Whether one supports a leader who stumbles on stairs and has difficulty speaking or someone who makes brash public comments and has bright-colored hair, we need to look deeper than the surface manifestations of a person. That deeper look will require the guidance of the Spirit because the public displays of a person’s unique personality are not the real test. The results that come from a person’s leadership choices are the only true test.
This is not a test limited to the realm of politics. It is a test that holds true for the leadership we choose to follow within the Church. Leadership is not a popularity contest, nor does it employ perfect people. It is about upholding truth for the betterment of those they lead.
The book of Proverbs provides us with guidance about how to live our lives. It also offers wisdom for the leaders who lead us in the public square. To ignore these truths will be to our peril leaving us to make choices based on the biases we have been offered by our favorite news source or by our current list of friends and associates who demand a version of groupthink for those relationships to continue. That kind of information is polluted by bias and only provides surface information that appeals to its followers, not from results.
Choosing a leader requires that we find someone who is a truth seeker, not someone who plays to the sway of public opinion. Scripture defines a wise person as someone who follows the truth expressed in Scripture. Unimagined trouble and difficulty await those who have a cavalier approach to violating God’s truth, “People who wink at wrong cause trouble” (Proverbs 10:10).
Currently, our nation is in a place of deepening trouble as are some expressions of the Church. We were led to this place by not making a deeper unbiased investigation of what’s happening and who is leading us.
The Kingdom of God will always increase no matter the current status of our nation or who is leading us. The King of Kings and the Lord of lords is our ultimate leader.
However, we are not immune from collapse. “Without wise leadership, a nation falls” (11:14). To have wisdom at the helm of our politics is a safeguard. That safeguard will never be provided by a perfect person. It will create an environment where we will suffer less and it will create a place where we can all prosper. It will be a place where sin is not winked at and given an increasingly visible place of influence in our lives. It will uphold what is good and will require its leaders to do the same.
Amen! President Trump 2024 – look at his track record, no matter what MSM did/does to smear him using AI in full effect, look at his accomplishments, he brokered peace in the Middle East via the Abraham Accords, first President to not start a war, brought tax cuts, cheap groceries/gas, brought back “Merry Christmas.” Just to name a few all while being under complete attack by the left the entire time! God has humbled this man, but I’ll take “mean tweets” and cheap gas ANYDAY. Jesus and Trump 2024 🇺🇸🦅
God spoke through Moses to Israel that “Joshua would CAUSE Israel to possess their inheritance.” He noted that the victories against Og and Sihon (taking 60 walled cities and destroying his army) were evidence that the Lord would work with Joshua to defeat All of the Kingdoms occupying the land. Experience, not mere proclamation, develops courage to obey and lead.
Often, we comfort ourselves by PASSIVELY recounting what the Lord has provided in Christ, but tend to ignore OUR responsibility (2 Peter 1 ) to “add to your faith……..” so that “if we POSSESS these qualities we will neither be ineffective nor unfruitful.”
Leaders CAUSE followers to take experiential steps that enable them to POSSESS their inheritance.
We should choose leaders of that ilk, rather than those who offer free benefits and comfort in mediocre living.