Sabbath: Crisis of Leadership
Image © Pacific Press
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Isa: 6:1-4, Isa: 6:5-7, Isa: 6:8, Isa: 6:9-13.
Memory Text: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1).
When asked by one of his disciples about the ingredients of good government, Confucius answered: “ ‘Sufficient food, sufficient weapons, and the confidence of the common people.’
‘But,’ asked the disciple, ‘suppose you had no choice but to dispense with one of those three, which would you forego?’
‘Weapons,’ said Confucius.
His disciple persisted: ‘Suppose you were then forced to dispense with one of the two that are left, which would you forego?’
Replied Confucius, ‘Food. For from of old, hunger has been the lot of all men, but a people that no longer trusts its rulers is lost indeed.’ ” — Edited by Michael P. Green, 1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 1989), p. 215.
People do, indeed, want strong, trustworthy leadership. When a soldier was signing up for a second term of duty, the army recruiter asked why he wanted to re-enlist. “I tried civilian life,” he said, “but nobody is in charge out there.”
This week, we will look at Judah’s crisis of leadership and the sad results that followed.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, January 9.
(40)
As a preliminary thought bubble for this week's lesson it is worth considering just who our leaders are. In our modern world it is typically not those who wear the title, "leader" but rather those who hold our attention. The thought makers and shapers are those who control the media. Last century it was those who controlled conventional media likes newspapers, radio and TV. Currently there is a shift to social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Even in our church circles we are finding that the elected leadership is often coming second to church media personalities when it comes to making and shaping our thinking.
The lesson from Isaiah should be studied against this modern background. Are their lessons that we can apply today? Judah's leadership fell in a big heap around 3000 years ago. Today we have a very different relationship to the captains and kings of our society. What are the big picture principles we can apply today?
Is this where we stand:
thanks for your commentary. Isaiah demonstrates for Disciples today the characteristics of leadership.
Bro Maurice, thank you. Your comments are always on point!
Now the world is looking for leaders to lead them. As you know, the world and the church disagree on the characteristics of being a great leader. Jesus gave us the greatest example of being a great leader.
In Philippians 2: 5 - 8,
Jesus taught us that being a leader means to suffer or sacrifice for the good of His fold. This is the type of leaders that we need in our churches. We have too many people who come to church to perform instead of leading by examples. Don't just tell people to love God but also show them by our actions. As church leaders, we need to be active in every aspect in the church. For example, if the deacons didn't vacuum the church, the pastor or the elders can vacuum the church.
As the beginning of the year, let us pray for our church leaders. As disciples, we are leaders in the world for Jesus. We need to lead the world to Jesus. How? In John 13:35, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Let us use love to lead people to Christ. Happy Sabbath and Happy New Year family.
Why in the world would a Sabbath lesson be the words of Confucius ? Either this an attempt to connect with Seven Day Adventists in China or was this a last minute, post New Year's Eve, lesson? I am disappointed. The words of a Sabbath lesson should be focused on the words of the bible, God or Jesus. Nobody, should be allowed to take the place of the Holy Ones in teaching. The bible is clear on the consequences of this kind of instruction.
Take the name of the author out and look at the message. Does it give you something to think about? The lesson author is not promoting Confucian philosophy. He is simply making a point about how others see leadership. How does it inform our view of leadership?
I agree Judith,
When an experience or lesson is used to give deeper understanding of a Spiritual principle, it’s often helpful.
When the daily Spiritual lesson is based on the words of a well known worldly Philosopher, it’s not the best.
In these days when it’s vital to be able to discern between the true and the false, to be able to tell human philosophy from Divine Principle,
I believe leading with Divine Principle is our only safety.
Nanci, did you read the message or only the name of the author? God uses lots of different messengers at times. He even used a donkey to teach Balaam a few home truths.
I think the lesson authors want us to think about the issues of leadership, not just recite Bible texts.
The big question the authors (and Confucius) are asking is: What engenders trust in our leaders? In the Christian context, that is a very valid question. And we can answer that from the Bible!
Yes brother Ashton, I read the entire Sabbath daily lesson.
