As Christmas Day draws near, here is a reflection inspired by the conclusion of Salvaged.
Whether in medieval art or contemporary holiday cards, you’ve seen Christmas scenes with the newborn Jesus and his pudgy little feet. Yes, his feet. Hang with me a minute.
They are tender, soft, and adorable. Those same feet later carried him from Galilee to Samaria to Judea. They were covered in dust and washed with tears.
Ultimately those feet carried him to the cross, where he was brutally tortured by hammer and nail.
Only to rise again, triumphant.
As I wrote Salvaged I realized that when we lead we would be wise to point people toward the feet of Jesus. Sometimes it will be the small, pudgy feet of an infant, containing so much hope and innocence. Or the active feet of Jesus, moving forward with purpose and joy. Or those persecuted feet, wounded by nails, representing so many of our own failings.
I wrote in Salvaged, “A true leader is one who, when followed, draws people to Christ. Too often, we are drawn merely to the leader, however, and not to Christ. Too often, the leader’s eyes are focused on things other than Christ.”
As we lead, let’s remember that nothing else we point people toward will have the impact of pointing people toward Jesus. Nothing. All of our plans, ambitions, and hopes will ultimately be meaningless if we are not, at the center of our leadership, pointing people toward Jesus. There are countless ways to do this, of course. You can fulfill all the responsibilities of life and work and family and friends … and in doing these routine, simple, daily acts, find ways to be salt and light in the world.
That is not natural for me—or for any of us really. So I will fail. You will too. But even our failures, if acknowledged with humility, are part of pointing people toward Jesus. We have the honor, as leaders, to be vulnerable, active, and sometimes hurt.
So this Christmas, when you see those scenes of baby Jesus with his little tootsies curled up in a manger, smile with me. Reflect on how we can point more people in our family, at work, and in our relationships toward those feet.
Reflect with me, in other words, on the full promise of Emmanuel, God is with us.
I hope you have a very Merry Christmas. Blessings to you and to those you love.