Pontius Pilate is our next topic representative for leadership.

 

But that being said—we are going to reference him in a “what NOT to do” type of way.

 

For our discussion today, we will be using the passages from various scriptures from John 18-19.

 

Again, I encourage you to READ IT!  I am not a religious scholar or an expert—-just a guy who loves Jesus and has opinions on what he reads.

 

John 18

29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?” 30 “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.” 31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” 32 “But we have no right to execute anyone,” the Jews objected. This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.  33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?” 34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”  35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?” 36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” 37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.  Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” 38 “What is truth?” Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him……

 

John 19

6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”  But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.” 7 The Jews insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” ……. 12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” ….. 16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

 

 

So what can we learn from Pilate?  Here is why I believe that Pilate failed as a leader:

 

  • He Had No Moral Compass.  In his first conversation with Jesus Pilate asks:  What Is Truth?  This is the question that many people now ask.  And to be honest, we have lost our desire to have the TRUTH.  But the TRUTH is everything.  And it should dictate what we believe, what we do, and how we control our mindset.
  • The Popular Belief Swayed His Opinion.  In these two chapters Pilate repeatedly says:  “I Find No Basis For Charges Against This Man” and yet….He gets crucified.  Evil will grow in our world if people are not willing to stand up to evil before it gets out of control (Think:  Adolf Hitler).  Today’s world seems to attack peace-loving citizens rather than truly defending acts of hideous intention.
  • He Acted In Fear.  The enemy’s number one tactic against all of us seems to be to convince us that we can not survive if we stand up.  Pilate actually set a man free who caused a rebellion because he feared….a rebellion.  Fear makes us make irrational decisions…..and there is a reason that God tells us 365 times  “Do Not Be Afraid” in the Bible.
  • He Acted In Arrogance.  Do You Refuse To Talk To Me?  How often do we think that we are actually more important than we are….nothing ruins a great team like one of it’s members thinking he or she is irreplaceable.
  • He Tried Not To Take Responsibility.  Pilate “washed his hands” of the very thing that he was in charge of.

 

 

I hesitate to stop this writing here…..because without the Jesus part of leadership this is incomplete.  But the bottom line is this:

 

All of us need to take a big look inside and rid ourselves of the character traits that lead to bad leadership…..

 

Because the world needs all of us to be a lot more like Jesus and a lot less like Pilate.

 

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

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Coach J