Did you read my entire comment? Especially the first sentence?
I believe it’s not a sin to use or quote from a source other than the Bible, but the focus of our study is to lead us into a deeper familiarity, knowledge and understanding of God through the scriptures.
That is best achieved in my experience as my mind and thoughts brought into closer connection with the Word of God.
God’s Word isn’t lacking so that principles revealed must be explained (by focusing) on worldly thought. At best, short examples using worldly thought may be used so there might be better understanding.
The central focus, if we are Christ’s, to be is on the Word of God.
I agree, Nancy! The Scriptures are a treasure trough containing all the Wisdom a Christian might seek to apply to their lives.
There is no better spiritual light than the Light given to us through the Biblical Scriptures; it is composed and compiled with the focus to benefit our Salvation.
If we gather wisdom and knowledge outside of this perview, we can get stranded on shallow ground, using wisdom to benefit this life only.
Proverbs, Psalms and Christ's parables are full of spiritual Wisdom which can be used as examples to foster quasi 'experienced" spiritual understanding to lighten our path home.
The writings of C.S. Lewis are part of this same effort to suplant, or simplify, the direct and saving words of God.
I agree with you Maurice,
When I went back and read the introduction to this quarter. There is a focus on the words of the Bible, of the introduction and every day of the lesson. We can see by last Sabbath with the Irish cows and the little boy illustration that we need a Shepherd(relationship with Christ). This week the Sabbath illustration or message if you prefer, sets us thinking of a contrast of what Uzziah should have followed through with and what he failed to follow through with. I can't wait till next Sabbaths thought motivating message, seems to be a pattern of this quarter. Which is good.
When I read the quote from Confucius the thought that struck me was that I could use this to start a conversation with an unbeliever, talk about leaders in general and then point out that even in the history of the children of Israel the result of good and bad leaders. Several points could be discussed like the Bible doesn't hide the faults of leaders, or we could discuss how the LORD deals with erring leaders or the value of standards in society.
However I agree we should be discerning about what we read & hear and compare it with the Word of the LORD like the Bereans did with what they heard from Paul Acts 17:11 before believing it.
The Apostle Paul is likely the greatest and best user of the works of worldly philosophers, witness his use of the ancient Greek philosophers and their artifacts in his sermon to the Athenians.
The Lord himself used murderers, despots and barbarians to fulfill some of his objectives. Eg, King David, Cyrus and Nebuchadnezzar, the various rulers of the Assyrian empire.
One finds, even among the so-called and presumed tainted, words of wisdom or words expressed in such a manner that they can be used wisely by the believer.
All truth comes from God and He can speak truth through people that don't believe in Him. We also don't know which of these "worldly philosophers" were following God to the best of their knowledge and perhaps some of them will be in Heaven. I leave that to God to judge.
Also, keep in mind that Paul quoted pagan philosophers in the Bible at least twice.
However, the quote is not meant to promote a certain teaching. It is meant to engage the reader in the lesson and get them thinking about the topic. In that sense, it was very effective. As a Sabbath school teacher, I like to start my lesson with an opening thought question for the same reason. Pastors also use illustrations in their sermons the same way. I feel it's effective.
Crisis of Leadership
'But the dangers from without, overwhelming though they seemed, were not so serious as the dangers from within. It was the perversity of his people that brought to the Lord’s servant the greatest perplexity and the deepest depression. By their apostasy and rebellion those who should have been standing as light bearers among the nations were inviting the judgments of God. Many of the evils which were hastening the swift destruction of the northern kingdom, and which had recently been denounced in unmistakable terms by Hosea and Amos, were fast corrupting the kingdom of Judah. {PK 305.3}
The outlook was particularly discouraging as regards the social conditions of the people. In their desire for gain, men were adding house to house and field to field. See Isaiah 5:8. Justice was perverted, and no pity was shown the poor. Of these evils God declared, “The spoil of the poor is in your houses.” “Ye beat My people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor.” Isaiah 3:14, 15. Even the magistrates, whose duty it was to protect the helpless, turned a deaf ear to the cries of the poor and needy, the widows and the fatherless. See Isaiah 10:1, 2. {PK 306.1}
Is our danger from within or without?
