Lessons from Leadership

22 Then Joshua called for them and spoke to
them, saying, “Why have your deceived us,
saying, ‘We are very far from you.’ when you
are living within our land? 23 Now therefore,
you are cursed, and you shall never cease being
slaves, both hewers of wood and drawers of
water for the house of my God.” Joshua 9:22–23

Joshua is experiencing the full array of emotions in this passage. He goes from victor on the battle field and negotiating a peace treaty to knowing he has been deceived by the ones he trusted. Joshua now stands before his people in full humility. As their leader, he had made a covenant that would alter the course of his people. He was humiliated and angry that the leaders of these countries lacked the morals and ethics to be people of their word.

You can’t expect People to Live up
to your Standards

Joshua made a mistake many of us make. We expect those who sit at the table with us to operate by the same rules and live up to our standards. The God Joshua served set a high standard and held him to a high standard. God honored His word and expected His people to follow His example. Joshua had confidence in his God. He trusted not only his skills as a warrior, but trusted His God as a protector an strategist. Surely everyone takes the same approach to business, but he was wrong.

There’s something about being deceived that 1. sharpens the blade of awareness, and 2. adds the baggage of clouded judgement. Joshua, flowing in confidence learns to love his instincts & discernment. Though instinct and discernment are valuable they can be dangerous if leaned on solely without counsel. Yet, there are times when the instinct of the leader is all he/she has. In that moment, one must be able to make the best decision possible with the information that he/she has accessed. It’s moments like Joshua experienced that would impact further decisions.

Leaders Learn to Live with
their Decisions

Despite the decision, Joshua had to shake off the disappointment and frustration of this the moment. He didn’t have time to hang his head or lock himself in the office. He had to fall on his face again, seek wise counsel and lead the people. Every leader has to learn how to live with his/her decisions. Right or wrong, many can’t be undone. Even the decisions we made in the moment that we deemed right we can differ with after we have grown in wisdom and experience. Life lets us see how our leadership has affected those who follow us, and at times this can be a painful experience.

Get off the Stoop!

How many of you are still sitting on the stoop of your stupidity? Yes, it was a bad decision. Yes there was loss. Yes moral is down. Yes people have questions or doubts about you. We all make bad decisions. We all have a relationship or two that we regret. We all have a contract that we would like to renegotiate! But will you led? It’s part of leadership!

I wrote “will you” because Joshua didn’t loose the ability or calling to lead. He still had the responsibility to lead. So do you! You didn’t loose your calling, talent and ability from one decision. You are still capable! As a leader, you must lead.

I wondered how much is not accomplished because of these moments?

We allow the pain and frustration to keep us bound, and in this, those following us stationary. The people of God where on the move and they needed their leader to move on.

Move on and Take the People
with You!

Though you would like to spend the next season assessing the damage, you must learn the lesson from the mistake and move on. Joshua had to place more attention on how to handle the current situation than on the damage caused by it.

They Still Needed Leadership!

Joshua meets with his leadership team and then confronts the leaders. They assessed the circumstances, and what Joshua found was that they still needed leadership.

Many leaders make the mistake of not leading past a mistake. This is poor leadership, and compounds the impact of the first mistake. Leaders lead understanding that mistakes will be made. Leaders are still human. Errors are part of the journey that prove the leaders ability to lead. What makes great leaders is their ability to continue leading in and through adversity.

Long after the mistake, people will make a larger assessment of the leader which will take note of each aspect of the circumstances. This will become the legacy of the leader and not the moment itself.

What will Joshua do?
The People are watching;
and learning!

Many of us would have committed an error here. When addressing the initial mistake, many compound the error by committing another. Before Joshua is the choice to honor his word or break his word. He can lie. He can cheat. He can steal. He can be deceptive. He could be cruel or harsh. Maybe he could be petty. How will Joshua respond?

Joshua and crew are big and bad! They have the people within their reach. They could take the lives of them, and consider themselves justified because the land was promised to them by God! Honestly, this is what most of us would have done. He could have given a grand speech about God’s will, and sprinkled in some eminent domain talk and taken what was promised to us. The problem, it breaks covenant and includes Joshua not standing by his word.

I know what you are thinking, Joshua’s Word vs God’s Will! Isn’t accomplishing God’s Will more important? Doesn’t doing God’s will justify the ends to the mean? And the answer is no! It’s not that the act would be unforgivable, but that the lesson learned by his leaders and people would be far reaching. It might also encourage people to enter in to covenant lightly. Everything the people knew and believed was based on the strength of a covenant, and now they would have to find a way to honor their end without compromising their character.

Have you ever compromised your character to rectify a situation?

Joshua demonstrates what we should do!
1. Seeking God
2. Taking Counsel
3. Take Action.

Taking this course will help you navigate the covenant. Joshua realized this was his initial mistake. Next time, Joshua will seek the Lord, and will listen to his counsel. Next time he will travel to their land and verify their territory. Next time he will send a scout into the land, like he was sent to investigate. Next time. Next time. Next time. Because there will be future endeavors to handle from this point as a leader, and the strength of his character and concreteness of his word will be key to moving the people through future challenges.

It could be that in leading the people to fix the problem you loose the people after the problem is solved. Many of us arise from the table in victory only to lay down in defeat. Joshua’s ego got him into trouble, but he wouldn’t let it impact his next move. He decided to live with the mistake and to lead with the standard that allowed him to stand in victory.

#PastorJDO3