Category: Faith

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Leadership Requires Setting the Example

I joined the Navy right out of high school. After boot camp I was stationed on the guided missile destroyer USS Richard E. Byrd DDG 23 in Norfolk Virginia. I was a fireman apprentice assigned to the forward engine room. New recruits got to do all the grunt work like cleaning the bilges, scrubbing the deck plates or chipping and painting. But the worst job was cleaning the main condenser. This was done about once a year when the ship was in port for an extended period of time and not generating any power of its own (cold iron).

The main condenser sat under the main steam turbine which propelled the ship’s screws (propellers). It’s purpose was to cool the steam that turned the turbine back into water and pump it back to the boilers so that it could be made into steam again. There was an opening in the bottom of the ship which forced sea water though tubes in the condenser to cool the steam as it passed over them. So you can image that every thing passing under the ship was sucked up into the main condenser and jammed into those tubes which became basically cooked fish mush.

It fell to me as the new recruit to perform this necessary but vile job. I was just taking the last bolt out of the condenser hatch when Ensign Wachter came down the ladder. He had a pair of coveralls and began pulling them over his uniform. I ask, “Sir, what are you doing?” He said, “I’m going to help you clean the condenser so I will know what it’s like and how the cleaning is done.”

When I took the hatch cover off the smell was nauseating and took my breath. I went first into that black hole. Standing knee deep in mush I began scooping it out one bucket at a time and handing it to Ensign Wachter to empty. Then he took his turn inside the condenser.

I learned a valuable lesson that day about leadership from Ensign Wachter. Leadership comes by setting an example. A good leader will not ask someone to do something that they themselves are not willing to do. We see that in the example that Jesus set for us to follow. He hasn’t ask us to do anything that He would or would not do Himself. Following Jesus is not an easy task and neither is leading by Christian example. It’s not always neat and clean but it’s necessary. How can we lead others to Christ when we are not willing to follow Him ourselves?

Luke 5:11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him. (ESV)

Luke 5:28 And leaving everything, he rose and followed Him. (ESV)

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GOD EXPECTS

This week’s lesson

Focus: Isaiah 58:1-12

We’ve heard people say the church is full of hypocrites. I think God might agree with them. In this week’s lesson, God calls out the hypocrisy of Israel’s worship and lifestyle.

As you read this portion of Scripture notice what the Jewish people consider as worship. Then notice what God considers as worship and why He doesn’t respond to their prayers.

Worship isn’t just what happens on Sunday. Worship of God is a daily, moment by moment state of being. When Christ walked this earth as one of us, He was in a constant state of worship. He loved the Father with every ounce of His being and that love was expressed in obedience to the Father and love for others— even to death. To love God is to worship God.

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GOD JUSTIFIES

Context: Isaiah 51:1-57:21

Focus: Isaiah 53:1-12

It’s important to remind ourselves as we read Isaiah’s prophecy concerning God’s judgement that Judah was not at this time being threatened by Babylon. It is also important to note that Isaiah’s words concerning this judgement, the coming exile, and the provision for God’s salvation was falling on deaf ears. There were only two choices to stave off what was coming: repent and turn to God or face the same fate as the unbelieving world.

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is the last of the four Servant Songs. As if looking through a telescope across a great open plain at an object far in the distance, time and space are condensed, Isaiah sees the Christ. These verses paint an accurate picture of Jesus, physically, emotionally, spiritually. He is the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant and the promise to Abraham.

Although God was going to punish Judah for their sin the punishment was not meant to destroy them. It was meant to bring them to repentance. The nation of Israel was meant to be God’s light in the world. They had failed. But God was going to bring redemption to the world through them in the person of Jesus.

Sadly, even though Judah heard God’s message, the warnings of the coming judgement, and His promise of a future, they didn’t believe. They didn’t believe God.

“Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Isaiah 53:1

Choose a pastor or evangelist that you really listen to, trust in and respect and ask yourself this question: If that person was going around the country preaching and teaching that God was going to bring a horrible judgement on this country and today was the day of salvation would you believe it? What would be your response?

Think as your read this passage (Isaiah 53:1-12) of all the Servant/Christ endured. “How do these experiences help us understand our sin?”