Recommended Study Bibles

As a pastor, I am often approached with recommendations on study Bibles and about how to pick a translation. While there is much that can be said on both of these, I created an Amazon list with my recommendations on study Bibles. 1 of the recommendations is NIV and 2 are ESV. A brief discussion comparing the NIV and ESV follows.

• Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible (NIV)
• Reformation Study Bible (ESV)
• ESV Study Bible

Given that list, let me briefly share what a “translation” is. Obviously, the Bible was not originally written in English. The Old Testament was primarily written in Hebrew and the New Testament was primarily written in Greek. Groups of scholars come together to translate from the original languages into English. As would seem obvious, not every group comes up with the exact same wording.

Now, the NIV (New International Version) is probably the most widespread English translation. It uses a “thought for thought” philosophy where the goal is to capture the essence of what the original authors were trying to say. The strength here is that in Hebrew and Greek, like English, they had expressions and colloquialisms that only make sense as an expression, not as individual words. The NIV seeks to preserve these expressions.

The ESV (English Standard Version) is probably the fastest growing in terms of adoption and use, especially among Reformed people. It is more of a “word for word” translation, meaning they were attempting to get every individual word as accurate as possible. The strength of the ESV is that it gets you very close to reading the original words, preserving the authors’ vocabulary.

Anyway, both the NIV and ESV are acceptable and excellent, each with their own strengths. Personally, I still lean a little toward the NIV only because of how widespread it is. It’s easier for me, as a pastor, to being using what I know most people are using. That said, all three of the above study Bibles are excellent and offer insights consistent with Reformed doctrine.

Was Achan a believer?

This past Sunday, I preached a sermon on Joshua 7 (notes and link to video in previous post). The theme sentence for the sermon was this: “The secret sins of one can derail the whole of God’s people from accomplishing the great vision that lay before them.” That is, Achan was the only one in all of Israel who broke the command not to take plunder from Jericho. Yet, because of his sin, Israel lost the battle against AI.

After he was found out, Achan did confess his sin. “It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I have done: when I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath” (Joshua 7:20-21).

When confronted with his sin, Achan did confess, telling the truth. That led to this question that I received over on Facebook. “Was Achan a believer?” For the sake of fully answering this question, I thought it helpful to bring it over to the blog where I could have some more space to answer the question. Let me present two main considerations in answering the question, following by an important implication for the church today.

1. This question presupposes repentance on Achan’s behalf. In fact, the original question on Facebook continued, “Is this what Paul would later call a “sin unto death” type of thing because he did repent and didn’t hold back on acknowledging his sin?” I would suggest that this was not true repentance. Walvoord and Zuck, in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, have this to say, “Achan’s response was straightforward and complete. He confessed his sin and gave no excuses. But neither did he express sorrow for disobeying God’s order, betraying his nation for booty, and causing the defeat of Israel’s troops and the death of 36 men. Any remorse he may have felt was probably only because he got caught” (p. 345). That is to say, he probably felt guilty about getting caught, not about the action itself.
2. Repentance is marked by action. The process of sorting through the whole nation from tribe to clan to family to individual must have taken some time. If he was really repentant, he should have come forward, not waiting to be singled out through that whole process. Walvoord and Zuck continue, “Since the method took time it would also give the guilty person an opportunity to repent and confess his sin. If Achan had responded in this way and thrown himself on the mercy of God no doubt he would have been pardoned as was the guilty David centuries later” (p. 345).

So, to summarize: No, I do not believe that was true biblical repentance and no, I do not think that Achan was a believer.

Maybe the most intriguing implication of this question is whether or not an unbeliever can be part of the covenant community.  We often speak about the visible church and the invisible church or, as Dr. Betters from Glasgow Church often calls it, the “true” church and the “show” church. That is, there are people who are members of the visible church – a local, visible expression of God’s people – who are outside of the covenant people of God. They are not part of the true, invisible church.

Here is Achan, an Israelite living in light of the blessings and protection of YHWH himself. Yet by his actions, he proved himself not to be among the elect. Though dwelling among God’s people, he himself was not one. Interestingly, in the couple chapters prior, there is a non-Israelite, and a prostitute at that, who proved herself to be elect by her faith. The lesson is this: there are non-elect pretending to be God’s people while those we least expect will show their election by their faith and be adopted into the covenant community.

