Following the Leader (5-28-2008)

Joshua 6:2-9
And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor." 3 You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days. 4 Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.” 6 So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of the Lord.” 7 And he said to the people, “Go forward. March around the city and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.”

8 And just as Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord following them. 9 The armed men were walking before the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and the rear guard was walking after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually.

This section here is a little difficult for me to approach. I say this because I wonder what I would do if Joshua was my leader? If I was a trained man of war and was told to just march around a walled city then shout, what would I do? Would I question my leader and his abilities because this just seemed off the wall? Would I be whispering among the ranks that he was doing it all wrong? Would I be the one who caused many to distrust my leader and his abilities? Or moreover to cause others to go against a man God put into place?

I know that at one time in my Christian walk, I would be this person. Let's just face the facts, I was this person. At least in the workplace. Thankfully the Lord has been teaching me submission and not only that but teaching me to be glad to submit, first to Him and then to the other pastors and leaders I work with.

As a quick note, I am not saying to blindly follow someone just because of their position. I am however saying that unless they are un-biblical with what they say or do, you should be checking yourself. Is this leader not following the path the Bible puts before us or is it that this leader doesn't do things that you believe are best?

How do you know? Matthew 7:15-21 gives a clue. Remember, if you are sowing discord you may fall into this group that Jesus talks about.

If you do find yourself questioning, please pray for your leader.

Rom 13; Titus 3:1-3; 1 Tim 2; Rom 15:30