Wanted: Leadership

April 16, 2009

Today's Reading: Judges 1-2 and 1 Corinthians 3

Since we are now starting the book of Judges, I’m sure you are probably wondering why Israel had to go through this phase. I mean, why is it that no successor to Joshua was ever raised up, as Joshua was raised up during Moses’ time? Did Joshua just “never get around to it”. Quite a costly mistake if that was the case.

Maybe he (and I am talking up either God or Joshua here) did not think the people needed a leader. After all, how much does America need a leader. I’ve lived through several administrations, and each one feels the same. None of them have had to deal with a real great war in over half a century. No wonder why Tom Brokaw calls the World War II generation “The Greatest Generation”.

Perhaps America has experience so much relative stability in the past few decades that no real leadership is required, but only a public servant whose main duty is to make certain that the country remains as stable as the last term.

This is not to bash on the presidency, but to illustrate that a country who has “peace over the land”, as it was at the end of Joshua’s days, does not really need a ruler per se. I suppose in the transitional times of Moses leading the people out of Egypt and Joshua conquering the lands on the other side of the Jericho, the Israelites needed to see one of their own leading.

However, I believe that the original plan from the beginning (and I am talking Eden here) was to have God rule. He was supposed to be the leader, not a judge, and most certainly not a king.

I believe that God is probably pretty upset that we don’t really have a true Theocracy in this country. I would imagine that God feels a lot like Paul when he talks about why he has to give “spiritual milk” to the Corinthians.

Paul believed that the Corinthians should be past the point of spiritual milk, that there is some growth program of Christianity that the Corinthians need to get with.

So why aren’t we there yet? Part of it is this belief that we are in control of our life, that we are the “master of our fate”, like a certain poet once said.

No, God is in control, and always is. The sooner we will submit to that, the happier that we will be.