Joshua and Judges: The doctrine of leadership part 19 - Essential qualities of leadership: Discipline, vision, wisdom, courage.

Title: Joshua and Judges: The doctrine of leadership part 19 - Essential qualities of leadership: Discipline, vision, wisdom, courage.

 

Announcements / opening prayer:  

 

 

7. Essential qualities of leadership.

 

A. Discipline: He is not slothful, lazy, or disorganized. He is able to lay aside play when it is time to work, daydreaming when it is time to pray, procrastination when it is time to do the unpleasant.

 

Discipline comes to the believer who has given over all areas of his life to the Holy Spirit in walking with Him.

 

GAL 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is… self-control [temperance]

 

2PE 1:5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply [epichoregeo: producer who supplied the needs of the chorus] moral excellence [arete: virtue], and in your moral excellence, knowledge;

 

God is your epichoregeo, supplying you with everything you need to produce His virtue in your life.

 

2PE 1:6 and in your knowledge, self-control [same word as GAL 5:23], and in your self-control, perseverance [hupomone], and in your perseverance, godliness;

 

2PE 1:7 and in your godliness [fully devoted], brotherly kindness [philedelphia], and in your brotherly kindness, love.

 

2PE 1:8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

The production of fruit is the end game, for by it the Father is glorified.

 

2PE 1:9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted [can't see past his own nose], having forgotten his purification from his former sins [forgotten who he is as a new creature in Christ].

 

2PE 1:10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;

 

2PE 1:11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

 

The man of leadership will work while others waste time, study while others sleep, pray while others daydream. Slothful habits are overcome, whether in thought, deed, or dress. He will without reluctance undertake the unpleasant task that others avoid or the hidden duty that others evade because it wins no public applause. As the Spirit fills his life, he learns not to shrink from the difficult situations or retreat from the hard-edged people. He will kindly and courageously administer rebuke when that is called for and he will exercise the necessary discipline when the interests of the Lord's work demand it. He will not procrastinate, but will prefer to dispatch the hardest tasks first.

 

B. Vision: He sees the path before him and the objective of God for that path.

 

When Moses was a high ranking Egyptian official he was able to see the path that God had set before him and that it was far more valuable than the treasures of Egypt.

 

HEB 11:24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;

 

HEB 11:25 choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin;

 

HEB 11:26 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.

 

HEB 11:27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen [or "seeing the invisible].

 

The leader must see where he is going, therefore he must be able to see the plan of God for his life. He doesn't have to see every detail, but just enough to get moving in the right direction.

 

Vision comes by faith in the word of God and application of that word to life, by which the way forward is seen by faith.

 

Vision includes optimism and hope. The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.

 

Caution has its place and so decisions should not be hasty, but being overly cautious can cause a leader not to move when he should.

 

There are lessons to be learned from the past and these lessons can sometimes give us caution, but the new situations are not carbon copies of the past ones. A leader must move forward when he sees an open door.

 

Vision leads to venture, and history is on the side of venturesome faith.

 

Paul's missionary journeys were venturesome indeed.

 

It is the ministry of God the Holy Spirit that reveals the path to travel:

 

ACT 13:2

And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.

 

While there will not be an audible call from the Spirit as in this case, faith in the Spirit to lead and reveal will definitely show the leader the way in which he should go.

 

C. Wisdom: the power of judging rightly and following the soundest course of action, based on knowledge, experience, understanding, etc.; good judgment; sagacity (discernment).

 

In scripture it is the right judgment concerning spiritual and moral truth. It is knowledge applied to life and circumstances. Scripture that is only memorized is not wisdom and in fact knowledge of scripture only can produce arrogance and therefore stupidity.

 

If knowledge is the accumulation of facts, and intelligence the development of reason, then wisdom is heavenly discernment. [Chambers]

 

More than knowledge, wisdom is the right application of knowledge in moral and spiritual matters, in handling dilemmas, in negotiating complex relationships.

 

Both knowledge and wisdom come by means of the Holy Spirit, first in teaching you and then in giving you direction in applying it.

 

Wisdom gives a leader balance and helps to avoid eccentricity and extravagance.

 

D. Decision: When all the facts are in, swift and clear decision is the mark of a true leader. A visionary may see, but a leader must decide.