Missing the Connection

Sometimes as a leader it can be easy to take in the details and miss the point of what is occurring.

I had a ticking sound in my left front wheel that accelerated when I accelerated and slowed when I slowed. Three different times I took the vehicle to a mechanic near the coffeehouse. They pulled the hub cap, the wheel, checked the seals, the bearings the brake and found nothing. They put everything back together and the next day the noise was back. Again the vehicle was dropped off for service and again everything was checked. Nothing was found.

This time the noise didn't return-for a few days. Then it was back. Tick tick tick tick .

A third time in the shop. A third look at all the details. Finally the connection is made! A small piece of plastic on the hubcap was broken. As the wheel had turned it would come loose and rattle in the wind.

Observed the detail, yet failed to see the implication. No connection made.

I was reading of just such an instance in John chapter 20 this morning. Peter and the "other disciple" raced to the empty tomb to see for themselves the evidence Mary Magdalene had reported to them. Entering in they saw the linen cloth lying there. The cloth that covered Jesus face was folded and set to the side. Then it says that at least John (the other disciple) makes the connection. It says "he saw and he believed-for until then they hadn't realized that the Scriptures said he would rise from the dead." (John 20:8b,9)

Looking back in hindsight John says that that was the moment he believed. I'm sure he did believe that Jesus was not there, that he was risen, but the connection hadn't been made yet. Why do I think this? Verse 10 says, "Then they went home." They have just seen evidence of the most incredible event since creation, the God-man was risen from the dead. The Forgiver was alive. So they went home.

Amazing some connection is made, but no change takes place. They just go home.

How receptive is your heart as a leader to the little ticks, the indications of His workings in your life? Are you recognizing His hand at work? Are you making the connections to the big things that He is doing in your midst, your ministry, your work, your heart. Or do you have a tendency to see Him at work and then just go home.

Godly leaders see the hand of God continually at work and are changed by it.

Remembering Where You Stand

I was reading a passage the other day that ended up challenging me as a leader. As a staff we read it together and discussed it at our weekly meeting. In Exodus 32, God is ready to slay the stiff necked, rebellious people of God who have been quick to forget His deliverance. Moses has been on the mountain with God, Aaron is the defacto leader, but the mob has begun to grumble and Aaron's solution leads to disaster.

Ex 32:1-5
32:1 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him."
2 Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me."
3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron.
4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."
5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, "Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD."

The affront to Yahweh the Deliverer is more than understandable. Look at his reply.

Ex 32:9-10
9 "I have seen these people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people.
10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation."

It is the end of verse 10 that struck me as a leader this time. God offered Moses the equivalent of a new Abrahamic Promise. Moses, give me some time while I wipe out these people and I will start again with you.

Moses knew God's word was true. He had witnessed the power of God in the plagues. Seen His promises of deliverance fulfilled at the Red Sea. Moses knew this promise was his for the asking. He would be the new father of a multitude. Wow!

It is interesting where Moses' heart lies. Without hesitation it becomes clear where Moses stands, with the people he has been called to lead. Though he may have been tempted by the promise of a new beginning, his heart allegiance remains with the stiff-necked people. He intercedes for them.

Where do you stand? Is your allegiance firmly fixed on the people you are called to serve? Or could your heart easily be tempted away to other goals, other glories? When those you serve prove to be stiff-necked, unthankful, is your heart tempted to turn away?

In the worst moment of his tenure as leader of the flock of Israel, when those he leads cavort around the image of a calf his second chair leader, Aaron has created, Moses stood with his people. He was in the place every leader would find himself-standing as intercessor between God and those he serves.

Where do you stand?

Unlikely Proverbs

Proverbs. Sometimes they can be a little difficult to comprehend. I came across some unique proverbs recently. Here are a few from the African Continent:

• A man does not wander far from where his corn is roasting. (Nigeria)
  
• The hunter does not rub himself in oil and lie by the fire to sleep. (Nigeria)
• Even the mightiest eagle comes down to the tree tops to rest. (Uganda)
  
• A ripe melon falls by itself. (Zimbabwe)

According to The Free Dictionary, proverbs are short pithy saying in frequent and widespread use that expresses a basic truth or practical precept. These African proverbs sound foreign to us, but even outside of their culture we can guess at the meaning.

• We're never too far from our roots.
  
• Using Common sense avoids tragedy.
  
• We're all alike in many ways.
  
• Good things come in time.

An entire book of scripture is dedicated to Proverbs, but the other day I was impressed with short pithy sayings not from the hand of Solomon, but from the lips of the Forgiver.

• Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.
  
• Whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.
  
• If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
  
• If you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?
  
• No servant can serve two masters.
  

Luke 16:10-13

As leaders we don't need to guess at what the Leader was expressing in these proverbs. They are transparent truths revealing the integrity of character in every leader.

• Trustworthy in little things
  
• Honest in the smallest matters
  
• Faithful t in financial matters
  
• Responsible with trusts
  
• Single-mindedly committed to God
  

The Pharisees scoffed at this (Luke 16:14). Do we? Do I?