I'm posting this as a concerned SS class teacher while wondering and seeking feedback ...
I see the SS lesson as not being solely instructional, as in providing a learning experience, but also as a means of challenging the SS class members with respect to their daily walk with the Lord, ie, applying to one's life experience the lesson/s extracted from the lesson study.
In short, to conclude the lesson study, there should be one or more key points that apply the objective of the lesson study or that challenge the class members to consider their Christian experience (such challenge/application would/should be equally applicable to the class teacher).
Hello, Eliot - you make a valuable observation. Our learning cannot remain in our head, it needs to move to the heart, the ears, the eyes, the feet and the hands. Truly learning spiritual truths is through application when the truth by faith is put into practice , It would be edifying for the student to provide a few key-points in conclusion to high-light the lesson. Since you noticed their absence, I trust that you will be given spiritual insight to provide them to your class!
I agree Eliot. The student comes to learn, not to teach.
Romans 10:14 "How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?"
It is unfortunate that we do not recognise how important it is to pray for our church leadership. For the church of God to fulfil its mandate, it must have good leadership. We are informed on numerous occasions that whenever the Children of Israel had good leaders who feared God, the nation prospered and there was peace and joy in the land.
Many of us have seen the statistics about the stresses pastors deal with as part of their call to serve God and church. But what do we do about it? How do we tangibly help our pastors in their calling? How do we practically guard our church family from unnecessary heart breaks?
Our pastors and leaders need prayer support to help them stay the course because the work of saving souls is never done!
“Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith”( Hebrews 13:7)
The most comforting aspect of our relationship with the heavenly Father is that He has provided the unassailable, uncompromising, unbiased, trustworthy, reliable leadership of the Holy Spirit to guide us along the way of our Salvation. No more need to rely on the leadership of fallen man; Christ Jesus has asked to Father to give us a new Comforter, a new leader “that he may abide with you for ever” – John14:15-19KJV.
Isaiah the prophet was cleansed of iniquity and his sin purged before his mouth could speak the Truth from God. Uncleansed leaders speak from their own heart and mind, but Isaiah spoke the Truth straight from the heart and mind of God the Father of mankind.
Is it reasonable to expect that truth could/should be told from unclean lips? No! We are admonished to always pray for our leaders, that they can receive with open eyes and ears the voice of God first before they make decisions which impact our lives. All people in leadership need our prayers - dads, moms, teachers, judges, administrators - the list is long! Once corruption has reached the institutions of law, justice, and religion, a people have truly lost leadership.
Our physical welfare is in the hands of society’s leaders, but our spiritual welfare is our responsibility and rests in the hands of our Father. When His Son, our Savior, departed, He told us to seek and receive guidance through the Holy Spirit in His place - John16:7-16KJV.
This is now the only conduit/lifeline which can judge/circumvent/make of no effect the leaven of corruption which permiates all mankind’s institutions and prevent it from reaching our hearts and minds.
Praise God for His Faithfulness in all our time of trouble!
Max De Pree, CEO of a profitable Fortune 500 company, left us with this great quote about leadership: “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor. That sums up the progress of an artful leader.”
The leader defines reality. God is the reality or self is the reality. When God is the reality the leader is a servant. When self is the reality the leader is a tyrant.
I was thinking of 2 Biblical kings who contrast these realities. It's interesting to read their words in 2 Chronicles 10 and Psalm 86. When Israel went to their new king Rehoboam asking for mercy he answered "My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions." (2 Chron 10:11). It's shocking that Rehoboam's grandfather was King David! Now listen to the beginning of David's humble prayer, "Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God (Ps. 86:1-2).
Whose name and legacy have most people even today heard of, Rehoboam or David? Which king united Israel and which divided it? What happened between the time of David and the time of Rehoboam? Solomon. David's son and Rehoboam's father, most known for his fabulous wealth and wisdom, turned from God to worship other things. One leader - in the boardroom, in public office, in the community, in the home, in friendships, at work - can change the course of history, can usher in spiritual decline or spiritual health.