Derailed: A sermon on Joshua 7

You can view this sermon at Glasgow Church’s media page.
Here is the outline of my notes from the sermon.

Introduction – Excited about Vision

• Quote on Twitter – “If you chase two rabbits, they both will escape.”
• Point of that quote: you must pick a single vision/objective and pursue it relentlessly. If you waffle or get distracted by another goal, you won’t accomplish any of them.
• Exciting time in the life of the church – most exciting in my time here
• Last week, at the congregational meeting, we voted on a cool plan
• What excites me is the Acts 1:8 component of this plan – “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
• Local, regional and global
  • Renovations & sports fields here to further our ministry locally
  • Planting a church in Middletown
  • Building an orphanage across the world

Transition

• This is an amazing vision – an exciting one to be sure
• The Scriptures, this morning, will offer us a caution to be heeded
• It is possible to be derailed from that accomplishing that vision

Joshua 7

• Set the stage – Moses led the people out of slavery in Egypt
• After wandering the desert for 40 years, the Israelites stood just on the other side of the Jordan, the Promised Land in site
• Moses’ last act was to lead the Israelites in renewing the covenant and passing the mantle of leadership to Joshua
• Under Joshua, the Israelites march on to take possession of their inheritance – the land God promised to Abraham
• The first city they conquer is Jericho – in a most amazing way – God demonstrated that this was all about him – He was the one who would give the victory

Defeat at Ai (2-5)

• Talk about energy and momentum – they just experienced a great victory over mighty Jericho
• Next up is a little town called Ai
• Read verses 2-5
• Ai is so small and weak, no sense sending the whole army – just send a couple thousand people
• Wait, what just happened here? They defeated mighty Jericho then fall to Ai?
• They were routed!
• Some think this was a result of overconfidence – only sending 3000 men – I’ll suggest that is not what was happening here – let’s continue on

Joshua’s Confusion (6-9)

• Read verses 6-9
• Joshua goes before God and says, “God, what just happened here? This isn’t the way it was supposed to happen!”
• Professor at Notre Dame who wrote a book, “Not the way it’s supposed to be”
• That’s how Joshua feels right about now
• He tears his clothes and falls on his knees, utterly confused
• After defeating big, mighty Jericho, how did we lose to little ole’ Ai?
• I thought we were supposed to take possession of this land, and we lose?

God’s Wrath Revealed (10-15)

• God hears Joshua’s prayer and responds
• Read verses 10-15
• God reveals to Joshua that there is sin among the people
• Someone took the devoted things – took plunder – from Jericho
• The culprit must be found and punished

Achan is the Guy (16-18)

• In every episode of the TV show, Monk, there is a point at which Monk figures it all out and says, “He is the guy”
• That is what happens here in verses 16-18 (read)
• God weeds through the Israelites by tribe (Judah), clan (Zerah) family (Zimri) and finally man by man until Achan is revealed to be the perpetrator

Achan’s Sin (19-21)

• Achan is brought forward and asked to account for his actions
• Read verses 19-21
• Achan confesses to stealing the plunder – taking a robe and gold and silver
• He coveted the plunder from Jericho and so, in secret, he stashed it
• Listen to Deuteronomy 7:25-26: “The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the Lord your God. Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.”
• Yet, this is precisely what Achan does

Two Consequences

• There are 2 consequences for Achan’s action
• We, like Achan, have a tendancy to downplay just how bad sin is
• But listen to the words of Jeremiah 8:11: “They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious.”
• As I was preparing, I came across two quotes from the same author as he was discussing this passage.
• “We Christians generally have such tame views of sin; wrongly, we have no paranoia over this contagious power” (Davis, p.62)
• “Our problem here is – sinners that we are – we don’t think breaking Yahweh’s covenant is all that big a deal” (Davis, p.64)
• Breaking Yahweh’s covenant is a big deal – sin is a big deal
• And Achan and all of Israel is about to find out just how big a deal sin is

