Right Tune, Wrong Hole: Leadership—the Big Picture

Happy 4th of July. As we celebrate our national independence, we celebrate, in a real way, our personal freedoms that derive from it. The irony of our independence—to be true to the bigger picture of independence—is this: All independence is rooted in the dependence on others, especially good leaders—Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, King, to name a few—the right people who were at the right place. Not all leaders are.

Consider the bagpiper who made a good living leading funeral processions, playing Amazing Grace at graveside services. A funeral director asked him to donate his time to a charity case—a service for a homeless man who had no family, friends or money. He agreed as it would be good for business to be seen doing a little charity. Unfamiliar with the pauper cemetery tucked away deep in the backwoods, and too prideful to ask for directions, he got lost.He finally arrived two hours late at a plot of land by the side of a road where two workers were sitting on a mound of dirt having lunch. This must be the place, he thought, but there was no hearse in sight. Feeling badly for his tardiness, the bagpiper dashed straight to the freshly dug hole; only a concrete lid was visible. He started to play—and play he did—with a solemnity worthy of the mourning of the passing of a great king. The workers put down their lunches and stood to their feet, heads bowed. The bagpiper played Amazing Grace with such grace, tears rolled down their faces. His eyes welled up, as well. When the last note was carried away by a sudden breeze, the bagpiper—head hung, heart heavy—packed his instrument and headed to his car. The only words spoken were those of one of the workers. Choking back tears, he turned to his fellow worker and said, "I never seen nothing like this in all my years, and I've been putting in septic tanks for twenty years.”

The bagpiper had the right tune, wrong hole? It looked right, but he didn’t have the big picture. He didn’t ask the primary question that any good leader should ask: Am I in the right place? Right now, you might be in a bit of a hole: COVID blues, x-ray blows, or church woes. Who’s right the right leader for the place you are?

Church, if you’re in search for a leader, have you considered the big picture? The big picture is not only who will stand every Sunday behind the pulpit, but also who am I as a leader in the pew? That’s right, you’re a leader from the pew? That’s the big picture of 1Peter 2:9:

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

So, what kind of leader should you be, your royal priesthood? Jesus answers that question in the parable of the good shepherd—a lesson in leadership for pew and pulpit. In John 10:11-15 you will see Jesus’ perspective on leadership—his big picture of two leaders: a contract player and the compassionate piper.

As royal priests, you are called to leadership—to lead others out of darkness into the marvelous light that you were led to. That darkness—our hole, if you will—is our human condition of sin. That marvelous light is Christ Jesus—the light of the world. Are you leading your church, your family, your country to that light? Or are you like the bagpiper: playing the right tune, wrong hole.

First, the wrong leader is in the wrong place because he has a contractual, convenient relationship with the sheep. He is self-serving and short-termed. Jesus illustrated that some people who lead are not fit for the job. You can easily recognize him when trouble comes.

12 The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

He’s not even worthy to be called a shepherd. He’s called a hireling. He has a contractual relationship with the sheep. He is concerned with: how much, how long, when is my vacation. It’s only a job with benefits. Not only is the relationship contractual, a bad leader has a convenient relationship. He’s on the job when things are on easy street, but as soon as trouble comes, he hits the road.

“You can put a cat in an oven, but that don’t make him a biscuit,” says actor Wesley Snipes. In the say way you can put a man in a leadership position, but that don’t make him a leader. Time and testing will tell what you’ve really got. Take a reading of your leader. Metaphorically, you can use a thermometer or a barometer. I wouldn’t use a thermometer. Thermometers measure temperature. Temperature can change like leaders can change—cold today, hot “tamale”. But barometers measure pressure. Pressure will tell you what you really have. Pressure will make water run up hill. It will also show you where the weaknesses and strengths are in your leader when things get tough.

You “priesthood of all believers” pew priests, don’t forget to do a barometric reading on yourself as you search for a new pastor. Ask yourself: Am I doing the ‘barometric” work of the leader: Am I found delivering communion after church to a sick and shut-in when others are quickly out the door for a little “man-cave and she-shed” time? Don’t wait for a pastor to be the pastor you have been called to be—priests of the pews—called to light to be light.

The Good shepherd, on the other hand, is in the right place because his leadership is built on “greater love”. The good shepherd’s love is greater because it is based on intimacy, unity and humility. First, his love is greater because it seeks intimacy.

14 "I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me,

The good shepherd and the sheep have an intimate spiritual relationship because they have intimacy built on good communications. They know each other’s voices according to John 10:3. To have good communications with someone, you have to spend time with them. They hear you’re not fine even when you say you are. Good leaders have VOICE RECOGNITION.

Second, the Good Shepherd is in the right place as a leader because he seeks unity. Look at verse 16.

16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

The Good Shepherd is as equally concerned about those sheep outside the flock. He is concerned about those sheep born on the wrong side of the track; sheep with probation officers; that go to AA; sheep who with prison records. “One flock, one shepherd” is the mantra of the Good Shepherd. That’s unity.

Finally, the Good Shepherd is in the right place because his leadership is based on the authority of humility that requires sacrifice. John 15:13 sums it up best: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Jesus voluntarily laid down his life, not out of coercion or force, but by volition. All you royal priests, you have the same authority to lay down your life, not as a sledgehammer, but as a sacrificial lamb.

The big picture of 1 Peter 2:9’s “priesthood of all believers” can be summed up this way (to borrow from the words of one of America’s most revered leaders): Ask not what your next pastor can do for you. Ask what kind of royal priests are you to serve the church.

The bagpiper had the right tune but wound up at the wrong hole because he never asked the question: Am I in the right place? In times like these, we could use more leaders with grace on their lips and in their feet who lead us to the light. As we celebrate Independence Day, remember the big picture: there is no true independence without the dependence on other’s light.