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Joshua 24: 31 (NIV)
Israel served the Lord throughout the
lifetime of Joshua and the elders who outlived him and who had experienced
everything the Lord had done for Israel.
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| Personality is a prime factor in natural leadership. . .The Spiritual leader, however, influences others not by the power of his personality alone but by that personality . . .empowered by the Holy Spirit. |
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It
is sad that the nation of Israel could only maintain their momentum during the
lifetime of Joshua and the elders who had been with him. Where was the next
leader? Why was there no one ready to fill the void left by the death of
Joshua?
There
are dangers for dynamic leaders. Even a truly godly minister runs the risk of
having church members who are more loyal to him than to Jesus Christ. Another hazard
for successful leaders is the ego trap. How many megachurch preachers have gone
from being humble servants of God to becoming arrogant, greedy, and impure? Oh,
but this is no reason to keep a good man down. We need men of God to rise to
positions of leadership - men who have prepared themselves for the job, just
like Joshua did . . . well, men who are prepared by God, that is!
My
home church is a growing and thriving congregation, thanks in no
small part to the efforts and personality of our senior minister. He is
energetic, innovative, and preaches the truth week after week. I worked for a
few years as his part-time administrative assistant and I can tell you this: he is no phony. He is
genuine and authentic and I would like to see him stay that way. His church
family needs to pray for him, encourage him, and hold him accountable. We also
need to be praying that God is getting his replacement ready so that no one
sadly says of our church, “They served the Lord throughout the lifetime of
Jim.”
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| We are called to worship him, not the music, the preacher, the sermon, or the children’s program. God alone is deserving of worship.* |
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