ROOTED Week 9 Spring 2024

Be the head, not the tail

Something that I didn’t know about until not too long ago is that apparently, on Instagram, you don’t want to follow more people than follow you.  Have you ever heard this?  I guess it’s a social status thing that from what I’ve heard makes you look desperate or like you are more of a follower than a leader.

The funny thing about it is so many of us today are followers.  We watch for the latest trends in clothing, in music, in language.  We base our attitude on people we follow whether musicians, athletes, political figures, even people that are popular really for no good reason.

Following others in and of itself isn’t necessarily bad but it can have some bad and negative results.  What I’m talking about is that we are created in God’s image, with purpose given by Him and so when we are simply a follower of the things and people of the world, we fail to be who God made us to be.  And we often do this because it’s easier.  If we stand out for being different in any way, what is it that we fear? (rejection, mocking, being laughed at).  But what we fail to realize is that we can become a leader and should pursue being a leader because others are looking for one and they are looking for one that will stand against the flow of the world.  They are looking for hope and purpose and you can be that leader for them.

Take, for example Paul in the Bible. We’re not gonna read about him right now, but raise your hand if you’ve heard of Paul? Yeah, he wrote a lot of the New Testament a lot of what we read in the New Testament of the Bible are his letters to churches, but does anybody know what Paul did before he became a follower of Jesus? Riot, he was a leader among the Jewish people. He followed, along with what he was told was good and right, even to the point of encouraging people to kill Christians. So he was a follower of a crowd that did not have good intentions, and he ended up becoming a leader of that crowd, and gave in to bad influence. To the point that he was a bad influencer. But then Jesus found him and everything changed. Paul became the leader God had intended him to be. And God used many people grow his church, Paul was a pioneer integral and its expansion. And he had a tremendous amount of followers. he also had a tremendous amount of haters, but that comes with leadership.

Jesus had many followers but 12 close followers or students.  This was very common in the ANE for Jewish people.  As kids, Jewish boys would study and study so that someday, they could follow a rabbi or a teacher.  We can assume from Jesus disciples that they were failures and drop outs yet He called them to follow Him.  And clearly Jesus and His disciples stood out.  They were the leaders that everyone was watching and wondering if they should follow too.  What was unique is Jesus spoke the truth with authority.  He didn’t go along with what everyone else was saying.  Most of His disciples followed Jesus in His footsteps and became great leaders themselves.  BUT Christian leadership comes with a cost.  There is rejection and laughter and mocking but there is also the joy of others coming to be followers of Jesus and living life with hope and purpose.

I want to share with you 2 Scripture and then you are going to look at others with your REF or Mentor.  Here’s the first one:

“Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.”

1 Timothy 4.12

Timothy was a young guy and he became a leader in his church but he was intimidated because everyone else was older and more experienced.  But Paul says to Tim - if you want to be a leader with these people, be an example - don’t be a punk but be a leader in what you say, how you act, how you love others, your faith in Jesus, and the good decisions that you make.

Paul gives this perfect list of what people are watching for in a leader so they can choose to follow.

“Where there is no guidance the people fall,

But in abundance of counselors there is victory.”

Proverbs 11.14

This one might sound a little odd but basically without a good leader, we are doomed to fail but when there is good leadership, there is victory.  This is true in government, in business, in churches, but also with your friends.  If you hang out with people that I mean, they do bad things, the group follows and they are doomed for failure, trouble, consequences but when someone steps up and makes wise decisions now victory is possible.  The whole group may not follow but there are those that do.

Okay - so what?

Well, I want to end by saying that you have an opportunity to be a leader and not a follower.  To be the head and not the tail and it’s as simple as making wise decisions, speaking up when others are being fools, and taking a stand for Jesus when others are just following the foolishness of the world.

Discussion:

Read through these Proverbs (you’re encouraged to open your Bibles and find them and read them).  Discuss what your mentee and you believe they mean.  What do they mean to us today?  What do they mean to your mentee?  How can they apply this to their life?

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge,

    but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Proverbs 1.7

Doing wrong is fun for a fool,

    but living wisely brings pleasure to the sensible.

Proverbs 10.23

There is a path before each person that seems right,

    but it ends in death.

Proverbs 14.12

Fools have no interest in understanding;

    they only want to air their own opinions.

Proverbs 18.2

People ruin their lives by their own foolishness

    and then are angry at the Lord.

Proverbs  19.3

As a dog returns to its vomit,

    so a fool repeats his foolishness.

Proverbs 26.11

Those who trust their own insight are foolish,

    but anyone who walks in wisdom is safe.

Proverbs 28.26

Fools vent their anger,

    but the wise quietly hold it back.

Proverbs 29.11