The Prodigal, Peter, and Body Parts

Picture an exclamation point—a vertical stroke with a ball underneath—as an upright tent stake with a human head below it. It was Jael, wife of Heber, who made an emphatic statement about God’s punitive justice when she pounded a stake through the skull of the sleeping Sisera (Judges 4:11-24). What sort of person does that? Someone who possesses Leader traits, that’s who.

Jael’s on-the-fly strategizing and bold action helped bring years of national suffering to an end. And when Deborah and Barak sing about it on the day of Jael’s closing act, the very first line of their song begins, “When leaders lead . . .” (Judges 5:2 NKJV). One would think that leaders lead, obviously. But it so happens that leaders don’t always lead. Sometimes leaders burn out. Sometimes they grow entitled and get sloppy. Sometimes they get stuck in grief. Sometimes they fear losing status or power among peers. But that’s not my focus here.

What I’m focusing on here are the sorts of traits that Leaders generally possess to get or keep things moving. As a reminder and in continuation of what I wrote last month, I’m contrasting Leader traits with Helper traits. I did that in my last post by referencing a handful of pairings the Bible gives that offer compare/contrast examples of personality traits.

One contrasting pair in the Bible I’ve not yet referenced is Jesus’ story of the younger and older brothers in Luke 15. To get the full meaning of what Jesus is conveying in that parable, I’d encourage you to read Tim Keller’s book, The Prodigal God. For now, my interest about that story is much narrower and has to do with the personalities of those two brothers.   

Here’s how I’m seeing it. The older brother stays home and keeps the rules. The younger brother leaves home and breaks the rules. The older brother does not voice his thoughts (conflict avoidant) and performs his duties. The younger brother exercises his agency (risks conflict) and verbalizes his desires. The older brother maintains the status quo, while the younger brother moves quickly and breaks things. The older brother is more of a legalist, while the younger brother is more licentious.

I’m suggesting these are trait tendencies. With tendency being the key word. If there’s any merit to this, then the older brother has Helper traits and the younger brother has Leader traits.  

Beyond those observations, what other traits are often part of what constitutes a Leader? There are many Bible characters to choose from, each with their own unique personalities. For my purposes I’m going to use Peter, the lead apostle, as a case study.

For example, Leaders tend to be what I call, “Hundred percenters.” Meaning, when Leaders commit to something, they’re in it one hundred percent. They tend to be all-or-nothing people. If the thing is worth doing, then Leaders are all in. If the thing isn’t worth doing, then they stop and get out. Why? Because Leaders do not like wasting time, energy, and resources.

We can see this hundred percent trait playing out in Peter when Jesus comes to wash Peter’s feet (John 13). Peter cannot get his head wrapped around the humility of Jesus as the True Leader. As emphatically as Jeal swings her hammer, Peter says to Jesus, “You shall never wash my feet!” Peter’s out, hundred percent! Jesus replies, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.” One hundred percent. To which Peter replies, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” Now Peter’s in! One hundred percent! Which is just how the Father treats the younger son upon his return home.

People with Leader traits also tend to be willing to take risks. My assessment of this is that Leaders have a higher degree of resiliency, so they are not debilitatingly afraid to make mistakes. Leaders calculate that if a mistake is made, one can always recover and come back. Just like the younger brother. Also, because Leaders tend to be aspirational, the potential reward is worth the risk.  

You can see this risk-reward dynamic in Peter when the disciples are caught in a storm at sea sometime between 3 and 6 in the morning (Matthew 14:22-33). While trying to navigate in the storm, Jesus comes walking to the disciples on the water. Peter gets a crazy thought and asks Jesus to invite him out onto the water. Which is about as unconventional as the younger brother asking for his inheritance prematurely. In Peter’s case, think of faith as risk, and Jesus responds positively to that kind of faith and allows Peter to then walk on the water. Briefly. But still.

Another trait that is often characteristic of Leaders is that they tend to be big-hearted. What I mean by that is Leaders get a lot of satisfaction out of making a tangible difference in other people’s lives. Leaders tend to be problem-solvers and fixers, and if they can be a positive agent for change, they want to do that.

Interestingly, this big-heartedness will sometimes get Leaders in trouble. For Peter, I see this happening when Jesus gets candid with the disciples and lets them know that he, Jesus, is going to suffer, die, and rise again. Upon hearing this, Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes him. Like Jael taking Sisera aside to have conversation, but unlike Jael because in this case Peter wants to make sure no one dies. To which Jesus rebukes Peter in return by saying, “Get behind me, Satan” (Mark 8:31-33). Which probably hurt Peter like a tent stake driven into his heart.   

Loyalty would be another trait that Leaders often possess. My speculation is this is an extension of being a hundred percenter. If you find yourself with a friend who happens to have Leader traits, then you can for sure count on that person to be there for you.

We see this loyalty in Peter’s life when Judas shows up to betray Jesus. As the exchange between Judas and Jesus is unfolding, the disciples can see what’s coming. Luke records it as the disciple’s asking Jesus, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword” (Luke 22:49)? From the Scripture’s description, Peter doesn’t wait for a reply. Peter takes his sword and swings it at the head of the high priest’s servant. Fortunately for the servant, Jael proved a better aim since Peter can manage to only cut off the ear of the servant (John 18:10).

Finally, I’ll note that yet another trait common in Leaders is impatience. Not always, but often. I think this relates to Leaders placing a high value on getting things done, or as I put it, “moving the football down the field.” If Leaders are running perfectly good plays but the ball isn’t moving, that’s when people with Leader traits become impatient. Because now we’re wasting time, energy, and resources.

When Peter and John hear the report from Mary Magdalene that the tomb of Jesus is empty, both men go running to the site to see for themselves. John outruns Peter and gets to the tomb, but upon arrival John stops and looks inside from there—cautiously older brother-like. But when Peter finally shows up, he doesn’t stop but instead runs right inside the tomb—younger brother-like. Only then does John follow Peter into the empty tomb.

Heads, ears, hearts, hands, and feet. These are the instruments that, when a Leader is not leading well, becomes the means of real pain for those who follow. The challenge is for those with Leader traits to learn how to regularly surrender their traits to the True Leader. Which I hope to illustrate next time.

Because in God’s kingdom healthy Leaders must practice being followers.