Last
week we considered the qualifications God places on leaders. This week let us consider leaders from
History and our current leaders.
Leaders
to Consider
We
can examine leaders from the past.
Consider the following people and ask these questions:
- What did God call them to?
- Were they perfect (measuring up to the “accountability list”?)
- Did they succeed?
Noah
(Gen. 6:13-21
He
was given a vision of God’s impending destruction of earth’s people
He
was told to build an ark of a specific material and size
He
was told that God would bring the creatures to the ark
He
was told that his family would be saved.
Noah
chose to be obedient to God and acted upon the God-given vision, and God’s
purpose came to pass.
Abram
(later called Abraham) (Gen. 12:1-5)
Was
told to move to a new land
That
God would bless him and all nations would be blessed through him
Abram
was obedient to God’s call and a nation that would bring God to the world was
born.
Moses
(Exodus 3:1-22)
Called
by God to lead Israel out of Egypt
He
had concerns about his abilities and credibility, but God empowered him for the
call
Moses
was obedient to God’s call and the nation that Abram started was freed from
bondage
Joshua
(Joshua 1:1-9)
Called
by God’s vision of the territory that God was going to give the Israelites
Encouraged
by God to be strong, courageous and obedient to the law
Joshua
was obedient and the nation prospered and became successful
Esther
(The Book of Esther)
She
became a wife and queen to a Persian king, a choice out of her control
Was
asked by God to risk her life to save the Jews from death
Esther
was obedient and the nation of Israel was delivered from genocide
Ananias
(Acts 9:10-18)
A
leader in his own community was called by God to go lay hands on the man that
had been having believers killed.
God
told him that this man was a chosen instrument of Him to bear His name before
gentiles, kings and the Israelites
Ananias
was obedient to God’s call and the ministry of the Body of Christ’s first great
evangelist was born.
Dr.
David Livingston (the great explorer)
Called
by God, as a young man, by being shown a map of Africa that no missionary had ever
been 700 miles inland
Already
a Christian, set out plans to prepare for the journey (becoming a medical
doctor, learning languages)
He
traveled to Africa and implemented the plan developed in his youth, healing the
sick, learning new languages and teaching people about Christ.
Dr.
Livingston was obedient to God’s call, working 37 years in the interior of
Africa and brought many to Christ, also providing the foundation for future
missionaries to the interior of Africa.
George
Washington Carver (inventor & innovator)
Although
born to slaves, Carver excelled at learning (a gift God gave him to fulfill his
call). God provided opportunities for
education when people of his race were not allowed to go to school. Wherever he went he shared his love for Christ. He was remembered as a man of prayer,
submitting all of his research to the Lord and waiting for God’s answer. He discovered uses for the peanut other than
eating it resulting in a number of products still in use today:
·
Lard
·
Vinegar
·
Relishes
·
Printer’s
ink
·
Dyes,
·
Plastic,
Soaps, Coffee,
·
Soft
Drinks
·
Wood
stains
Billy
Graham (famous evangelist)
Became
a Christian as a result of Billy Sunday’s ministry in the early 1940’s
Felt
a calling but waited on the Lord.
Received
a vision for his evangelistic ministry by 1948
Rev.
Graham was obedient to God’s call and hundreds of thousands have been saved
around the world
Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (minister and civil rights champion)
Already
a believer and minister God called Dr. King to become a champion for civil
rights
Waged
war against conditions, not people
By
his non-violent creative efforts many unjust laws were overturned allowing
equal opportunity and equal protection for all people
Remained
persistent (even under death threats) to see his vision of every man and woman
of every race be treated as they should be, as individuals created in the image
of God.
Dr.
King was obedient to God’s call and his work still continues through those who
have taken up his dream
Dwight
(D.L.) Moody (famous evangelist)
His
goal as a young man was to become rich, yet by age 18 God called him to
something better
He
studied his Bible to become proficient at sharing his faith with young people
His
meetings eventually lead him to build a church
Rev.
Moody was obedient to God’s call and hundreds of thousands were saved in the
United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States
Jimmy
Carter (farmer, humanitarian & President of the US)
He
chaired a Billy Graham crusade that brought blacks and whites together at a
time and place where racial separation was the norm
He
spent countless hours as a volunteer for an organization building homes for
low-income people
Already
a believer, God called him to run for the President of the United States
He
was open about his faith before his election and throughout his presidency
Carter
was obedient to God’s call and many people examined their own relationship with
God after hearing his reasons for being a man of faith in Christ
Now
consider the leaders of today in view of the same questions. (Remember, it is important to view them with
the attributes God considers in a leader, not ours or someone’s opinion of a
leader.)
- What has God called them to?
- How do they measure up to the “accountability list”?
- Are they failing or have they failed?
- Are they succeeding or have they succeeded?
So,
in conclusion, who is called to lead.
The Dictionary Definitions for “lead” are:
- To show the way to be going in advance
- To guide by taking the hand
- To cause to follow some course of action; to induce
- To direct the activities
It
is easy to recognize that these great Christians and even our own Pastors,
Sunday School Teachers, Church Department Heads, etc. are called to lead, and I
am sure that even in your own Church can see these qualities in them, but I
believe that EVERY BELIEVER is called to lead and to follow.
Leaders
are set over us, but we are also called to lead the lost to Christ. As we hold individuals we recognize as our
leaders accountable to God’s standards for leadership we should also search our
own hearts to see if we “measure up” so that we will be equipped “for the work
of the ministry!”
It
the light of eternity, what is “the work of the ministry?” Leading the lost to Christ! We each need to examine ourselves and ask the
Holy Spirit to enable us to become the leaders He is calling us to be!
