Leaders need to win hearts to change minds

Mark 3:20 (Bible Hub)

Mk 3: 20-30

His Family are Concerned about Jesus / Allegations of the Scribes

Have you ever taken a life changing decision? If you have, you will know the angst involved as you reflect frequently if you have made the right choice. Will it rebound on you? Will you live to regret it? Those familiar with this position can take solace in these two passages within Mark's Gospel.

It takes strength, courage and real leadership to take a decision that many close friends and family caution you against. Some will tell you that you are plain wrong and will regret your error. It can be difficult to ignore the warnings that you are making a bad choice, especially if they are the majority. Silencing those voices and pressing on takes bravery, that only a minority appear able to do in this world.

This is a position that is not unique to the modern world; the passages highlighted show Jesus in just that situation. As He becomes more popular, with interested crowds making it difficult for Jesus to fulfil His ministry, His family stage what today might be called "an intervention" - the act of concerned loved ones seeking to stop the object of their worries digging a larger hole for themselves. Indeed, in Mk 3: 21, Jesus's family are recorded as saying: "He is out of His mind", desiring to take Him home to safety.

How difficult this must have been for our Lord. His own family are questioning his ministry, at a time when he must have most needed their faith and support. Who wouldn't? Can you imagine taking that difficult life-changing decision without the support of your closest loved ones?

It gets harder for Jesus as the aforementioned Scribes return from Jerusalem proclaiming that Jesus is "possessed by the devil". Jesus shows true leadership by facing his naysayers and having the courage to tackle them intellectually, offering examples and asking them rhetorical questions such as "How can Satan drive out Satan?" and statements like "If a household is divided against itself, that household can never last." He uses logic to puncture their claims, simply drawing comparisons by asking "how can I be Satan if I am attacking Satan himself?"; in other words he is saying "your argument does not make any sense"!

It is this moral courage that all leaders need if they are to change minds: the strength to stand up to oppressors and make rational, thought-through argument. Jesus does not return to the safety of His family, despite their lack of faith in His actions. He does not hide from the public questioning and admonishment of His mission.

Instead, he uses moral, rational, logical argument to blunt those doubters, win hearts and change minds.