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Holy Leadership
by
Colonel Raymond Finger
I do not think the intention of the Brengle Institute is to
turn any of us into spiritual giants, but rather, through the
weakness of our humanity, to help us simply live and
experience the life of God more meaningfully.
I think, essentially, we all want to capture whatever it is
that God might have for us. The reality is that, in your life
and mine, we become so distracted by the daily demands and
grind of ministry, we do to God, what we do to our family and
ourselves. We do not give Him the attention sufficient to gain
from Him the life He wants us to experience and live.
It ought to come as no surprise then, as a result, many
Officers live without life. Many work so hard at trying to
please people, the program and the Army, that we burn
ourselves out and become lost in the maze, or is it haze, of
Officership.
Ancient Roman legend tells of Quo Vadis, the great Roman hero
who, upon entering Rome, hailed a hero after a mighty battle,
rode in his chariot along the boulevard lined with thousands
of cheering Romans.
Quo Vadis had instructed the servant who rode standing behind
him, to hold the laurel above his head and to keep repeating,
‘Remember thou art only a man’.
Colleague Officers, allow me to say this in the generic sense:
Remember, thou art only a man.
Would the apostle Paul have considered himself a spiritual
giant? I don’t think so because, when I read Romans, despite
the interpretation of the scholars, I see a man, like you and
I, who struggled with daily temptation and the spiritual
tensions that come because we are redeemed, but fallen
creatures.
In speaking to the subject of ‘Holy Leadership’, it is not my
intention to suggest that any one of us needs to become a
spiritual giant, but rather, my hope is that the Brengle
Institute might help you live again, if you are not already
doing so.
In saying that, let me now say to you today, plainly and
simply, that Spirit-filled leaders become the target for
spiritual hits. You know that to be true, and so do I, because
every one of us in this room has been an Officer for many
years, and each of us is a victim of that kind of attack.
I have been influenced in my thinking today by Henri J.M.
Nouwen’s reflections on Christian Leadership.
I’m thinking that, perhaps the only difference between us and
some of those who are no longer part of the fraternity that is
Officership is we have managed to miraculously survive those
horrible times of deep trial and temptation throughout our
ministry.
We all have a story to tell and throughout the precious time
spent in this sacred retreat, some of you will tell your story
and, despite the pain, sadness and loss that might be
expressed, let me remind you that you are still serving the
Lord. You are still an Officer, you are still in ministry. I
hear you say, ‘but I am only holding on by my fingernails.’
It is amazing how long we can hold on by our fingernails when
the floor boards have dropped away beneath our feet – it’s
called the sustaining grace of God. My story is this: when I
have, at times, reached the very limits of who I am and what
I’ve got to give, when the floor has dropped out and I have
felt like I was in free-fall, God always showed up. God will
always show up; it is the nature of His commitment to you and
me, it is the covenant of His love. It is the nature of God to
always, always show up.
Jesus promised:
‘I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.’
Matthew 28:20
Can I tell you, that you are, by far, more resilient than you
give yourself credit for. Make no mistake; we do not work in a
world of concrete and steel, income and expenditure, even if
that is what our hands are found to do in the daily occupation
of our time.
We are servants of the Most High and Holy God. At heart, you
are engaged in spiritual ministry because it is your spiritual
calling to do so, and your faith has saved you. God has made
it clear.
‘For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against
the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of
this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in
the heavenly realms.’
Ephesians 6:12
But I need you to hear more of the narrative from Ephesians 6,
this time from the Message Bible.
Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on
your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has
issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll
still be on your feet.
Truth, righteousness, peace, faith and salvation are more than
words.
Learn how to apply them throughout your life. God’s word is an
indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in
this ongoing warfare. vv.13-17
I want to say to you that Holy Leadership becomes grounded,
resolved and is forged by the confrontation of trial and
tribulation.
When we are confronted with the reality of our sinfulness,
limitations, weaknesses, prejudices, basic humanness and when
we come to the very end of ourselves, we begin to see God much
more clearly.
It is difficult to see God when your eyes have become veiled
by flattery, self-importance or vanity. Neither is it easy to
see God in the maze and haze of the daily grind.
Let’s look together at Luke 4:1-13 and see how holy leadership
is challenged and therefore get a sense as to what holy
leadership might look like.
v.1 ‘Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit’ - and so are you!
Remember, Jesus had just walked out of the waters of baptism
after the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove
when God declared:
‘This is my Son, whom I love.’
Jesus was then immediately led away by the Spirit into the
wilderness.
Now, whilst the Scripture is silent on the subject, I am not
convinced that Jesus chose the wilderness, despite His being
led by the Spirit.
