GODLY LEADERSHIP

Exodus 17:8-19:15; Matthew 22:34-23:12; Psalm 27:7-14; Proverbs 6:27-35

“The next day, Moses took his seat to hear the people’s disputes against each other. They waited before him from morning till evening.  When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, ‘What are you really accomplishing here? Why are you trying to do all this alone while everyone stands around you from morning till evening?’”

“One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question, ‘Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?’  Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.’”

I’m in Maine today with my lovely bride, doing some Fall “leaf peeping.”  To get here, I went through airport security (always a joy!), and I got yelled at for forgetting to remove my cell phone.  I followed the instructions of the TSA agent, but was not particularly happy about how they were presented.  So, I got to thinking (always a danger!): what makes a godly leader?  (That is something of a stretch for a lead-in, isn’t it?  Oh, well, it’s a good, topical question for an election year, anyway.) 

First, Scripture says godly leaders delegate.  The Bible teaches repeatedly that no leader should try to do it all alone.  Most people are reluctant to ask for help and have a hard time being in charge as a result.  Maybe we think we’ll be seen as incapable or weak if we don’t do it all.  Possibly, we are so enamored with our own ideas we can’t consider others.  Or, we just love the control, and don’t care to be subject to possible challenge.  Any way it’s sliced, refusing help looks like arrogance deep down, even for the Spirit-filled: we were created to need help.  Worse, though, “do-it-all” leaders prevent others who have applicable gifts from being able to use them.  That empowers no one; it’s the anti-blessing.  “Do-it-all” leadership also drains both energy and creativity, which has lead to some pretty serious mistakes.  Godly leaders train others and have and show confidence in those they train.  Godly leaders let the help help.  Godly leaders do what they do well, and let others handle the rest.

Second, godly leaders have one specific, non-negotiable, ultimate priority – the same as Christ’s.  “OK,” says the lawyer, “but what is the greatest comandment?  What is the priority against which all other priorities should be measured?”  Leave it to an attorney to try to complicate the simple.  He obviously was thinking there was no good answer.  Gosh, darn, the law is so situation dependent.  Laws are living things, after all; they require flexibility. How could there possibly be just one greatest commandment?  Overstress one and you’ll risk minimizing another, Jesus, and someone will get upset.  Thankfully, Jesus never worried about upsetting his constituency.  The Greatest Commandment?  Love God and each other. That’ll do.  Nothing else will.  ‘Nuff said!

Finally, then, godly leaders keep goals simple, and they don’t get caught up in the noise, including the opinions of others.  This doesn’t mean they ignore others – see the first point.  It means they just chart and stick to God’s course.  They aren’t fooled by the appearance of things, or by volume, especially of the sounds of protest.  They focus solely and unflinchingly on the heart of the matter, the greatest need. Love. 

The rest is just details.