Prepared and Straight
Mark 1:3
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”
I was talking to a friend of mine who trains horses, and he and I were comparing the similarities of training horses and dogs. It’s interesting that in each case the commands you give are to be simple for the animal to understand. You are to be clear with what you want them to do. There is to be no question in the animals mind what you want. When you make it simple, they will obey.
The verse above says that John the Baptist prepared the way of the Lord and made His paths straight. John the Baptist wasn’t trying to impress the presbytery when he preached; instead, he was trying to make the preaching simple so those who heard would get saved. He understood that the simpler the preaching, the more people would walk away without a question of what they needed to do.
I find in his simple sermon two necessities of leadership. First, preparation is a key to successful leadership. Preparing what you are going to do is vital to a leader painting a clear picture of what he wants his followers to do. A failure to plan is a plan to fail. Second, clear and simple instructions are important for followers to know what they can and cannot do. One of the greatest reasons followers fail leadership is because leadership gives complex instructions. The simpler leadership makes their instructions, the easier it is for followers to know what is expected of them.
A church that is going to be successful in reaching people must be a church where preparation is made weekly for those who attend. The sermon preached needs to be simple for those who listen to understand. This is not insulting their intelligence, it is simply making the path straight. Preachers should be plain about what is sin and how Christians should live. Preachers should not preach in generalities, but they should preach in specifics. When a preacher or church leader has a vision for people, and then teaches them in the specifics of the Christian life, you will find more people will be successful in serving the LORD.
Parents need to be careful to have simple instructions for their children. Stop giving a dialogue when you tell your children what to do. Make it simple! Tell them what you want done and when you want it done. When they ask whether they can do something, simply answer with a “Yes” or “No.” Clear and simple guidelines make it easy for children to obey. When parents teach their children how they are going to live, and make their instructions clear, then children will more than likely follow.
These principles can be applied to every area of leadership. It is the leader’s responsibility to be prepared and show their followers where they are going. It is also the leader’s responsibility to make things as simple as they can so followers know what is expected of them. In the areas where you lead, I challenge you to be prepared and give simple and clear instructions. You will find this type of leadership will create an atmosphere of less stress between leaders and followers.