It is a reality that most important things are nearly impossible to teach. As the late Howard Hendricks liked to say, 'truth is not so much taught, as it is caught.' That was his way of conveying that our assimilation of truth, of life change, of discipleship, and of leadership comes not by way of intellectual assent or academic progress but rather through the shared life of a leader and a disciple.
It is in shared living that examples have powerful and compelling lessons for growing leaders. It is obvious that we can learn from both good and bad examples throughout life, but leaders, especially should be attuned to the power of an example. We find this illustrated repeatedly in the life of Jesus during His earthly ministry in the presence of his own followers.
Jesus knew how to seize the moment and point out a profound truth with an example that might have otherwise been overlooked. Recall, if you will, the account that the writer Luke relates of an example that Jesus creates in the midst of His teaching (Luke 21). The discussion topic was devotion, respect, and honor and during the temple offering while the affluent were giving, Jesus notices a widow's two coin offering and He revolutionizes the disciple's understanding about how God measures our devotion by pronouncing the widow's gift superior or more excellent than all of the big donations. What an example and what a lesson!
Another lesson caught by the disciples is recorded by Matthew and Mark as Jesus was teaching them about the topic of faith and its results. In the simplicity of an agrarian culture, a fig tree that uncharacteristically has no fruit is used by Jesus to astonish his learners with an exemplary exercise in faith in action. One might guess that their amazement unlocked a very, very keen interest in the words Jesus shared about the power of kingdom faith.
Examples, of course, are for much more than powerful learning. The real leadership objective -- as it was with Jesus and His disciples -- was to deeply impact living. This is clear both from the words Jesus uses in highlighting His own example and from the later reflection of the New Testament writers.
In John 5:5-17 with the topic being 'how do leaders serve,' Jesus personally illustrates (without the artificiality of a consultant setting up a breakout role-play) in a vivid way, with both paradox and power, the spirit and the pattern of Christ-like leadership for His followers of all generations. Jesus draws attention to His own life as the example for behavior, blessing, and greatness. "For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you."
We as leaders also need to recognize the power (as well as the peril) of example in our own spheres of influence. What we talk about, what our attitudes are, what we notice and care about, what we measure, what we are learning and reading about, what occupies our time -- all these communicate with the power of example. Too often these examples are unconsciously delivered to those around us and are frequently not rigorously examined for their impact on our leadership character and message. Along with our words, each of our lives stand as forceful examples of one type of leadership or another.
