Leaders Who Know God Well
It's important for any leader in God's Kingdom to be closely connected to Christ.
There's a story in the Old Testament of the Bible that haunts me. It's a story of two people who were supposed to be serving God as His leaders but they were doing such a poor job at it. They were actually "priests" in God's service and they were treating the sacrifices to God with such contempt by performing them in an unauthorized and selfish manner. This displeased God a lot. You can read all about this episode in 1 Samuel 2:12-17.
The beginning of the passage tells us what the root issue was with these priests: they actually didn't have a relationship with God. The Bible tells us that "the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD" (1 Sam. 2:12 ESV). These "sons of Eli" were the priests who performed the sacrifices to God with such contempt. They are described as "worthless men" because they didn’t serve God appropriately. They didn't take their role as leaders for God seriously. And the passage tells us what their main issue was: they did not know the LORD. Apparently, although they served God as priests, they didn't have an actual relationship with Him. They didn't worship and honor God at all. They only thought about themselves.
I think about this story often because I happen to serve God as a pastor. I'm considered a leader in God's Kingdom work. And so, I often think to myself: could I too serve God in a way that would greatly displease Him? I'm sure I can. I'm certainly not immune to committing sin or making mistakes. But what haunts me is this: the main reason these men acted in such a way was because they didn't have a close and vibrant relationship with God. They didn't care much about God and His desires. They completely ignored God’s instructions for them as His servants. And because they didn't have a relationship with God, it's no surprise that they behaved in ways that completely displeased Him. They were acting according to their own desires rather than the desires of God.
It's important for any leader in God's Kingdom to be closely connected to Christ. This is how we will know what God wants—what He wants for us personally, what He wants for the people we serve, and what He wants for our ministries. If we don't know God for ourselves and are not close to Him, we'll be prone to doing things our way—the way we personally think they should be done. And we might end up serving Him in a way that totally displeases Him. Our safest bet as pastors and ministry leaders is to stay very close to Jesus each and every day through prayer, reading Scripture, meditation, worship, and contemplation. If we do so, God will guide us in our work and ministry so that we end up serving Him in a way that pleases Him most. May we not end up like the sons of Eli who did not know God for themselves.
Barnabas the Monastic
Servant of Christ. Husband. Dad. Modern Monastic. I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in modern everyday life. Lives in Canada.
