The Beginning of Leadership

Everyone has heard the phrase “the heroes of the Bible.” We talk of these men as “spiritual giants,” which is another popular phrase. What do we really mean by these statements? Do we attribute to Biblical figures the greatness that we ought to be attributing to God, credit them with accomplishing God’s will?  In many cases we do just that, not even realizing our error.

A far better view is that we must learn from these heroes to avoid sin, and do our best to serve God. If we do not, the Lord will accomplish his purposes, regardless. The only question is how much our disobedience will hurt us and those around us.

So often, we miss the point of the Scriptures. The Word of God is just that, the divinely given word of the Most High God of the Universe, which was inspired or literally breathed down to man. The Scriptures are the story of God and how He saved the world after sin ruined everything.

A cursory view of the Scriptures makes this clear. Abraham lied and condemned two countries to near ruin – Isaac did the same. Abraham committed adultery on Sarah. Jacob cheated and stole instead of waiting for God’s will to be done. Joseph, though the best of the Patriarchs, displayed an arrogance that certainly didn’t help his case with his brothers at all. Moses lost his temper and disobeyed God, Samson was engaged in wanton sexual immorality, too many kings of Israel and Judah to count engaged in murder, idolatry, sexual immorality, and disobedience to various of God’s commands.

The figures in the early church as described in the New Testament fared slightly better, but only as a factor of hindsight. Despite all of this, one only has to look at the epistles of Paul to see how disappointed and crushed he was by those who turned to the cares of the world and away from the Truth. Christ felt this sadness keenly as well, as is obvious in His question (which He asked though He knew the answer already) to His disciples after everyone else abandoned Him due to His teachings. He asked them if they, too, were going to abandon him. They answered no, but they did for a time, as we all well know.

The point here is not to bash these people, or puff up our chests about how much “better” we are than they. This would be wrong indeed, and in fact such overweening pride would cause us to fall into the same traps that they did. The point is to look at the marvelous fact that God accomplished His will on the Cross, and is saving those Whom He chooses to save. In other words, the Lord is winning and has always won. That is the key lesson to the Bible. God wins and He is willing to share that victory with us if we will only take it.

The question is, what does this have to do with anything beyond the wonderful news of the Gospel? It has to do with the heart with which we must all live our lives before God. As I said before, we miss the point. For instance, many men do not look at what God can do through them, but at their own cares in this world. The passage in Ephesians 5:21-25 about the hierarchy of the home is paid attention to with the husband’s role of leadership, and the wife’s submission to him. What is not often paid attention to is the way in which men are really servants of their wives and children. They are to care for them, love them, and, if necessary, be willing to die for them, just as the Lord was for us.

My writing is not for me, it’s for God. Some people to marry and others don’t, but the ultimate choice isn’t for them. Some join the military (as I did), others are businessmen and women, still others perform different vocations. None of this is for us. It is all for Him. We choose based on desires and talents that we think are ours, but all our giftings come from God

This is critical to understanding the responsibility that we have as men, according to the Scriptures. Our task is to be the one who directly leads our families, who protects those weaker than us, who leads in our churches and communities. Nonetheless, we cannot accomplish any of this if we do not have this crucial proper view of the Scriptures.

Men, do you desire to serve God and to see your loved ones have lives that show forth His love and calling? Then learn the lesson of the Bible and do His will. Remember that He is at the center of everything, and not us. Remember this, and we can truly be the men and leaders that God wants us to be. Service and Leadership begin with God.

Written by: Timothy Stone. For more articles and thoughts from Timothy check out his site: TimothyStone.com