The Path (Fire on the Mountain Series) (14 page)

“Yes, it is, and that is the point. A main factor about the times is that the end of the age is the harvest. A main factor about the harvest is that all of the seeds that have been sown are coming to maturity, both the good ones and the evil ones. The pride and arrogance of man seems to be coming to full maturity in your generation, but we can also know by this that the good seeds will mature too.

“When the Lord spoke about the end of the age, He said that He would send His angels to gather out of His kingdom all of the stumbling blocks. The tares will be reaped first, and that will leave the wheat.

“True sojourners do not follow the masses, but always move in the opposite spirit of this world. The pride and arrogance of man has reached the levels that were prophesied for the end of this age. It cannot get much worse, so those who overcome this darkness will be some of the strongest ever. Those who overcome pride will be some of the most humble and, therefore, the most teachable and wise of all time.

“‘
Where sin abounds grace does that much more abound.
’ God gives His grace to the humble, and God’s grace is the most valuable of all treasures. There is nothing that can stop God’s grace, and there is nothing that cannot be accomplished with God’s grace. We are getting close to the time when the humble will inherit the earth. They will do this because they walk in God’s grace. Therefore, the greatest in the kingdom are the most humble. Your generation will produce some of the greatest in the kingdom because they will be some of the most humble.”

CHAPTER NINE

THE LEADER

A
s we were walking, William drew me aside so that we would be far enough from the others that no one would hear us. Something was bothering him. He seemed compelled to talk about it as we walked in the morning sun.

“I’ve been watching how you handle this group,” William began. “This is a unique situation, and I am interested in understanding your methods.”

“I appreciate your interest, and I would very much like to hear your insights,” I replied.

“I was concerned that you have been too candid about your own failures and weaknesses. The group needs to trust you, and I’m not sure this is helping. However, I have to admit I could tell that this did cause some to trust you even more, maybe because of your transparency. Is that what you were trying to achieve?”

“It may have worked out that way, but I did not do it for that reason,” I replied. “My reason for being transparent is because I was given a job to do—to get this group through this wilderness. They will only make it by their faith in God, not me. I know there is a certain trust they must have in me as God’s provision for them at this time, but my goal is to get them to the place where they do not need me. I want to get them there as fast as I can. I want them to make it, even if I do not make it.”

“That is a remarkably selfless way to think,” William responded.

“It may not be as selfless as it seems,” I explained. “If I fail but they succeed, then I have still accomplished something, and my efforts will not have been in vain. I have had great teachers myself. Some of them finished well, and some did not, but I know that the fruit that I bear will still go to their account because of all that they invested in me. So I want to accomplish all that I can for their sakes as well, especially the ones whose lives seemingly ended in failure. They can still succeed through me if I do.

“I am grateful for those who sowed into my life even if they did not finish well, but I confess that I am also doing this for selfish reasons. As I said earlier, the only commandment with a promise is to honor our fathers and mothers. The promise is that it may go well with us, and we would have longevity. I want to honor them because I do care for them, but also because I have learned the great benefit we receive for doing this.”

“Your candor is appreciated but, again, I wonder if it is helpful to be so transparent with everyone,” William replied.

“You may be right. I might not be so candid with immature or unstable ones, but these are different. I cannot treat these as followers, but as co-laborers. Any one of these could mature here much faster than I have and deserve this position of leadership more than me. If so, I want to make that transition as smoothly and as quickly as possible.”

“I have never heard any leader talk like that,” William replied.

“William, my goal here is not leadership. I did not ask for this position nor want it. This is an assignment that I am honored to have, but it is a duty. My purpose is to grow in Christ like everyone else here. Did He not lay down His life and give His leadership to others? I want to be the best leader that I can be for His sake and their sakes. My purpose is not to be the leader, but getting them through this wilderness. I will quickly defer to anyone that can do a better job at this than me with, of course, the approval of the One who is the Leader of us all. Sometimes the greatest leadership can be to know when to give up the leadership and follow.

“A long time ago, I was told that the leadership that would get us to our destination was modeled by geese. They fly in a V formation behind the leader, because it is about 30% easier to draft behind others than it is to be in the lead. Therefore, the leader will tire much faster than those behind. If the flock is to keep up its pace, getting as far as it can as quickly as it can, it must regularly change leaders. If my weariness begins to slow the whole group down, I will need to let someone else take over, at least for a while, until the same thing happens to them. I am already looking for who might be next so I can help prepare them for it.”

“It makes great sense, but I have never heard anything like this before from anyone in leadership,” William replied.

“Here things are different than in the world. To be a leader is a very shallow goal. Getting to the mountain with all who have been entrusted to us is the goal. I do not want to let anything, even my own place, eclipse that purpose.”

“Are you thinking that I might be one of those called to lead for a time?” William asked.

“Yes.” I replied.

“But I am a new believer, younger than any of the others here. Doesn’t The Bible warn against giving leadership to new believers?”

