The kind answered the people
harshly. Rejecting the advice given him by the elders, he followed the advice
of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even
heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.”
-1 Kings 12:13-14, NIV
In chapter 12 of the book of 1 Kings, the Israelites pleaded
to Rehoboam to lighten the harsh labor and heavy yoke that was put to them by
Solomon. Rehoboam said to the Israelites to come back after 3 days – then asked
for advice from the elders. The elders advised him to be a servant of the
people so that they, in return, would remain as servants to him. But Rehoboam
rejected the elders’ advice and asked for advice from the young men who serve
him. The young men suggested to tell the people that he would even make their
yoke heavier than the yoke Solomon has put into them. On the 3rd
day, when the Israel
came back, Rehoboam spoke to them, following the advice of the young men. And
because of this, the whole Israel
(except Judah)
rebelled against him.
On this event, God revealed to me two very important things
about being a leader – especially as a Christian. First is that a leader must
learn to listen from the advice of the elders. Why should we listen to them?
Well, mainly because they have more knowledge and experience about leadership
than us. They are the best people who could give us an advice on our role as
leaders! The main mistake Rehoboam made was that he didn’t listen. He exchanged
the advice of the more experienced men – the elders, to the advice of
unexperienced ones – the young men. This mistake caused the Israelites to rebel
against him. Now for us, as leaders, as the salt and light of the world, we
should learn from Rehoboam’s mistake. We shouldn’t easily follow the advice of
inexperienced people, and listen more to the advice of elders of the church –
the pastors – so that we wouldn’t cause our fellow brothers to rebel against
the church.
Second is that a leader must become a servant. In the book
of John, chapter 13 showed an example by washing the feet of His disciples. In
Philippians 2:7, it was said that Jesus even took the very nature of a servant,
even though we all know that He is the Son of God! Jesus also has led so many
people into their salvation, and He did it through serving them! Many sick
people were healed, dead people resurrected, demon-possessed men were
sanctified, hungry people were fed, and even Simon Peter was saved from
drowning. This is how Jesus defined leadership! And again, Jesus described this
in Matthew 20:25 where he said that Gentile rulers practices authority over the
people, but not so with us. Jesus said that if we want to become great, we must
become a servant just like what Jesus did, and even gave His own life for us.
This is the reason why Jesus was exalted – because he became a servant. And
that is what leadership is about – about serving the people, and even giving up
your life for them.
Original link for the photo: http://bethelpoconochristianchurch.org/hp_wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Leadership-480-x-163.png
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