You see the ministry journey will often lead us to places
where we might not necessarily choose to go or, worse still,
to places where we do not want to go, or to places that are
away from the familiar and comfortable that we have come to
love and do not want to leave.
And isn’t it true to say that none of us would voluntarily
choose the wilderness, but, it has been the place where we
have been led by a variety of reasons or experiences at
different times throughout our Officership.
You don’t need me to tell you that the wilderness can be a
place of loneliness, abandonment, isolation and
disappointment. It can be a desolate, merciless and, at times,
hostile place.
It can be an unforgiving and empty place and we don’t even
have to get into our car and drive to it because, more often
than not, it comes to us!
It can be tiredness that takes us there, disappointment, hurt,
a deal that’s gone wrong, a relationship that’s getting to us,
a congregation that seems recalcitrant and unresponsive to the
Spirit of God or, perhaps, the seemingly unrealistic
expectations of others. The pressures, demands, endless drain
on our energy and struggle to balance life. Any number of
things can take us there. I don’t know - but what I do know is
this.
IT IS A PLACE OF VULNERABILITY
As I follow the journey of Jesus into the wilderness, I see
His vulnerability, I see His Spirit-filled life provoked,
challenged, threatened and tested by the enemy of Christian
faith, and the sheer reality of His circumstances.
And I tell you this today, because it is where the church is
being disassembled, brick by holy brick, and where its
integrity is being trashed, particularly throughout the
western world.
It is, therefore, where the holiness of God’s Leaders is being
hindered by the four most beguiling, insidious and destructive
temptations common to each of us. We know them well.
THE FLESH - THE WORLD - THE DEVIL - OURSELVES
THE FLESH Luke 4:2-3
“For forty days, He was tempted by the devil. (be under no
misapprehension as to where temptation comes from, it is not
from God, The Salvation Army, some person, but it is from the
devil. The devil is always the architect of temptation) He ate
nothing during those days, and at the end of them He was
hungry. 3 The devil said to Him, ‘tell this stone to become
bread.’
So, here is the first of the temptations and challenge to the
Holy Leader.
INDULGE YOURSELF
The word ‘flesh’ is often used to describe the obsessive
desires of the body. Within every one of us there is a motor
that drives us, wants, desires, cravings, demands, all of
which are fueled by a compulsive passion to indulge ourselves.
Jesus might have thought, ‘well, it’s only bread: one small
bun, one pathetic slice, what does it matter, where is the
harm and, what’s more, I’ve earned it. I’ve been out here for
forty days, I’ve been obedient, and I’ve done all that has
been asked of me, I think it’s my turn so, why not?’
In the maze and haze of Officership, it is so easy to lose
sight of God and what is right, righteous and holy, when you
are in that place.
Those who have either served in the Personnel department, or
been a member of the Officer Review Board, have heard this sad
story too many times as a justification for behavior that was
not right, righteous or holy.
It was only bread, it was only ever going to be a few dollars,
it was a difficult time and I work hard, long hours and we get
precious little to show for it.
You and I both know the Church is littered with people who
have chosen to indulge themselves; the ministry has been
scandalized by clergy who have chosen to indulge themselves.
From time to time there is a need to speak with Officers and
staff over inappropriate internet use. Good people who lose
sight of God and what is right, righteous and holy and who get
caught in the web of pornography; bread that feeds the
insatiable appetite of sexual indulgence.
Jesus’ story moves to another place as does ours.
THE WORLD
I want to read Luke 4:5-6 and here is an opportunity for
power, authority and splendor.
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an
instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to Him, I
will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has
been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So
if you worship me, it will all be yours.
This surely is the place for personal opportunism, of
unnatural and accelerated gain and greed, the place to:
GRATIFY YOURSELF
This is one of those moments when you want to just step right
into the story, take Jesus by the shoulders and say.
It’s not his to give; it’s not his to give!
Sadly, for some, there are times when, lost in the maze and
haze, they find themselves taken to a place where the humility
of ministry becomes obscured by an obsession for lofty,
elevated places. And some of us know colleagues who live
bitter lives, resentful because of appointments they were
never given that they believed should have rightfully been
theirs.
Appointments are not his to give: position, power, authority
and splendor are not his to give. And, because they are not
his to give, the truth is, you will never get what he
promises, unless it comes through devious means. But that will
not stop him from using the notion of them to destabilize us,
which is always his plan – distraction and destabilization.
What you might get, through whatever scheme used, is something
that may look like what you want but, if obtained by
ill-gotten means, you will never get what God gives to the
worthy. What you will get is a poor imitation of the blessing
and you will go on living in discontent.
Interestingly enough, there are people in business doing
crooked deals every day, and it’s not theirs to deal. The
company directors of HIH have, to this day, still not showed
any remorse for deals done which were not theirs to do. Not
surprisingly, the e-news Lawyers Weekly makes this observation
regarding corporate fraud, for example.
