God has been teaching me a lot about leadership lately. A lot of the problems we face in our world are due to a shortage of good, godly leadership that can be traced all the way to the foundation of society, which is the family. You have heard me say over and over that fatherlessness is the biggest issue of our day, and I still believe that. It boils down to the lack of a spiritual leader in the family and extends into all areas of life – church, business, government, etc… Just as I have posted the past several times, it really comes down to the heart condition.
Robert Lewis, in the Quest for Authentic Manhood, talks about the four faces of manhood. One of these faces is the King face. This face reflects righteous energy and is forged over time. It is the love of what is right rather than comfort or convenience. This face is characterized by strong convictions, courageous moral choices, a servant spirit, and righteous leadership.
In my daily reading this morning, I came across Deuteronomy 17:14-20. I had to read it 3 or 4 times to let it soak in because, through it, I believe God is teaching me more about leadership:
14“When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.
18“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
In America, we don’t have literal kings. However, those who are leaders should take heed to this passage because the principles apply. I am just going to bullet point some leadership points that I learned from this passage:
- Put godly people in positions of leadership (choose a leader from among your brothers).
- Choose a leader who will follow God and not look back.
- The leader’s heart should be turned toward spiritual things, not the lusts of the flesh.
- The leader cannot serve both God and wealth.
- The leader should be in the Word of God all the days of his life so he will fear the Lord by living according to His Word, so that he won’t turn to the right or left. Hmmm… I could think of a political application here, but I won’t go there today.
- Being in the Word will keep his heart pure and humble. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
- The leader will not think of himself more highly than he ought, so that he may be a servant leader.
- Putting God first, the leader will continue to be effective for a long time in his position, even to the point of “outliving his life” as he brings up other leaders, especially his own children.
- Never forget we serve the King of kings and Lord of lords.
We had a great discussion in our leadership class last night. One thing that was mentioned was that the heart of the leader should be that of a giver and not a taker. In fact, I love the term servant leader. When we have the “what’s in it for me” attitude, the team suffers. Just look at pro sports… However, if a leader is there to truly serve, great things will happen.
I am seeing God raise up godly leaders and I’m excited to see what will happen!
