Dear HRBC Family,

In their classic book, Lead Like Jesus, Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges offer four domains of leading like Jesus: heart, head, hands, and habits. They state that the internal domains, the motivations of our hearts and the leadership perspective of our heads, are internal, while the external domains, our public leadership behavior, or hands, and our habits as experienced by others, will determine whether people will follow us.

Blanchard and Hodges make the argument (and I concur) that “When your heart, head, hands and habits are aligned, extraordinary levels of loyalty, trust, and productivity will result. When these areas are out of alignment, frustration, mistrust, and diminished long-term productivity will result.” (p. 31)

• Heart: Leadership is first a matter of the heart. Jesus said, “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (Luke 6:45b, NIV)

• Head: While the journey to leading like Jesus begins in the heart, our intent flows through our head (mind). This guides our perspective. Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45, NIV)

• Hands: Other people experience what’s in our heart and head through our motivations, beliefs and words. Jesus said, “A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad.” (Matthew 12:33, NLT)

• Habits: Our habits are how we renew our daily commitment as leaders who are to lead like Jesus, who came not to be served but to serve. Again, Jesus said, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45, NRSVUE, emphasis mine) Jesus faced trials, temptations, persecution, exhaustion, hunger, thirst and loneliness throughout his ministry. Yet, he replenished his energy through regular patterns (habits) of solitude, silence, prayer, God’s word and the shared community of disciples around him.

In their chapter on “the heart,” Blanchard and Hodges encourage us to examine our egos. They ask whether we are servant leaders or self-serving leaders, given that we can either “Edge God Out” or “Exalt God Only.” They state . . .

A heart motivated by self-interest looks at the works as a “give a little, take a lot” proposition. People with hearts motivated by self-interest put their own agenda, safety, status, and gratification ahead of that of those affected by their thoughts and actions. (p. 41)

As we continue to revision, reorganize, restructure and renew here at HRBC as people committed to God’s purposes of worship, discipleship, fellowship, outreach and missions, how are we motivated? What’s the condition of our hearts and heads? And how are they revealed through our hands (words) and habits? It’s important to think on and pray about these in the days and weeks to come. May we seek to live and lead like Jesus. Lots of people are watching us here at HRBC.

In Christ’s care and service,