Commissioned
As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. Joshua 1:5
So I Will Be – Everyone agrees that the nations lack leadership. Around the world there is a desperate need for men and women of truth and valor to take charge. We search for answers, and for men and women who will lead us safely forward. We want to be sure that we have the right person at the front. A mistake now could be disastrous. But how can we know whom to follow? Perhaps we need to look carefully at the way God chooses before we run off to the latest opinion polls.
No nation ever felt more fragile than Israel on the verge of crossing the Jordan. Why? Because their great prophet and leader, Moses, was dead. The Torah tells us that there has never been another like him. Who could possibly fill the shoes of such a man?
God chooses Joshua. Let’s consider what this really means. First, God’s choice is much like the choice of Moses. It’s entirely God’s doing. He doesn’t bother with leadership training classes, graduate degrees, advanced seminars in risk assessment or world prominence in political rhetoric. Frankly, God is not impressed. God chooses for His own reasons. One thing we can determine is this: God almost never chooses someone who is jockeying for the position. God usually looks for the reluctant leader, not the one who proclaims his value and superior worth. This is incredibly important. The world looks for exactly the opposite. It looks for natural charisma, motivational skills and expertise. It looks for past accomplishments, popular endorsements and celebrity status. God rejects all of this because the servant of the Most High is most often the one who knows he is least worthy. Look at the great prophets and you will see men who didn’t want the job and felt terribly inadequate when called to it. God seeks humility; something evidently quite rare in leadership these days.
Second, God is the active agent in leadership capability. Look at His choices. God chooses the least, the last, the weakest, the second, the outcast, the ignored and the forgotten. Why? Because it’s God’s glory that matters. God’s leaders are nothing without Him. Can we say that about the ones we clamor to follow?
One mark of leadership from God’s perspective is summarized in this tiny Hebrew phrase, ehye imakh. If God is not with you, you are not leading. You’re pushing your own agenda. God is the only One Who picks a Biblical leader. Degrees, training classes, certificates, years of past experience, popular acclaim, even ordination mean nothing in this regard. By the way, sometimes God picks people who don’t seem to have any of the expected godly characteristics (like Nebuchadnezzar), but they are still chosen by Him.
So, where does this leave us? The current leadership fad rests firmly on the Greek model of excellence, talent and skills. God’s way is not Man’s way. If that makes you uncomfortable (like, “But how will we know? How can we decide?”), then maybe you need to take another plunge in the Word. There’s a lot more here, but that comes later. Today is just a time for reflection.
