This is a series on 11 Leadership Lessons from 12 Disciples, based on the recent sermon Jesus Calls the Twelve, on Luke 6:12-16.

Lesson #9: Hurt before fruit

Who's on Jesus' team? Who's the last guy listed? Judas. That one hurt. Do you think it hurt Jesus? Years feeding this guy, loving this guy, training this guy, praying for this guy, investing in this guy. This guy betrays you with a kiss for thirty pieces of silver so you can get murdered. That hurts. Do you think it hurt the disciples? "Judas? We thought he was our friend. He was in our community group with Jesus. He murdered Jesus." Imagine somebody in your community group murders the leader of your community group. Does that affect the community group? Yeah. What in the world? It hurt. You think the disciples had some late-night conversations, "What happened with Judas? What happened? I mean, what, he was stealing money from our ministry the whole time? The guy was a con man? He didn't even love Jesus, are you serious?" It hurt. You think it hurt the followers? You think for a while there were rumblings? "Maybe Judas is the bold one. Maybe Judas is the courageous one. Maybe Judas is like the Old Testament prophets, and he's up against Jesus and the disciples because they're wrong." Religious people are already criticizing Jesus. Do you think they love Judas? "Yeah Judas, throw some rocks at him. We don't like him either." I'm not glad that he hung himself, but it did simplify things. Had Judas not hung himself, he might have started his own ministry, his own church, competed with the disciples. We could have had war. We could have had war. I'm so glad he didn't plant a church, start a ministry, just go do somewhere else what he was doing with Jesus.

God uses evil for good.

See, there are sheep, there are shepherds, there are wolves, and some lead as shepherds, others lead as wolves. Judas was a wolf. It hurt. But in the providence of God and the sovereignty of God, God used it for good. God did not make Judas sin. He sinned of his own accord. He was ripping Jesus off. He opened his heart to Satan. He has nobody to blame but himself. But in the providential sovereignty of God, God used it for good. Hurt became fruit. Genesis 50:20 says that "God will take what is intended for evil and use it for good in the saving of many lives." Judas' betrayal and murder of Jesus was intended for evil, and God used it for good and the saving of many lives. A few billion of us today claim to be Christians, and say that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. God took the worst horror and made it the greatest gift. That's how God works. Romans 8, "God works out all things for the good of those who love him, and are called according to his purpose." Have you ever been betrayed? Have you ever been absolutely devastated by someone who is supposed to be a friend? God could use that. God wants to use that so that it's not just hurt, but that hurt becomes fruit. You've been raped: work it through, help the rape victims. You've been cheated on: work it through, help those who have been sinned against. Your dad left: work it through, become a good dad, and train others to be good dads. Your spouse has committed adultery: work it through, help those who have been devastated by adultery. You got cancer: use it to help others who are battling cancer. Hurt becomes fruit. And I'll tell you, this is the painful part of ministry. I mean, I can honestly tell you, there are people I pray for every single day because it's just a deep, brutal, non-stop ache in my soul. They're not walking with Jesus. They're shipwrecking their own life, doctrinally, maritally, sexually, financially, whatever it is. It's just bad. It just feels like a noose around the neck that they've picked, and they're determined to self-destruct. It hurts, and you want good for those people but ultimately, God can turn the hurt into fruit. And that's a painful lesson for all leaders. To be continued.