I think it was Abraham Lincoln who said, “No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent.” Lincoln certainly exemplified that truth. So did David.
I was listening in on a conversation about leadership a few days ago. Lots of book titles were shared back and forth. The conversation dissected techniques and strategies for leading and empowering people to become more capable and productive in different aspects of their lives. As I listened to the wisdom each person shared, my mind kept jumping in and out of David’s life story. People – even those who do leadership seminars! – often quip: Leadership is difficult to define, but you know it when you see it.” I think that’s what draws us to David.
Perhaps the greatest leadership time in his life came during the hardest time in his life. For some time David had been at King Saul’s table enjoying Saul’s friendship and favor. Then one day Saul turned on the patio radio and discovered that the number one song in the country had this unnerving chorus: ““Saul has killed his thousands, but David his tens of thousands!” Envy ran its course and David lost a beloved mentor’s love. And so begins “Part I” of David’s painful moments. But, like I said, it’s in these dark moments that David the leader shines like a super nova.
He flees into the wilderness and settles in the caves of Adullam. No more than a fugitive to the naked eye but still living under God’s anointing, he hides from Saul’s relentless anger. But before David left the palace and the city he loved so much, he established himself as a warrior and leader within Saul’s army. No doubt haunted by the details of his departure, it is not long before David the leader begins to realize what God is doing in his life. People began to leave Jerusalem and its environs and head off in the wilderness searching for David. And it wasn’t the “down and out” folk. Captains of thousands threw their pensions in the dirt and embraced the “unknown” with David. John Quincy Adams said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader. “ That was David to a tee. What kind of leader was David? A page from David’s wilderness years speaks volumes. Sitting in the afternoon heat and remembering with fondness good times in Bethlehem…
”And David said longingly, 'Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!' Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the LORD.”(2 Samuel 23:15-16)
I get goose pimples each time I read that story. What kind of leadership do you possess when you can simply sigh on a hot day about enjoying a drink of water from a special place and have it overheard by three friends who say to one another, “Let’s go get it for him”? When they got to Bethlehem they didn’t do the “drive-thru”! They fought their way in AND out of the city. At risk of life and limb they brought David some…water. Staggering!
From time to time I need to trace the outlines of that story in my mind. I need to see the look in the eyes of “the three”. I need to see David’s leadership mirrored in their hearts. Why? Because it cuts through all the rhetoric and theories about leadership and lays a single solitary truth in front of us: Leadership is about being a certain kind of person with consistency. People saw that in David and it commanded their respect. I can’t help but wonder what it might do to our families, marriages and congregations if we could buy into it as an ethic. No more looking to the left or right to see what the other person is doing or isn’t doing. Just getting out of bed and…DOING!
Come to think of it, that’s what Jesus did the heaviest night of his life. He got up after supper, took the towel and basin of water that everybody saw but ignored and started washing feet fifteen hours before he would hang on the cross. That’s leadership. John Quincy Adams was right. Actions inspire! Giving ourselves over to “selfless being” might not compel people to break into garrisons and bring us water but it will no doubt empower other things. And, I think the possibilities are exciting indeed. How about you?
O Father, teach us that the last truly are first in your order of things. Help us to throw aside our worries and fears driven by what people think or don't think about us. Remove the seeds of self-centeredness that often spring up in our hearts and choke out the impulses from your Spirit that can move us toward courageous acts of leadership. May we be like your Son who has shown us the way by laying down his life that we might have life. Amen.
Randy Daugherty
Stephenville, Texas
No comments:
Post a Comment