Passing The Baton
“From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Matthew 16:21–23
As a leader you want to always build something that can outlast you! When what you build leaves with you or dies when you dies- you are not a leader, you’re a failure! If something outlast you that’s apart of your legacy! I’ve realized that many leaders are too focused on the next position more than they are the next generation! We’re more concerned about power than we are people! We need to build something that can outlive us and the best way to do that is to build someone up who can take what you built and move it forward! We as leaders have to learn how to pass the baton of leadership.
In our opening scripture, Jesus was predicting His death and He told His disciples that He had to leave. When He told them, there was some resistance. Peter didn’t want Jesus to leave! He didn’t want their friendship to end. Ministry builds friendships. Peter was with Jesus everyday for three years straight and now he’s going to have to readjust. For many, seeing Jesus have to leave and die was like seeing another prophet killed. But for Peter seeing Jesus leave was seeing His friend, leader and mentor leave. Peter didn’t want to see Jesus leave and the truth is Jesus didn’t want to leave either! After Jesus died and rose from the grave- the Bible says Jesus lingered 40 more days. After His resurrection He stayed 40 more days with His boys before going to be with the Father. Jesus didn’t want to leave BUT He had to leave.
Two Things Came After Jesus Left…
- We received the Holy Spirit (John 16:7)
- Peter took the leadership of the early church (Matthew 16:18)
If Jesus didn’t leave we wouldn’t have been able to receive the Holy Spirit and Peter wouldn’t be able to lead the church. The disciples were about to start leading- everything Jesus taught them those three years they were about to put into practice. The disciples had to first be led before they could lead. They started out as disciples then they became apostles. The problem I see in this world is that too many people want to lead when they haven’t be led! You can’t be a great leader if you aren’t a great follower! The disciples followed Jesus then they became leaders! Do you see what Jesus left behind when He left? Like Myles Munroe once said, “Jesus didn’t leave behind a program or a build- Jesus left behind people… He left behind LEADERS!” The legacy of a true leader is the reproduction of other leaders. Jesus’ legacy was leaders! Reproducing more of Himself was His legacy. Your leadership legacy is in reproducing more leaders! We have to build more leaders! Our legacy should be leaving leaders behind! Jesus took disciples (followers) and turn them into apostles (leaders). Jesus made Peter His successor.
Succession Lessons We Can Learn From Jesus…
- Jesus IDENTIFIED His replacement.
- Jesus started to MENTOR and TRAIN His replacement.
- Jesus passed the BATON to His replacement.
Jesus trained Peter, built Peter and mentored Peter. Peter went with Jesus to places and got exposed to things that the other disciples didn’t. Jesus was getting His successor ready. Peter was about to step into leadership because Jesus’ job was over! Jesus’ job was to lay the FOUNDATION, Peter’s job was to take the ministry FURTHER. The job of a predecessor is to lay the FOUNDATION, it’s the successor’s job to move the organization FORWARD! I’ve come to the conclusion that leadership isn’t a sprint, it’s a relay race. Just like in a relay race- you have to pass the baton! Leading is seasonal but leadership is permanent. What do I mean this? Leading in an organization isn’t forever (you’ll either experience being fired, replaced, you may retire, you may resign from a job or you may die)- leading isn’t forever but you’ll always be a leader! A position, title or power doesn’t make you a leader- how you THINK is what makes you a leader! The moment you stop thinking you’re a leader is the moment you’ll stop being a leader! Leading is seasonal. This is a hard lesson to grasp but it’s true. The predecessor has to pass the baton to his successor. Moses had to pass the baton to Joshua. Moses’ job was over! His job was to lay the FOUNDATION, Joshua’s job was to take it FURTHER! Moses’ job was to get the Israelites out of Egypt and get them started on their journey. Joshua’s job was to get the people the rest of the way- to the Promised Land that Moses envisioned. Joshua never let go of the vision of his predecessor. Moses was the visionary but Joshua was the one who was next! Moses and Jesus both laid the foundation and desired their successor to take it forward! Jesus told His disciples “GREATER” works than these shall you do! Jesus wanted His disciples to do GREATER than He did. He wanted them to be GREATER than He was. Great leaders are not intimidated by their successors! They want you to be GREATER! That takes maturity! Insecure leaders don’t want others to be greater than them! Predecessors: if your successor is greater than you that means you BOTH win! You trained them to be greater than you! Plus the successor has the DNA of the predecessor. We both win! Don’t be like Saul who was jealous and intimidated by David! We should want our successors to be greater than us! In a relay race one person doesn’t win- a team wins through successful baton passing.
There are some things EVERY successor should know as they enter the leadership of an organization.
Words For ALL Successors…
- There will be a season of REJECTION
- There will be COMPARISONS to how you lead to your predecessor led
- There will be time when you need to learn the HISTORY of the organization of which you’re leading in
Jesus picked the RIGHT person. Peter wasn’t the perfect person but He was the RIGHT person! Jesus saw potential in Peter! We must see potential in the people that we want to lead after us! Jesus saw potential in Peter, He trained Him and passed to him the baton of leadership. He gave Him the keys of the Kingdom! Predecessors can’t be afraid to surrender their power and position as well as their knowledge to their successors. We have to pass the baton! The Bible says that after Joshua and his generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord! Joshua received the baton but failed to pass the baton! Don’t die with the baton in your hands — pass it on!
Application Questions
- Who in your organization (church or business) do you see potential in?
- Do you believe that person can carry your legacy forward?
- What can you start doing NOW to get them ready to start leading LATER?
- How can you make them GREATER than you?
- Who are you currently training and or recruiting to take your place? If not, why haven’t you and when will you start mentoring them?
Today, May 21, 2018 I’m going to be passing the baton of leadership presidency in my organization to my successor, Ariel Elizondo.
I’ve trained him and I’ve poured into him for two years now. He’s always been my right hand man now he’s the RIGHT man to take the leadership. Though I feel sad having to step down from my position (due to graduating) and though I have feelings of happiness — none of that matters! God is going to do GREATER works in my organization through him and He’s going to something GREATER in my life! I strongly believe it! But as leaders we have to keep Passing The Baton!
