True leadership serves God's mission with humility and obedience rather than pursuing personal power and recognition. When leaders lose sight of this, they forfeit their calling.
Abraham Lincoln once said, “Give a person power and you’ll find out what their true character is.” Over the past several weeks, we have tried to dispel the notion that leadership within a congregation is about wielding power. We are looking for men who will serve, not men who will control, not men who will seek power. Unfortunately, some people cannot tell the difference. When someone is called a leader, they automatically assume they can tell people what to do. That is not leadership in God’s family.
Today we are going to look at what happens when leadership fails. We are going to examine what occurs when leadership loses its sense of identity as a servant and instead focuses on power. Our text is 1 Samuel 15.
The Selection Process and Heart Examination
As we begin today, we are asking you to seek out men to be leaders in this congregation as elders and as deacons. We are asking you to look at the man’s heart. We are asking you to examine the man’s character. And we are asking you to make sure that you are selecting someone who wants to serve, not someone who wants to have power.
The process is straightforward. We are asking you to utilize forms to list the names of men you would want to be elders, and on a different form to list men you would like to be deacons. Once you have talked to those men and put their names down, sign the form and put it into me, Carl, Mike, or Barney. We would like to begin the process of talking to each of those individuals and determining their desires and how we can best put them into areas where they can serve.
We have forms available on the tables in the back and between here and the education building if you need additional forms. We are requesting that you look at these and preferably consider the names of those you want to submit. At the same time, be reminded of the qualities of the men you are looking for. We want you to go and talk to these individuals. If you have already done so, that is great.
We are not expecting you to turn in these forms today. You have some time to do that. We are anticipating that you will speak to these individuals, put their names down, and then turn the forms in after you have done that. We really do not want you to just put down names without having talked to the individual. There are two reasons for that. First, that individual needs to be able to say, “Yes, I want to serve in this area. I am willing to do that.” Second, that individual needs to know that they have support to do that.
This is an important season in our congregational life. It has been several years since we appointed additional elders and deacons. This process is not one that we go through on a regular basis, so we want you to take your time as you evaluate and decide who you want to ask to serve in these important roles.
The Transformation of King Saul
When Saul became king, he was a humble man. The scriptures tell us that he was hiding when it was coronation day. He did not want to be anointed king. He did not want to be coronated as the king of Israel. He could not believe that God had selected him. Samuel had to go and find him and bring him out.
We are told that Saul had the appearance of a king. If you wanted to know what a king might look like, Saul was the guy. He was head and shoulders taller than any other man in Israel. People could look up to him and see that he fit the vicinity of being anointed king over Israel.
But by the time we get to 1 Samuel 15, the heart of Saul has changed. Instead of a humble leader, he has become a dictator. Instead of one who listens to God, he listens only to himself. Samuel comes to Saul to confront him on his failings, not only as a king, but as one who said he would follow God.
Samuel tells Saul what God said and what he is supposed to do. So who is the real leader in Israel? God. God is the one who gives the instructions. He happens to go through Samuel first, and then Samuel to Saul. God is the one who gives the marching orders. When you are selecting these men, you are looking for men who are willing and have already demonstrated that they are following God. They are not following their own mindset. They are not following their own ways. They are listening to God, and you can see that by the evidence of their life.
Saul, however, thinks he is pretty much in charge. As king, he believes he can have whatever he wants. Samuel tells Saul that his reign as king is coming to an end. It will be a few years, but Saul and his household will no longer sit on the throne. God has selected someone else.
Notice that as Samuel comes to Saul, the expectation that God has is that Saul will carry out the full command that he gives him. But Saul decides that he knows a little bit better than God about what to do. When you are selecting these men, we are not only looking for men who are full of wisdom, not only looking for men who are full of spirit, not only looking for men who are listening to God. We are looking for men who are ready to say, “I want to serve,” not “I want to be in control.” Tell me where I can serve. Tell me how I can best help this congregation of God’s people.
Look for men who are leaders in their families, who by the demonstration of their life are making sure that their families are getting closer to God. We are not looking for successful business people. Being successful in business does not eliminate you from being of service, but being successful in business is not a guarantee that you will be a servant. Sometimes we get confused. We assume if a man does well in business, he must be a good servant. That is not true. We are looking for men who serve and have that heart, whether an elder or a deacon.
The Two Critical Lessons from Saul’s Failure
Samuel says to Saul that obedience is tough. “Obedience is hard. To obey is better than sacrifice. To heed is better than the fat of rams.” What Samuel says to Saul is that there are two things that he needs to recognize, and that we need to recognize when leaders fail.
First, Saul became king because God selected him, not because Saul was worthy and deserving of being a king. We are selecting men to be elders and deacons, not because they deserve to be elders and deacons, but because by the quality of their life they have demonstrated that they are full of the spirit, full of wisdom, and they want to follow God. But all of us sit here undeserving. All of us sit here as people who did not deserve to be in relationship with God, and yet we are. Saul had to be reminded: “You did not become king by your own devices. You did not become king because you were king worthy. You became king because God selected you.” The moment that we forget that we are who we are because God has selected us, we are no longer humble servants.
