Author: imikemedia

ALTHOUGH SAUL WAS not a good king, he was a necessary king.

He was necessary because he became the ultimate picture of how kings should not be and how they should rule.

Saul was…superficial.

But how is superficiality to be defined?

Superficial comes from two Latin words, super and facia, which means “upon the face” or “face value.”

We are superficial when what we appear to be is all there is to us.

When what others see in us is all  they get in us, we are not so much transparent as superficial…

Great leadership is that which, when touched, quickly tells us it is too deep to be touched.

Below the apparent surface of great leadership are deep souls whose understanding threatens to swallow us.

Yet the more we probe great leaders, the more we become aware that their insights are bottomless–their wisdom is too vast to outline or format.

David was such a leader.

He was much more than he appeared to be.

Saul, by contrast, was only what he appeared to be–no more, no less.  Calvin Miller, “Fostering an Honest Servant Image,” The Empowered Leader, 9-10.

SCRIPTURE STUDY:  1 Samuel 17:13-50

³¹ Now when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul; and he sent for him. ³² Then David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”

³³ And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”

³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, ³⁵ I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” ³⁷ Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”

³⁸ So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. ³⁹ David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.

⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. ⁴¹ So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. ⁴² And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained^[d] him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. ⁴³ So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”

⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

⁴⁸ So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. ⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him.

LEADERSHIP IS FIBROUS and tough, not easily torn by discouragement.

It is very fluid, filtering through the lifestyles of the led.

In short, leadership possesses leaders; leaders do not possess leadership.

….This ability to make courageous decisions in relationships is one of the key elements of leadership.

“Followers expect a leader to face up to tough decisions.  When conflict must be resolved, when justice must be defined and carried out, when promises need to be kept, when the organization needs to hear who counts–these are the times when leaders act with ruthless honesty and live up to their covenant with the people they lead.”1

Calvin Miller, Fostering an Honest Servant Image,” The Empowered Leader, 8-9.

1 Max DePree, Leadership Jazz, 222.

SCRIPTURE STUDY:

Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.”

² And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”

But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³ Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.”

⁴ So Samuel did what the Lord said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, “Do you come peaceably?”

⁵ And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Sanctify^[b] yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶ So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!”

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have ^[c]refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

⁸ So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ⁹ Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ¹⁰ Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹ And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.”

And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.” ¹² So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” ¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.  1 Sam. 16:1-3

Too much emphasis upon a slogan can be detrimental.

A slogan is one means of effectively communicating the essence of the vision so that people have a shorthand way of recalling it.

However, it is important not to confuse a slogan that encapsulates the heart of the vision with the actual vision itself.

In many cases, slogans prove to be more harmful than useful because they trivialize the vision.

Rather than capture the totality of the vision–in all its fullness, with all its nuances–some people focus solely upon the content communicated through the slogan and thus limit the potential of the ministry.  George Barna, “Myths that Mar Vision,” The Power of VISION, 52-53.

“Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach” (Neh. 2:17).