EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP
LEVITICUS 10:1 2
The story is told about a lion...and this lion was very proud of his leadership over the animal kingdom. One day he decided to make sure all the other animals knew he was the king of the jungle. He was so confident that he by passed the smaller animals and went straight to the bear.
"Who is the king of the jungle?" the lion asked. The bear replied, "Why, you are, of course." And the lion gave a mighty roar of approval. Next he asked the tiger, "Who is the king of the jungle?" The tiger quickly responded, "Everyone knows that you are, O mighty lion."
Next on the list was the elephant. The lion faced the elephant and asked the question: "Who is the king of the jungle?" The elephant immediately grabbed the lion with his trunk...whirled him around in the air 5 or 6 times...and slammed him into a tree.
Then he pounded him onto the ground several times...dunked him under water in a nearby lake...and finally threw him up on the shore. The lion beaten, bruised, and battered struggled to his feet. He looked at the elephant through sad, bloodied eyes and said, "Look, just because you don't know the answer is no reason to get mean about it!"
At the close of the service today we are going to be installing the newly elected officers of the church and Sunday school. They are going to be assuming positions of leadership...and we want each of you to know who they are...but also I want to look today at the responsibilities that go along with leadership.
But I want to stress very strongly that aside from certain specific responsibilities that various offices in the church require...each and every one of us are required to be followers...in one way or another we all fall under the leadership of someone else. And the degree to which we can follow will have a tremendous impact on how effective we will be as leaders. (REPEAT)
Every Christian has certain responsibilities...and to live the Christian life we have to fall under the leadership of Christ because He is the head of our church. And we are all subject to Him, whether we are elected leaders...or members...or just occasional attenders. We all fall under the leadership of Christ. If we can't faithfully follow Him...then we'll never be able to lead others in the church in any kind of positive way.
And Christian leadership is really not limited to some position in a church. Most of you are parents...and that very definitely makes you a leader in your home. There are many responsibilities that are given to you simply because you are a Christian parent...entrusted with the spiritual welfare of your family.
So as we look to the Scriptures today there should be no one that is exempt from the message of God's Word. Being a Christian brings more benefits and joys than I could ever touch on in one sermon...but it also carries with it great responsibility. How we handle that responsibility will determine our faithfulness to the One we claim to love and serve.
This morning I want to look to Leviticus 10, which I believe will help us to see the importance of following God in obedience to His commands...in whatever capacity you may find yourself. I spoke on this passage before, a couple years ago, but today I want to look at it from a different perspective.
Before we read our main text, I recognize that Leviticus is one of those books that if you just sat down to read it, it would probably be, to most people, one of the most boring books of the Bible....because it has a lot of detailed instruction about the rules and regulations and the sacrifices....and it seems like a lot of repetition.
For this sacrifice you do this...and for the next you do this...and so on. There are a lot of minute details involved. And it is something that is foreign to us because the sacrificial system has long ago been done away with.
But the purpose of the book is very, very important to understand. The reason these priests were given such detailed instructions about the care of God's tabernacle and His people..."His church" so to speak....was so that they could be sure of God's continued presence with them.
The whole purpose of this book was to give them the guidelines that would establish them as a chosen people...a holy nation...to make them distinctive, different from everyone else. This would set them apart as representatives of the true and living God.
You see, God had approached them and established a covenant relationship. He made promises to them...and He said, "If you'll just do certain things...if you'll just obey me, then I'll take care of you. I'll see that all your needs are met...both physical and spiritual...everything you'll ever need will be taken care of.
But it was only as they did what God had commanded them that they could expect God to honor His part of the bargain. And that is where they failed so often. And that is where we are so much like the Israelites at times.
So often we think of God as fire insurance. We want God to save us...we want eternal life in heaven rather than to spend eternity in hell. But then we don't want to follow His commands and live as He desires us to. We expect Him to keep His end of the bargain even when we fail to keep ours.
Well, the book of Leviticus gave the Israelites the necessary standards for setting them apart as God's chosen people. And much of it applied to ordinary, everyday people...just like you and me. But there were also special requirements for leaders.
The priests were not only to carry out the functions of the church...they were to instruct the people in God's law. They had the added responsibility of not only living their lives in holiness...but to instruct others in how to live their lives so that they too could be pleasing in God's sight.
And that is one of the responsibilities of leadership...not only are we to live as examples but we are also to be teachers of the Word. We are to be able to instruct others in the ways of God so they too can grow to maturity in their faith.
