Leadership lessons from Joshua

Joshua 5:13-15

The Fall of Jericho

¹³ Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

¹⁴ “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”

¹⁵ The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

I remember one time getting into a debate with a relative and some friends of mine and “not” taking my family members side in the argument. My actions may be perceived as being disloyal, but being a Kingdom man I have been taught always to fall on the side of truth. Nevertheless, my family members assumed I would blindly support their position. However, by the time the debate ended they found out that this was not the case, and they were thoroughly disappointed. I would like to think my position was the side of truth. And, I would like to think I am the type of leader that regardless of what predicament I am in that I would not compromise truth. I believe in principles. Now I can see the embarrassment this family member felt as they discovered that I would not stand with them because their reasoning was flawed. Albeit, to me truth trumps family and feelings. Perpetuating truth should always be the goal of a debate. Yet, my actions came with consequences. But, a boundary was set, and my core values were made completely evident to all involved. Sometimes even as Kingdom leaders we find ourselves embarrassed because we assume that regardless of our actions, God is always on our side since we have decided to live a life of faith and obedience to Him. Looking at the Scripture we quickly see Joshua receiving a wake up call and a reminder that the Lord is only on the side of truth, which is His own side…. In vs 13 Unknowingly Joshua is facing the commander of the Lords army. Joshua has just asked the man “Are you for us or for our enemies?” and the commander has a sobering response! “Neither” Wow! Are you telling me God is not on the side of Joshua and the Jews, God’s chosen people. I am sure a torrent of emotions flooded Joshua’s mind, but we see him recover and respond the best way a kingdom leader could at the sovereignty of God. He bowed his will, humbled him self, and obeyed the commanders request to “Take off his sandals.” So often we assume because we follow the Lord that everything we do happens to be “for the purposes of God,” but we must keep in mind that only He is completely holy and as long as we remain humble he will continue to use us in His plan. Nevertheless, we must remember we are on God’s side…He is not on ours!!

We have one body

“We have one body, and if we would like to successfully fulfill the call of God on our lives, then we need to maintain our temples,” said Dawniqua Linyear a Christian fitness trainer and figure competitor. The conversation was over and she had proved her point. Me, a one time professional athlete was officially out of shape and out of God’s will for my life. I started to think how I got this way. At one time I bench pressed over four hundred pounds; ran a forty yard dash in 4.3 seconds; and had less than 3% body fat. But, now as I look in the mirror I don’t see that man anymore. More of her words started to play in my mind. “You are an athlete why are you so out of shape?” I know she was joking, but there is always a bit of truth in humor. I guess I never considered the spirituality of our bodies. I reckoned keeping the temple “holy” was all that was required of me – since I have never heard a preacher even broach the topic of gluttony. I deduce the reason why I worked so hard to keep myself in shape in the past was a result of my desire to perform on the football field. And, I suppose because I stopped playing, I lost the motivation to stay in shape. I am not saying its right, it’s just what happened. Alright time to confess, I have been out of football ten years now, and currently I am the youth pastor of a larger urban church in the Hampton Roads area. And, when I am asked to minister to youth across the country, the one calling card that opens more doors for me than my education or anointing is the fact that I played pro football. As a result, I am always asked to partake in some athletic event to engage students. But, because I am not in shape and because I know if I were to attempt to participate in any athletic activity, I would not only get embarrassed, but also get hurt as well. For various reasons I did not see being in shape as a part of my Kingdom Calling. Yet, I can vividly remember being in Bosnia Herzegovina, which is located in Eastern Europe, at the Emek Beraka camps ministering to Muslims and being asked to help run some basic athletic activities and having to pull out because I was not in any shape to help out. At the time I thought it was a funny way of getting out of the physical labor, but now I feel convicted and certain that I missed a myriad of opportunities to reach souls for Christ. Additionally, in the fall of 2009, I was a part of a mission’s team that went to Haiti to speak at a leadership conference, distribute goods at a medical clinic, and preach the gospel at several churches. I literally preached 7 sermons in two days and was dead tired; my fatigue was not only a result of the volume of sermons preached but it was because the temperate in Haiti was very high. I remember feeling as though I could not go on. But, after hearing Ms. Linyear’s words I realized I had not been a good steward of my temple, and if I had been, I would have had more energy to minister to the people and build relationships after I spoke. Instead I felt like I had to be whisked away due to exhaustion. Once again Ms. Linyear voice rings in my mind, “People fail to minister in areas that they refuse to practice. It's easy to talk about spiritual maturity and growth in Christ, which takes a certain level of discipline, but the truth is, God has already provided the blood, sweat and tears in this area, we just need to walk in it. Living a healthy and balanced lifestyle is a challenge physically, mentally emotionally and spiritually, and it takes extreme levels of discipline, along with some sweat and tears of our own.” I realized what she was saying was that being in shape is an act of worship! Why had I not seen it before? Being is shape is not just my responsibility or the responsibility of the missionary but it’s the responsibility of every believer. Remember the words of Christ, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' (Matthew 25:23). When it comes to being physically fit most believers reference 1 Timothy 4:8 and use it as a way of devaluing exercise. 1 Timothy 4:8 reads, “ 8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” What the NASB and KJV translates as “profiteth little” in Greek is translated “for a short time”. in Js 4:14, and could be translated the same in 1 Ti 4:8 The text is not saying that exercise has lesser value in contrast to spiritual exercise because the same adjective is used to qualify both actions. The text communicates both practices are beneficial, but the former practice will only last as long as we have these mortal bodies, and the latter practice will be beneficial throughout all eternity. But it doesn’t communicate that it does not profit us or that it is valueless to the believer. We must understand that our bodies are extremely valuable to us while in our possession. Now if it is true that [w]e have one body, and if we would like to successfully fulfill the call of God on our lives, then we need to maintain our temples… then what a tremendous value a fit body can be to the believer…

Leadership lessons from Joshua

Joshua 5: 1 -2, 8

1 Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the Jordan before the Israelites until they[a] had crossed over, their hearts melted in fear and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites. 2 At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.” …8 And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed.

