Leadership lesson from Joshua

Num 14:9

⁶ Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes ⁷ and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. ⁸ If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. ⁹ Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them."

¹⁰ But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites.

Have you ever heard the question, “if everyone else jumped off the bridge would you do it too?” If you have heard it, and the comment was directed towards you, you were probably following the crowd instead of leading it. The person trying to help you was trying to encourage you to think for yourself. They wanted you to be your own man or woman. This is one of the major qualities of a Kingdom leader. Not only must he or she think for themselves, but they must also have the faith to trust God despite potential rejection from the crowd. They must have the courage to stand alone, and in Joshua and Caleb’s case even stand in the face of death. It is often said that a leader is a person who has influence over others. Tantamount to the jumping off the bridge analogy is this bit of conventional wisdom. If you are a leader and no one is following you, you are just taking a walk. On the surface the previous statements seem embarrassingly obvious. However, As a Kingdom leader you are still leading even when you are alone—if you are standing in faith for God. In vs. 10 we see “…the whole assembly talked about stoning them.” The question that should come to your mind is why? Did the Israelites want to kill them because the people where afraid of the giants? No! Did the Israelites want to kill them because they were starving? No! Did the Israelites want to kill them because they were tired of their leadership? No! Well then why? Look down to vs. 11. (NKJV) “The Lord said to Moses: How long will these people reject Me?” The Israelites want to kill Joshua and Caleb because they could not get to God. The Israelites were not rejecting Joshua and Caleb’s report. In vs. 11 they were rejecting God as their Lord. God needed someone to stand with Him. God needed someone to stand against the crowd. God needed a leader. Joshua and Caleb had the courage to think for themselves. Joshua and Caleb proved to be God’s men. Joshua once again showed he possessed an essential quality of a Kingdom leader. He proved he had the faith to trust God despite potential rejection. He proved he could stand in the minority even when facing death.