Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

Leaders are made, not born Deuteronomy 34:7-9 Promised Land Living in Problematic World Sermon #1 Prior to the Gulf War, outside of military circles and the corridors of Washington, few people had heard of General Norman Schwarzkopf. Before the 9/11 tragedy, Rudolph Giuliani, was just another big city mayor. Perhaps if that same tragedy had not occurred, President George W. Bush’s, most significant note in history might have been that he was the son of a previous president. Today he’s our Secretary of State but if it had not been for his able leadership as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs during the Gulf War would anyone, other than history buffs, have remembered the name of Colin Powell?   Leaders come to the forefront during a time of crisis. Because we usually first notice a leader when they are already in a leadership position, we wrongly assume that some people are just “born leaders.” That’s just not true. While some are obviously more gifted than others, Leaders are made, not born. In reality, the opposite is the case. This world is filled with many who were very innately gifted, yet never applied themselves or lived up to their potential. They peaked in high school or college.   Leadership is a process that quite often takes several steps of preparation. Let me illustrate this with a vignette that Colin Powell shares from his own early military experience:   In one of my assignments as a young infantry officer, I was sent to the 48th  Infantry near Frankfurt, Germany. In those days our prize weapon was a huge 280‑mm atomic cannon. Guarded by infantry platoons, these guns were hauled around the forests on trucks to keep the Soviets from guessing their location. One day Captain Tom Miller assigned my platoon to guard a 280. I alerted my men, loaded my .45 caliber pistol and jumped into my jeep. I had not gone far when I realized that my .45 was gone. I was petrified. In the army, losing a weapon is serious business. I had no choice but to radio Captain Miller and tell him. "You what?" he said in disbelief. He paused a few seconds, then added, "All right, continue the mission." When I returned, uneasily contemplating my fate, Miller called me over. "I've got something for you," he said, handing me the pistol. "Some kids in the village found it where it fell out of your holster." "Kids found it?" I felt a cold chill. "Yeah," he said. "Luckily they only got off one round before we heard the shot and took the gun away." The disastrous possibilities left me limp. "For [Heaven’s] sake, son, don't let that happen again." He drove off. I checked the magazine and found it was full. The gun had not been fired. Later I learned that I had dropped it in my tent before I ever got started. Miller had fabricated the scene about the kids to give me a good scare.   Today the army might hold an investigation, call in lawyers and likely enter a bad mark on my record. Miller gave me the chance to learn from my mistake. His example of intelligent leadership was not lost on me. Nobody ever got to the top without slipping up. When someone stumbles, I don't believe in stomping on him. My philosophy is "Pick 'em up, dust 'em off and get 'em moving again."   Colin Powell knows that Leaders are made, not born. It’s a process with several steps of preparation. When it comes to leaders in God’s army, our Commander in Chief, King Jesus, does not choose leaders – He makes them.   In today’s message we’re starting a new study together of the Old Testament book of Joshua. Joshua is an exciting adventure story, better than that, it’s real history. It’s an important part of God’s inspired Word that has great meaning for us today. In the book of Joshua there are much bigger issues involved than the invasion and possession of a land. Throughout this book we’ll deal with issues that still touch our lives and faith today. We’ll discover that the book of Joshua is a book of new beginnings for the people of God. Many of us today are weary and sense that spiritual need for a new beginning.   After forty years of wandering the wilderness, Israel claimed their inheritance and entered the Promised Land. They finally enjoyed the blessings that God had prepared for them. God wants you and I to experience that same kind of life today. Jesus Christ, our Joshua, wants to lead us into victorious spiritual conquest in the here and now and wants to share with us all of the spiritual treasures of His wonderful inheritance. Paul writes in Ephesians that God has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing. Too often though we live as if we are blasted rather than blessed; victims rather than victors; defeated soldiers instead of delivered saints.   The book of Joshua is brimming over with heroes. One though stands out. He was just one of the only two adults out of the whole nation of Israel which  left Egypt who we know made it all the way from Egypt to Canaan. The rest died because of their doubt and rebellion in the desert. He’s the main character of this book that bears his name, the man, Joshua. He was one of the very few that was willing to believe God against all the odds.   