Today I will talk about leadership. How can we develop it in ourselves? How can we recognise it in others? What are the disciplines and characteristics of a leader?
A lot has been said and written about leadership. It seems that everyone is looking for leaders. Every business organization needs leaders and those who have leaders are very successful. I have read many books on leadership and I have takes a few courses on leadership too. However, the best book on leadership is the bible.
If we are striving to be Godly men, we must seek to become the Spiritual Leaders that God created us to be and this will require some discipline. Let’s read Joshua 1:1-18
The first thing to notice is that leadership involves a 3-fold partnership, between God, the leader and the people.
I. God
1. The Call of God
“1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, 2‘My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites.’” Moses has gone. God has said he can’t enter the promised land. So the Israelites need someone new to lead them. There’ll be very difficult years ahead as they seek to conquer the land and drive out its pagan inhabitants. So God chooses Joshua. Now if we’d read through the book of Numbers before we came to Joshua we would have read how before they entered the Land Moses sent 12 spies to check it out. 10 of them returned saying they could never do it. But Joshua and Caleb came back and said that of course they could, because God was with them. Well the people didn’t listen to Joshua and Caleb so they spent another 40 years wandering in the desert until every one of them had died. Except for Caleb & Joshua, that is. So now God appoints Joshua to lead them.
2. The Promise of God
And as God calls Joshua, he gives him a promise; an assurance that if he takes on the job God will give him success.
He says, “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life.”
How would you feel if God said something like that to you? You’d feel indestructible wouldn’t you? It would be like a great weight had been taken from your shoulders.
“Wow. I thought God had given me an impossible task and now I realise that he’s going to look after me, give me success. What a relief!”
Actually, God has said something like that to you. Pay attention to the words of 1 Peter 1:4-5
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us … an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
And in 2 Peter 1: 3
His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”
Protected by the power of God. His Power has given us everything needed for life and godliness. Wow! What relief!
3. The Power of God
Joshua was promised the power of God just as we are: “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.”
The great thing about being called to be a leader in God’s church is that you don’t have to depend on your own ability or power or cleverness. God promises to supply all the power you need.
But that doesn’t mean you don’t have to do anything to make your leadership work. Look at what was required of Joshua.
II. The Leader
1. Courage
The first requirement for Joshua was courage. He was about to lead an army into occupied territory. This was to be a difficult job, even if God was with them. There would be battles and death. There would be fortresses and giants to contend with. Only a brave leader would be able to carry it through. So God tells him: “7 Only be strong and very courageous.” Maybe you wouldn’t be quite so keen on being chosen as a leader if you heard those words.
There’s always this balance in the Christian life, isn’t there? God tells us he will be with us and look after us. But he also tells us to be strong and courageous. Phil 2 puts it like this:
“12 Therefore, my beloved, … work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Work out your own salvation? God is at work in you, enabling you. It’s a double sided coin!
2. Devotion
Not only is he to show courage, he’s also to show devotion to God.
“8 This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night …”
If he’s to remain a faithful leader of God’s people it’s vital that he know how God wants him to act. So he’s to meditate on the book of the law day and night. We too are encouraged to meditate on God’s word, to use it to teach and admonish and correct us.
If you want to be a godly leader today, the reading and meditating on scripture is just as important for you. Let the Holy Spirit lead you as you read and study God’s Word.
3. Obedience
Finally it’s not enough to just study God’s word we need to obey it. So God continues
“8… so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful.”
Again there’s a promise here isn’t there? If he’s careful to act in accordance with God’s word, God will make his way prosper; he’ll have success.
So leaders need to show courage; they need to be devoted to God and the study of his word and they need to be obedient to that word. And if they’ll do that God will be with them.
But the other great thing is that if you’re a leader, you’re not on your own, even from a human point of view.
III. The People
1. Obedience
The third partner in this leadership process is the people themselves. Joshua knows that his leadership will depend on their willingness to follow him. Leaders aren’t much use if no-one follows them, are they? In fact you could say that the true test of a leader is just that: are people following?
So his first act as leader is to call the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, who have been given land on the east of Jordan, to come and follow him into the promised land to help the other tribes conquer it. He says:
“13 Remember the word that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you.”
Moses had given them a command which they’re now to follow.
2. Courage
Secondly their obedience would require them to show the same sort of courage that Joshua was called to show. They were going to be fighting the battles in the front line. Some of them would die in the process. So they too needed courage. He says
“14 But all the warriors among you shall cross over armed before your kindred and shall help them, until the LORD gives rest to your kindred as well as to you.”
The Lord might be giving them the land but they’d need to march in the army and take it away from its inhabitants. Unless they showed courage they would fail.
