Danger: Biblical Leadership Ahead

He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30 NASB

Decrease – Walter Brueggeman once called God “wild, dangerous, unfettered and free.” We have a lot of trouble with that thought. We like predictability. We want uniformity. We look for certainty. That’s the point behind business plans and sales objectives. That’s why we keep accounting books and run our companies by the numbers. We want control. That’s the purpose of systems, including systematic theology.

I wonder if we haven’t restructured our interpretation of Scripture to satisfy this very human desire. We seem fairly untouched by God’s shock and awe visitation to Mt. Sinai. The very idea of the Creator of the universe showing up in the human world doesn’t propel us into dumbfounded amazement. And we certainly do our best to remove the terror and mystery from events like the plagues of Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea and the fall of Jericho.   We prefer a much more civilized and predictable God.

In modern leadership, this human craving for control shows up in the formula fad. Cruise any bookstore business aisle and you will see countless books advocating a formula approach to management. The titles whisper “control” while they shout technique. “Seven Steps to Success.” “Management Laws You Must Know.” “How to Negotiate Like a Winner.” “The Secrets of Successful Entrepreneurs.” The list goes on and on. Every new volume entices us with the seductive intimation that we can take control if we just do these simple things.

Imagine how surprised you would be if you found a book hidden among these slick marketing covers that said, “Out of Control Leadership” or “Leading Without A Plan.” Who would buy such a book?

I offer you this: You already own such a book. You have probably been reading it for years. It’s called the Bible. And it’s all about a leadership perspective and method that intends to turn the predictable world upside-down.

Consider some of the leadership facts found in Scriptural stories.

1. Abraham experiences the dangerous God in a very personal way. Sacrifice your own son. Who could have imagined that the God who upheld the sanctity of life would ask this? Who could believe that killing the son of the inheritance was part of the promise of a being a father of many nations?
2. God breaks all the protocols by blessing the second son several times. God’s definition of inheritance violates the cultural norm.       God doesn’t play by our rules at all.
3. Moses had no desire to lead the people out of Egypt. He was a fugitive from justice, a murderer, a man who had comfortably adjusted to a life of anonymity. When God confronted him with the challenge, he not only pled incapacity, he actually whined and complained so much that God got angry about it. Moses is the perfect example of a man who does everything possible to excuse himself from leadership even with a divine endorsement. But God still wants him.
4. God’s interaction with Pharaoh seems completely unpredictable. Time and again Pharaoh appears ready to relent, yet God influences his will in order for the devastation to continue. God’s behavior is not only dangerous and uncontrollable, it seems to show no regard for all the collateral damage.
5. God marches the Israelites into a military trap. With their backs against the Red Sea, they face annihilation by Pharaoh’s army or starvation in the wilderness. God’s solution doesn’t fit any predictable strategy and could not be anticipated in any planning scenario. Who would have imagined He would open the sea?
6. Gideon’s reaction to God’s downsizing is completely baffling. How could a band of three hundred rout an army of thousands?       Gideon and his men risk their lives following a plan that seems so ill conceived as to be scandalously ridiculous.
7. David does the human thing. He counts his troops. God looks at this natural assessment of assets as an insult and a sin. As a result, 70,000 die. God is incredibly dangerous even to those who are caught in the sins of the leader.
8. Hosea is instructed to marry a practicing prostitute. God’s view of moral action certainly jumps outside the boxes we manufacture. Would we have instructed Hosea to take this direction? Would you welcome such a man as the mouthpiece of the Lord?
9. Ezekiel is instructed to lie naked in the street for days on end. Serving a God like this confronts us with unpredictable surprises and personal humiliation. Does this sound sane to you? Isaiah encountered the same. Unimaginable!
10. Yeshua’s birth violates every cause and effect law known to Man. God enters human history with disruptive invention, and then doesn’t bother to announce it to anyone who matters.
11. Perhaps the ultimate expression of God’s wild and dangerous behavior is found in the crucifixion. No one expected God’s solution for defeating death to come through the death of the Messiah. It was 180 degrees out of alignment with human planning and prediction. And it was incredibly dangerous for everyone involved.

