Godly Leadership

We live in a moment of profound leadership skepticism. Trust in political, institutional, business, and even religious leaders has eroded dramatically over the last generation. And people are not wrong to be skeptical.  We have watched enough leaders fail, fall, or abuse their position that the cynicism about leadership feels very justified. 

You might say, “Our culture has a trust problem.”  According to Gallup, only about three in ten Americans say clergy have high ethical standards. However, thirty or forty years ago, pastors were among the most trusted people in America. This September marks 39 years of ministry for me, and I can tell you there has been a dramatic shift. Some of that decline reflects scandals, abuse, and hypocrisy. Some of that reflects a broader loss of confidence in every institution across the board. 

But whatever the reasons, it reminds us why God cares so deeply about the character of leaders. What we see in Scripture and what we’ll see here in Deuteronomy 17 and 18 is that God doesn’t care whether leaders are gifted. He cares whether they are faithful.

Even though we are experiencing a great deal of failed leadership today, the answer is not the absence of leadership. It’s better leadership. It’s leaders who have a renewed commitment to faithfulness to God. Moses knew this. In the middle of his farewell address, he gives Israel a detailed blueprint for the kind of leaders they will need when they enter the land God has promised them.

Why is all of this important, and why should we understand these chapters in Deuteronomy? 

First, because as I have been saying all along, it gives us a picture of God’s character. Understanding what is important to God gives us insight into who He is.  And that’s important if we are going to live holy lives, which are lives that imitate God.

Second, if you think this doesn’t really apply to you because you are not a leader, think again. We all lead somewhere. If you are married, you lead in your relationship.  If you are a parent, you lead in your home.  If you are employed, it doesn’t matter whether you are a manager, supervisor, or not; you are a leader at work.  If you are a student, people are watching you to see what you do and what you say.  Where are you leading people as they watch you?

We all lead somewhere.  Here in Deuteronomy, Moses is going to address some specific offices of leadership, but this applies to everyone in this room.

Third, it should give us some expectations for the people whom we put our trust in.  Expectations of your pastors, city leaders, state leaders, and national leaders.  This is the character of the leaders that God desires.

There’s a fourth reason, but I’ll tell you about that one in a minute. 

The title of my sermon today is “Godly Leadership.”  Let’s look at how good leaders reflect God’s character.

Deut 17:1-7 (CSB)—Do not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or sheep with a defect or any serious flaw, for that is detestable to the LORD your God. If a man or woman among you in one of your towns that the LORD your God will give you is discovered doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God and violating his covenant and has gone to serve other gods by bowing in worship to the sun, moon, or all the stars in the sky—which I have forbidden—and if you are told or hear about it, then investigate it thoroughly. If the report turns out to be true that this detestable act has been done in Israel, you are to bring out to your city gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing and stone them to death. The one condemned to die is to be executed on the testimony of two or three witnesses. No one is to be executed on the testimony of a single witness. The witnesses’ hands are to be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people. You must purge the evil from you.

In vs. 1, Moses says, when it comes to worshiping God, give your best, not what you have leftover or what you think you can live without.  That’s why Godly leadership is so important.  We give our best, especially when we lead. 

Moses writes, “You must purge the evil from you.”  Why? Because the people who lived in Canaan at the time did some pretty despicable things.  

• They practiced human sacrifice, including child sacrifice.  
• There was temple prostitution and sexual rites that included incest, bestiality, and a whole lot more, which were all a part of their religious practices. 
• They worshipped multiple deities associated with nature and fertility, often involving sensuous nudity and snake worship (Who got us into this mess in the first place? A snake.) 
• They engaged in witchcraft, casting spells, consulting mediums, and seeking omens to predict the future or gain divine favor. 
• And they were violent and cruel.  Sources describe Canaanite culture as permitting murder, gang rape, and extreme cruelty because the deities they worshipped were depicted as malicious and jealous, influencing their followers to emulate these traits.

So, God said, “Purge the evil from you.  These practices are in direct opposition to everything I am.  Get rid of them.  And if someone is caught practicing these things, execute them.”

But when you make this kind of accusation, make sure it is just.  Because:

Godly Leaders Pursue Justice

Justice mattered because God is just. This is who God is.  He is a just God.

Ps 89:14 (CSB)—Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; faithful love and truth go before you.