Punishment (22-26a)

• Read verses 22-26a
• The first consequence is punishment
• Sin must always be punished
• You all know the words of Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death”
• The JB Phillips says it this way: “Sin pays its servants, the wage is death.”
• Achan and his whole family – every family member and everything he owned – are stoned to death and then burned
• Men, let me speak to you for just a moment
  • This passage should serve as a strong caution for you
  • Your sin will affect your family – they will pay a price for your sin
  • Exodus 34:6-7 – “And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”
  • Men, if you are faithful, your family will be blessed
  • If you are unfaithful, your family will pay the price

The Whole of God’s People Suffer (1)

• Achan’s punishment was simply the first of the two consequences his sin would carry
• For the second, we need to go back to verse 1, which you probably noticed we skipped at the beginning
• Read verse 1
• Here, the author of Joshua previews what is about to come: Achan took some of the devoted things and as a result, God’s anger burned against Israel
• This is what we call “the reader’s advantage” – when we read this, we get a feel for what is going on in the story
• Joshua, remember, didn’t have the advantage of that perspective. It was happening to him!
• Have you ever watched a movie and you knew that a character was about to walk into a trap?
• That is why I don’t watch horror movies: the characters always walk into the scenario!
• Girls, don’t decide on your own you are going to go investigate a creepy old house where someone was killed! What do you expect to happen!
• That is what we mean by the “reader’s advantage” – we have a perspective that the characters do not – we know things they do not.
• Remember, Joshua was utterly confused because he didn’t know what just happened!
• But there is something very important for us to see in verse 1.
• It says that Achan took the plunder AND that the Israelites acted unfaithfully!
• One person broke the covenant, yet ALL of Israel was counted as unfaithful!
• The second consequence of Achan’s sin was Israel’s defeat at Ai

Secret Sins

• Here’s what I want us to learn from this story this morning…
• The secret sins of one derailed the whole of God’s people from accomplishing the great vision that lay before them.
• The Israelites were God’s chosen people
• He had promised this land to them
• So why had they experienced defeat?
• Because of one man’s sin – The secret sins of one derailed the whole of God’s people from accomplishing the great vision of capturing Canaan, the land of promise, as their inheritance forever.

Our Secret Sins

• Likewise, we have a great vision before us of taking forth the gospel in Glasgow and Bear, in Middletown and around the world
• We have a vision to carry forth the gospel in word and deed. It’s an amazing vision
• But there is something that can derail us – your secret sin, my secret sin.
• The secret sins of one derailed the whole of God’s people from accomplishing the great vision that lay before them.
• The secret sin of one of us can derail the whole church from accomplishing this great vision.
• Your secret sins, my secret sins, have an impact beyond what we know.

The Grace (7:26b-8:2)

• This passage does not end without hope and without grace.
• Read verses 25b-26
• “Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger” – when sin is punished, God turns away his just wrath
• The hope for us is that Christ has taken our punishment. Like Achan, we deserve to be stoned and burned. Yet Christ has take it upon himself.
• “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)
• The first consequence of sin is punishment – but God has taken that punishment upon himself
• If you are here this morning, and have never received Christ’s love, I encourage you to do so now. The Bible says that “If we confess our sins here is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9)
• Because Christ has died, your sin can be forgiven. God’s wrath against you can be turned away! Ask for that forgiveness right now.
• The second consequence is that the whole of God’s people are derailed from the great mission that lay before them.
• Read 8:1-2
• After sin is punished, God turns away his wrath. When that happens, he restores then to the mission he gave them.
• After Achan was punished, Israel returned to the task of capturing the Promised Land
• Notice the real irony of the story – at Ai, Israel was given permission to take plunder!
• If only Achan had been content to wait, he would have found that God had a plan that would have allowed him to have even greater riches than he could have imagined!
• When we confess our sins, Christ forgives us AND he restores us, as a church, to the mission, to the great vision, that lies before us.
• And, like Israel, we have great riches awaiting us: “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms n Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6-7)

Conclusion

• As a church, we have a great vision before us.
• Personally, I can’t wait to see how God work in and through our congregation in the days and weeks and months and years to come.
• Only one thing can derail us: secret sins.
• Bring your secret sins to light because sin dies in the light.
• And then receive the forgiveness of God made available through Christ alone
• And then, together, let us set forth to fulfill the great vision, to the glory of God.