There is one basic point that I want to get across to you from the book of Leviticus. There is a consistent emphasis in this book that is so important, and we need to understand this...as Christians, but especially as Christian leaders.
God can be approached only in certain prescribed ways. And if we don't approach God in the proper context, then disaster is going to be the result. In chapter 9, Aaron and his sons went through the process. They made the prescribed sacrifices...made themselves and their garments clean...and then they made sacrifice for the people.
And at the end of that chapter it talks of how the glory of the Lord appeared...and it appeared to all the people. Their offerings were consumed by fire from God's presence. And the glory of the Lord was there. And the people shouted and rejoiced...and they also fell on their faces...they had such reverence and awe at the power and majesty of God.
This was a tremendous time for them...they had truly experienced the presence of God in such a powerful way. It seemed like they were in the midst of a real revival. But just a verse away we come to chapter 10. In this chapter it makes it so clear how quickly God can come against those who refuse to follow the guidelines. Read Lev. 10:1 2
Here we see 2 men...leaders in the "church" who insisted on pursuing an independent course. They wanted to do things their own way. And this reminds me of something Mike Warnke said when telling of a time things weren't going well for him, and he went to God and asked why....why are things so difficult for me when I'm doing your will.
And God spoke to him and said, "You're not doing My will you're doing your own will in My name. And there is a very important distinction here. These 2 men were doing their own thing and attaching God's name to it.
God had set down some very specific rules for them, but they decided they could do it their own way and still achieve the same results. And because of this, what had just been a time of great happiness and excitement was now marred by the needless tragedy we read about.
They knew God was real...they knew His presence was there...and they understood the process they were to go through. They knew what was expected of them! They went in to do the work of the Lord...but they died! WHY? In v. 3 we have the answer (READ)
Nadab and Abihu offered up unauthorized fire before the Lord. But the important thing to understand here is that it wasn't just what they did that was the problem...although that was serious enough...but the thing that really was at the root of the problem was what they had become in their hearts! They had become strangers to God!
And that is a scary thought...because what happened to them spiritually happens to so many who are "working for the Lord" today. Nadab and Abihu took lightly what they were involved in. And it is so important for us to realize that we should never, never, ever take lightly the calling to which God has called us...regardless of what it may be.
There are 2 things I find about Nadab and Abihu that I want to talk about briefly, because the same temptations they fell to are still so very strong today in the church of Jesus Christ. The first of these is PRIDE!
These 2 men had a position that was very much respected...they were priests...the sons of Aaron...and people looked up to them. It was a great position of honor. But I think their problem wasn't so much pride in their position as it was in themselves.
Once they got their position, they thought, "Great. We've been called and set apart for this position...now we'll take it from here. And that's when they became strangers to God. They had their call but then they decided to go and do that job...their way!
They went in to offer the sacrifice of incense...which was not their job to do in the first place. Moses was in charge of the incense, and there was a certain way that the incense had to be mixed for it to be acceptable to God. But they took common incense and tried to pass it off as something holy. (And oh, how often we do this.......)
And then they used fire from the altar of sacrifice, where they sacrificed all the animals rather than taking fire from the altar of incense which was a perpetual fire...it never went out. Everything they did they did their own way...and it was a matter of pride.
They didn't take time to seek God...they didn't take the effort to get their wisdom and discernment from Him as to how to carry out their ministry or their lives. But before we get too judgmental on these guys...are we any different?
How much time do you S.S. teachers spend in prayer for your guidance for your lessons... or for your students...how many council members actually pray for God's leading and guidance for our council meetings. How many of you seek God's wisdom for your family in a way that you actually take the time to listen and wait for His instruction?
As I mentioned, in a few minutes we are going to install our new officers...the leaders of this church...the ones who will make the major decisions that will affect every one of you who attend this church. What kind of leaders will they be?
Stuart Brisco writes about one of his young colleagues who was officiating at the funeral of a war veteran. The dead man's military friends wanted to have a part in the service, so they asked the pastor to lead them down to the casket, stand with them for a solemn moment of remembrance, and then lead them out the side door.
The young pastor proceeded to do this, but unfortunately the effect was somewhat marred when he picked the wrong door. The result was that they marched with military precision into a broom closet, in full view of the mourners...and had to beat a hasty retreat.
This illustrates a cardinal rule or two. First, if you're going to lead, make sure you know where you're going. Second, if you're going to follow, make sure you are following someone who knows what he's doing!