In Deut 17:4, Moses says that if there is an accusation, there must be a careful investigation. You can’t just take an accusation by someone at face value.  Make sure the accusation is true.  One way you do that is by not relying on a single witness.  Vs. 6 says there must be multiple witnesses.

Vs. 8 goes on to say if their case is too difficult for the people in the city to judge, take it to an impartial judge; either the Levitical priest or the judge who presides at the time.  They will render an impartial judgment according to God’s law. Their judgment will be according to God’s law, so when they give the judgment, the people must abide by it out of reverence for God’s law.

Godly leaders don’t ask, “What’s easiest, what’s the most expedient, or what will the most people agree with?”  Instead, they ask, “What’s right, what’s good, or what is just?”

Justice mattered because God is a just God.

Leadership isn’t about power. Some people crave leadership because they think that when they become leaders, they can finally do what they want.  Now that they are in charge, they can do things their way.  But leadership is not about this kind of power; it’s about responsibility to do the right thing and protect the truth.

So, leaders must have a deep understanding of the truth.  That is why …

Godly Leaders Live Under God’s Authority

They have a deep understanding of God’s authority, revealed in His word.   And then they submit to that authority in their own lives.

Deut 17:14-17 (CSB)—When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, take possession of it, live in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations around me,’ you are to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. Appoint a king from your brothers. You are not to set a foreigner over you, or one who is not of your people. However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses, for the LORD has told you, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’ He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won’t go astray. He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself.

Long before Israel’s first king, King Saul, God gave Israel instructions regarding the appointment of a king.  First, he cannot be motivated by power.  Horses equaled military might, and that was not to be the motivation.  Next, he must not acquire many wives.  Pleasure and sexuality must not be his motivation.  How many leaders fall every year because of this trap?  Third, he must not be motivated by wealth.  Jesus said, ” Money is a root of all kinds of evil.”  

However, all of those things, in and of themselves, are not evil.  Israel had an army and horses.  Obviously, marriage and sex within the boundary of the covenant relationship of marriage is a great thing.  And everything we have, including our wealth, comes from the Lord.  But they cannot be our motivation.  As leaders, we cannot allow those things to lead us. Our motivation must be faithfulness to God’s word.

Godly leaders live under God’s authority because they know they’re not the highest authority. Godly leaders reflect the God they follow.

Check out the next verse:

Deut 17:18-20 (CSB)—When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes. Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue reigning many years in Israel.

The first act the king was to perform upon taking the throne was not to throw a party for his donors, or watch a parade in his honor. God said the first thing a king was to do was to handwrite, himself, a copy of the Law. Why? Because in writing down every line, every word, the Law would be embedded in the king’s mind.

Imagine the most powerful man in Israel, sitting by himself, writing out the Torah, word for word.

Vs. 20 says that by hiding God’s law in his heart, he will avoid the trap of pride.  God is holy, and Godly leaders live under His authority.

When we are full of ourselves and full of pride, we make decisions that benefit us, decisions that look out for number one.  But when God’s word humbles a leader, it reminds them that they lead, not for their benefit but for the benefit of others.

Godly Leaders Shepherd Rather Than Serve Themselves

That’s what Moses says beginning in chapter 18 as he talks about the Levites and the priests.

Deut 18:1-3 (CSB)—The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, will have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They will eat the LORD’s food offerings; that is their inheritance. Although Levi has no inheritance among his brothers, the LORD is his inheritance, as he promised him. This is the priests’ share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether it is an ox, a sheep, or a goat; the priests are to be given the shoulder, jaws, and stomach.

The next book of the O.T., the book of Joshua tells how the Promised Land was divided up and distributed to the different tribes of Israel. With the exception of the Levites, every tribe had been assigned a portion of the Promised Land.  The Levites, who were tasked with being the priests of Israel, were to be scattered throughout Israel. 

Those who ministered to the people of God were to be cared for by the people of God. They inherited none of the Promised Land, but their inheritance is the Lord, it says.  Instead of being responsible for maintaining fields and flocks and managing property, their focus was to lead the people of Israel in worship of God.

Their presence and their lives reminded Israel that worship, not the accumulation of wealth, was why God had brought them into the Promised Land.