“It does. I am mindful of that too. However, maturity in Christ is not just the result of the passage of time. It is much more the result of how we deal with the trials we are given. It is the result of being humble enough to be teachable, but even more than this, it is the result of getting close to the King and learning from Him.

“I have spent my life seeking to know the Teacher. He is the One who told me that to make it through this place I had to put the interests of all others above my own. The right answer to every crisis or problem is to put the interests of others first. In one sense you could say that I am doing this selfishly to get through this by putting their interests above mine. It is in their best interest to get to the place as fast as possible where they could make it without me if they needed to.”

“I know selfishness and selfish ambition very well from my experience. With everyone I worked with, it was all about them. If this is what is driving you, then you are hiding it very well,” William remarked.

“Again, thank you. It is encouraging for you to say that because I often feel like the most selfish person I know. I honestly do not know if I am just able to hide it well. Even so, I do know this: so many in these times gave their lives to Christ, but were then taught to follow people, movements, or certain doctrines, and were never led to Him. At best, this always leads to disappointment and a shallow, frustrating life far from the abundant life they were promised. There is only one foundation that we can build upon, and that is Christ Himself. I really did not mean to share anything for the purpose of getting people to trust me more or less, but to turn them to the only One who will never fail them or disappoint them.”

“I believe you’re sincere in this, but I’ve just never seen this approach to leadership. I have not been in Christ for very long, and this is a very different approach than I have ever seen. Even on the ship, it was all about the leaders. They were mainly devoted to getting people to trust in them and follow them. I often felt the same kind of selfishness and self-centeredness that I felt in the political leaders I’ve served and just assumed that was normal. Even the visiting speakers all seemed to be doing the same thing, trying to get people to trust in them as God’s man or woman of the hour. Is this the general practice of the church, or was their stream an exception?” William asked.

“My experience with that particular stream is limited, and I would not want to base my judgment on such a brief experience with them,” I answered. “I have been to many streams and movements in the body of Christ, maybe even most of them. I have found treasures and strengths in all of them. Even so, I think the kind of leadership taught and demonstrated by the Lord and the early apostles is rarely found today. Those who demonstrate it all have very small ministries by today’s standards. However, you can always tell a big difference in how much more mature and how much closer to the Lord those under their leadership are.

“The Apostle Paul lamented that the Corinthians would follow those who abused them and even slapped them in the face. But Paul came allowing his personal weaknesses to be seen, and they would not listen to him. Carnal people respond to carnal strength and carnal leadership. I’m afraid, by the biblical definition, the church, in general, is still carnal and immature. Do you think Paul should have changed his style of leadership so that the Corinthians would be more prone to listen to him?” I asked.

William did not immediately answer, but thought about this deeply before responding. This was impressive to me and so was his answer when he finally gave it:

“Christ Himself demonstrated the kind of leadership Paul did when He went to the cross. In Revelation 3, He stands outside the door of His own church knocking to see if any will open to Him. He does not force Himself on us. If we use any other kind of leadership than what He demonstrated, which is what I think Paul also used, we will not be leading people to Him,” William said.

“There are not many who can see this,” I responded. “Of those who see it not many actually walk in it. It is much easier to use carnal leadership to motivate carnal people than it is to help them mature. I pray that you will walk in the way of this great insight that you already have.

“Our goal must not be to just get people to do the right thing, but to get them to follow the King and to do the right thing because it is in their hearts. You can teach a parrot to say the right thing and do the right thing, but it will not be in its heart. God is seeking to give us a new heart and a new mind so that we obey Him from a true heart, not just out of compulsion.

“I know the traps and diversions ahead of us. The further we get, the more just having truth will not be enough to keep us. We must have more than truth; we must have a love for the truth to make it. Only with this love for the truth will we choose the right path when there are options. Only by following our love for God and His people will we avoid the traps.

“The Truth is a person that we must love above all else. Only this love will keep us close to Him, and only by staying close to Him will we be able to make it. We must get so close to Him that we are following Him, not just principles.”

“I think you are doing the right thing by being as transparent as you are,” William admitted. “Now I see why Paul wrote that he would rather glory in his weaknesses. He wanted the Corinthians to trust in the grace of God, not him. There is a place for honoring our spiritual fathers and mothers, and Paul was their spiritual father, but he was not afraid to come in weakness and fear so that the grace of God could be even more evident. This compelled them to build their faith on God, not him. This is a very different kind of leadership.”

“William, I have met very few who grasp the things that you already understand,” I responded. “Life is all about Jesus. If we stay close to Him, we will be changed by Him. Then we will begin to see with His eyes, hear with His ears, and understand with His heart. The way to fulfilling our purpose is to follow Him. He is The Way. To lead them through this wilderness, I must lead them to Him. There is no other way. I will fail, and we will all fail, if we do not find Him and follow Him.”

“Again, my experience in the faith is limited, but as this is the kind of leadership that both the Lord and His apostles taught and demonstrated, why do we not see more of this kind of leadership in the church?” William asked again.