Sun Tzu in his hugely influential book the Art of War said that “All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.” What remarkable insight Sun Tzu conveys here…in the world, successful warfare is based on deception. We see Joshua use deception to defeat Ai. As the Hebrews cross the west side of the Jordan, it seems as thought they are taking a page right out of Sun Tzu’s book again. If you look at vs. 1 the key phrase is “their hearts melted in fear and they no longer had the courage to face the Israelites.” The enemy is terrified and has no will to fight just by the mere mention of God’s power. This seems like it would be a great time for Joshua to attack, but look at God’s command to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the Israelites again.” Now if the Lord would have told Joshua to “appear as though you were going to circumcise yourselves to lure them in and destroy them,” I would have said ‘man Sun Tzu principles were universal and for every satiation. But, God tells the Hebrews to circumcise themselves. This is a major problem because doing so would make them vulnerable to attack, even annihilation. Why? Well, you can not fight when you have recently been circumcised. The healing process takes three-weeks. In vs. 8 of chapter 5 the text says, “And after the whole nation had been circumcised, they remained where they were in camp until they were healed. It seems as though the decision to circumcise is an act of deception to lure their enemies in for the attack. But, nothing could be further from the truth. God is more interested in the covenant than He is with them quickly winning the war. For God the war could wait, but to be in a “right” relationship with Him could not. I can not imagine how difficult it was for Joshua to obey this command. Seemingly, obedience to this command could result in certain death if the enemy rallied and attacked them in this circumcised state. The Kingdom leader must always remember that God is more interested in maintaining His relationships than He is in us fulfilling our calling. Sun Tzu has remarkable insight…successful warfare is based on deception. However, Joshua is asked to circumcise the men of Israel making them vulnerable to attack, which is not an act of deception. Obedience could lead to certain death. Yet for a kingdom leader Obedience to God, which maintains a healthy relationship with Him, is his or her priority when leading God’s people.

I just finished reading Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

I just finished reading Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond...it was a fascination book. I had to read most of it with a filter though. Especially, when it pertained to his conclusions on evolutionary philosophy and carbon dating. But the premise of it was right on...to summarize... the book was an attempt to dispelled the racial argument that White Europeans came to dominate the world because of intelligence. Rather he proposes the assertion that even though all ethnicities have the same anatomy, they did not have the same opportunity. Diamond suggest that what was need to create a thriving technologically advanced society was the right "package" of conditions: the right type of land that could grow the right types of domesticated plants and food that could sustain the right type of domesticated animals. As a result the philosophy of the people would transition from a hunter gather mentality to a planting a growing society. This new society would result in a denser population and more diseases. Those who would survive the diseases would then move to other vocational fields rather than farming. As the population would grow then wars would begin resulting in an advancements in technology. Thus, if you don't have the right "conditions" the progressive advancement of the society would be hindered.

Leadership lessons from Joshua

Joshua 4:14

14 That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses.

The obedient leader is the leader who brings glory to God. Obedience is the key…the theme of obedience is constant throughout the lives of any successful leader in the Kingdom of God. Without obedience God can not utilize a leader for the specific purposes of drawing people to Himself through the revelation of His unending grace. For example, Moses’ disobedience at Mount Horeb, where he hit the rock instead of speaking to it, resulted in him not being able to enter the Promised Land. In this instance we see that the Holiness of God is absolute. Even though Moses was “the meekest man on the earth” and that God had used him mightily, his disobedience had catastrophic consequences. However, we see Joshua’s obedience to God stand in distinction to Moses’ disobedience, and as a result of his obedience he entered the Promised Land unlike Moses. This does not mean that Joshua was a better leader than Moses; it simply means that Joshua’s obedience made him useful in fulfilling God’s purposes. Usually the only way a disobedient leader draws people to God is through a sense of reverence following the judgment (i.e.) Moses not entering the Promised Land as a result of his disobedience imparted more reverence into the heart of Joshua. Nevertheless, as a result of obedience, a leader will be exalted and the sole purpose of that exaltation once again is designed to bring glory and fame to God. We see in the text that Joshua has learned well from his predecessor. And, because of his faithfulness and the grace of God, he is now receiving the same exalted position in leadership that Moses did (vs. 14 That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses). Joshua did not perform half of the miracles Moses did, but his obedience resulted in the same level of status and glory as Moses had. The obedient leader glorifies God. Obedience is paramount for success in the kingdom…this theme is constant throughout the lives of successful leaders in the Kingdom. Obedience is essential in drawing people to Himself through the revelation of His unending grace.