I am so surprised that the " Leadership Course" actually began during the days of Moses in the bible and it was approved by God.
In fact, when God created the Heavens and the Earth He only appointed Directors and Managers to take care of His properties, but no training was conducted to empower them or to boost their knowledge pertaining "Leadership Skills".
In todays's world, most Christians in Leadership positions hardly follow God's principles on how to run their companies, churches, NGOs etc.
Let's look how God worked with His earthly Directors and Managers, and how they responded to God's orders.
Adam was the first man to be appointed the Earthly General Director to manage God's properties. Genesis 2:15 "Then the Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and GUARD it". Adam had a priviledge of reporting directly to his Master, God.
God gave Adam certain orders concerning His properties. He also set binding laws within His company for the reasons well known to Him (Genesis 2:16-17) "He said to him 'You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day.'
God, The Master trusted His employee Adam from the first day and gave him full responsibilities of his property. Even the naming of the animals was Adam's responsibility (Genesis 2:20 'So the man NAMED all the birds and all the animals, but not one of them was a suitable companion to help him.)
God did not belittled His employee like most of our Earthly Christian Leaders do to their employees. God did not look where His employee came from; the dust (Genesis 2:7 'Then the Lord God took some SOIL from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostril and the man began to live'). Adam was taken from DIRT and placed in a higher position and was trusted for his position and was given respect. What a Good Master Our God is. He is not judgemental.
One thing though, that I fail to understand; God did not offer His employee some Leadership trainings or Management skills, He entrusted Adam based on his qualities. TRUST is one quality I picked up. He trusted him without any doubt.
I just hope as Earthly Leaders we could learn something on how God' interacted with his earthly employees.
Adam had his weaknesses as an human being. He easily fell into temptation and could not communicate well (was unable to respond to direct questions). He could not take responsibilities to what he has done wrong.
Lord help me get this right, as it is directed to me, Solomon. Admiting to my mistakes and taking full responsibilities.
Genesis 3:11-12, "who told you that you were naked?" God asked. "Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?"
Carefully read Adam's response in verse 12, "The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate."
Intead of responding to God's questions, he quickly pushesd the blame to his Master for the woman in his life; and also pushed the blame to the woman for his wrong actions. He forgot that the law was told to him directly by God.
That is how we react as leaders who have failed on the way We run away from our actions and push the blame to others.
"Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?'
"The WOMAN, YOU (GOD) put here with me gave me the fruit and I ate it."
If he was writing an exam paper, Adam could have failed.
God worked with a number of men whom He appointed in top positions based on His trust in them.
Read the story of the Obedient Noah in Genesis 6:14 "Build a boat for yourself out of good timber; make some rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out.'"
Read verse 19-20 "Take into the boat with you a male and a female of every kind of animal and every kind of bird, in order to keep them alive." Verse 21 "Take along all kinds of food for you and for them."
For generations to live after the floods, God put his trust on Noah; but no Leadership training he received to manage well God's property. He was only given orders. Thank God he made it through.
Abraham was one man who worked closely with God. From Abraham, God raised His Nation. Abraham lived by God's commands and was faithful to Him. Genesis 22: 8 and 12 "Abraham answered, 'God Himself will provide one.' and the two of them walked on together.' Verse 12, "Don't hurt the boy or do anything to him," He said. "Now I know that you honour and obey God, because you have not kept back your only son from him."
What I like the most about him, he was able to question his Master, God on issues that looked unfair to him. Genesis 18:23-32 "Abraham aproached the Lord and asked, Are you really going to destroy the innocent with the guilty? If there are fifty innocent people in the city, will you destroy the whole city? Won't you spare it inorder to save the fifty? surely you won't kill the innocent with the guilty. That is impossible! You can't do that. If you did, the innocent will be punished along with the guilty. That is impossible. The judge of all the earth has to act justly."
The Lord answered, "If I find fifty innocent people in Sodom, I will spare the whole city for their sake."
Abraham spoke again: "Please forgive my boldness in continuing to speak to you, Lord. I am only a man and have no rights to say anything. But perhaps there will be only forty five innocent people instead of fifty. Will you destroy the whole city because the are five too few?"
The Lord answered, "I will not destroy the city if I find fiorty five innocent people."
