Treating People Differently
Jesus knew how to address the different needs of different people. He spoke tenderly to the weak and directly confronted the prideful. Today, R.C. Sproul gathers principles for godly leadership from the Good Shepherd.
I can remember reading an article a few years ago about Leo Durocher, one of the most flamboyant baseball managers of all time. They called him “Leo the Lip.” Remember? And Leo Durocher is the one who is credited with the famous statement, “Nice guys finish last.” And in this interview, they said to Leo, “What was the secret of your success as a professional manager of a baseball team?” And he said, “Well, my view of leadership and of management was this: that I believe that I should treat every player on my team exactly the same way.” And everybody clapped and on, and I thought to myself as I heard that, “I would not want to play baseball for Leo Durocher. And if I owned a baseball team, I would never hire him. Because any manager of a baseball team or any other group of people whose philosophy it is to treat everybody that he coaches or trains or manages the same is not a wise person.”
Now, if he meant by that that everybody had to abide by the same rules, that’s one thing. But that’s not what he was talking about. It was his style of motivation. I learned a long time ago that some people will never produce without a kick in the pants, and other people if you kick them in the pants, you destroy their confidence, and they need encouragement. And that every person is different. And a good leader gets to know the individual characteristics of the people he’s leading.
The Good Shepherd knows His sheep, and He speaks softly to one sheep, and He speaks loud to the other sheep, because that’s the way we are as individuals. Have you noticed the way, the amazing way, in which Jesus dealt with people? He sits down and talks to a woman who is a confessed adulterer. She’s had five husbands, and the one guy she’s living with isn’t her husband either. And how does He talk to her? He calls her “woman.” He treats her with dignity. He’s kind to her.
How does He talk to the Pharisees? “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You go over land and sea to make one convert, and after you made them, you make them twice the child of hell than you are yourself.” Jesus comes on those guys like gangbusters. He is as hard as nails when He’s dealing with the Pharisees. With the weak, Jesus is tender. With the professionals, He’s hard as a rock. That was His style because He knew people, and He knew what was appropriate. And He didn’t have some simplistic little set of guidelines that He’s going to treat everybody the same. He was concerned for the individual.
