Introduction
Jesus continues His teaching over the next several months. We only have time in this study to cover a couple of His lessons on leadership development. These days for Jesus are packed with incredible teaching on the development of leaders. One of the most important teachings that Jesus gives during this time is on being an unleavened leader. Read carefully and digest what Jesus is saying to His disciples about leadership. He is calling for a radically different style of leadership than what they had seen their whole lives from the religious leaders. As you read, ask God to examine your leadership style.
Reading [You can read as much as you can, depending on your availability]
Luke 12:1-12
(and)
Matthew 16:1-12
Meditating [Use these questions to start your thinking]
- What is hypocrisy — how would you define it?
- List all the results of hypocrisy found in Matthew 23:13-35.
- What was the leaven, the yeast, of the leadership in Israel (Luke 12:1; Matt. 16:12)?
- What type of hypocrisy did the disciples need to fear?
- How do you find hypocrisy creeping into your life?
- What other questions do you still have?
Sharing: Text ONE of your answers to the questions above to your team. Each team should post a sharing from a team member in the comments below.
During the past six months, Jesus has been continually drawing a sharp distinction between the type of leadership He expects and the type of leadership His disciples have had as a model growing up in Israel. He does this by stopping periodically and pointing out that how the leaders of Israel are leading is not in keeping with the leadership Jesus desires of them. Jesus says that there is something in the Jewish leaders of His day that causes them to lead poorly. They have been corrupted, and that corruption is leaven, or yeast. Leaven is an ingredient that people would add to bread or wine to give it body. You simply put a small amount of yeast into the bread or wine and in a short time, it affects the whole thing, changing it.
In the Old Testament, God told the people to search their homes and throw out any leaven and then make unleavened bread to eat for seven days. This dates all the way back to the exodus from Egypt (Exod. 12:14-20). On the night before the Israelites were to leave Egypt, Moses commands the people: “‘For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your house …’” (Exod. 12:15). Leaven, or yeast, in the Old Testament was a symbol of sin.
Jesus takes this common practice in Israel and uses it as a teaching illustration for His young leaders. He knew it would be something that they would always remember because it was sewn into the fabric of their culture. Jesus says that there are two different types of leaven that they, as true disciples, should beware of, two ingredients in poor leadership that they should watch out for and purge from their leadership style, so that they might be unleavened bread (1 Cor. 5:8). He directs, “‘Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees’” (Matt. 16:6). The two types of leaven to guard against are the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Sadducees.
Jesus tells us that the leaven of the Pharisees is their hypocrisy (Luke 12:1). They taught one thing and lived another. Beware, young leader, of the leaven of the Pharisee. You should practice what you preach. If you tell people they need to be involved in making disciples, then you need to be making disciples as well. I have met many who give lip service to the Great Commission and the making of disciples. They talk a great game, but when you ask them about their disciples, they have all kinds of excuses for why they are not actively, intentionally investing their lives in others. Beware of a lifestyle that demonstrates something other than what you are teaching.
The leaven of the Sadducees can be seen best in another book that was written by Luke: “The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits” (Acts 23:8). Jesus had been teaching that there are two resurrections, where “‘ those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned’” (John 5:29). He goes on to say, “‘I am the resurrection and the life’” (John 11:25). The leaven of the Sadducees was that they hardened their hearts to the truth. They were more interested in being right than in what was really the truth. Beware, young leader, of the leaven of the Sadducees. Do not harden your heart. Remain teachable and open to be transformed by the truth. Don’t think you know it all — stay teachable and willing to be transformed by the truth you have yet to discover about God. Don’t put God in a box and think you have it all figured out. There are many truths that God still longs for you to know about Him and His Son. In fact, that is the reason for eternity: “‘Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent’” (John 17:3). Let God the Father continue His work in you. Get rid of all the pride and humble yourself before the Father.
Both groups of leaders, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, had been corrupted by the world around them. They lacked sincerity and would not believe the truth. Paul says, “Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Cor. 5:8). Beware, young leader, of the leaven of hypocrisy, insincerity, and hard-heartedness.
It does not take much leaven to infect your whole life and wound those around you. Just a little pride, hypocrisy, insincerity, and an immobile heart will affect the world around you. Discuss with others today these cautions for a leader. How does one know if they have leaven in their life? How do you clean house of all the leaven? Think about it.
How do you find hypocrisy creeping into your life?
> I find hypocrisy can easily creep into my life when I preach or talk about God’s words to the youth. It’s easy to fall into the trap of preaching but not practicing it or living it out. I noticed recently that I talked about love yet I find it hard to love someone right now and it’s something that I need to work on and rely on God to change me. It’s dangerous because people can observe your life and can see that you’re not living out the Gospel. We are God’s witness in this world for other to see. Therefore, everything I do and say have to reflect God’s glory and point toward Jesus. I ask that God will help me to live out my faith and not just preach hypocrisy.
It’s easy for church leaders to fall into the trap of hypocrisy because after learning and knowing so much, it’s easy to tell others to do rather than continuously check ourselves. A root cause can be pride where we may feel we’re not as bad as others. We forget that we need Jesus daily just as much. We need His grace. We need to acknowledge Him. We need to check our hearts, minds, and motives regularly. We need to be renewed by God’s Word and our community to hold us accountable. We need to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide and empower us.