Listen to the story of Boyd and Wanda Cochran from our church Evergreen Community Church in Bothell, Washington.

Scripture

They rose about daybreak and Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get ready, and I will send you on your way.” When Saul got ready, he and Samuel went outside together. As they were going down to the edge of the town, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us”-and the servant did so-”but you stay here awhile, so that I may give you a message from God.” 1 Samuel 9:26-27

Observation
The servant leads the king. That is the whole problem with Saul’s leadership over Israel. The fissure in Saul’s personality is obvious from the first day on the job. His leadership opens on the pages of history with the story of lost donkeys and Saul’s hunt to find them accompanied with his servant. Instead of Saul leading the expedition, it is the slave at every step who perceives and encourages. The leader is following his employee.

Compare this to Saul’s son Jonathan. A few years later, while Saul is biting his manicure off in fear of his enemies, Jonathan has the courage to act. He calls his servant to follow him in a risky attack. His slave replies, “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.” (1 Sam 14:7)

Saul was not the leader he could have been because the king followed his servant and a son was greater than his father.

Application
I do not want Saul’s problem to be my problem. I know the voice of God. I can see a way forward. I have friends with me on this journey. They are good friends to encourage me, but only God can lead me. As a leader I must choose to be led by God. I must protect the times that no one has access to me except God. That requires me to walk into the vacuum of aloneness that every leader feels and live with the void behind him, unsure in the first moments if anyone will follow. I need friends with me on this journey but only God can go before me. I want to be a Jonathan and not a Saul.

Prayer
Today, help me to lead as I’m led by you and you alone. Keep my friends who correct me, console me and occasionally to confront me so that I may follow you better. Amen.

Scripture
When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world. I am not writing this to shame you, but to warn you, as my dear children. Even though you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 1 Corinthians 4:12-16

Observation
There are motivational speakers, managers, promoters, corporate types, bureaucrats, consultants and entrepreneurs, all who would like to lead the local church. To a church, these kind of leaders are appealing because they hold the promise of putting the church on the map. Danger lurks in flattery. In the process of becoming something, often the church loses something.

Just as children need parents, so churches improve with fathers. These kind of leaders offer more than ideas, they give DNA, more than consulting but commitment, more than inspiration but love in action. A father is more than a guru. He is one personally involved for the best of the people. The distinguishing mark of such a leader is that he leads by example. He does not coerce, he models the best and inspires others to follow.

How can a worthy spiritual father be identified? A father is seen not by what he has to offer but by what he has given up for the benefit of his children. “Scum of the earth” and “refuse of the world” puts it nicely. These men have the most to offer.

Application
Throughout my life, I’m thankful that I’ve been part of churches that have been fathered well. There have been men of God, outside of the church, whose hearts were with the church who guided us. Sometimes it was an official role. Other times it was unofficial. But in every case they brought a seasoning of maturity and stability to the church. I want that in my life.

Prayer
Father, continue to surround me with the men who are fathers in the faith who can give health to your people. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to Brooke Fraser sing “How Great Thou Art” at Hillsong 2008 as you read today’s devotion about focus.

Scripture
They continued, “If you think we’ve done a good job so far, give us this country for our inheritance. Don’t make us go across the Jordan.” Moses answered the families of Gad and Reuben: “Do you mean that you are going to leave the fighting that’s ahead to your brothers while you settle down here? Why would you even think of letting the People of Israel down, demoralizing them just as they’re about to move into the land God gave them? That’s exactly what your ancestors did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to survey the country. Numbers 32:5-12

Observation
What has surprised me most as a leader is the capacity of people to make selfish requests  of me and the whole team at the expense of others. The nature of being a leader is to focus on the mission and sacrifice to accomplish it. It is a head spinner to meet a few who think only of their own wants and not the needs of everyone else. But such people do exist and they regularly seek out leaders.

Moses was almost ready to let go of the steering wheel, but nonetheless, he too faced selfishness among the people. Two tribes didn’t want to go over the river to fight. They saw the open fields and empty towns around them on the east side of the river and asked to stay put. They did not offer to fight, just to settle. There actions were not just selfish, they were demoralizing to everyone else.

What stands out in this story was Moses’ leadership. Moses did exactly what a leader should do by pointing out the ramifications of their selfish choice. The tribes of Rueben and Gad couldn’t see that self-centredness because they didn’t have a leader’s point of view. Moses could see it because he looked at every decision in terms of the prime mandate: leave Egypt, survive the desert and conquer the land flowing with milk and honey. That sentence kept Moses awake nights and moving on in the daylight. Moses did what a leader is supposed to do. He called the people back to the mission even when they didn’t want to do it, so that they could have what they had longed for over the past 40 years. That is a tough thing to do, but that is leadership.

Application
The difference between a leader and a non-leader is selflessness. A leader wants what is best for all the people over the longest time. A non-leader wants what is best for himself, immediately. In every decision I face, I am at the cross roads of that decision. Will I be selfish or panoramic in my outlook? I want to be one found on the west side of the river, even if it means that I’m the last one to find a home for myself.

Prayer
Father, today I ask that you would help me in every decision to keep the mission in view. Help me not to be deterred by selfishness whether it is in me or in others. Keep my eyes on Jesus, focused forward so that all of your people can experience all of your blessings. Amen.

Press the arrow to listen to “Hear Us From Heaven” by Rod Parsley while reading today’s devotion about greatness.

Scripture
Indeed, Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for the man Mordecai became greater and greater. Esther 9:4

Observation
Mordecai the lowly, faithful doorman, rose to replace Haman, the horrible henchman as prime minister of the land. The story of Esther, is in many ways more about her foster-father than herself. She was the actor on stage, while Mordecai wrote the lines for her to speak.

What did Mordecai change about himself to become “greater and greater” in the sight of the king and the people in all of the far-flung provinces? He did not change a thing, that is why he became greater. Greatness came to Mordecai because he lived out unchangable principles without compromise. Because he kept doing great things no matter the indifference and hostility, he was eventually perceived as a great man. Those great things included faithfulness to an orphaned niece, initiative to enter her into a beauty contest, loyalty to the king, and courage to speak to a proud princess.

Application
Greatness is not a single action, but the accumulation of many actions. Greatness has seasons. There are hard initial days when all the world seems to blow in the face with a contrary wind. But the persistence to stagger forward against the gale is what makes greatness.  There is another side of persistence when integrity has its rewards. Mordecai tasted them and so too will we if we will persist doing what is right  no matter the condition.

Prayer
Father, today I ask that you will help me to do the little things of life well, for in in the grains of sand is made the concrete of greatness in my life. Amen.