Killing the Man with 12 Fingers - Lessons in Leadership (new blog post)

Leadership is such a hot topic, and there are a million books, seminars, videos, and ideas out there devoted to how to be a better leader.  That alone should point to the fact there there is no simple way to become a great leader, and there is no blueprint that works for all people.

But I do think there are basic principles most people agree on, even though many of us don't intentionally work on them.  One of the biggest is "Lead by example".  Don't ask people to do what you won't do yourself.

David, as in King David of OT Fame, had a lot of issues, to be sure.  But overall, he was a good leader.  There are a few verses in 1 Chronicles 20 (yeah, people actually read Chronicles) that point this out.

"4 In the course of time, war broke out with the Philistines, at Gezer. At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Sippai, one of the descendants of the Rephaites, and the Philistines were subjugated.
5 In another battle with the Philistines, Elhanan son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver’s rod. 6 In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha.
7 When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.
8 These were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men."

Ok, so you're like "What in the world are you talking about?!"  I know, there are a lot of dudes with funky names from the lands of Termite in there.  But dig a little deeper.  This is a story about King David's men (Sibbekai, Elhanan, and Jonathan) fighting against the Philistines.  Remember the most famous Philistine?  Yep, Goliath.  Before Goliath took his permanent nap at David's feet, they OWNED the Israelites.  The Jews couldn't stop them for anything.  But young Dave dropped Goliath and changed all of that.  Now, here, his men are picking off giant Philistines in the regular course of battle.  I mean, one of the guys that died had 24 fingers and toes!  And He still went down in a heap.

It is such a marked turn of attitude and action for the Jews.  David leads the way, and over time, the whole army begins to believe that they CAN beat the Philistines, the force of evil in their life.


What is the Philistine army at your church?  No, not the elder board.  What is Satan using to stop your ministry, what stops your leaders in their tracks?  Are you willing to fight it out and work through that issue first?  Are your leaders weak in evangelism?  Then how are you modeling it?  Do your students ignore new guests?  Then what are you doing to welcome them personally when they show up, and how are you mentoring new leaders in that process?  Do you need teachers?  Then are you modeling that God has called multiple people to teach, or do you hold a little too tightly to that mic so that no one else can get near it?  David killed the first giant, and proved it could be done.  A lot more giants fell in the years that followed.  It set the whole nation free.


So, what are your giants?  Don't blame your students or your volunteer staff.  God has given you a sling and a few stones.  Go show how it's done, and then later begin teaching slingshot classes.  Lead.  Today.