The Problem of Leadership, Part 1

Hopefully you have been with us through our study of the book of Proverbs. If you haven't, we have many tapes and CDs that you can purchase in our tape window. But, you know, we've talked about a lot of problems.

We're trying to look for solutions to the problems we face on a regular basis. We've talked a lot about those problems and we try to give you biblical solutions to them as Solomon would outline them in the book of Proverbs. But of all the problems we have faced and dealt with, none of them are as severe as the problem we're going to address this evening.

This is the biggest problem. That is why the attendance is as low as it is this evening. You mark it down.

That's why people don't come. Because they don't want to hear about their lack of leadership. That is the biggest problem.

It is the biggest problem in your family. A man, a husband, a father, unwilling to lead God's way. Rebelling against the authority of God in his life.

Not wanting to do what is right. It's the biggest problem in the church. Churches have all kinds of problems.

But the biggest problem is the lack of leadership. We have people who lead in churches, but for the most part, a lot of people lead the wrong way. That presents a major problem.

It's the biggest problem in our government. It's the biggest problem in our schools. It's the biggest problem in your workforce.

Somebody who can't lead. Somebody who is incompetent. Not because they don't have the credentials.

It's because they don't have the character. It's not because they don't have the position. They do, but they don't have the purity behind the position.

See, it's a problem. It is a major problem. And we need to know how to handle it.

We need to know what to do with it. We need to know what the Bible says so that we can become the leaders that God wants us to be. It was Dwight Eisenhower who said these words, In order to be a leader, a man must have followers.

And to have followers, a man must have their confidence. Hence, the supreme quality of a leader is unquestionably integrity. In order for a man to be a leader, he must have followers.

And somebody who has integrity is going to have followers. It was the late President Harry Truman who once commented with insight on the value of polls and public opinion on leadership. When he said these words, and I quote, I wonder how far Moses would have gone if he had taken a poll in Egypt.

What would Jesus have preached if he had taken a poll in Israel? Where would the Reformation have gone if Martin Luther had taken the poll? It isn't the polls or public opinion of the moment that counts. It is right and wrong and leadership. Men with fortitude, honesty, and a belief in the right that makes epics in the history of the world, end quote.

He's right. Solomon, Solomon spends a lot of time talking about leadership in the book of Proverbs. Because he knows that it is the major problem in any organization, in any assembly, in any family.

That's why that phrase is used over and over again in the book of Proverbs. Hear, my son, your father's instruction. Chapter 1 verse 8. Chapter 1 verse 10.

My son, if sinners entice thee, do not consent. Chapter 2 verse number 1. My son, if you will receive my saying. Chapter 3 verse number 1. My son, do not forget my teaching.

Verse number 1 of chapter 4. Hear, oh sons, the instruction of a father, and give attention that you may gain understanding. Solomon knew that his son needed to listen. He also knew that in order for his son to listen, he had to lead a proper way.

Solomon had a father. His father's name, of course, was David. David had some problems, but he became the supreme leader for Israel.

He became the great king of Israel. And amidst the problems that David had, he was a man after God's own heart. Solomon would pick up on that and realize when he said this in chapter 4. Hear, oh sons, the instruction of a father, and give attention that you may gain understanding.

Verse number 1. For I give you sound teaching. Do not abandon my instruction. When I was a son to my father, tender and the only son in the sight of my mother, then he taught me and said to me, let your heart hold fast my words.

Keep my commandments and live. Acquire wisdom. Acquire understanding.

Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Verse 10. Hear my son, accept my sayings, and the years of your life will be many.

Solomon says, when I was just a boy, my dad, the king, sat me down and said, listen, my son, listen to the words of the commandments. Apply them to your life. Gain wisdom.

Acquire wisdom. For with wisdom comes life. So Solomon knew.

And we realize that Proverbs is that book written to young people. From a father to a son. And so we need to come to grips with the problem of leadership and what we can do about it as people.

We need to understand that Solomon learned to listen to his father. David was kind of a unique man. He was different.

He dealt with people in an impartial way. He would take men who were in debt, men who were depressed, men who were distressed, men who were downcast, men that nobody else wanted, and he made them into the greatest army Israel ever had. That's leadership.

Wouldn't you say? He took what nobody else wanted, banded them together, taught them to understand the power of God, and they became the greatest army Israel's ever had. In fact, Israel never had as much land as they did under King David. He was the man.

He was. And he set the tone for how Israel today fights in battle. They follow the method of King David.

He would strip himself of his royal garb, and he would put on the armor of the soldier, and he would go to the front of the line and lead them into battle. He would camouflage himself by looking like all the other soldiers, so they wouldn't know that he was the king, and he would lead his troops into battle. And Israel this day has adopted that method of warfare.

The general leads them into battle. They learned that from King David. They figured if it was good enough for King David, it'd be good enough for them.

They figured if David was able to gain victory over his enemies, then we should follow his example. That was Solomon's father. Solomon learned a lot about leadership, so he writes about it in the book of Proverbs.

