Disciplines of Christian Leadership

Disciplines of Christian Leadership

Disciples of Christian Leadership is a sermon from Exodus 24:12-18 which shares five disciplines of Christian leadership.

This passage seems like a simple story of a man who leaves his people to have a mountain-top experience with God. The reality is that this passage is filled with disciplines for leadership. Leadership is a discipline. There are some people who believe that only a few gifted individuals can be leaders. However, I disagree. I believe that everyone is a leader to someone or some group of people. Whether it is a father or mother, a teacher, a ministry leader, a pastor, or even a leader in business, there are disciplines which God teaches us about leadership.

Leadership is influence. Leadership includes other elements, but the primary ingredient is influence. The Bible shows us here how we all can learn to be leaders so that we can influence others for Jesus Christ.

FIVE DISCIPLINES OF CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP

1. The leadership discipline of OBEDIENCE.

“The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay there so that I may give you the stone tablets with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”” (Exodus 24:12, HCSB)

Every leader has God as their Ultimate Leader. There are no self-leaders. We learn to be leaders from God – the Ultimate Leader. In this passage, God tells Moses to come to the mountain so that God can give Moses (as well as the people) instruction.

So every Christian leader learns from God. Sometimes this is a mountain-top experience. We take periods of time to learn from God. Here, Moses will take 40 days and 40 nights. Jesus did the same thing. He spent 40 days and 40 nights in prayer.

God gives Moses the command to meet Him. God gives him the purpose – to receive the law and commandments. Moses doesn’t write the law – he receives the law. The purpose of the law and the commandments was to teach (“instruction”). What does the law and commandments teach about? They teach about Christ.

2. The leadership discipline of MENTORING. 

“So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua and went up the mountain of God.” (Exodus 24:13, HCSB)

Moses and Joshua went up to the mountain of God. They followed God’s instruction. Moses is mentoring Joshua by allowing Joshua to share in Moses’ experience. God never instructed Moses to bring Joshua. However, Moses knows that it is important to pass on what was given to Him. This is the process of discipleship between Moses and Joshua.

“And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2, HCSB)

The process of leadership discipleship. Why does Moses bring Joshua with him? He is teaching Joshua the leadership discipleship process. He is telling him to tag along. He is mentoring and coaching him. Why? Because every wise leader knows that someone has to be ready to do his job when he is gone. He is preparing someone to take over should God lead the present leader somewhere else. This discipline is also necessary if a Christian is going to make disciples and build God’s kingdom. Just as Moses mentored Joshua, and Paul mentored Timothy, every Christian should be mentoring someone else.

3. The leadership discipline of DELEGATION.

“He told the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Whoever has a dispute should go to them.”” (Exodus 24:14, HCSB)

Delegation is a little different than mentoring. Mentoring is teaching someone how to do the same job you are doing. Delegation is passing some other jobs off to other people. When I delegate, I am letting other people take responsibility for some things which I really should not be doing. A good leader concentrates on some jobs, and passes other jobs to other people. The reason is that if a leader does not delegate, the organization will die. One person cannot do everything. The leader has to let other people do things in the organization. In leadership, you delegate or you die.

Moses delegates his job to Aaron and Hur. Disputes (which originally were handled by Moses) was delegated to Aaron and Hur. These are the same men who held Moses’ arms up while the Israelites were in battle.

Moses delegates the work of conflict resolution to these two men. This is very similar to the apostles delegating some of the work to a set of deacons in the church.

“In those days, as the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution. Then the Twelve summoned the whole company of the disciples and said, “It would not be right for us to give up preaching about God to handle financial matters. Therefore, brothers, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we can appoint to this duty.” (Acts 6:1–3, HCSB)

Dealing with people and their problems takes a back seat to my time with God as a leader. Moses wisely delegates this task so that he could spend more time with his own leadership development, and his own responsibilities as a leader – which is to listen and follow the Ultimate Leader – God as well as spend time mentoring someone else. This leads to the next leadership discipline.

4. The leadership discipline of PRAYER. 

“When Moses went up the mountain, the cloud covered it. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day He called to Moses from the cloud. The appearance of the Lord’s glory to the Israelites was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop.” (Exodus 24:15-17, HCSB)

“When Moses went up the mountain, the cloud covered it.” (Exodus 24:15, HCSB)

If you are going to be a great Christian leader, you have to spend some time in prayer.

From Moses’ point of view, the mountain was coved by a cloud (24:15). From the point of view from the people, it was a consuming fire (24:17). The cloud/fire covered the glory of God. God’s presence was in the cloud. If you are going to be a great Christian leader, you have to spend some time in God’s presence.

“The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day He called to Moses from the cloud.” (Exodus 24:16, HCSB)

Moses goes up to the mountain for six days. On the seventh day, God calls Moses from the cloud. If you want to hear from God, you have to do a lot of waiting and praying. Moses doesn’t talk as much as he listens.

“The appearance of the Lord’s glory to the Israelites was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop.” (Exodus 24:17, HCSB)

Why did the glory of God seem like a cloud to Moses, but a fire to the people? It is the difference of perspective. The people feared God. Moses however, knew the love of God. To people who are far from God, He is like a fire. To people who are near God, He is like a cloud.

In Exodus, the glory of the Lord is surrounded by the cloud by day, but by a cloud of fire by night. They were both used by God to show the love of God in His provision for Him.

5. The leadership discipline of LEARNING. 

“Moses entered the cloud as he went up the mountain, and he remained on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights.” (Exodus 24:18, HCSB)

Leaders should always be learners. What do you think Moses was doing up there for 40 days and 40 nights. He was learning from God. He was taking time to be taught. Many of us can’t take 40 days and nights to learn, to grow. However, we can go to a seminar. We can read a book. We can listen to someone else’s experience. We can watch someone online. We also learn by experience.

The learning never stops. The idea of life-long learning is not just a secular business idea. It is a biblical idea. To update skills, you have to continue to learn, even if you have gone to a form of higher education.

We call this continuing education. The idea is that I continue to learn something new for my job. As Christians, we should learn by doing. We should continue to be learners. We also should be passing that knowledge on to others. There are new generations who don’t know much because we have not taught them. We can be learners and leaders at the same time.

So as Christian leaders, we obey, mentor, delegate, pray, and learn all so that we can influence others to follow the ultimate Leader: Jesus Christ.