I’m amazed at the simplicity of leadership when looked at it through the lens of Scripture. There are some GREAT books on leadership out there and I highly recommend ANY leader taking time to learn from other successful leaders…HOWEVER, there isn’t a better leadership book than the Bible. And there isn’t a better leadership voice than the Holy Spirit. As Perry Noble says “Leadership is as simple as hearing God’s voice and doing what He says.” With that said, there is a passage of Scripture that I think is KEY to a leaders responsibility:
Deuteronomy 17:18-20 says 18 “When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. 20 This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel.
Now, I understand this was written to the King, and is referring specifically to this book, Deuteronomy, or quite possibly to the whole Torah (Genesis – Deuteronomy). However, I don’t think I’d be straying too far to say that the principle remains the same. It is the leaders responsibility to develop a DAILY study and reading of God’s Word (Genesis – Revelation) as an integral part of their growing relationship with Jesus! I say Genesis – Revelation because the WHOLE of Scripture determines the WHOLE of me. It’s too easy to go back to passages or books that I LIKE and that make me feel good. But I don’t need to feel good, I need ALL of God’s Word to permeate ALL of me, and that can only happen from Genesis – Revelation (in some form reading all of Scripture).
This reading and study of God’s Word needs to go BEYOND preparing for a sermon, studying for small group, 0r looking for verses that you can pull out of context to prove your position on a non essential doctrine that really doesn’t effect anyone’s eternity. This reading needs to sink in to WHO you are and HOW you live because WHO you are and HOW you live will determine WHAT kind of leader you will be. I find it interesting that of ALL the guidelines for a King (leader) in this passage, the most is said about the leaders involvement in God’s Word. There are 3 reasons why a leaders responsibility is to study God’s Word daily. We’ll look at those the rest of this week.
In His Word,
Jeff
