And he was at that very point that God raised him up as a leader to the children of Israel.
Oh, brothers and sisters, you will find Moses—the Bible says he was the meekest of all men. I do not think we get that impression oftentimes when we see a picture of Moses. What kind of picture do you find? He did not look like the meekest. All the artists paint him, naturally, to the extent of balance. He was such a lawgiver—so stern, so strict, so serious, so hard, so hard.
Oh, Lord, give us. Dear brothers and sisters, the Bible says he was the meekest of all men.
Humility does not mean weakness.
Humility is strength. Because there is strength, you can afford to be humble. Most people cannot afford to be humble because they have nothing left.
For, dear brothers and sisters, here you will find Moses. Because the desert had broken him, and after God had broken him, you will find he could lead the children of Israel through the wilderness.
And when they murmured against him, when even his own brother and his own sister began to criticize him, when he was faced with all these things, what did he do? He fell upon his face before the Lord. Why? You cannot touch that person. You cannot touch that person.
But oftentimes, the thing that God has wrought most in a person is the very thing in which he will be tested.
Moses could not enter into the promised land because, just once, he lost his temper. He called the children of Israel, “You rebels! Must we bring you water to drink?” And because of that, he could not enter into the promised land. Just that much.
On all the other occasions, you find he was the humblest person you could ever see. He was a leader, and yet you could kick him, you could push him. He would say, “You do not push me far enough. I lie down.” You cannot touch him.
But thank God, even though he was not able to enter into the promised land, yet on the Mount of Transfiguration he was there.
Dear brothers and sisters, brokenness is a quality of leadership. And, so to say, we do not see much of it in so-called leaders.
Number four: just to mention another thing. A leader is a person who is able to inspire other people, and he is a person who is able to work with other people.
You have a clear vision. You have a burden. You have a distress before the Lord. But how are you going to discharge it? How are you going to fulfill it? It is something that you can never do by yourself.
You have to inspire the people of God with the vision that God has given you. You have to be able to share your burden with God’s people, give them the same burden, make them distressed too. Otherwise, you will never be able to fulfill your leadership.
How can a general go to the battlefield and fight if his soldiers do not follow him?
One of the best illustrations in the Old Testament is that prophetess Deborah. You know, the children of Israel were in such a low state. They were oppressed by the Canaanites, and God raised up a judge in a woman, a prophetess, Deborah.
Why did not God raise up a man and raise up a government? You say, “There was no man.” God raised up Deborah to be the judge.
But here you find Deborah: she did not just do it herself. She inspired Barak.
Deborah represents the divine principle of inspiration. Dear brothers and sisters, who is a leader among God’s people? Not the one who does it all by himself. A leader is one who is able to inspire other people and get them to do it with him.
Oftentimes, especially in the church, how often you may see something that probably nobody else has seen. You know something needs to be done. Oh, how easy it is if you just go ahead and do it and finish with it. And probably you can do it much better than anybody else.
But the principle of God’s working in the church is corporateness. On the one hand, God raises up leaders; yet, on the other hand, these leaders are not to monopolize and do everything for the people.
These leaders are raised by God that they might see further, that they might learn to inspire God’s people, to bring them in and get them to work.
Nehemiah—he had a burden. He had a distress. He came to Jerusalem, but he did not tell anybody what he was going to do.
In the night, he went out just with a few to look through that wall that was broken down. He did not tell anybody. He was alone, in a sense.
But the next day he gathered the people, and he inspired them, burdened them, shared with them his burden. And the people gathered together as one man to build the wall of Jerusalem.
And here you find this one and his people built a section; that family built another piece, until the whole wall was connected and complete.
A leader is one who can inspire people, lead people, but the people are doing that work. And, of course, in connection with that, a leader must be able to work with other people.
Some are so individualistic, so independent. No, because you are a leader, you cannot be independent.
Now, oftentimes we think because you are a leader, therefore you can be independent. The brothers and sisters should not be independent, and if anyone begins to be independent, you would deal with them. But because you are a leader, certainly you can do what you think must be done all by yourself.
Fellowship is the principle of the Body. God raises you up as leaders, but you need to fellowship with the brothers and sisters. There must be a working together.
Our brother mentioned something about that this afternoon. Why is it that in the church the elders, the eldership, is always plural? It signifies God does not just raise up one elder.
We would think if God raised up just one elder, that would be the simplest and easiest way to govern and to rule. But the elders are always plural.
You know, in a church God will raise up certain elders. Even though there might be a divine order among the elders—that is true—not in the sense of a presiding elder by vote, but there is a divine order even among the few elders, and yet there is the eldership. Why?
