“And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.” (1Ki 12:7 AV)
This counsel was given to a new king by those much older and wiser than he. There was an insurrection brewing. Jeroboam I represented the ten northern kingdoms against Judah and Benjamin led by Rehoboam, son of Solomon. The LORD had judged the house of Solomon and promised to split the kingdom, giving the ten northern tribes to Jeroboam. Regardless of the advice given to Rehoboam, the ten northern tribes would have found cause to rebel anyway. But that is not the point. What is the point is the sound wisdom offered by those much older and wiser than the king. Advice that is not heeded too much anymore. Leadership is only as effective as the leader’s willingness to be a servant. We have way too much dictatorial leadership as examples today. Not enough servant/leaders. Being a servant/leader does not mean the leader is required to do all that those whom he leads would require of him. That would flip leadership on its head. At first glance, it would appear these two words are opposite. How can a servant also lead those whom he serves? Doesn’t one lead and the other serve? Not so. The word of God is very descriptive of what a servant/leader should look like. The word ‘oversight’ is used to describe his duties.
When leading, one must consider the will and resources of those whom he leads. What I mean by that is you cannot lead where people are not willing to go. We can have a vision, but if people are not willing to go there, the vision will never come to be. Again, this doesn’t mean we allow those whom we lead to be the leaders and we the followers. It simply means the situation must change so they are willing to go where they once were not. If the LORD places in the heart of the leader to undergo a building project, those whom he leads may not see it. They may not see the need. He then has work to do. He needs to convince them they have a need that they didn’t realize they had. I see too many in leadership who do not have the patience to lead the sheep. They have a dream and come what may, they are going to make that dream happen no matter the fallout. Ambition is good. But having ambition that does not consider the effect of that ambition on all who are involved, is not servant/leadership. The servant/leader will curtail his own desires for the sake of the health and growth of those whom he leads. As a father who considers all the goals he has in life in the light of how those goals affect his wife and children, the man of God who leads needs to do the same. He is not called to build the church. That is Jesus’ responsibility. He declared in the book of Matthew that He would build His church. We are called to Shepherd the sheep.
Rehoboam was young. He was inexperienced. Yes, the LORD would have found another way to give the ten northern tribes to Jeroboam had Rehoboam heeded the advice of his senior advisors. The word of God tells us the pride of Rehoboam was of the LORD. Rehoboam’s pride and stubbornness are what split the kingdom. Whether we are the head of our households, teach Sunday School, or parent a home. What is in the best interests of those whom we lead should be our number two consideration; the glory of God being the first. What we get out of it or what we want to accomplish is not even part of the equation. What does God want and what do the people need are the only two questions that need to be asked of the servant/leader. They are not contradictory terms. They are complimentary. At least in the way God does things.
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