commands – Page 4 – 300 words a day

it really is quite simple

The legal experts asked the law writer which law was most important. That’s what happened in Matthew 22:35-40. To answer, Jesus combines two commands from the Old Testament, a first-century mashup. The first, quoted from Deuteronomy, says Love God completely. It’s not a negative command (“don’t do this”), it’s a positive command (“do this”.) With […]

by Jon Swanson

harvest payback

Jesus has a very hard word for leaders: you don’t own, you rent. A quick overview is in order: In Matthew 21:33-46, Jesus covers centuries of history with a simple story of a vineyard. A landowner builds a vineyard, rents it out, and goes away. The tenants (who are the religious leaders) mistreat everyone that […]

by Jon Swanson

shut up

My parents never let us say “shut up.” At one point in our history, one of us three would say “shut up…your mouth” as a way to avoid the inevitable look of disapproval. “Shut up” is pretty much what a crowd of people was saying to two men who couldn’t see. The men were by […]

by Jon Swanson

a model of teaching leadership

If you are training people in leadership, how do you help people understand what you are teaching? Consider Jesus’ approach: 1. You could start with a point of passion. Look for what is making them angry. Find an injustice that has them completely furious. Especially if it is an injustice that affects them. “How come […]

by Jon Swanson

no need to be original.

Sometimes we work hard to be original. We want to say something new. We want to be creative and innovative. We want to make our mark. Sometimes the best thing to be is a copy. We repeat what we’ve heard. We teach what we’ve learned. We prove by our lives that it works. In Matthew […]