‘Gambling has emerged as the most common motive for fraud.
Almost half, (44%) of the total value of fraud was attributed
to gambling, a two-fold increase over the 2006 survey.’
The article went on to say these acts are, ‘typically
motivated by greed.’
Greed, is simply wanting what might not be ours to take.
Kingdoms of the world, and it can all be yours because it is
mine to give - It is a lie!
Just because the Army is not a corporation, doesn’t mean we
are immune from fraud because it takes places on varying
scales.
What I am saying is simply this, the temptation that came to
Jesus, in that moment when He was transported by the devil to
a high place, was to gratify Himself.
Flattered by the very idea of personal grandeur, authority and
splendor, it sounds wonderful and alluring, but it is a lie,
because it is not his to give and therefore it is not ours to
take.
It is the same temptation that seeks to rob leaders of what is
right, righteous and holy. Subtle, suggestive but offered at a
time of vulnerability when, all that Jesus had were the
clothes upon his back and living in the poverty of an
isolated, barren and obscure location in the back-blocks of
nowhere in particular.
Into His wilderness world came the temptations from the devil.
Firstly, there was the temptation of the FLESH with an
invitation for Him to INDULGE HIMSELF. It was only bread so,
what of it, who cares, so what?
Next, came the temptation of the WORLD with an invitation for
Him to GRATIFY HIMSELF. Where He was taken to a high place so
as to get a glimpse of what it could be like, what it would
feel like, to have authority and splendor.
But isn’t it true that we are our own worst enemy? Each of the
temptations focuses the attention on us, me, myself, mine. Now
the truth is, the devil did not take Jesus to a high place, or
the city of Jerusalem, He was transported in his own mind.
He was in the wilderness and what I am saying is that, when
you are in a vulnerable place, you are subject to temptation
and bizarre thinking that is not normal for you. The
wilderness is not always a location, but more a state of mind
or a space we can be in at any time.
In the third temptation, Jesus pictured Himself in Jerusalem
and taken to the highest point of the temple, when the devil
said ‘jump’.
Fascinating, you know some may be inclined to read this in an
entirely different way when speaking about personal
vulnerability.
Isn’t it true that there are people who go to high places
believing that they can fly, that they are a bird, they can
fly and no harm will come to them? Some might say, this is
what happens when a person is at their worst or suffers
deprivation, no food, exposure to the elements, lost or alone
in a ‘wilderness’?
OUSELVES Luke 4:9-11
Luke 4:9-11
The devil led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the
highest point of the temple. ‘If you are the Son of God,’ he
said, ‘throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written,
‘He will command his angel’s conerning you to guard you
carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that
you will not strike your foot against a stone’.’
Here is the temptation to;
BE SPECTACULAR
Do you know what I am talking about here, is it possible that
what drives us at times might have little to do with, ‘may
Your Kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in
heaven.’ And more to do with another kingdom?
It is entirely possible to become so enamoured by the likes of
Brian Houston, Robert Schuller, Ric Warren, Bill Hybells and
Tim Costello.
With their 5000 or 10,000 seat auditoriums and influencial
ministries that place them on the top 10 speaerks most in
demand around the Christian world.
Friends, here is the question, am I living close to Jesus, am
I in a close relationship with God, do I spend time with the
Word of God and in prayer? If the answer is, ‘not really,’
then you might actually be in a wilderness even though you
show up for work every day while your heart, mind and spirit
might be in another space?
The temptataion to be spectacular can seem so innocuous
because, we can be convinced that, all I am doing is for the
Master, when that may very well mask a deeper agenda.
Finally, the most shocking of all the temptations - the last -
was that of the DEVIL himself, with an invitation for Jesus to
SELL HIS SOUL.
THE DEVIL
Look at Luke 4:7
v.7 ‘so if you worship me, it will all be yours.’
Now, there’s the catch, there always is. To get what you want
means you have to compromise something else, to give
something, trade something or even sell something.
Does this imply that we would knowingly, intentionally
compromise what is right, righteous and holy in order to get
what we want? That is exactly what is invited; to knowingly do
what is wrong, corrupt and unholy.
It is obvious that the devil was not deterred by the reality
that Jesus was not only the Son of God, but the Incarnate God.
Still, his bold assault was to invite apostasy.
And you can be very sure that, if he tried it on the Son of
God, there is nothing that stands in his way of trying it on
you.
In our weakness, vulnerability and isolation he comes and,
what sits behind the scheming of what you want, is the cost of
your soul.
The alluring offers of the world, whatever they might be, will
come at the cost of your soul.
