Jesus didn't fire Judas

When is it time to cut someone loose?

Consider your job. A friendship. Creepy extended family members. Your church.

It's an awkward question, isn't it? Perhaps there's a better question to ask instead.

I came across an intriguing quote from Geoff Suratt that contrasts how Jesus led versus how culture/business tends to lead:
"Jesus didn't fire Judas... (many people) have bought into some aspect of top grading made famous by Jack Welch when he ran General Electric. The basic idea is that you only want 'A players' on your team. To achieve this goal an organization regularly grades the staff; the A players are rewarded while the B and C players are weeded out... the idea of consistently weeding out under performers is almost universal. The logic and results of this approach are hard to argue with.
The challenge is this isn’t how Jesus’ led. He didn’t force Peter to resign because he just didn’t get it. He didn’t suggest to Thomas that he might want to look around for another rabbi since he didn’t seem to buy into Jesus’ vision. If Jesus utilized top grading he would certainly have let Bartholomew and Thaddaeus go for under performance."
Suratt references Next Jump, a company that offers on their website:
We don’t hire employees, we adopt family members. We don’t fire at Next Jump, we coach.
Charlie Kim, Next Jump’s CEO, says no one would lay off an under-performing family members, so why would a company? Thom Rainer, on the other hand, hits on the tension of Christians firing Christians - "Sometimes the greater danger is doing nothing."

You'll certainly find more examples that defy what is being discussed here. Many companies have made their mark by firing people instead of pursuing them; many people have tried to build the perfect life by ditching relationships instead of rooting into them. 

Why not? There's always another replacement around, isn't there?
Consider your job. A friendship. Creepy extended family members. Your church.

Then again... Jesus didn't fire Judas. And here we are, twenty centuries later still feeling the impact of His style and values.

Maybe that's what makes grace so "amazing."

Hmm.
But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)