Well at this stage of their history they pass the test. They may not always do this well but at this stage they gladly pledge their loyalty to Joshua as their leader.
3. Loyalty
They say “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you… 18 Whoever rebels against your orders and disobeys your words, whatever you command, shall be put to death.”
You can’t ask for more than that can you?
One of the things we should expect is that God’s people will show loyalty to those God has placed over them; that they will accept their leadership and go where they lead. And that they won’t work to undermine that leadership. This is something that you don’t always get in secular organisations.
4. Encouragement
Finally they offer Joshua their encouragement. They say:
“18… Only be strong and courageous.”
They encourage him to take God at his word. To step out in faith and lead them into the promised land, even if it is a tough job he’s embarking on.
One of the joys of ministry is when someone comes up to me and encourages me. That happens in many ways. Sometimes by a word, sometimes by telling me something that they have observed, or that someone has done in response to my ministry. But it’s so important. Spiritual Leadership is one of the toughest things to do and we need all the encouragement we can get.
But what about you?
If leadership is a 3-way partnership how are you playing your part? If you are going to be a godly man, you will have to show leadership. Then remember that God has promised to be with you, to empower you. If you are then you need to lead with courage; you need to remain devoted to God; you need to be a student of his word and obedient to his leading.
What about those leaders who work under another leader? The success of our mission hangs or falls on people who follow their leaders! It rests on those who show courage in following where the leader takes them and who remain loyal even when the going is tough, especially when the leader takes them somewhere they’re not sure they want to go. It may hang or fall on people who provide encouragement to their leaders to keep on leading them.
Nothing has changed in 4000 years. God still calls out people, both ordained and lay to lead. It still requires courage to lead. We still need to be devoted to God and to his word. And we still need people who will follow, give their loyalty and encourage us as we lead.
more like Jesus everyday! And t
This is a prayer of his for the people in Ephesus to become the men and women God created them to be. They are to be bound together by love and the unity of the Spirit. They are to be continually growing, no longer being infants in the faith! One of the key dangers of remaining infants in the Lord is that we can so easily be lead astray from the truth.
that you began to act and be like that person? You can’t do that unless you know that person. The only way to do that is to be around them and know them and copy them. That’s how we become more like Christ! We do this as we are around Him, knowing Him and copying Him. We do this through our prayer life, our Bible study and day to day living asking ourselves the age old question, “What would Jesus Do?”
A LOCAL CHURCH THAT IS NOT MISSION MINDED IS BY DEFINITION NOT A CHURCH! It’s a religious club that makes little or no impact on the world.
preaching, starting churches, facing opposition, sometimes even having to flee from those wanting to kill him. He’s hoping to take that break and come to Corinth to rest for a while, HOWEVER, notice what he says “a great door for effective work has opened to me,”.
A. Ephesus was not where most Christians would want to settle, it was a big city, a major financial and commercial center and a rich city. BUT IT WAS HOME TO THE TEMPLE OF DIANA! And one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This was a place of immorality and legalized prostitution. It was a city full of superstitious people.
feel this obligation? It’s important to know that I can’t do the work for you and you can’t do my work for me.
Whenever God moves there are always people who want to oppose him. Many people do not even realize that is what they are doing. In Ephesus it was open opposition from the worshippers and business men who made their living off the worship of Diana.
This is after all what Jesus came and gave his life for, isn’t it? SO THAT GOD’S PURPOSES COULD BE DONE! YOU SEE THE CHURCH ISN’T A CLUB! It isn’t a service organization and it sure isn’t a business. Some people say that they are going to church and they are talking about the building. But the church isn’t a building either!
Everything Jesus did while he walked the earth was to reach out to people. There were times he went off by himself and spent time with the 12 disciples, BUT most of his ministry was to reach the common folk of his day!
being part of the church are not always the same thing. Salvation comes as we commit ourselves to Christ and his Church. Commitment and membership are not always the same thing. Commitment is not a casual thing, just as marriage is more than a wedding! Imagine how long a marriage would last if most of us do what did when we joined the church?
The purpose of the church is to reach out and bring people to church and to fellowship with God. But it also is to make DISCIPLES! It’s easy to make a church member. All you have to do is come and say you want to be a member and you are! It’s harder to be a member of the country club than a member of the church. I sometimes wonder if we don’t make it too easy. it becomes very cheap that way.
THE WORD REVIVAL MEANS TO “LIVE AGAIN”. IT IS GOD’S PEOPLE COMING ALIVE AGAIN TO THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES TOWARD GOD. IT IS RETURNING TO A LIFE OF OBEDIENCE!
Why is it that worship so many times seems to be so heavy? Why is it that our hearts aren’t in it like they should be? Where is the freedom and spontaneity and joy we read about in the Bible?