On my way through this faster read of the Bible, I am seeing something I don’t think I noticed before. I seem to be focusing on leaders as real people rather than just as people God called out and blessed and to whom God gave extra abilities – supernatural powers. These real people faced real decisions and some made good ones and some made poor ones. They faced real temptations and some rose above them and some fell. Rather than aggrandizing these leaders, I am beginning to understand how hard it was to be in their position.
For instance, think about Moses for a moment. He was called to lead Israel out of Egypt. He gave up his comfortable life with his family and put his life on the line as he approached Pharaoh time after time carrying out God’s plagues on Egypt. Then he took over a million people on a 40 year camping trip in the desert without much in the way food supplies. I can’t imagine walking in his shoes. Yet, he followed God closely and didn’t become proud of his position.
Joshua followed Moses and had to find a way to energize and encourage the people to move forward and take the land God had given them. There were giants in the way. Yet he followed God closely and led Israel into the promised land.
And then fast forward to Samuel. He was separated from his mother and father at a very young age and taught to serve God. He was wise and the people listened to him, but his sons didn’t. I wonder if he overcompensated and spoiled his sons because he had suffered such emotional loss early in life. At any rate, there was no one to follow in his footsteps and the people asked for a king.
Saul was selected to be their king. He came into kingship humble and not sure how he was chosen out of all the people. But as he led the people into battle and was successful, he began to forget that it was God’s hand that made him successful and began to think it was his own hand and his own brilliance that made him deserve the kingship. He began to like his position and wanted to keep it, so he thought he needed to please the people rather than teaching the people to follow God.
I wonder if that was his downfall. His devotion turned from God to himself and the people. “Then Saul said to Samuel, ‘I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them.” I Samuel 15:24 I wonder if Saul also wanted to be known throughout the world as a great king and thought he could get there his way rather than God’s way.
God saw that Saul’s heart had left him and could no longer use Saul as king of his people. I wonder how many leaders in our churches suffer from ‘Saul syndrome’. They begin their ministry really in touch with God and wanting to lead the people to God’s throne. And as their churches grow and people tell them how good they are, their focus changes from pleasing God and teaching his Word to pleasing the people and keeping them happy and coming back so they can have a big church and look good in the eyes of their peers and their congregations.
I would venture to guess that before every fall of a church leader, erosion occurred in their thinking. Rather than seeing themselves as servants of the Most High God, they began to see themselves as pretty smart and deserving of the praise they get from people. And since it feels good to get praise from others, they keep finding ways to get praise from people rather than from God. Sometimes they even go so far as to think they have special power over the people. They become the king in their little kingdom.
Saul had everything. He was tall, good looking, and chosen by God to be king. But he forgot his place and began to think he was a god and could do whatever he wanted. In fact, sometimes he thought he was smarter than God himself and didn’t follow the instructions he was given from God. I believe that was his downfall. And when confronted by Samuel, he blamed the people rather than confessing his own sin. In that slippery slide, he went from being used powerfully by God to being useless to God.
That is frightening. Leadership is a scary thing! Success is something we strive for, yet it is success that can cause us to not see we are standing on the edge of a cliff and we walk right over the edge.
Oh Lord, help me to never be confused about where success comes from. It is from your hand and not from mine. My desire is to labor with you and to follow your leading, to remain humble before you. All that I am comes from you and belongs to you. Amen.
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