Carrying on with the Exodus theme of last month’s blog, let’s learn something else from our good friend Moses.
Moses was perhaps the most reluctant leader on the face of the planet. (Besides maybe Gideon?…that’s up for debate). Moses literally stood in front of the very Presence of God as He performed miracles at the burning bush, and argued about his inadequacy and made excuses. Not a good look. (Though I think most of us would reluctantly admit we’ve acted just like Moses a time or two.)
But yet, when Moses surrendered to God, we see him begin to develop into a powerful leader. The more time he spent in the Presence of God, the more he grew in his leadership abilities. He began to look a lot less like the scared shepherd and a lot more like a confident, strong leader.
I think it’s fitting that as we watch Moses’ journey of leadership growth, we see him embody the very heartbeat of Christian leadership during one of the most amazing events in history.
“On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.” Exodus 19:17
“Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God.” Not sure we could come up with a better definition for leadership. Moses led a fearful, trembling, complaining, disobedient - but chosen - people to meet with their God.
This is the heartbeat of leadership. Leading people to meet God.
That is our responsibility every time we step on the platform, step behind the soundboard, start writing a sermon, start planning a children’s activity, talk with someone in the hallway. To lead people to meet God.
Now, we are under the new covenant, not the old. So we don’t have to lead people to meet God in quite the same way as Moses did. Every believer has full access to God through Jesus, and they need no other human in order to access Him. But in much the same way as Moses, the church still needs leaders. And it needs leaders that lead people to meet God. People need leaders that pull them into His presence. That encourage them to know Him more. To experience Him more fully. To love Him more deeply. To obey Him more thoroughly. That draw their hearts together as a congregation with the desire to meet with God.
As we know from the entire canon of Scripture, leadership is powerful. Leaders either lead people away from God, into apathy and worldliness, or they lead people to experience the Presence of God. And in Scripture, whenever a leader steps up to lead people to meet God, powerful things happen.
How can we be this kind of leader? I think we need to ask ourselves, how did Moses become this leader? Why was Moses not cowering in fear like the rest of the people? As we know, Moses isn’t exactly what we would call strong and brave. Why was he so confident in this instance?
I think if we read the first part of the chapter and the proceeding chapters, we see that Moses has been having an ongoing conversation with God. Moses and God have been meeting regularly. Moses knows His voice. When it came time to lead the people right up to a mountain that was quaking, storming, and smoking, Moses could say “That’s my God. I know Him. Come with me.”
In order to lead people to meet with God, we must be meeting with God ourselves. We must be spending time in His presence. We must know Him for ourselves.
If you are in ministry, you have a responsibility to be a spiritual leader. It doesn’t matter if you are an administrative assistant, on the maintenance crew, run the lyrics on Sunday morning, or the lead pastor. We all have different giftings and abilities, but if the Lord has called you into ministry, He has also called you to leadership.
I write with a heavy focus for those in ministry, but really, these principles apply to every single believer. You may not have the leadership responsibility of leading God’s people, but you still have a responsibility to lead people to meet with God. In your workplace, in your family, with your friends. Those who do not know Him. Those who do know Him. Our lives should be a living testament of what it means to lead ourselves and others to “meet with God.”
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