Issue #61, July 27, 2011
Moses is a great example of a servant leader, but he wasn’t perfect! Numbers 20 records the story of the sin that would keep Moses out of the Promised Land. The people are thirsty and blame Moses again. Moses cries out to God for direction and God instructs him to speak to the rock and promises that water would come out. Instead Moses spoke to the people in anger, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock?” Then he struck the rock twice and water came out. God immediately told him and Aaron that because of their sin they would not enter the land of promise. In a moment of anger, forty years of faithful leadership seems to disappear! Still, we can learn lessons from his failure. What he did not do goes against every natural response and serves as an example to all of us of how servant leaders deal with sin.
Moses did not blame the people.
The most natural response when I sin is to find someone else to blame! Certainly Moses had some legitimate reasons to blame the people, and all of us can sympathize with the way he called them rebels! They had again opposed his leadership and quarreled with him and Aaron. Most of us would have lost our temper and promptly blamed the people. But Moses recognized that the pressure of the moment simply revealed the sin in his heart. Servant leaders continually cry out to God for Him to deal with their hearts and refuse to blame family members, co-workers, associates, or followers for what they do in times of pressure.
Moses did not blame God.
Moses had just mourned the death of his sister Miriam and after this experience at the rock very quickly said farewell to his closest associate, Aaron. It was a rough month to lead, and I would find it easy to accuse God of overreacting! Moses could have argued that he had been blameless for years and surely one mistake wasn’t as serious as God judged it. But again, Moses demonstrates his brokenness and humility as he does not blame God for his judgment. I don’t find any record of Moses pleading with God to reverse His judgment; instead he humbly accepts what has happened. Moses, like all servant leaders, recognized that God was more interested in the condition of his heart than about saving his leadership credentials.
Moses did not cover up his sin.
When I sin, I quickly move to minimize the damage and ensure that as few as possible know about it. But Moses wrote the story just as it happened and we are still reading about it thousands of years later! His sin in this case was public as leaders sins’ often are. But there are other times when leaders’ sin is private and unknown to those they lead. One temptation all leaders face is to pretend in public to be better than we actually are in private. Servant leaders appropriately acknowledge both their sin and God’s gracious forgiveness.
Moses did not stop leading.
The final months of Moses leadership must have been incredibly difficult. Why not just step down? Yes, there are times when leaders sin and need to step down from their position. But most of the time God simply asks us to continue leading. Our enemy whispers that we are not worthy to continue, but God’s grace gives us strength to continue. Servant leaders who deal with their sin like Moses drink more deeply from God’s grace and more freely extend it to those they lead.
What a difference it would make in our world if we were leaders with a servant heart who respond to sin as Moses did. Can we respond without defensiveness and blame, allowing God to expose and purify our hearts, then continuing to serve those we lead with an even greater sense of God’s grace as long as He allows us to guide them?
The background reading for this issue is: Numbers 20; 27:12-17; Dt. 31:1-2; 32:48-52
For further reflection and discussion:
- What typically happens to me when I am under intense pressure in my leadership? Do I get angry, abusive, withdrawn, or bitter? What does this reveal about my heart?
- The last time I sinned, who was I tempted to blame?
- Are there times I have blamed God for my sin? What has been the result and what needs to change?
- How do I try to cover my sin? What has been the result of this? What is the right balance between being open about my sin and wisely not disclosing too many details to others? How does David’s observation in Ps. 32:5 provide instruction to all leaders about dealing with sin?
- Are there secret sins in my life that have the potential to sabotage my leadership? What is God calling me to do about them? (Reflect on 1 Timothy 5:24 and 1 Corinthians 10:12)