The Bible says:
‘What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world,
yet
forfeits his soul.’ Matthew 16:26
The temptation is to sell yourself to get what you want.
This incident in the wilderness was not the first time the
devil had made this kind of assault. The mirror story is told
in Genesis chapter
2 when it was told to Adam and Eve that, if they ate from the
tree of knowledge, their ‘eyes would be open and they would be
like God.’
Genesis 3:5
The notion sounded attractive. The devil asked, ‘did God
really say that you should not eat from the that particular
tree?’ He went on to say that it would be alright for them to
touch the forbidden fruit. He told them they would not die as
God had suggested. He told them that their eyes would be open
and, finally, here is the big one - he told them that they
would be like God.
As a consequence, our doctrine says:
We believe our first parents were created in a state of
innocency, but by their disobedience they lost their purity
and happiness, and that in consequence of their fall, all men
have become sinners, totally depraved and as such are justly
exposed to the wrath of God.
In the sad litany of temptations, there is still one more -
sting in the tail - and it almost goes unnoticed. Twice the
devil provoked him.
v 3&9 ‘If you are the Son of God.’
The provocation is this, if you are who you claim to be, then
you can do whatever you want! If you are the Son of God, then
act; use your power, use your authority and act.
By doing so you become your own god and the world serves you.
Do what you please, take what you please; behave as you please
because, if you are who you claim to be, then it is all yours
anyway.
Now think about it for a moment: the proposition is nothing
less than an inversion of God’s expressed way for the world.
It inverts holiness, rightness and righteousness and it is the
complete opposite of servant-hood and, of itself, becomes
self-serving.
Henri Nouwen observes:
One of the greatest ironies of the history of Christianity is
that its leaders constantly gave in to the temptation of power
- political power, military power, economic power, or moral
and spiritual power - even though they continued to speak in
the name of Jesus, who did not cling to power, but emptied
himself and became as we are.
Nouwen goes on to say: ‘It seems easier to be God than to love
God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to
own life than love life.’
I want you to note the double inflection created by the
challenge to identity.
On one hand it implied Jesus had power and authority,
therefore He could do as He pleased, whilst on the other hand,
it can be accusative and condemning.
If you are who you claim to be, then perhaps you can’t do the
things that you have power and authority to do?
How many of us are destroying, or have destroyed, our
precious, and often fragile, inward confidence by critical
self-doubt and condemnation over the things that we tell
ourselves we should be doing.
Worse still perhaps, by others who tell us, because we are an
Officer, what we should be and what we should be doing.
I want you to think about this because, at times, the battle
is much more subtle than we might know.
The truth is, you might never succumb to the kinds of
temptations to indulge yourself, gratify yourself or sell
yourself, but what about this?
TO DOUBT YOURSELF
Is self-doubt not one of the most debilitating and crippling
thoughts that haunt our thinking and minds?
Isn’t it true that we look with admiration at colleagues and
peers believing they have it all together? It all seems to
come to them so easily, they are so good at everything they do
and by comparison, we feel like a failure.
And what sits behind this self-punishment is the voice. The
sarcastic, condemning, patronizing voice that says, ‘if you
are, who and what you claim to be, then act, do what you are
supposed to have power and authority to do!’
The truth is that Officers are required to be all things to
all people, but that will often mean we have to work outside
of our gift-set, our skill-set, and, at times, even outside of
our level of competence.
What it does not mean is that it will come easy, sit easy,
feel easy or is easy. Sometimes it means we will work with
what we do have and we will do our best, if that is what’s
required.
My own personal experience tells me that these are the times
when the great grace of God does for us, what we are unable to
do for ourselves.
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect
in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about
my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 For
when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
You can have confidence in God, even if you have diminished
confidence in yourself and as life and times goes on, so you
will know the truth of what is means by the words – ‘my power
is made perfect in your weakness’.
Which is another way of saying, do your best and leave the
results to God. It is after all, His business not yours.
The things of which I speak today are hindrances to Holiness
that will rob the leader of Holy Leadership and Godliness of
life.
I am saying that the journey of Holiness requires that we live
in an experience of God that will easily reflect and reveal
the falseness of temptation and evil invitation.
Thus, we might live victorious, God-honoring lives that lead
others to Christ.
Notes
1 Henri J.M.Nouwen, In The Name Of Jesus, Darton, Longman &
Todd Publishing 1998
2 Lawyers Weekly:
http://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/blogs/risk_management/archive/2009/03/11/face-of-corporate-fraud-unmasked.aspx
3 Ibid.
4 Psalm 91:11-12
5 Salvationist Doctrines, Schedule 1 of the Salvation Army Act
1980, Article 5
6 Henri J.M. Nouwen, In The Name Of Jesus, p. 58
7 Ibid. p. 59
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