Pray

God’s great plan

I am now returning from my blogging hiatus brought on by the missions trip to New Orleans that my wife, Kim, and I led. We had 50 people over 2 weeks go and serve that city. In returning to the blog, I wanted to share some thoughts from our theme passage, Ephesians 3:14-21.

When I think of the greatness of this great plan, I fall on my knees before the Father (from whom all fatherhood, earthly or heavenly, derives its name), and I pray that out of the glorious richness of his resources he will enable you to know the strength of the Spirit’s inner reinforcement – that Christ may actually live in your hearts by your faith. And I pray that you, firmly fixed in love yourselves, may be able to grasp (with all Christians) how wide and deep and long and high is the love of Christ – and to know for yourselves that love so far beyond our comprehension. May you be filled through all your being with God himself.

Now to him who by his power within us is able to do infinitely more than we ever dare to ask or imagine – to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever, amen! (Ephesians 3:14-21, J.B Phillips)

As I read that passage, I stop on the first line and the use of the word “great” – twice in one sentence – almost redundant and certainly need to be careful as it rolls off the tongue. What is God’s plan and what makes it so great? That is what I would like to explore in this post…

Before we can grasp what makes it so great, we must grasp what it is. Paul says that in the paragraphs (and chapters) that precede this passage. “Yes, to me, less than the least of all Christians, has God given this grace, to enable me to proclaim to the gentiles the incalculable riches of Christ, and to make plan to all men the meaning of that divine secret which he who created everything has kept hidden from the creation until now. The purpose is that all the angelic powers should now see the complex wisdom of God’s plan being worked out through the Church, in conformity to that timeless purpose which he centred in Christ Jesus, our Lord” (Ephesians 3:8-11, J.B. Phillips). God’s great plan was to use the church to draw unbelievers to repentance and life in Christ!

Verses 14-21 lay out five key elements that reveal what makes this plan so great…

• God’s great plan makes us God’s children – We are adopted into his family, made his own children (see John 1:12). We who were orphans, our only the father being the father of lies, have been made sons and daughters of the Great King!
• God’s great plan gives us God’s power – This passage promises us the strength and power of God through the Spirit’s indwelling. And through that power within us, God promises to do even more than we could think to ask him to do. What a wonderful promise. We do not need to live as those who are weak and afraid because we have God’s power within us.
• God’s great plan wraps us in God’s love – Paul challenges his readers to know how wide and deep and long and high is the love of Christ. That is, he invites us to catch just a glimpse of the breadth of God’s love. No matter what direction we go, we can not get past his love.
• God’s great plan fills us with God’s presence – Twice in the passage we are promised that God himself is indwelling us. “That Christ may actually live in your hearts by your faith” and “May you be filled through all your being with God himself!” All the Scriptures are the story of God’s presence with his creation. His indwelling now anticipates the day we will walk and talk with him in eternity.
• God’s great plan is for his own glory – This is not about us. It’s about God’s great plan, centered in Christ, to draw people to himself for his own sake. “To him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever, amen!” God has given the church a profound role to play in this plan, but it is not of our own strength, it is by the strength he gives us through his presence, that we can fulfill our great mission. And because it is by his power, it is he who gets the praise as he does infinitely more than we ever dare to ask or imagine.

Interact: What aspect of God’s great plan do you struggle to believe? Do you struggle to see your new identity as a child of God? Are you living without power? Do you wonder if God still loves you or if he has abandoned you? Do you think this is somehow for your glory, not his? Why? Confess your unbelief and ask God to reassure you as you meditate on this passage.

Mission to New Orleans

While I hope to do some blogging over the next couple of weeks, I am currently leading a missions trip to New Orleans. Follow our journey at http://missiontoneworleans.blogspot.com

Book Review: The Principle of the Path by Andy Stanley

The Good Witch of the East, after telling Dorothy she needs to the Emerald City, tells her to “follow the yellow brick road.” While she encounters a variety of experiences along the way, she does end of in Emerald City. Why? Because that is where the yellow brick road leads. If you walk down a path, you will get to where that path goes. That illustration provides the conceptual framework for Andy Stanley’s new book, The Principle of the Path.