Early in the morning, Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but was told Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor. I have read this text many times, and I have missed that every single time. He went down to a city and set up his own monument to himself. That is not humility, is it? We are not looking for men who have forgotten who they are. We are not looking for men who are chomping at the bit to be in charge. We are looking for men who are ready to serve and have been serving, and have demonstrated by the quality of their life that they have a servant heart. We are not looking for people who are making monuments to themselves.
Second, Samuel reminds Saul that he has a mission. God sent Saul on a mission saying, “Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites. Make war on them until you have wiped them out.” That was Saul’s mission. It was very straightforward. But Saul did not carry out the mission.
We have been given a mission. The mission that we have been given is to make sure that God looks good. Not to set up our own monuments, but to make sure God looks good. Our mission is to go into the world. Yes, we are to tell people about Jesus. That is part of the mission. But we often do not get a chance to tell people about Jesus until they see God in us. We are to make God look good. It is not about us. Saul had forgotten that. When you forget your mission, then you only do what you want to do, rather than what God wants you to do. You quit listening to God.
The Problem of Fear and the Desire for Recognition
Saul tells us why we forget our mission. He says, “I have sinned. I have violated the Lord’s command in your instructions. Why? I was afraid of the people.” Fear is one of those things that not only generates physiological responses, but fear is one of those things that keeps us from doing our mission. So many people have said, “I am afraid of isolating myself. I am afraid people will make fun of me.” And we tune out our mission. We move away from our mission.
Saul had a mission. Go down, deal with this group of people, and come back. Instead, Saul says, “I am afraid. And out of my fear, I will do something else. I will not complete the mission.” No one is saying that it is wrong to be afraid. That is not what I am saying. But fear many times creates within us permission to go against our mission. Saul was afraid of what the people thought. He was afraid that he might lose face. He was afraid that the soldiers wanted all this stuff, and he said, “I will give in to them.” In his fear, he operates outside of God’s will. It is not wrong to be afraid, but in our fear we have to hang on to listen to God. We are looking for men who, in their fear, do not step away from the mission. It is not easy to be an elder. It is not easy to be a deacon. People have lots of expectations. We listen to God.
One last thing: Saul says, “I have sinned, but please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me so that I may worship the Lord your God.” He was afraid of the people, but what he really wanted was to make sure that people exalted him. We are not looking for men who want to be exalted.
We believe in giving thanks to individuals who do a good job. We want to acknowledge that, and we want to say thank you, and we want to do that publicly. But for a man to be an elder or a deacon who is looking for the accolades, that is not what we need. We need men who are willing to serve, whether they get accolades or not, who are willing to serve because they are listening to God and doing what is best in their servant heart for this congregation, not because they can set up a monument to themselves or get pats on the back. We need men who are willing to say, “It does not matter if I get the credit as long as God does.”
The Call to Choose Carefully
The selection for elders and deacons is not to be taken lightly. The series that Frank and I have preached through, and Frank will finish next week, are all designed to make us look seriously at this selection process. We are not going to be taking it lightly, but we are going to be taking it seriously. As elders, we understand the importance of having additional elders and deacons. We have a beautiful unity here. Choose carefully the men you want to place in roles of leadership who really want to serve.
When you talk to those individuals, if you have to twist some arms, that is probably not the guy. It is probably not the guy either who is eagerly responding, “Yes, I am glad you asked me. I could not wait for somebody to ask me. I have been looking for this. I have been wanting this.” It is probably not the guy either.
I know you are going to take this seriously. As elders, we have prayed over this process, and I want us to do that together congregationally now.
Father, it is a great privilege that you have given us as a congregation to select men to be additional elders and deacons. We know that you have already put into the hearts of different men in this congregation to serve. I pray, Father, that we will have the wisdom to seek those men out and that we will have the wisdom to listen to you as we speak to those individuals who may serve us. I pray, Father, for those individuals who are going to serve you, for those men who will be elders and deacons in this congregation. I pray, Father, that you will give them not only your wisdom, but that you will empower them with confidence that comes from you, knowing that you have called them to serve in these roles. What an honor and privilege it is to carry on with your will. May we be servants today, each one of us, with a mission to make sure that you look good in this community and in our sphere of life. It is through Jesus that we pray. Amen.
As you fill out those forms, turn them into one of the elders. We will begin the process of talking to each of those men individually and see where that goes.
This sermon has been designed to remind us that we all have a mission, and that mission is to go out and make God look good. If we have forgotten what our mission is, if we have, like Saul, shrunk back in fear because we are afraid of what people will think, maybe today you want the prayers of this group to re-energize your mission, to say, “I understand what my mission really is, and I need God’s strength to remember that tomorrow.”
If there is someone today who is ready to name Jesus as your Savior, to admit that you are a sinner and that by the blood of Jesus you can be saved, we will baptize you today. That baptism is where God says he forgives sin. It is in that baptism where he says that he will raise you to a new life, a life committed to him and a life that is ready to live for him. If there is one today who would like to be baptized, who would like to announce Jesus as your Savior, we will assist you today in that baptism.
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