What you can learn about leadership from 2 Kings
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The world inundates us with information regarding what constitutes a "real leader." Between contradicting opinions left and right, semantics across a multitude of spectrums and countless worldviews, it might feel confusing to know what true leadership should look like. Instead of listening to the news, political leaders, our own echo chambers or "experts" on the web, might we first turn to the infallible Truth, the Word of God.
The Bible is filled with numerous examples of good—and bad—leadership. It gives us examples of God using imperfect humans to paint pictures that give us glimpses of what God calls real leaders to look like.
2 Kings 8 – Character and decision-making
2 Kings 8:18 speaks about Jehoram, stating the following:
"He followed the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord."
Because Jehoram's heart was sinful, he chose a wife that led him even further away from God's heart. The end result is that "He did evil in the eyes of the LORD."The passage illustrates the iterative reality that the decisions we make are shaped by our character; and vice versa—our character is also shaped by the decisions we make.
As people being ever conformed to the image of Christ, this can serve as an encouraging reality. Through the work of Christ, our character is being changed, and we are increasingly making decisions that are consistent with that transforming character.
Unfortunately, as individuals that can also be painfully aware of the sin still very present in our lives, this can also be a discouraging reality. In fact, I venture to guess that this is the reason Paul wrote to the Romans: "I do the things I don't want to do."
2 Kings 8:19 goes on to say:
"Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever."
This Scripture reminds us of the important reality that God also makes decisions consistent with His character. God's character is perfect, and therefore, so are His decisions. As we see in this passage, God makes decisions to keep His promises because keeping promises is consistent with His character.
As leaders, it is so important that we focus on the decisions before us—as well as focus on our personal character. However, even more important than examining our own character, we must first focus on the character of God. God keeps His promises, and He has made a promise to us.
The merciful blessing is this: God is in the process of keeping His promise to complete the work He has started in us (Philippians 1:6). This is the beauty of sanctification. We need to remember the importance of being a willing participant in this profound process—Christ is working within us—and allow that process to shape our leadership.
2 Kings 13 – God's eternal sovereignty
Any type of race, journey or long project presents the opportunity of fatigue. The initial shots of adrenaline have worn off, but the end doesn't appear close enough to draw any inspiration from that imminent triumph of completion. Those are the moments when it becomes most difficult to keep striving and to continue doing things the right way.
2 Kings 13 presents the passage when the prophet Elisha was sick with the illness that would ultimately take his life. The king of Israel (who was not a godly king) came to visit Elisha, at which point Elisha prophesied that the king of Israel would have three meaningful victories over a significant enemy.
The passage then seems to take a detour by skipping ahead into the future, telling a crazy story from a time after Elisha would have been long deceased. In the story, some men were carrying a friend's dead body when they encountered some raiders. To escape the raiders, they threw their friend's body into Elisha's tomb and fled. When the body hit Elisha's bones, their friend became alive again.
The passage then resumes back to Elisha and the king of Israel. Although the king was evil, the passage states that God was gracious to Israel and showed compassion to them because of "His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob."
A common thread in these accounts is the idea that God outlasts us. Though Elisha was dead, God's anointing outlived him. Though the patriarchs were long gone, God's promises continued through generations. As leaders, it is crucial to remember that eventually our time as leaders will end. Long after we're gone,it is God's anointing and promises that will continue through generations.
As leaders, it is so easy to let the pursuit of our goals eclipse our pursuit of the Kingdom of God. When we do so, we are building our own kingdoms; eventually, those kingdoms will crumble and fall.
Seeking first the kingdom
Yet, when we seek first the Kingdom of God, letting that drive our goals and tasks, we have the privilege of seeing how our work is part of a much bigger picture. Our work, whether perceived as secular or sacred, can be part of advancing God's Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. Ultimately, we are best able to lean into our specialized role of leading others when we first lean into our role as followers of Christ, modeling our character and decision-making after His, trusting in His eternal sovereignty and praising Him in reverent worship.
 | Ryan Brown serves Open Doors US as Chief Executive Officer. Learn More » |
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