Godly Leadership – The Qualities that Uplift People, Not Destroy

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

Through the leadership of Moses, an example of godly leadership has been set for us to follow.

Introduction

Last week, I asked:  How many of us are willing to step up and lead the way, as I focused on our call to be spiritual leaders in a world shrouded in darkness.  If you choose to be a spiritual leader, you must take into consideration what kind of leader you will be and how you will lead.  So, with that in mind, I want to focus on godly leadership and the qualities of a godly leader so that we may know and move in those qualities.

Poor Spiritual Leadership

In this week’s message, I am going to focus on scripture from Exodus 32, one of the most pivotal chapters in scripture.  For all of us today, it will show us the qualities of both poor and good spiritual leadership.  

After Moses had accepted his commission, he stood before Pharaoh, helped to lead the children of Israel out of the bondage of Egypt, and brought them to Mount Sinai, as the Lord had directed.  At Mount Sinai, the children of Israel made a covenant with the Lord to worship and serve Him alone.  Yet Exodus 32:1 shows that they went to Aaron, asking him to make a god that would go before them.

At that time, Aaron stood as Moses’ mouthpiece to the people, yet he was also to be consecrated as the high priest of Israel.  So, in the eyes of both God and the people, Aaron was seen as a spiritual leader.  When the people came to Aaron with their sinful desire, he had an opportunity to prevent their sin, but rather than preventing their sin, Exodus 32:2-5 shows that Aaron furnished it.

Aaron made a molded calf of gold for the people.  The people then said of the molded calf that it was the god who had brought them out of the land of Egypt.  Aaron enabled their sin!  Does that sound like what a godly leader should do?  It certainly does not.  Let’s understand that sin will be the challenge that the godly leader will most often face.

God’s Anger Towards Sin

This chain of events caused God to be exceedingly angry with the children of Israel.  In Exodus 32:9, the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!”  This is to say that God viewed the children of Israel as a stubborn people who were slow to turn, or to repent, from the wickedness of their ways.

The Lord then said to Moses in Exodus 32:10, “Let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them.”  In that moment, the Lord sounds like He was ready to give up on the children of Israel, doesn’t He?  

Something that I have repeatedly tried to make clear in recent weeks is that God does not tolerate sin.  Many have this view of God as being so gentle that He wouldn’t hurt a fly.  Yet, I want you to never mistake God’s grace and mercy as tolerance of sin.  God does not tolerate sin!

God is without sin–He is righteous, which is to say that He is perfect and without flaws.  Sin angers the Lord because of His long desire to dwell with mankind, but our refusal to turn from sin prevents that from happening.  Moreover, the Lord understands what sin does to the soul of man, and He watches how it hurts and corrupts those He loves.  To be clear, God loves mankind, which is why He gave the world His only begotten Son (John 3:16).

So, on that thought, shouldn’t a godly leader who walks in the way of the Lord also feel the same way towards sin?  Most definitely!  

The godly leader, while confronting their own sin, must also help others confront their sin, rather than becoming complicit.  Unfortunately, many so-called “Christians” have chosen to enable sin.  Not only have they chosen to enable the wickedness of today, but many so-called “Christians” are choosing to fan its flames.

A Test of Leadership

Now, some suggest that what followed the people’s sin, between God and Moses, was a test of Moses’ leadership. 

I want you to pay very close attention to Exodus 32:10-13 to see what exactly was being tested of Moses’ leadership.  You will notice that Moses would be tested on whether or not he truly cared about the people.  He would be tested on whether or not he would be selfish.  Lastly, he would be tested on whether or not he would remember God’s promise and move faithfully in obedience.

You must pay attention to this matter because I believe that such qualities are constantly being tested in God’s children.

The godly leader is selfless

After speaking of a desire to consume the people, in Exodus 32:10, you will see where the Lord told Moses that He would make a great nation of him.  Making a great nation through Moses would still fulfill the promise the Lord made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel).  The test:  Would Moses think inwardly and give up on the people?  

What would you do if the Lord said that He was going to destroy others but leave you to flourish and prosper?  Many would leap at this opportunity in such a manner that they couldn’t care less about what would happen to the people.  Some will say, ‘They made their choice, and they must live with it!’

Yet Moses, in his response, pleaded with God, saying to Him, “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?”

Moses’ response was a response that set the tone for how a godly leader ought to lead.  First and foremost, I want you to notice that Moses gave all credit and honor to God for what He had done for the people.  

You see, some leaders love to take all the credit for themselves.  For example, there are those kinds of leaders who love to brag about how many wars they have won, when they never set foot on the battlefield.  They do that to be praised and glorified by all of those around them.  For his part, Moses was not like that.

Secondly, I want to point to the fact that God had told Mose to “let Him alone”, but rather than leaving the Lord alone, Moses chose to say and plead with Him.  Moses wrestled with the Lord, not physically, but through the heart.  Why did Moses choose to remain and plead with the Lord?  He did so on behalf of the people.

