Leadership lessons from a few thousand years ago

Recently I went on a tangent when someone told me that wwwaaaaaay back when - before there were kings in the Jewish community, one of the requirements was that kings write out the Jewish law by hand.

The purpose was to make sure kings knew and understood how to govern well. How to lead. What kind of principles they should follow.

The King

¹⁴ When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” ¹⁵ be sure to appoint over you a king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. ¹⁶ The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” ¹⁷ He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

¹⁸ When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees ²⁰ and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

The main things I get from the above are that kings (leaders) need to know what is right and wrong. To be forward thinking (don't turn back!). They need to be able to focus intently. They need to be void of pursuits that will bring them down like the worship of money and women. They need to keep what is good in front of them at all times. They need to remain humble - a servant leader - and this is what causes success of "themselves" - not their self-promotion, pursuit of glory, or exercise and acquisition of power, but God as he works through them in their naturally good actions that come from this type of leader.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was then reading Proverbs 31 (Proverbs is my favorite book). Normally this chapter is used to extol the beauty of a good woman. However, I noticed that the first part of the chapter - which is often overlooked - is about a mother, inspired by God, training her son to be a future king - a leader. Its shows not only the value of a wise mother, but also speaks on leadership.

Here's what she tells him:

Sayings of King Lemuel

¹ The sayings of King Lemuel—an inspired utterance his mother taught him.

² Listen, my son! Listen, son of my womb!
Listen, my son, the answer to my prayers!
³ Do not spend your strength^[a] on women, your vigor on those who ruin kings.

⁴ It is not for kings, Lemuel—
it is not for kings to drink wine, not for rulers to crave beer, ⁵ lest they drink and forget what has been decreed, and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.
⁶ Let beer be for those who are perishing,
wine for those who are in anguish!
⁷ Let them drink and forget their poverty
and remember their misery no more.

⁸ Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.
⁹ Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.

What strikes me about this advice is what leaders are to focus on, and traps they are to avoid.

Don't go the way of substance abuse, make women an idol, or spend your time with fools that suck the life out of you.

Instead, listen to wise counsel, don't be ruled by pleasure, speak up for those who can't speak or don't have a voice - the little guy. Be level-headed and vocal. Defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Obviously there is fairness involved - you don't then turn on the prominent or wealthy to take them down. The warning is to avoid the trap of neglecting the little guy while you are drawn to spend your time with those that you think can help you more.


This humility in leadership has to be a big part of why Jesus rode into down on a donkey instead of as we might as a king. I think it's ironic how he chose to borrow someone's donkey and ride in by himself while the existing religious institution tried to turn it into a big, politically-triumphant, Messianic entry.







Imagine if Jesus had orchestrated his entrance like one of Kim Jong Il's parades to himself. I'll bet a lot of Christians envision this as the way to "implementing righteousness" in our culture though - through political domination. Yet Jesus didn't establish His Kingdom this way. Hm.



That's powerful stuff, and flying upside down.