The Principle of the Path is a pretty easy read whose thesis is simple and straightforward: you get to where you are going because paths always lead to the same destination. Certainly, the strength of the book is how tightly it builds on this thesis. It never wanders too far from this central theme, while expanding on the role of submission, pride and even friends play in the process. Through excellent storytelling, Stanley reflects on Scripture, offering challenging applications, without ever alienating his readers. In fact, Stanley is careful not to let his readers let themselves off the hook. He recognizes the temptation in a book like this to say, “Yeah, I know someone like that,” without ever applying it to ourselves.

While I enjoyed the book, I perceived two shortcomings. First, it remains so tight to the thesis that at times it feels as if Stanley is repeating himself. I will take that every day, though, over a book that doesn’t stay close to its core. Second, I would like to have seen the introduction of grace. His assessment of the path we walk and the implications are excellent. But I would like to have seen him discuss the grace of God that makes new creations and can put them on a new path. In fact, I thought that was where Stanley was headed in the last chapter. “Because sometimes it is the destinations that are out of our reach that create the circumstances God uses to remind us that we are never out of his reach” (p. 159). Unfortunately, that is not where he goes with that chapter.
The subtitle of the book is “How to get from where you are to where you want to be.” If you are trying to figure out how you got to where you are now and how to change directions in life, The Principle of the Path is an excellent read.

When failure is the path of successful leadership

One of us met recently with the new CEO of a large company who was profiling his team of direct reports. As the CEO talked with us, he focused on the skills and background of each direct report. Impressed with the diversity of the group, we asked “Is there anything that everyone on your team has in common?”

He nodded. “At one point or another, each one of us has been fired.”

The CEO said this proudly. To him, being fired was a badge of merit (Dotlich, Noel & Walker – Learning for Leadership: Failure as a Second Chance in Business Leadership – p. 478).

I read this essay by Dotlich, Noel and Walker some time back as part of my doctoral studies in leadership. I have never been able to forget this quote. Did you notice that last sentence? To this CEO, he bragged about the fact that he and all of his senior execs had been fired somewhere along the line?

When I was fired from a job years in college, I wanted to stick my head in the sand and pretend it never happened. I tried to forget that experience, not make it a talking point.

Instead of denying it happened, lying about it or pointing fingers at others (cause, obviously it was someone else’s fault!), the successful leader finds a way to grow through it. What flaws of mine did this reveal? What could I have done differently? What part did I play in getting myself to this point?

As a leader, you are going to fail sometimes. You may even be terminated. Are you going to play the blame game, or are you going to look inward with a goal of growing personally and professionally? To this CEO, “being fired was a badge of merit” because each member of his executive team had grown through that experience. Their leadership since had been shaped and reshaped by experiencing failure. How will you respond when it happens to you?

Interact: How have you grown as a leader through a past failure?

Book Review: Matt Bell’s Money Strategies for Tough Times

Following is a review of Matt Bell’s Money Strategies for Tough Times
as part of my ongoing participation in the NavPress Blogger Review Program.

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Matt Bell’s Money Strategies for Tough Times is an excellent resource for all of us. Both personally and professionally, many of us find ourselves having to buckle down as jobs are lost and bills are due. With an excellent combination of biblical reflection, market insight and practical helps such as charts and assignments, Bell provides the reader a framework by which to think Christianly and then to act diligently with the money God provides.

Throughout the book, Bell asks simple, but piercing, questions. “Are you in a financial crisis or a financial crunch?” (p. 30). “How did you get here?” (p. 33). These questions set the stage for the reader to honestly reflect on his/her own financial situation and then to heed Bell’s clear plans for getting out of debt and for saving. If your wallet is being crunched, read Bell’s book. If you feel inadequate to talk about money, you will find Bell’s consistent habit of defining his terms helpful (“secured” vs. “unsecured” debt, etc). Additionally, the book contains several sidebars where he lays looks at some specific issues, offering warnings on payday loans, 0% percent loans and other potential pitfalls that offer more hope than they are likely to deliver.

