Leaders God can’t approve
There are leaders God approves of. This is clearly stated in the Bible on several different occasions and in different contexts, “Greet Apelles, approved in Christ” (Romans 16:10).
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But some leaders displease God and hurt their people. They are leaders God can’t approve of and can’t use for Church ministry and God’s comprehensive Kingdom work.
The leader God can’t approve or will remove from their leadership roles does not fit any true definition or description of a Spiritual leader. The key purpose and goal of a spiritual leader is to facilitate people’s entry into God’s covenant inheritance, to help people experience God’s awesome divine promises and to train them to live the God-life with good success (see Joshua 1:6; Matthew 5:7; Matthew 28:19-20; 1 John 2:6).
Here is a profile of a person who would be a spiritual leader: “This is a trustworthy saying: “If someone aspires to be a church leader, he desires an honourable position.” So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be a husband of one wife.
He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent.
He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of God’s church?
A church leader must not be a new believer, because he might become proud and the devil would cause him to fall. Also, people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the devil’s trap.” (1 Timothy 3:1-7 NLT).
A prophetic voice against bad leaders:
“Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me; all my bones tremble. I am like a drunken man, like a strong man overcome by wine, because of the Lord and his holy words.
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The land is full of adulterers; because of the curse, the land lies parched and the pastures in the wilderness are withered. The prophets follow an evil course and use their power unjustly.
“Both prophet and priest are godless; even in my temple I find their wickedness,” declares the Lord. “Therefore their path will become slippery; they will be banished to darkness and there they will fall.
I will bring disaster on them in the year they are punished,” declares the Lord. “Among the prophets of Samaria, I saw this repulsive thing: They prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray.
And among the prophets of Jerusalem, I have seen something horrible: They commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of evildoers so that not one of them turns from their wickedness.
They are all like Sodom to me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.” Therefore, this is what the Lord Almighty says concerning the prophets: “I will make them eat bitter food and drink poisoned water because, from the prophets of Jerusalem, ungodliness has spread throughout the land.” (Jeremiah 23:9-15 NIV).
God continues to address issues of bad leadership through the Prophet Jeremiah:
“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to his people: “Do not listen to these prophets when they prophesy to you, filling you with futile hopes. They are making up everything they say.
They do not speak for the Lord! They keep saying to those who despise my word, ‘Don’t worry! The Lord says you will have peace!’ And to those who stubbornly follow their own desires, they say, ‘No harm will come your way!’
Have any of these prophets been in the Lord’s presence to hear what he is really saying? Has even one of them cared enough to listen? I have not sent these prophets, yet they run around claiming to speak for me.
I have given them no message, yet they go on prophesying. If they had stood before me and listened to me, they would have spoken my words, and they would have turned my people from their evil ways and deeds.” (Jeremiah 23: 16-18, 21-22 NLT)
John Maxwell lists what Jeremiah chapter 23 provides us as teaching to recognise what God values in a leader. The following are the 10 characteristics of leaders God can’t approve:
• Leaders who destroy their people instead of developing them. (V.1)
• Leaders who scatter their people instead of uniting them for a cause. (V.1)
• Leaders who abandon their people in fear instead of remaining responsible. (V.4)
• Leaders who act in self-serving and unjust ways instead of standing for the truth. (V.10)
• Leaders who lie as though there is no God. (V.11)
• Leaders who lead their people astray instead of guiding them into security (V.13)
• Leaders who foster evil and deceit instead of integrity and honesty. (V.14)
• Leaders who fill people with false hope rather than speaking God’s word, the truth. (V.16)
• Leaders whose life and work make ungodliness, corruption and evil spread into all the land, instead of promoting righteousness that exalts a group of people or a nation. (V.15b)
• Leaders who are impressed with their own wisdom, act and depend on their own puny understanding instead of waiting on God and seeking Divine wisdom and counsel and not running with their own message but moving out and working with the authentic message of God and direction from God. (V.21-22).
Indeed, the Bible points us again and again to leaders and personal attitudes and lifestyles that are greatly rewarding; “Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying.
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Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favour with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation. Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil. Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.” (Proverbs 3:1b-8 NLT).
Leaders approved by God are a blessing to themselves and to the people they lead. They properly fulfil God’s purpose in their life and work.
(The author is a consultant in Authentic Christian Spirituality and Discipleship and former CEO of Scripture Union)