We must draw this conclusion: God is crazy–wonderful. Whenever we think we have our arms around how God does things, watch out! God is most likely to take a completely unanticipated turn in the road. Why? Isaiah tells us the answer: “I will not share My glory.” A formula approach is a substitute god. If all that I require of God is His playbook, He becomes unnecessary. Any formula approach to leadership that claims Biblical authority has missed the critical essential: Biblical leadership is about dynamic relationship, not about static methods. In the final analysis, there is no perceptible plan.

Does that mean planning goes out the window? Does Biblical leadership require us to throw management technique and training to the wind? Absolutely not! God is a God of order. God created a universe of order. Planning is part of the ordering process. There are Biblical principles to follow. But the difference is this: God will not be bound by our requirement for control. I can plan. I must plan. But God reminds me that if I think I have boxed Him in, I am wrong. My leadership must always keep a watchful eye for divine disruption. God might just show up with a completely different point of view. As the rabbis are wont to say, “Men plan and God laughs.”

How do I incorporate the dangerous, unpredictable, wild nature of God into the routine and requirements of human endeavors? To give you the six essential steps would violate my thesis. There are no steps. But there are dynamics—relational attitudes—that provide a frame of mind that keeps us open to God’s adventure.

First, the real job of the Biblical leader is listening. Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Hosea, Ezekiel and certainly Yeshua were God’s leaders because they listened. They did not come to the party with preconceived methods and rigid systems. When they did try to maintain their own agendas, God disrupted the plans.   They learned to be open to what God was saying. Fundamentally, Biblical leadership is hearing what God says. Do you doubt for one minute that Yeshua was not constantly conversing with the Father?   If you want to experience Biblical leadership, you must practice listening to God. That involves a good deal more than telling God what your plans are. Your plans are always subject to change by the Boss. Make a listening attitude such a high priority in your life that you make no other decision without first hearing Him. Biblical leadership is transformational because it shifts the control issue from me to God. If I am not listening, I am in charge. If I am constantly listening, I deliberately relinquish my need for control.

Secondly, maintain a posture of interruption. Moses was content on the backside of the desert. God interrupted him. Gideon had no intention of fighting. Interruption. Hosea didn’t plan on marriage. Interruption. The Father even interrupted Yeshua (consider the hemorrhaging woman’s interruption on the way to Jarius’ daughter). There is an easy check for this facet of Biblical leadership. How much control of my life is tied to my day-planner? If God tried to interrupt me, would I even know it? Listening has no feet if I reclaim control by excluding divine interruption. Hearing what God says creates the immediate obligation to act, and that means setting aside my agenda whenever He knocks.

Thirdly, wait. This is perhaps the most dangerous of all relationship skills. We serve the idol of “time is money,” a fitting description of the taskmaster gods of the culture. But notice, if you will, that the God of the Bible is never in a hurry. Yeshua spent decades preparing before he made a single move. He learned listening and interruption long before he began preaching about the Kingdom at hand. With the foundation in place, Yeshua had all the time in the world—God’s time—to accomplish what the Father told him to do. That wonderful phrase, “his hour had not yet come” is a powerful counter-cultural statement about God’s planning. The rush of life creates imprisoning obligations in temporal parameters. We must consciously resist the attitude of “hurry.” As soon as hurry takes charge, listening and interruption are booted out the door. The priority of waiting is seen over and over in the life of Yeshua who knew intimately the need for solitude. When “rush hour” becomes a way of life, you can be assured that God is not the car.

Listen, be aware of interruptions, wait. Attitudes of a Biblical leader who serves a dangerous God. Attitudes that stand in opposition to every formula based, performance driven system of management because the Biblical leader isn’t following the path of the world. The Biblical leader follows the path of the cross.

Topical Index: Biblical leadership, John 3:30