Abraham spoke again: "Perhaps there will be only forty."
He replied, "I will not destroy it if there are forty."
Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, Lord, but I must speak again. What if there are only thirty?"
He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty."
Abraham said, "Please forgive my boldness in continuing to speak to you, Lord. Suppose that only twenty are found?"
He said, "I will not destroy the city if I find twenty."
Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, Lord, and I will speak just once more. What if only ten are found?"
He said, "I will not destroy it if there are ten."
God was patient with His employee and would attend to his concerns until he (Abraham) was satisfied. God gave him values despite that he was an earthly being. As Christian Leaders we fail to immitate God. We use the same bible to ill treat our subjects and force them to fall into temptaions and to carry our blames.
I'm picking on few man God appointed as his Directors and Managers. We have Isaac and his son Jacob; and we have Lot, but I'm not going to talk about them.
Let's look at Joseph's Leadrship. First and for most; Joseph was a man of dreams; a man of visions. Joseph had to go through challenges to make it in life. His talents were not visible to human beings. He was judged wrongly by family members; people on the streets took him for granted and sold him for quick cash as a waste. The justice sytem also falsely accused him, but he waited patiently for the right time and he manifested.
God moved Joseph from humbleness to a top position. His personal qualities blossom. Through him, the world was able to survive famine, through him, Egypt's economy was developed and it was through him that God's Chosen nation survived the hunger. Read Genesis 37,39,40,41,42,43, 44,45,46,47,48,49,50. (The times and life of Joseph). His leadership training was based on challenges he went through.
Moses is one man I like. He had God given Leadership qualities yet he did not stop learning from his fellow earthly beings. No wonder he was the first man to attend a leadership course though he had a priviledge to speak directlty with his Master, God.
Exodus 18:13-26 "One day Moses was settling disputes among the people, and he was kept busy from morning till night.When Jethro saw everything that Moses had to do, he asked, 'What is all this that you are doing for the people? why are you doing this all alone, with people standing here from morning till night to consult?' Moses answered, 'I must do this because the people come to me to learn God's will. When two people have a dispute, they come to me, and I decide which one of them is right, and I tell them God's commands and laws.'"
"Then Jethro said, 'YOU ARE NOT DOING IT THE RIGHT WAY. You will wear yourself out and these people as well. This is too much for you to do alone. Now let me give you some good advice, and God will be with you. It is right for you to represent the people before God and bring their disputes to him. You shoulsd teach them God's commands and what they should do. But in addition, you should choose some capable men and appoint them as leaders of the people: leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. They must be God fearing men who can be TRUSTED and who cannot be bribed. Let them serve as judges for the people on permanent basis. They can bring all the difficult cases to you, but they themselves can decide all the smaller disputes. That will make it easier for you, as they share your burden. If you do this, as God commands, you will not wear yourself out, and all these people can go home with their disputes settled.'"
Verse 24-25, "MOSES TOOK JETHRO'S ADVICE AND CHOSE CAPABLE MEN FROM AMONG ALL THE ISRAELITES. HE APPOINTED THEM AS LEADERS OF THOUSANDS, HUNDREDS, FIFTIES AND TENS."
Moses after his training, he immediately implemented the principle of leadership to run God's work properly. He was not a selfish and self centered man like most of our christian leaders. He wanted to see God's work being of great success. For him to do that, he had to work with some of the people he TRUSTED.
He swallowed his pride and took his lessons very serious. He had been in leadership for a while, but he needed more skills. Rememeber; he is the one who led the Israelites out of Egypt; He came face to face with the king of Egypt; He consulted with God to address the Israelites concerns; He directly took actions against those who worshiped a calf god; He perfomed miracles and wonders; He begged from God the forgiveness of the wrong the people had committed against Him; Yet he took the lessons given to him by Jethro very serious. What a leader Moses was. He was honest to his Master, God and to the people he served. He kept no secrete to the people from God, and to God from the people. He respected his assistant, Aaron; He respected his elder Jethro and the elders of Israel; He respected the people and feared God. He could not betray the people even when God was angry with them and would stand as a sacrifice on their behalf. He always reminded God about his promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
For sure,our leaders don't have those qualities Moses had. They are full of pride and abusive. Let these be a lesson to everyone in leadership.
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