Leadership in God’s kingdom isn’t about accumulating. It’s about serving.

If you receive the New Hope Newsletter, you know that one of the church staff members shares a verse each week that is important to them in one way or another.  This week, I shared a verse that has always been important to me because it reminds me, in part, why I am a pastor.

Phil 2:1-4 (CSB)—If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others. Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus

Then Paul goes on to describe Jesus’ attitude and what He did for us. In Matt 20, Jesus said, “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”

God serves His people, so Godly leaders serve.

However, for others to gain from my service, I have to be willing to speak the truth.  Because that’s what Godly leaders do.

Godly Leaders Speak God’s Truth

Moses says:

Deut 18:9-14 (CSB)—When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable customs of those nations. No one among you is to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire, practice divination, tell fortunes, interpret omens, practice sorcery, cast spells, consult a medium or a spiritist, or inquire of the dead. Everyone who does these acts is detestable to the LORD, and the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you because of these detestable acts. You must be blameless before the LORD your God.  Though these nations you are about to drive out listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do this.

As I mentioned earlier, the Israelites were entering a land that had some horrible practices.

Why did the Canaanite people do these things?  Because they were grasping for something that would give them direction and guidance. They were looking for ways to order their lives. 

People long for guidance. Everyone worships something. Whether people worship another god, an idol, a political system, wealth, other people, or themselves. We were designed for worship, and everyone worships something.  Even in today’s culture, that is true.  The question is, what will you devote yourself to?

If it is not the Great I Am, the Creator of everything we know and see, then it is something else.  If people won’t hear God, they’ll listen to someone else. God forbids counterfeit and false voices.

To ensure the people of Israel would hear the correct voices, Moses said …

Deut 18:15-17 (CSB)—The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. This is what you requested from the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not continue to hear the voice of the LORD our God or see this great fire any longer, so that we will not die!’ Then the LORD said to me, ‘They have spoken well.

“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me.”

The prophet’s job wasn’t to invent truth. It was to faithfully deliver God’s Word.

False prophets spoke what people wanted to hear, or they spoke what was convenient, or they spoke words that benefited themselves. True prophets spoke what God said.

God is truth, and He speaks truth, so leaders speak truth.

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Our culture still chases counterfeit voices.  People still worship false gods; they devote themselves to things that lead to brokenness, disappointment, and even death.

God’s people must learn to recognize God’s voice above all others.  That’s why we need Godly leaders who, unashamed and without compromise, declare what is right and what is true.  Sometimes those are words of discipline to help bring us back into alignment with God’s heart.  And sometimes those are words of comfort, reminding us that we have a loving Father who, because of Jesus, will never leave us or turn His back on us.

Why is this important?  

• First, because it reveals God to us.  It shows us His heart and who He is. 
• Second, wherever we lead, because we all lead, it gives us an idea of what we should pursue as leaders.  
• Thirdly, it gives us a picture of what we should expect from our leaders.

But I told you in the beginning, there is a fourth reason this is important.  So, here it is:  

The fourth reason this is important is that Deuteronomy 17 and 18 are a picture of our perfect leader, Jesus. They foreshadow the perfect leader, Jesus.

Israel needed a better king. Jesus is the King who perfectly obeyed the Father. He never accumulated power for Himself. Instead, He humbled Himself and became obedient even to death by giving Himself on the cross.

Israel needed a better priest. Jesus became both Priest and sacrifice. He shepherds us and teaches us what it means to know the God who loves us.

Israel needed a better prophet. The Apostle Peter quotes Deuteronomy 18:15-19 when he refers to Jesus, the Prophet in Acts 3.  And then he talks about how all the other prophets before, pointed to Jesus.  When Moses said, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.”  He was talking about Jesus.

If the leaders in our world keep failing, who can we trust?

Jesus is the perfect leader.  He is the:

• Perfect Judge
• Perfect King
• Perfect Priest
• Perfect Prophet

He is the perfect leader who will never fail us.

As we close this morning.  Take  a few minutes of quiet and ask yourself these questions:

• Who is leading my life?
• Whose voice has the greatest influence?
• Does my life reflect God’s kingdom?
• Whether I’m leading at home, work, church, or in my community, am I exercising influence in a way that reflects God’s character?

And then ask God this question:

• Am I listening to Jesus?