Joshua 1:16-18
Then they answered Joshua, "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!"
As strucking as it seems, the tribes of Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manesseh responded positively to Joshua's calling for them to follow Israel into the Promised Land. This obedience came with a submissive spirit and with assurance. They recognised that God is with Joshua and was willing to follow Him. It got me thinking, many a times, are we willing to follow our leaders as these people had done, willingly and submissively, seeing that God is with these people. My few years of ministry involvement has told me that many a times, this may not be the case. We have our own ideas and our own opinions. And sometimes, we dun follow as the tribes had done, even if we recognise God is with the leaders.
I am reflecting myself about my own attitude in supporting leaders in the church. I have faced a lot of issues as a leader, and as a follower and support as well. Sometimes, I may be irritated by leaders' persistent probing or indecisiveness or delay or inability to see things that I see. It is a fact. And I always need to overcome these attitudes to be more willing to serve. People around who are having problems with their leaders, I can sort of identify with them. But the natural question when people start questioning leadership for me is 'then who lead? You lead arh?' Many a times, we fail to realise that in any organisation, leadership is important, regardless it's individual leadership or collective leadership. We can question church leaders for we want but are we ready to support them to help them become better and more effective leaders? How many a times, I see fingers pointing all over the place but my bottomline is really to stop complaining and start serving. Differences have to be resolved and God's Kingdom need to be advanced. The support that we provide is crucial to advance God's Kingdom, regardless how screwed up the leadership is.
I think I will stop ranching here since I am not feeling well to talk that much today. I will carry on tomorrow. But concluding, we need to pray for our leaders. When I move over to YG, I was determined to support the leadership in anyway I am able to. We need to pray for ourselves and our leaders, for a spirit of unity. A disunited church is where Mr. Tan can work best and deceive. That's why I was quite touched by the recent development in HIM. It was a positive start and I will continue to buy into the vision.
As strucking as it seems, the tribes of Reubenites, Gadites, and the half tribe of Manesseh responded positively to Joshua's calling for them to follow Israel into the Promised Land. This obedience came with a submissive spirit and with assurance. They recognised that God is with Joshua and was willing to follow Him. It got me thinking, many a times, are we willing to follow our leaders as these people had done, willingly and submissively, seeing that God is with these people. My few years of ministry involvement has told me that many a times, this may not be the case. We have our own ideas and our own opinions. And sometimes, we dun follow as the tribes had done, even if we recognise God is with the leaders.
I am reflecting myself about my own attitude in supporting leaders in the church. I have faced a lot of issues as a leader, and as a follower and support as well. Sometimes, I may be irritated by leaders' persistent probing or indecisiveness or delay or inability to see things that I see. It is a fact. And I always need to overcome these attitudes to be more willing to serve. People around who are having problems with their leaders, I can sort of identify with them. But the natural question when people start questioning leadership for me is 'then who lead? You lead arh?' Many a times, we fail to realise that in any organisation, leadership is important, regardless it's individual leadership or collective leadership. We can question church leaders for we want but are we ready to support them to help them become better and more effective leaders? How many a times, I see fingers pointing all over the place but my bottomline is really to stop complaining and start serving. Differences have to be resolved and God's Kingdom need to be advanced. The support that we provide is crucial to advance God's Kingdom, regardless how screwed up the leadership is.
I think I will stop ranching here since I am not feeling well to talk that much today. I will carry on tomorrow. But concluding, we need to pray for our leaders. When I move over to YG, I was determined to support the leadership in anyway I am able to. We need to pray for ourselves and our leaders, for a spirit of unity. A disunited church is where Mr. Tan can work best and deceive. That's why I was quite touched by the recent development in HIM. It was a positive start and I will continue to buy into the vision.
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