Because the working of the Body of Christ follows the principle of fellowship. Through fellowship among the elders, they come into one mind, one spirit.
And not only that, but the elders do not just stand apart and try to do everything or decide everything by themselves, and then order the brothers and sisters to carry it out. Not so.
Even before the elders come to a decision before the Lord, they try to find out the feeling of the Body. They try to be open to fellowship with the brothers and sisters in the church. There is an open fellowship; there is openness between the elders and the brothers and sisters.
And when they allow the people to fellowship, and they bring everything before the Lord, then the mind of the Spirit may be known.
Brothers and sisters, there must be coordination. There must be cooperation. There must be working together. A leader is a person who is able to work together with all the brothers and sisters, working cooperatively with other leaders whom God has raised up.
It is true: sometimes this becomes very troublesome. It seems that because of this, a lot of things have to wait. It may seem like a wasting of time, but eventually you will find there is great blessing in it: the unity of all God’s people must be kept in diligence.
So, a leader is a person who does not just rule over everything, decide everything, and go to do it all by himself. A leader is a person who is able to inspire and to work with other people.
These are the qualities of spiritual leadership. And, dear brothers and sisters, again we will emphasize: it is not something natural. The Holy Spirit has to work Christ into us.
It is Christ. It is Christ that is true spirituality.
It is Christ that is brokenness. Christ is the vision. He is the burden. He is your distress. It is Christ who is the ability to inspire and to work together with other people.
Before we close, I would like to mention something else, and that is the cost of leadership. We mentioned last night that it was very costly in the making of leadership.
When God is making a leader, it costs a lot. But after you have been called into spiritual leadership, it does not mean that from now on it is all prize and no cost.
When God has put people into the position of leadership, you will find it is very, very costly.
You remember the disciples, when the two sons of Zebedee came to the Lord with their mother and said, “Lord, just promise us whatever we ask, You will give.” They wanted a blank check, because they were not too sure the Lord would give.
And the Lord, you know, He never signs such a check. He said, “Now, what do you want? Bring it out.”
And they said, “Lord, in Your kingdom, let James sit on Your right hand and let John sit on Your left.” And you know what the Lord said? The Lord said:
Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?
Are you able to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
They did not really know what the cup meant. They did not really know what the baptism meant. But they were so anxious to be on the right and the left, so they would say anything. They would promise anything. They would say yes to anything. They assured Him, “We will.”
And the Lord said, “Yes, you will. Whether you like it or not, you will. But to sit on My right hand and on My left is not for Me to give, but it is for My Father who is in heaven to give.”
Brothers and sisters, what does it mean? It means that being in leadership is costly.
You have to drink the cup that the Lord drinks. You have to be baptized with the baptism that the Lord is baptized with. When did the Lord drink the cup? In the Garden of Gethsemane. When was the Lord baptized with the baptism that He was to be baptized with? On Calvary’s cross.
In other words, in order to be a true leader, you must lay down your life.
The Lord said He laid down His life for us. We ought to lay down our lives for one another. Our brother mentioned that verse, 1 John 3:16.
He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
One day someone asked a great man, “How much did it cost you to build up such an empire?” And his answer was, “Not very much—just my own life’s blood. That is all.”
Dear brothers and sisters, the cost of leadership is your very life. You have to lay down your life for the brothers and sisters, lay down your life for the vision that God has given to you. He demands your life.
If you are not willing to lay down your life, do not be a leader.
Paul said, “I bear in my body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus may be manifested in you. I die daily,” Paul says. Nothing less than that.
It is not just a sudden thing. Oh, how brothers and sisters say, “If only I can die a martyr’s death, then I will get a martyr’s crown right away.” But unfortunately, there is no persecution here.
Dear brothers and sisters, if we do not live a martyr’s life, how can we die a martyr’s death? The Bible says we are a living sacrifice. That is a martyr’s life.
What is a sacrifice? A sacrifice is something that is offered on the altar. A sacrifice is to be consumed, slowly but surely, until it is all reduced to ashes. But the smoke rises in a sweet-smelling savour, and the Bible says it is the food of God.
A living sacrifice.
If this is the cost for every brother and sister, how much more will it demand of the leaders?
Peter said the elders are shepherds of the flock. They are not to lord it over the flock, but to set an example.
Shepherding is costly. It costs your very blood, your very life.
Number two: leadership is very lonely.
If God should put us in a position of leadership, you will become a very lonely person, in a sense. In one sense, there are the brothers and sisters with you; yet, in another sense, those who are in leadership are the loneliest persons in the world.
