Herding cats

"If in truth you anoint me as king over you, then come and take shelter in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon!" (Judges 9:15).

When sinful people seek a leader, they look for someone they can identify with - someone who is like them. (Abimelech's family supported him because he was family.) People often have the mindset that what they want is a strong figurehead, a face, to present to others, exactly representing who they are. The leader is brought in to change others, not ourselves.

But God usually has something different in mind. When God gave gifts of leadership to the early church (Ephesians 4:11-16), it wasn't so those leaders would bring God's confirmation to them that they were doing great. Joshua ended up circumcising all Israel again. Moses had many killed in the wilderness for idolatry. Gideon sent thousands home scratching their heads, instead of into battle with an enormous enemy army. Young Timothy was expected to rebuke and correct congregations with the inspired Word (2 Timothy 3:16). Part of a leader's role is to get the group to accomplish a needed course-correction. If he doesn't/can't, he probably isn't leading.

The question is, can a people hear God calling them to change through a man whom that people called to lead them? It's sort of like hiring a business consultant to come in and show you where you can improve. Will you pay for advice you might not want to hear? Will you change according to how God is leading you through him? Or will you look for a leader who will say what you want said (2 Timothy 4:3)? "Look, we didn't hire you to..."



Two qualifications to this post:
1. I'm a church leader, so this post may appear self-serving. In response, I can only say I'm concerned for the faithfulness of congregations, not the elevation of the leader.
2. I'm all for presbyterian structured churches, which means a plurality of leadership. A king must be accountable to people; a pastor to elders or other pastors, etc. If one leader in a congregation is calling for radical change, claims it's from God, and no one else is convinced, more discernment is needed, not an immediate submission to the leader, just because he's the leader (note the discernment after God speaks in Acts 13:2-3).