Leaders: Be Careful about using a big stick

In Numbers 20, God tells the leader Moses to take care of his thirsty, complaining congregation by speaking to a rock, which would in turn produce enough water for a couple million people—and all their animals, too.

But instead Moses does this: “…(he) gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”

This happens all the time with Christian leaders.

Well, not striking a rock in the middle of the desert to avoid national death by dehydration. What happens is God speaks to us, and we subtly insert our flesh into the situation. We want people to know that we are in charge, that we have the authority, that we are someone to whom they better listen.

We want them to know that “we shall bring water for you out of this rock”.

And it’s ugly! No matter how much a leader feels he or she has the right to a little moral elevation in times of evident rebellion, humility and dependance on God must be both maintained and displayed. A leaders job is to point people to God, not to his or her self.

Moses, the “most humble man on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3) stepped out of that humility for just a moment and for that reason lost the blessing he had been looking forward to most of his life. I’ve heard someone say that Moses may have been simply reverting to what he knew—there was an earlier instance where God HAD told him to hit the rock with the staff—but this time it was different.

This passage should strike a healthy fear in leaders. We are to NEVER presume that we know better than God, but must listen intently and carry out His detailed commands to the very best of our understanding. We can NEVER assume that because God did something one way through us before, that He is going to use the exact same method again. And, we must NEVER resume the unredeemed attitude that we can do anything in our own strength; especially when it comes to leading God’s people.

This is a reminder that as soon as I start giving the impression that my leadership is about me, I’m as good as done. Spiritual leadership has to ALWAYS be about functioning as God’s servant—pointing the congregation towards Him—so that they will honor HIm (not me!) for His power and goodness.