If you are looking to cut back some bills, turn off your lights. If you are looking to get radical with your finances to get out of debt and to give generously, read Matt Bell’s Money Strategies for Tough Times
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Leading from weakness

Jacob was a deceiver. He deceived Esau and took his birthright. He deceived his father and received the blessing from Isaac instead of Esau. He deceived his father-in-law Laban to accumulate wealth. All his life he deceived people to get what he wanted.

But something changed one fateful day. Years after running away from Esau, he packs up everything he has and sets off toward Esau, hoping for restoration. The night before he meets Esau, with his family and possessions already sent on ahead, Jacob wrestles a mysterious visitor. During the course of their wrestling match we read, “When the man saw that he could not overpower him [Jacob], he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man” (Gen. 32:25).

Something changed that night for Jacob. And it was not just his name (which became Israel). As a tennis coach, I constantly am teaching people about rotating their hips and using their core to produce more power, precisely because the hips and core are the strongest part of your body. But not so anymore for Jacob, for the man dislocated his hip.

He couldn’t hide his weakness. That he was limping was obvious to all who saw him. That his hip was dislocated was a powerful, daily reminder that his strength and pride were gone. The prideful arrogant deceiver was gone. In his place stood a new man, Israel, whose limp would serve as the basis of his leadership. His leadership became, in the words of Dan Allender, “leading with a limp.”

The leadership principle is powerful. We all have flaws and weaknesses. Yet we all, leaders especially, spend so much of our time trying to hide our weaknesses. We don’t want people to know that we can’t do it all and that we’re not good at everything. We only accept responsibilities that will highlight our strengths and skills, wanting to make sure that we always look good.

Like Jacob, each of us called to be a leader must do so with a limp. All of us have something that requires dependence upon God’s strength when we are too weak, and if you don’t, just wait. God will send something to break you of your strength and pride. Even Paul, the great apostle, had a thorn in his side that followed him till the end of his days (2 Cor. 12). But Paul found his hope in the promise that “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (vs 9).

There is a tendency to want to control everything. We want to look good all the time. Yet that is not the way of Biblical leadership. Rather, Biblical leadership is the way of weakness, humility and authenticity. Imagine what it must have been like when Israel met up with his family later that day. They saw him limping and must have been worried. But he knew that limp came on the night he encountered God face to face. Like Jacob, when we embrace our weakness and share the story of encountering God in the midst of it, we allow people to see that we are flawed and in need of God’s grace and we give them permission to need God’s grace too. And that is what Christian leadership is all about – helping people see their need for grace and a God so anxious to entend it.

Leaders with Authority, Leaders under Authority

God, in His sovereignty, has given His church two different accounts of creation in Genesis 1 and 2. Each of these accounts teaches us about humanity and our relation both to God and to the world into which we were placed.

Genesis 1 emphasizes man as one created with authority. Consider Gen. 1:26, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’” God created humanity with authority and commissioned them to rule of his creation. Man and Woman were to serve as the vice-regents of God’s kingdom here on earth.

Compare that with the picture of Genesis 2, which emphasizes man as one under authority. In verses 16-17 we read, “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.’” Man, for all the authority given to him to rule over creation in Genesis 1, is not the ultimate authority. Man is subject to God.

There is an important leadership principle in there. Leaders are given authority, sometimes positional authority and sometimes authority that falls outside of any formal organizational structures. Yet, for all their authority and influence, they are never the “final answer.” They always remain under God’s authority.

Too many leaders, especially Christian leaders, have fallen into sin. And it is usually precisely because they begin to believe their own hype and begin to see themselves as the ultimate. But they aren’t. They are accountable to God himself and their should always be other humans to whom they report (be it an elder board or a pastoral team). When a Christian leader falls, it is almost without fail the case that they have no accountability.

Leaders are given incredible authority to rule in the particular area into which God has called them. Yet leaders with authority are always to be leaders under God’s authority.

Interact: What are the dangers of  a leader failing to recognize that although they have authority, they are also under authority?