We need to be...and we need to follow those who recognize just who is the "king of the jungle" ...who is the head of the church. It's the Lion of the tribe of Judah...it's Jesus. If we make Him the head, then we'll have no room for pride.
The second thing we see here in this passage of Scripture is contempt. Someone once said that familiarity breeds contempt...and there's a lot of truth to that statement. Contempt, according to Webster, means to disregard; scorn; disobedient to the rules.
Now, of course we wouldn't have any contempt for God, would we? But yet, how do we approach the house of God? Like Nadab and Abihu? I realize this is just a building...wood, glass other man made materials...but this is still a place where we come to enter the presence of God...supposedly.
Yet where is the reverence? For the most part we completely disregard the true purpose for which we're supposed to be here. How many of you entered this service with your hearts prepared and ready for worship...for an encounter with a living God? What was actually going through your mind as you came here this morning?
Maybe the argument you had with your spouse or your kids this morning...or who will win the game later today and play the Steelers next week...or what so and so said about you know who...
How many teachers came to church this morning excited about the opportunity to bring forth the living Word to your students? I remember when I first got saved I was one fired up Christian. I didn't just get religion...I got saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Spirit.
I was full of excitement, enthusiasm...wanted nothing more than to be in God's presence. I would sing in the Spirit and pray in the Spirit sometimes for hours on end...in church, at home, on my motorcycle (hands in the air in praise to God)
But as time went by...something was lost...missing. Along with that went much of my enthusiasm and fire. Some say I was just more mature in my walk...but that wasn't it at all. Nadab and Abihu seemed to have fallen into the same kind of pattern.
After a while they no longer needed to hear from God cause they'd already "been there and done that." They thought they could do their work as they saw fit. They thought that even with their lax attitude they could carry on their ministry and still be pleasing to God.
It's important to note that the incense they burned was to be offered by only one priest...and yet these two guys went in together. I guess they heard the old adage that there's safety in numbers. But, when you do something wrong and you do it by yourself, there's nobody else to blame it on or to share the burden of guilt...
But when you can get someone else that's willing to go along with you, or that's in agreement with you...there seems to be some kind of safety in that. You can say, "We determined that it was acceptable" ...and the more people you can get to go along with what you want to do, the better you feel and the easier it is to do things. But that doesn't necessarily make it right!
Nadab and Abihu did it wrong from the very beginning. They went in together. And in the original languages it says they snatched up their censers in a light and careless way. And what it simply means is that they didn't have a seriousness about what they were doing.
But again...how do we approach our ministries and areas of responsibilities? Often we start out okay...but all to quickly the excitement wears off and familiarity begins to breed contempt. Enthusiasm turns to monotony and soon we become just like these 2....we do it our own way...anyway we can to get it over with or to get by.
Look again to verse 3 (READ) Aaron remained silent! He knew his sons had done wrong...but they were still his sons, and he loved them. But in verses 6 7 we find that he was forbidden to mourn for them. There was to be no expression of grief...because it would appear that they were challenging in some way the execution of God's judgment on these men.
That sounds very strong...but the point is this. Even in a time of casualty or disaster, the people of God have to set an example of strict obedience to the will of God. No matter what their personal feelings might be...nothing must be allowed to interfere with the work and ministry of God.
In fulfilling God's will, Jesus Himself would allow no personal considerations of any kind to stand in the way of His redemptive work on Calvary. And He becomes the model for us to look at.
Now, this may seem like a somewhat negative message so far. But I simply want to help you understand God's holiness...and to understand the seriousness of our calling. Whether it is to a position of leadership or just to live a life that is a testimony to the lost and dying around us...we have responsibilities.
We have the responsibility to share our faith; ...to our church to be faithful in our attendance.....with our tithes and offerings.......to be faithful in prayer, lifting up the leadership of the church and the nation.
I think we need to take the time to examine ourselves...to find out where we truly stand with God. What is your present level of consecration? What is your present level of commitment?
A college man walked into a photography studio with a framed picture of his girlfriend that he wanted duplicated. And this involved removing it from the frame. When the studio owner was taking it out of the frame, he noticed an inscription on the back of the picture. This is what it said:
"My dearest Tom, I love you with all my heart. I love you more and more each day. I will love you forever and ever. I am yours for all eternity." And it was signed, "Diane." But then it contained a P.S. which said, "If we ever break up, I want this picture back."
Is there a P.S. in your relationship with Christ? Romans 16...list of names no one knows...listed because faithful. My prayer is that your name will be listed in a book of those who were faithful to God...The Lamb's Book of Life. Be sure today!
