to be ready for Pentecost. And likely Peter was still hurting over his failure. Peter was boisterous. He was quick to act. But Peter was like the rest of us and failure, especially one after the boast he made, was sure to have hurt deeply. In fact, reading through the rest of John 21 reveals that Peter wasn't over it. It was still hanging over his head. That's why Jesus met the disciples on the beach. He had to take care of Peter. Mission first, yes. But people were a close second. 

This is the sort of example we're called to follow as Christians. Sometimes following through with the mission does mean folks are hurt. Whether it is their own actions that bring them to harm or the actions of another, we have to face facts that in this sinful world bad things happen. And they can happen to good people. Yes, we're supposed to be about the mission. But we had better never forget about the people. We're called to love them as much as Jesus does. Wow. With examples like Peter, we can gain some understanding in how far we should go to show love and to help others get back on track. This is as much a part of being a Christian as it is a principle of leadership.