Leadership Lessons

Leadership Lessons

Eric A. Snyder, Minister, Farwell Church of Christ

Exodus 18: 13-26

July 15, 2001

A small boy was asked by his teacher, "What is the size of the Democratic Party?"

"About 5 feet 2 inches," he replied promptly.

"NO!" exploded the teacher" I mean, how MANY members does it have? How did you get 5 feet 2 inches?"

"Well," replied the boy, "my father is 6 feet tall and every night he puts his hands to his chin and says..

"I’ve had it up to HERE with the Democratic Party!"

One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Johnny standing in the foyer of the church, looking at a large plaque that hung there. After the young man of seven had stood there for some time, the pastor walked up beside him and said quietly, "Good morning, son." "Good morning, Pastor," replied the youngster, not taking his eyes off the plaque. "Can I ask you, Sir -- What is this for? Why are all these names listed on here?" "Well, son, these are all the people who have died in the service," replied the pastor. Soberly, they stood together, staring up at the large plaque. Little Johnny’s voice barely broke the silence when he asked quietly, "Which one, Sir, the 8:30 or the 10:30?"

Have you ever thought Service and responsibility would wear you out?

Moses did

Background: Moses’ father in law came to see him

Exodus 18:13-26 13 The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. 14 When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, "What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?" 15 Moses answered him, "Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. 16 Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and laws." 17 Moses’ father-in-law replied, "What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. 21 But select capable men from all the people--men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain--and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied." 24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25 He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26 They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.

1. Divine Right Leadership

A. Believed to be, God Granted or God Given

Bloodlines from God Monarchs.

Rose to power because they claimed to be divine lineage

Stated that their power came from God and therefore was infallible. They could not be wrong.

riddle What can be right, but never wrong?

An angle.

The longer I live the more I see I am never wrong about anything, and that all the pains I have so humbly taken to verify my notions have only wasted my time. -- George Bernard Shaw

Moses was a good example of Divine right leadership

He was a great leader, but up until now he was not letting anyone else get close to responsibility because God had given him authority.

Last Sunday night we talked about how Aaron messed up with the golden calf. It’s real easy for us to become critical of Aaron. But the truth is he was never given responsibility because Moses was not letting him have any.

When someone messed up there is a tendency to revert back to a total dominance of leadership

B. It stems from the philosophy that If you want something done right you just have to do it yourself.

One physician has stated “Several patients tell me, "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." They do not delegate well and tend to get overloaded.” As a result they have a higher stress level not to mention that they miss the Joy of seeing other competent people become part of the team.