Even the people do not understand. They do not know. You stand alone with God. You have to learn to bear the loneliness.
Not because you do not want to be friendly, not because you do not want to be with brothers and sisters and have a good time. Other people may, but you cannot. God’s dealings with you will be severe, will be very strict, more than with any other people. That puts you in a lonely position.
Dear brothers and sisters, if you have the vision, there is no escape.
Number three: a leader is a person who will be criticized.
Very few are appreciated while they are living. So someone says, “A leader is one for whom people will build a monument after he dies with the stones that they threw at him.”
That is the cost of leadership. But, dear brothers and sisters, take heart. It is worth it for the Lord.
We have to say, what are the dangers, the perils, of leadership?
Number one danger: pride.
Look at Saul. Before he was put in the position of leadership, he seemed to be humble. When Samuel disclosed to him that God had chosen him to be the king of Israel—and that was the first case—oh, he said, “No, no, no. Who am I? I am the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and I am just the least in my family. Who am I to be that leader?”
And you know, when Samuel gathered all the people to choose from the people a leader, and they cast lots, and they took out the name of Saul, they could not find him. Why? He hid himself among the baggage. He seemed to be very humble.
Oh, but when he ascended to the throne of Israel, he became—not became, actually—what was really in him began to reveal itself. The cross had not worked in him. His humbleness was false.
You will find Saul began to be a proud king. Everything was for himself. His face was more important than anything else.
Pride, brothers and sisters—the number one danger of leadership is pride.
Number two: when God begins to use a person, when God begins to prosper a person, the danger is that he can become ambitious.
He might not be ambitious in the beginning, because he was disqualified. He had no desire to be in the place of leadership. But after he was in the place of leadership, and he began to see that God was using him, he began to like that.
And you will find he begins to become ambitious. He begins to try to build a kingdom for himself. Instead of doing the work of God, he begins to say, “Now, that is my work. This is what I have done.”
I remember a brother who was a general contractor. Oh, he got up very early in the morning. He went to build houses in the city of Shanghai and other cities. And he told me, he said, there was one thing that comforted him above all things, and that is, when he was driving around in the city, he would look at one place and say, “Now, this I built.” He saw another building and said, “That I built.” That was his comfort. Why? This was his kingdom.
And, dear brothers and sisters, leadership can turn into such a hideous thing that you can just be building a kingdom for yourself, becoming ambitious.
And, of course, in connection with that, you begin to look for success. Who does not want success? But is it success that you are seeking, or is it God’s approval?
How easy it is, when God prospers a leader, that he begins to look for success. And if God does not bless certain things, he tries to make it seem like a blessing. He has to make it successful.
If it does not come from the Holy Spirit, then he has to supply it for the Holy Spirit, because he cannot afford otherwise. Oh, that is a great temptation to leadership.
And then, on the other side, the danger of leadership is jealousy. When he looks over and begins to see God has used others more than him, he begins to be jealous. That is a danger of leadership.
If you are not in any position of leadership, you do not get jealous very easily. That is why you find jealousies often among leaders.
I often say God’s people are so good. Nothing is wrong with God’s people. If you find any problem, it is a problem with the leaders.
Jealousy.
Then, of course, another great temptation is popularity. Oh, you begin to seek to be popular. And because you want to be popular, you have to compromise.
Or you go to the other extreme. You begin to feel yourself so important that you become infallible. Infallibility is a great danger to leadership. Everybody can be wrong, but I cannot be wrong.
These, generally speaking, are the dangers of leadership. But, dear brothers and sisters, we do praise and thank God.
If God raises up people to be leaders, if this is what God wants, let us not draw back. Do not push yourself into leadership, but if God should call you to leadership, do not draw back.
When God called Moses to leadership, he drew back. He did not want to go, and you remember God was angry. Why? Because he was not thinking of God; he was thinking of himself.
Dear brothers and sisters, what are the comforts, the consolations, of leadership?
One consolation is that Paul says to the Philippians, “If I may be poured forth upon your sacrifice, I rejoice.”
Yea, and if I am offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
That is the comfort, the consolation, of leadership. Oh, if only God’s people can see, can be built together, if only they can be offered to God—if it requires me to be poured forth as a drink offering, I rejoice. That is my joy. That is my prayer.
And number two: when the Lord shall return, the Lord says:
Well done, good and faithful servant.
Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things:
Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.
If the Lord shall have it, that is all that matters.
So, dear brothers and sisters, let us look to the Lord. Oh, spiritual leadership is so much needed today among God’s people.