Monday: Evil in the Sight of the Lord
Look at the following texts. What do they tell us about these leaders and their influence over the people they ruled?
Image © Jeff Preston at Goodsalt.com
It is a sobering thought to many of us who hold positions of leadership in any capacity that our leadership has the potential to bring people down or up spiritually. And, in all the cases here, the effect was devastatingly negative.
More specifically, our character and dedication to Christ make a difference to those with whom we interact. Spiritual leaders influence others, either toward God if they themselves seek God, or toward evil if they do not.
In contrast to what we have seen today, the fact that Ezra and Nehemiah had a strong relationship with God is undeniable. The amount of fasting and praying that is recorded in these books about Ezra and Nehemiah exceeds what the Bible reports for other great leaders. The nation was walking with God under their leadership, even if everything wasn’t perfect. Their direction in life was toward God. On the other hand, the fact that there were those who were not impacted or changed by the influences of Ezra and Nehemiah testifies that no one else’s faith but our own ultimately makes the difference for us. After all, look at the people who had the chance to see Jesus in the flesh, to hear Him preach, and even to witness or hear about His miracles, and yet who in the end rejected Him. Yes, we have a role to play, whatever our position in life is, and we can be an influence for good or evil. But in the end, each person will have to answer for himself or herself before God.
| Think about the people in your own sphere of influence. What are ways you could improve your influence? |
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There are two forms of evil in leadership that may need to be considered:
1. There are those who see leadership as a position of privilege and who seek to gather power, wealth and subservience to themselves for their own selfish reasons.
2. Some leaders are quite sincere in their leadership but carry it out in a way that is unchristian. This second form of leadership is perhaps the more difficult to deal with.
When I was a young teacher, I was quite strong on enforcing Christian lifestyle on the young people in my sphere of influence and it took me some little time to work out that enforcement simply did not work. The end does not justify the means.
It is easy to criticise those who are doing evil, but we need to be careful that in condemning others we overlook the evil in our own lives that is masked by good intentions. I think that is why Jesus talks about "beams and motes", or in modern language, "huge planks and specks of dust"!
1Kings 14:24 - there were also "perverted" people in the land - these were people who practiced perverted forms of sex.
It is interesting to find that one of the most common ways that people rebelled against the LORD was in terms of their sexual preferences.
The real perversion of sex is when it is regarded as social currency, or entertainment, rather than the intimate expression of love between two people committed to one another.
God explains in the Bible what sexual perversion is. I pray that our leaders will have the boldness of Ezra and Nehemiah and the faith of Isaiah to address this issue, since God clearly resents it.
Eliaship brings Tobiah enemy of Israel into the sanctuary and gives him the storehouse.
Essentially giving him the key to the wealth of the worship service in Israel.
This led the people not to turn in their tithes and offering and fault on their promises to serve God.
The domino effect Levites dedicated to the temple service had to go work in the land.
One man's bad decision led the nation to apostate against God.
"Ghandi replied, “Oh, I don’t reject your Christ. I love your Christ. It’s just that so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
Apparently Ghandi’s rejection of Christianity grew out of an incident that happened when he was a young man practicing law in South Africa. He had become attracted to the Christian faith, had studied the Bible and the teachings of Jesus, and was seriously exploring becoming a Christian. And so he decided to attend a church service. As he came up the steps of the large church where he intended to go, a white South African elder of the church barred his way at the door. “Where do you think you’re going, kaffir?” the man asked Ghandi in a belligerent tone of voice.
Ghandi replied, “I’d like to attend worship here.”
The church elder snarled at him, “There’s no room for Kaffirs in this church. Get out of here or I’ll have my assistants throw you down the steps.”
From that moment, Ghandi said, he decided to adopt what good he found in Christianity, but would never again consider becoming a Christian if it meant being part of the church.
Source: information reported at pursuingchrist.com"
https://storiesforpreaching.com/why-ghandi-didnt-become-a-christian/
Why Ghandi Didn’t Become a Christian | Stories for Preaching
Mahatma Gandhi is one of the most respected leaders of modern history. A Hindu, Ghandi nevertheless admired Jesus and often quoted from the Sermon on the Mount.
storiesforpreaching.com
Can you imagine the difference it would have made in India and the world.
"There are many who need the ministration of loving Christian hearts. Many have gone down to ruin who might have been saved if their neighbors, common men and women, had put forth personal effort for them. Many are waiting to be personally addressed. In the very family, the neighborhood, the town, where we live, there is work for us to do as missionaries for Christ. If we are Christians, this work will be our delight. "
Desire of Ages Page 141
We are not just another name brand to be tried by the people.
It says in the text 1 kings 15:26, 34 that Nadab wasn't a good king for he worshipped many idols and led the (all) people of Israel into sin. That's how great a leader's influence can get to leading the entire nation into sin
It also says he followed bad influence from Jeroboam. You see leaders can also influence other leaders positively or negatively. Does it happen to us today?