So tonight, we're going to begin with a question, okay? First of all, the question. Proverbs chapter 20, verse number 6. Many a man proclaims his own loyalty, but who can find a trustworthy man? That's the question. Who can find a trustworthy man? Verse 7. A righteous man who walks in his integrity, how blessed are his sons after him.

You find the right man, the man who walks in integrity, and you're going to find the man whose children are blessed because of his leadership. But the question still is the question we need to answer. Who can find a faithful man? Who can find a trustworthy man? Where are they? Are they anywhere to be found? Can you find them in your home? Can you find them in your church? Can you find them in your workforce? Can you find them in government? Where can you find a faithful man? Where can you find a trustworthy man? Where are they? That's the question.

Well, that leads us to the qualities. Point number two. I'm going to give you qualities of the trustworthy man.

I'm going to give you qualities that Solomon gives, that we might understand how it is we are to lead. Qualities that you can hold yourself accountable to. Qualities that become a measuring stick, that become a barometer for your life, that you can ask yourself day in and day out, is this me? Am I doing this? He learned them from his father, David.

He did his best to follow after them. He's given them to us so we can learn them. The question is, will you learn them? You know, we've been talking about the problems and proverbs.

So let me ask you a question. Are you learning anything? For example, do you still fear as much as you did when we talked about fear? If so, you're not applying the principles. You're not learning.

You can say it was a good sermon. Oh, that was a nice set of notes you gave us where we appreciate what you did. But are you still as angry as you were when we talked about anger? Or you're more angry that we talked about anger? Are you still as arrogant as you were before? Except when we talked about pride, you learned how to deal with it.

How about sexual temptation? As you begin to face it day after day, are you learning to gain victory over sexual temptation? Or are you succumbing to sexual temptation more now than you did when we talked about it weeks ago? You see, we need to apply what it is we learned, right? Or we're not going to grow. We need to be able to apply the principles to our life so that we can become the people God wants us to be. We need to stop saying, that's a nice sermon, that was a great service, and then leave and not do anything about it.

So we talk about leadership, we talk about the qualities. As Solomon points out in his word, we need to be able to adopt those in our lives, right? And maybe you'll have trouble with some of them. Take one at a time.

Work on one a month. And by the end of the year, you'll have worked on all 10 of them. Begin someplace though, right? Begin with step one, step two, block A, block B. Do something.

Don't just do nothing. What are they? Number one, loyalty. Loyalty.

The verse, Proverbs 20, verse number 28. Loyalty and truth preserve the king, and he upholds his throne by righteousness. Loyalty and truth preserve the king.

Loyalty. That's number one. Now, they're not in any particular order.

I'm just going to give them to you. But loyalty is someone who can be counted on. Loyalty speaks about someone's deep commitment.

And whenever I think of loyalty, I think of Caleb, the man who was loyal to his God. He was completely loyal to his God. And the Bible says in Joshua chapter 14, Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua and Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

The Kenizzites said to him, You know the word which the Lord spoke to Moses, the man of God, concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea? I was 40 years old when Moses, a servant of the Lord, sent me into Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land. And I brought word back to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless, my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear.

But I followed the Lord, my God, fully. That's loyalty. So Moses swore on that day, saying, Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance to you and your children forever, because you have followed the Lord, my God, fully.

And now, behold, the Lord has let me live. Just as he spoke these 45 years from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am 85 years old today.

Today is my birthday, Caleb says. I'm 85. I want the portion of land that God promised me 45 years ago.

Folks, that's loyalty. That's loyalty. He stayed committed to his God, even though he had to walk in the wilderness for 40 years because of the sins of the people.

It says, I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me, as my strength was then, so my strength is now for war and for going out and coming in. Let me tell you something about loyalty. You know you have loyalty because your life never weakens.

I'm 85 years old, Caleb says, 85. I'm as strong today as I was 45 years ago. He says, I am a man of war and I'm ready to go.

Now, it doesn't mean you don't get older. It doesn't mean that you don't get more arthritis and things don't happen. The problem is your life never weakens because your character never weakens.

See, that was Caleb. He was loyal. Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day, Anakim were there with great fortified cities.

Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I shall drive them out as the Lord has spoken. His love never waned. His life never weakened because his love never waned, never fainted, it never grew dim.

Folks, that's loyalty. Is that you? Is that you? Loyalty and truth preserve the king. Number two, veracity.

Veracity, truth, loyalty and truth preserve the king. So one deals with my commitment to my God and the other deals with my communication of that God. Veracity, a man of truth.

You want to be a great leader? You got to speak the truth. You got to live the truth, right? And the Bible says over in Proverbs 16, verse number 13, these words, righteous lips are the delight of kings and he who speaks right is loved. Truth, you have to speak it, you have to live it, it has to be a part of your life.

Christ says, my word is truth. When Christ was in that judgment hall, those of you going to Israel will have the opportunity in a couple of weeks to stand in that judgment hall, that pavement called Gabbatha, where Pilate would look at our Lord with a beaten face, barely recognizable, and say to him, what is truth? What is truth? He asked that of the God of truth. And the man who leads is deeply committed to the truth.

