Redeeming Leadership

We don’t have to look far to see that leaders in this world are broken. In fact, it would seem that so many leaders are broken that the phrase “power corrupts” is part of our common language. It is often easy to blame leaders because we think we could do better, but the truth that Scripture and even this phrase presents is that it is very unlikely we would be any better as leaders. So, why is leadership so corrupt and broken? Do we even need leaders? How do we ever get the leaders we need?

There is so much in our readings today that we could look at, but I want to look at 3 major problems and God’s redemption. 1st. We are the ones who create structures and lift up the leaders we get. 2nd. Leaders take the place of God. And 3rd. We don’t realize who our true leader is.

So, first, how are we the ones that lift up the bad leaders we get? In our passage today from Samuel, we see that happening before our eyes. The people rightfully turn away from the injustice and greed they see in Samuel’s sons, but then they ask for a king. They literally ask for someone to rule over them and lead them into battle. They may not realize all that this means so Samuel warns them that a king or for us a powerful leader will naturally take the best of what we have, they will demand of us, enslave us, and make us fight their battles, but Israel wants it anyways and so do we.

Even our version of democracy that we uphold is fraught. To begin with, the simple concept tells us that whoever is the most popular is likely to win. No matter how fickle the opinion of the day is or how misguided culture is, popularity holds sway. Would popularity be the best way to order a school, yet that’s what we do with society? This is just at the surface level. Then we could look at how they also have to represent a party system that is itself fraught. We could look at how popularity often comes down to who has the most popular opinions on a few important, but not all-encompassing ideas. We could look at how in order to win one needs a loud, pervasive, and charismatic voice and particularly one needs a lot of funding to have that voice heard. I generally like democracy, but I am just trying to show here that we have created a structure and upheld something that in itself often leads to broken leaders. We could and should do this reflection on all the leaders that we uphold or lift up.

We could and should do this reflection on all the leaders that we uphold or lift up. Even in our church, how often are we discerning in prayer with God our leadership roles? How many people stay in roles because no one else steps forward? How many roles are filled on the basis of willingness? Priests are generally appointed through an agreement between the priest, bishop, and congregational committee. This has real strengths, but all it takes is one of those parties to not be prayerfully discerning for the process not to work well. Or once someone is in the role all it takes is laziness and an emotional connection for a leader to no longer be helpful. I’ll come back to this problem in a moment.

The second problem is that leaders naturally take the place of God. That is again what we hear in Samuel. Samuel is hurt that the people have asked for a king, but God says to him, “It is not you that they have rejected, it is me. For generations, they have always followed idols and they are doing the same thing right now.” You see for better or for worse when anyone stands in leadership, they are actually serving in God’s place.

It is so easy for a leader to become an idol, to become proud of their role and position, to become someone who is adversarial to God as king and Lord. In our second reading, we get two examples of this. First, Sennacherib king of Assyria doesn’t just attack God’s holy city, but says that no one can trust God, that our God is like all other gods unable to save Jerusalem. He, obviously, doesn’t know our God, but he sets himself up as both more powerful than God and as a rival to God. This leads to him killing, conquering, and destroying, and then eventually, it leads to betrayal and death at the hands of his children. His evil, poor leadership, and ultimate fall come because he can’t live into God’s goodness and rather tries to stand in its way.

It is so easy as leaders to set ourselves up as oppositional to God. How often do we think we know what is right or wrong better than God? How often would we rather decide for ourselves? How often would we rather have our way? We may not claim to be more powerful than God, but sometimes it is all too easy to try to rule over and dominate our little problems, needs, or relationships.

Then there is Israel’s King Hezekiah, who shows that he is a good leader, at first. He lives faithfully, then when he is afraid of Sennacherib, he turns to God and puts his trust in him. The response is safety and growth. But then later, Hezekiah lets this go to his head. We hear that out of pride he doesn’t thank God like he should for a healing. So, the whole nation is affected by his turning against God’s goodness. Thankfully, he repents and turns back, so God can work through him and Israel again.

So, here, even when we know God, it is so easy to claim his work for ourselves. To belittle miracles, to limit our thanks, to look at ourselves and seek our glory instead of God’s. Yet, in this second example, we are already starting to point toward’s the redemption of leadership. If leaders naturally stand in God’s place, then one of the only ways to lead well is to point to God. Repentance is about turning away from something so that our lives are once again pointed at God. Faithfulness and trust are all about following God, putting him first, acting for him, and fearing him above anything else.

None of these are easy. Repentance means admitting we are wrong, weak, and in need. Who wants to do that as a leader, let alone ever? Faithfulness means putting God’s cares and needs above our own. Who wants to sacrifice? Trust means trusting God more than the thing that is right in front of us, whether it is an answer or a barrier. Who wants to skip easy shortcuts or get smacked by or live in a problem? That’s why so many of us get it wrong.

God is the creator, he is the guide, he is wisdom, power, and true leadership. He was the one that gave humanity dominion (or leadership), but that only came because he made us in his image, to bear his leadership. The more power or visibility someone has the greater danger there is of that person standing to stand in the way of God, by upholding his justice, what he thinks is good and right. At the same time, there is also a greater potential for that person to live into the goodness of God and become a beacon and guidepost that points the way to God. I don’t think power corrupts, I think we corrupt power. It is the giving power to God that it can be redeemed. So all leaders either have the chance to become idols or instruments of God’s grace.

On a practical level, what does that mean for us? Well, the first thing to realize is that all of you have leadership and dominion. Every single relationship you have, every encounter, and everything you have and are is an opportunity to lead for God or it is a temptation to become an idol. All of us, need to be purposeful about giving over our leadership to God and letting him shape it all. None of us are perfect. We all have and will get things wrong, but through repentance, God can even reshape that. Every broken relationship, every weakness, every anger and desire in God can be redeemed and lead to a greater life and a greater leadership.

All of this has been pointing to our final point. We need to recognize who our true leader is. Israel was demanding a king, but they didn’t realize that they already had the king they needed in God. They wanted to be like other nations, but they didn’t realize how ridiculous that was. They were meant to be a whole new world order, because of the king they had in God.

When we confess Jesus is our Lord, this is what we are confessing and saying. He is our king. He is our great leader, the one we should turn to in obedience for guidance and order. He is the one with true authority, wisdom, and the right. Our lifting up leaders and becoming leaders needs to be rooted in this fact or else we just get in the way.

Kings came and went in Israel’s history. Some were better, some were worse at pointing to God, but none of them really measured up, because none of them could really take God’s place. Neither can we as leaders or kings. The amazing resolution to our first story, when Israel asks for a king, is that God uses our fickle, ignorant, fearful requests to give us what we need. He uses this Kingship as an opportunity, when humanity was ready, to step in and show himself as their king and build a new kingdom. One far different than anything else in this world.

God’s leadership does come with power and wisdom, but it also comes in a way that lifts us up and serves us. This is the only reason we have power and leadership at all, is because God was willing to give his leadership to us. When we give our leadership back to him, only then do we become like him, because we literally are doing what he has done for us when he gave us leadership. On top of that when we follow God as leaders, we are putting first things first. We are putting a goodness and love, even beyond our understanding at the wheel.

So, whether we are acting as leaders or appointing them, the question we should ask is, How can we make more space for God to be our leader? I’ll give you a hint: prayer is essential when looking for God as our leader. Only then can we be the leaders we need to be. AMEN