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In every situation, we have the opportunity to focus on God and live by faith. However, there are many things that can cause us to lose focus. When we take our eyes off Christ, our leadership may continue to go well, but when we’re relying on our own strength and wisdom, we miss out on the blessing of living by faith. We also may be causing the people we lead heartache for years to come.
Here are four mistakes we can learn from as we observe the lives of biblical leaders in the Old Testament.
With deadlines looming and dealing with people’s expectations, it is easy to focus solely on the work that needs to get done. When we rely on the plan, we become blinded to sin that may have crept into our lives or our team. When we repeat a method that has worked in the past instead of seeking how God would have us approach the next task we risk failure, or seeing God work a miracle.
After successfully leading the Israelites to conquer Jericho, the next task was to wipe out the town of Ai. To Joshua’s dismay, his army was resoundingly defeated. Only after this defeat, did Joshua seek the Lord where he discovered that willful disobedience to God’s command (sin) had crept into the Israelite camp (Joshua 7).
Once Joshua had dealt with the sin in their midst, Joshua and Israelites watched God deliver the city of Ai into their hands. This victory occurred as Joshua was obedient to God’s directions and not to their original plan. God worked a miracle that day. Joshua stood on the hillside north of the city with his javelin pointing toward the city in obedience to the Lord’s command until the Israelite army had ambushed and killed all the people of Ai (Joshua 8).
How is relying on the things that need to get done keeping you from seeking God?
When people give a leader the glory for all that the leader has accomplished, it is easy for the leader to be blinded to what is happening around them, and to make decisions that have negative repercussions for many years to come.
After successfully conquering Jericho and defeating the people of Ai, the people of the neighboring city of Gideon came to Joshua and tricked him into believing that they were from a city far away. Without inquiring of the Lord, Joshua made a peace treaty with them. Three days later he discovered the truth. Although Joshua was able to enslave the Gibeonites as woodcutters and water carriers, in later years a false prophet from Gibeon would deceive the Israelites into believing that Babylon would not defeat them (Joshus 9, Jeremiah 28).
What wisdom might God have for the major decision you’re facing?
Sometimes how we respond to the attitudes of the people we lead can drag us into sin. When we don’t seek God, we become convinced us of the rightness of our course of action and we may miss seeing the consequences of our choices. When pride drives our actions, God isn’t glorified.
When Moses was leading the Israelites out of Egypt, they came to a very challenging situation where there was no water and the people rose up in rebellion to Moses’ leadership. Wisely Moses sought the Lord as to how to respond to the situation. God told Moses to speak to a rock, and that before their eyes it would pour out its water. However, Moses chose to not fully follow the instructions of the Lord.
He chose not to honor the Lord as holy in the sight of the Israelites; he chose to strike the rock and claimed to the people that he and Aaron were the ones who brought water out of the rock. Choosing this course of action which didn’t honor the Lord as holy in the sight of the people they led, caused God to take from Moses the privilege of leading the Israelites into the Promised Land (Numbers 20).
How is the Lord being honored by your actions?
Contemporary leadership thought and practices can also lure us away from obedience to God. Some leadership principles are aligned with the way God meant for leadership to occur. Other leadership principles, although highly successful, can be in direct opposition to God’s commands.
However, many times leadership decisions or practices are not black and white. Some aspects of a leadership decision may, in fact, be in alignment with biblical principles, while other aspects are not. Therefore, when making a decision, a leader needs to constantly seek God for his wisdom.
Solomon wisely chose to make treaties with many nations. As a result of those treaties both the Israelites and these nations thrived. At the same time, Solomon chose to follow one of the best practices of leaders of his era which was in direct conflict with God’s commands.
Leaders of his era would take as concubines foreign women from the nations they formed treaties with as a means of peacekeeping. God had explicitly instructed the Israelites not to intermarry because these intermarriages would cause their hearts to turn to other gods. Through his years as king, Solomon acquired 700 wives and 300 hundred concubines. Most likely for Solomon, these were business transactions. But these women caused Solomon to worship the idols of their homeland and turned Solomon’s heart away from the Lord (1 Kings 11).
The consequences of Solomon’s behavior rippled down through the centuries, as the Kingdom of Israel was attacked and occupied by foreign nations.
How might contemporary leadership practices be turning your heart away from God?
Consider these four mistakes from biblical leaders in the Old Testament and the questions that come with them. How could your leadership benefit from their stories?
Photo source: istock
 | James Bruyn is a bi-vocational visionary leader, writer and speaker who enjoys helping individuals integrate their faith in God with their daily life. He leads a ministry to Christians in the marketplace in Calgary, provides leadership coaching, and consults for the rail industry. He writes a weekly devotional and also has a devotional book, 31 Days with God at Work (Marketplace 2018). Learn More » |
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