Is that you? I trust that it is. Are you a man of truth? Is your identity one of veracity? Well, if it is, you tremble at the truth. Isaiah 66, verse number 2, you tremble before the truth.

If you don't tremble at the truth, you're not a man of truth. To this man will I look, to him is broken of a contrite heart and he trembles at my word. If you don't tremble at the truth, you're not a man of truth.

You treasure the truth. Psalm 119.11, Thy word I have treasured in my heart, but I might not sin against Thee. You teach the truth.

Paul's whole life in ministry was centered around teaching the truth. Over in 1 Timothy 3, 15 and 16, the church is the pillar and foundation of the truth. It's built on the apostles who preach the truth.

So, you tremble at the truth, you treasure the truth, you teach the truth, you tend to the truth. That is, you guard it with your life. Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 6 and 2 Timothy chapter 1 to guard the treasure, to guard the truth.

If you're a man of truth, you tell the truth. You speak the truth in love, Ephesians chapter 4, verse number 15. If you're a man of truth, you trust the truth.

Trust it. Psalm 19, the law of the Lord is perfect. It's that which restores the soul.

You trust everything God says if you're a man of truth. Knowing that, you test the truth. Acts 17 and 11, like the Bereans who searched the scriptures to see whether or not what Paul said was true.

If you're a man of truth, you test the truth. If you're a man of truth, you translate the truth. You translate the truth into life.

People see the truth lived out in your life. 1 Timothy 4, verse number 12, Paul told Timothy, you need to be an example in your life, in your faith, in your love, in your speech, in your purity. If you're a man of truth, you taste the truth.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. If you're a man of truth, you dare not tamper with the truth. Revelation 22, you don't add to it, you don't take away from it, you don't alter it, you tell it like it is.

You're a man of truth. By loyalty and by veracity, the king is preserved. The one who leads is preserved.

Number three, loyalty, veracity, charity, that's the third quality, charity, maybe you call it mercy. Nevertheless, Proverbs 16, verse number 15, it was Solomon who says this, he says, in the light of a king's face is life, and his favor is like a cloud with the spring rain. When the king shows favor, when the king dispenses grace and mercy, it's like spring rain, so refreshing, charity, acts of kindness, love.

King David was a man of great charity. He bestowed favor on many people. He would even take care of the family of Saul after he died, the one who pursued him for years.

When he invited Mephibosheth into his home to watch over him and to care for him because he showed favor to those who were undeserving, that's charity. That's the acts of kindness. That's what the king does.

Remember, it was over in the gospel of John, chapter 13, verse number 1, when it says, Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, that he should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who are in the world, he loved them to the end. He loved them completely. As the ultimate of all leaders, our King of kings and Lord of lords, he would demonstrate the acts of charity, the acts of mercy, the acts of love and kindness to his men.

He loved them to the very end. That's the way our Lord is. That's why John, who was there that night, would write in 1 John 3, Oh, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God.

We've experienced that favor. We've experienced that kindness. And when you are a man of charity, you will serve, you will serve your fellow man compassionately.

That's what Jesus did. He served with great compassion. You'll speak to them convincingly as Jesus did on that night before his death.

You'll suffer for them courageously because you're willing to give your life away. You'll sacrifice for them completely and you'll support them continuously because you are a man committed to charity. Number four, quality number one, loyalty.

Number two, veracity. Number three, charity. Number four, integrity.

Integrity. We read Proverbs 20, verse number seven earlier, but Proverbs 29, verse number 12 says this, if a ruler pays attention to falsehood, all his ministers become wicked. If a minister, if a ruler, I'm sorry, pays attention to falsehood, in other words, he listens to lies and believes them, all of his ministers become wicked.

He must be a man of integrity. He seeks to know and to live the truth. Verse number 14, if a king judges the poor with truth, his throne will be established forever.

So evidently the king must live in light of truth. He must be one who rules with integrity for his kingdom to be preserved forever. Proverbs 28, verse number 16, a leader who is a great oppressor lacks understanding, but he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.

A man of integrity is not looking to gain the upper hand in an unjust manner. He's not looking to gain more money in an unjust manner because he operates with integrity. Integrity must be the hallmark of our leadership.

That's why the psalmist said over in Psalm 15, verse number one, these words, O Lord, who may abide in thy tent? Who may dwell on thy holy hill? Answer, he who walks with integrity. The word integrity means completeness. It means wholeness.

It encompasses body, mind, and soul. It can never be said that one almost has integrity. That's like saying, well, I'm almost pregnant.

Well, wait a minute. You're either pregnant or you're not. You either have integrity or you don't.

There's no middle ground. It's a Latin word that speaks of that which encompasses the whole being. And the man of integrity is described.

He works righteousness, Psalm 15, and speaks truth in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend. In whose eyes a reprobate is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord.

He swears to his own hurt and does not change. He does not put out his money at interest, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be shaken.

Shall never be shaken. That's the man of integrity. And Solomon says, if you want to lead, you've got to have the quality of integrity.

Folks, that's the kind of leaders we need, that's the kind of fathers we need, that's the kind of husbands we need. So important. Let's pray.