Great lessons from simon peter

I've always admired Simon Peter. He would often put his foot in his mouth or make a fool of himself, but it's because he was always bold. His passion got the best of him and he acted without thinking. This unmeasured approach was unruly but it also showed his passion such as in Matthew 16:13-20:

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

Pick up a book on leadership and there will be a common theme: quick, decisive action is what makes leaders great. In this case, it was what made Peter the leader of the church. I respect him for his action.

But it's also not without it's pitfalls, as Peter immediately found out, especially in this instance. If there is a lesson we can glean here, it's that when you get a good ego boost, watch out! Your swollen head may knock you off balance as it did with Peter as shown in the rest of the passage (Matthew 16:21-23):

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"

Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Ouch. That had to hurt.

Peter had the biggest ups and downs amongst the disciples (remember the rooster?), but in the end, isn't he the one you remember the most? He was rebuked, proved foolish at times, despondent, but he knew he was on the right path and he persevered - boldy. He may have been knocked down, but he always got back up, probably wiser, but always as bold as ever.

Which would you rather be: the average disciple playing it safe, not raising your voice, just making sure your name gets on the list, or would you rather be the one who's not afraid to be the fool to stand up for what's right, emboldened with passion?

What's more important to you? Being on the right team, or being the driving force that brings the team to victory?