Can we lead when we don’t know all the answers?

In Matthew 24:36 Jesus says this concerning his return, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.”

Jesus had just concluded a time of telling his disciples about what it will look like and what to expect when this time grew near, but what he could not tell them is when it would happen. He was uncertain, because for whatever reason, his Father had not given him that information.

Depending on your theological background or leaning, there are many different ideas about what Matthew 24 really means. I don’t intend to go down any of those roads today because that is not the point of this post. I want to focus on the fact that in this passage Jesus told his disciples there was something he did not know.

Think about this, Jesus had been leading this group by doing and saying things that no one else had ever done. To this point Jesus had answered every question with certainty and then backed it up by walking in the truth of that answer. And now… there is something he doesn’t know.

How often do we find ourselves in situations where we don’t know all the answers? If you are like me, quite often. This can be very frustrating as we try to move forward in whatever it is we are doing sometimes to the point of quitting. Not knowing all the answers gets even more pressure packed when you are responsible for a group of people and all of them are looking to you to give direction.

What are we supposed to do when we don’t know all the answers? I think we should give up. We should give up thinking that we have to know all the answers to lead.

Jesus was uncertain about a fact… he was not uncertain about his purpose.

Jesus gives great example to us of how to lead by focusing on what (or who) we do know and not getting lost in what (or who) we don’t. Jesus was locked into the vision of why he left heaven and came to earth. Even when times got tough… to the point of agony and tears and even wanting to avoid what was coming his way… he did not bail out because he did not know everything.

We need to realize that when leading there will be many times when we will not know all the answers. It is in those times when our team looks to us to lead them that we take our focus off what we don’t know and move on what we do know. Keep in mind, Jesus’ example was not one of a cavalier spirit, it was one of prayer and one focused on his father and one where he did not try to hide the fact that he did not know all the answers. So we should never go willy nilly into any decision or try to act like we know all the answers when we don’t. Every decision needs to be made via prayer and prior, God given, wisdom.

Jesus was locked into his father’s vision and was certain about his calling and purpose. We can lead when we don’t know all the answers as long as we are locked into the vision and certain about our calling and purpose. There will be times when we wrestle with the vision and/or our call and purpose. Jesus did, we see this in Matthew 26:38-39. When the wrestling was over, though, Jesus pressed forward in what and who he did know.

A great leader leads even when all the questions aren’t answered because a truly great leader has wrestled with God about the vision and his/her call and purpose. Sometimes that is all the certainty we will have and in those times, that is all the certainty we should need.