Godly leaders are shown having wrestled with God on multiple occasions throughout scripture.  For example, Genesis 32:22-29 tells the story of when Jacob wrestled with the Angel of God, the preincarnate Christ.  Jacob held on to Him and wouldn’t let go, as he desired a blessing.  After dislocating Jacob’s hip, the Lord changed his name to Israel, and blessed him and his descendants.

I would also point out that Abraham wrestled with the Lord.  In Genesis 18:16-33, Abraham interceded for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah when the Lord was set to judge the cities for their wickedness.  Because of his intercession, Lot and his two daughters escaped the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Let it be clear to you that a godly leader is selfless.  Godly leaders don’t think about themselves only – they’re not narcissists.  Godly leaders will put the needs of others before their own.  In other words, a godly leader will esteem others better than themselves!

The godly leader remembers and is faithful

In Exodus 32:12, we’ll see that Moses’ response to God continued.  Moses said to the Lord, “Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’?”

In this statement, Moses clearly remembers his commission from the Lord.  God commissioned Moses to stand before Pharaoh so that the people would be freed to go worship and serve Him.  Moses was saying that the commission was not about destroying the people, which was what was taking place in Egypt.  Moses pointed out that the Egyptians would mock the Lord for doing such a thing.

Then, at the end of Exodus 32:12, we’ll see Moses say to the Lord, “Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people.”  This is a godly leader who, again, is wrestling for his people, standing in the gap, and interceding for them!  Moses was praying for God to have mercy on them!

Going a step further, we’ll see in Exodus 32:13, Moses remembered the Abrahamic covenant, saying to God, “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ”

Moses was crying out to the Lord from a place of intense faith!  He was essentially calling on God to be faithful to what He had promised!  This is how a godly leader leads!  A godly leader moves by faith, remembers God’s word, and calls on the Lord to be both merciful and faithful!

The godly leader who intercedes for others falls in line with the command to love one’s neighbor.  To the disciples, Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends (John 15:13).”  

I want you to consider what Moses had given up to intercede for the people.  Surely, becoming a great nation that is favored by the Lord is a special kind of offer.  Yet, Moses laid that offer to the side so that those who worshiped a molded calf of gold could have another chance at the salvation of the Lord.  

Again, I say to you, this is how a godly leader leads!  Moses’s show of faith caused God to smile, as Exodus 32:14 tells us that the Lord relented.  God didn’t need Moses’s convincing to relent, but I certainly believe Moses’s show of faith brought a smile to the Lord.  

Can’t be afraid to talk to God

This leads me to tell you that a godly leader cannot be afraid to seek the Lord.  A godly leader must not be afraid to talk to the Lord!  Yes, fear the Lord and His judgment, but take that fear and move in a manner to please God!

Like Moses, Jacob, and Israel, there are going to be times when you ought to wrestle with God, making clear your desires, and crying out for Him to be merciful and faithful to you.  God, I want you to understand, desires to see such faith pour out of you!

Hebrews 4:16 tells us to come boldly before the throne of grace so that we may obtain mercy and find grace and favor in the time of need.  The writer of the epistle did not tell us to timidly go before the throne of grace.  Timidness before the throne will get you nowhere because it is too shy and too afraid to ask the Lord for anything.  Not only does timidness not help before the throne, but it also won’t help to lead others.

Do not confuse timidness to be the same as humility.  You see, humility is moving with a desire to learn, to grow, and to be better.  This is why we believers are called on to move with humility, rather than timidness!  When we move with humility, we can grow, and at the same time, our humility helps others to feel welcomed rather than intimidated by one who is too brash and prideful.

The Godly Leader Sharpens

Lastly, I want to share with you what Moses did in Exodus 32:19-20, when he came out of the mountain to the people.

Unlike Aaron’s poor example of spiritual leadership, Moses confronted the people, holding them accountable for their sinful actions.  As I said at the start of this message, godly leadership confronts sin.  As I have said recently, godliness confronts all that is wicked and evil, rather than excuses it.  

Godly leadership must not be afraid to rebuke, to correct, or to sharpen.  I remember when I was growing up, the elders were unafraid to set straight those who moved crookedly.  Times have changed to where so many of us fear what someone will do to us if we offer rebuke and correction.  

I certainly understand such fear, which is why I often try to remind you about how you conduct yourself.  If you’re afraid to speak, then be a leader by example.  Always keep in mind that God’s children ought to be holy as God is holy.

This means that you ought not to move out of hate, nor should you oppress others.  The child of God should love their brothers and sisters, along with all of those who they do not know.  God’s children should ot enable sin nor fan its flames.  God’s children should not steal, deal falsely, nor lie.

In the end, the godly leader is one who uplifts so that their people will flourish and prosper.  Such help satisfies one whose godliness comes from the Lord.

You see, this is the kind of leadership we must go with today.  There are too many who proclaim to be of God, but their leadership lacks godliness.  False godliness is wrecking the world today, and again, it makes the call louder for us to meet the qualities of godly leadership in a world that lacks.  Let us strive to meet those qualities.  Regardless of who you are, I believe all of us are capable of putting forth the effort.