Today we hear a lot about self-made men, those who loudly proclaim, “I did it my way.” Joshua though was a God-made man. To be brutally blunt God has no use for self-made men but He is looking for those who are willing to place themselves in His hands and be God-made men and women. But those who are self-made are losers rather than leaders in Heaven’s army.   Prior to this book, Joshua is alluded to twenty-seven times from Exodus through Deuteronomy. From Scripture we know that there were three distinct periods of his life: some forty years as a slave in Egypt, forty years in the wilderness as Moses assistant and the last twenty-five years conquering and subduing the Promised Land. It’s this second phase of his life that we want to focus  on this morning. This is important. Please note that Joshua spent eighty years in preparation before he became God’s chosen leader. Compared to Joshua, most of us are just half cooked when it comes to leadership. Joshua spent forty years in Moses’ shadow. That’s because in God’s leadership school, Leaders are made, not born.   We typically desire position but don’t want to pay the price of preparation. In God’s school the preparation is more important than the position. And you will never be in the position without the preparation.    This morning we’re examining this middle period of preparation under Moses because it provides us with a detailed study of: How God prepares His people for spiritual leadership. It’s during this time period that we learn the most about Joshua’s preparation for godly leadership. It’s here that we learn that there were at least Seven Lessons which shaped Joshua’s spiritual leadership. Someone has suggested that it’s as if the Holy Spirit assembled a basic theology of leadership which can be traced simply by looking up Joshua’s name as it appears in the Pentateuch. What’s lessons does Joshua teach us about God’s preparation plan for leadership? Lesson #1: Godly Leaders are all prepared from the same raw material. From the time line of his life, we have to conclude that Joshua was born as a slave in Egypt. Joshua was a natural. That’s the problem, we’re all “naturals,” we’re all naturally sinners. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We are all people of humble origins. While some go to great lengths to hide their past, with a holy God we all have the same past. We were all born into slavery and are slaves to sin.   One of the most powerful stories I have ever heard on the nature of the human heart is told by Malcolm Muggeridge. Working as a journalist in India, he left his residence one evening to go to a nearby river for a swim. As he entered the water, across the river he saw an Indian woman from the nearby village who had come to have her bath. Muggeridge impulsively felt the allurement of the moment, and temptation stormed into his mind. He had lived with this kind of struggle for years but had somehow fought it off in honor of his commitment to his wife, Kitty. On this occasion, however, he wondered if he could cross the line of marital fidelity. He struggled just for a moment and then swam furiously toward the  woman, literally trying to outdistance his conscience. His mind fed him the fantasy that stolen waters would be sweet, and he swam the harder for it. Now he was just two or three feet away from her, and as he emerged from the water, any emotion that may have gripped him paled into insignificance when compared with the devastation that shattered him as he looked at her. “She was old and hideous… and her skin was wrinkled and, worst of all, she was a leper...This creature grinned at me, showing a toothless mask.” The experience left Muggeridge trembling and muttering under his breath, “What a dirty lecherous woman!” But then the rude shock of it dawned upon him–it was not the woman who was lecherous; it was his own heart. Isaiah 51:1 reminds us, “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn...”   Joshua was taken from the pit of the slavery. As a youngster, no doubt he watched his parents, weary and exhausted from toilsome labor serving under the hard taskmasters of Egypt. His early memories were not pleasant ones. Like any Hebrew young man at that time under Pharaoh’s devilish reign, his life was not worth much. It appears from his later life that he must have received military training. His life though could have easily have ended in Egypt. But in God’s providence he survived.   He particularly remembered one special night when his life was miraculously  preserved. Joshua was the firstborn son of Nun. As the firstborn son, his life was in danger the night of the Passover but he was protected by the blood of the lamb (Exodus 11-12).    Yahweh had sent a series of plagues upon Egypt, to urge Pharaoh to let His people go. The tenth plague involved the death of every firstborn in Egypt, including the animals, the Egyptians and the Children of Israel. But God had also provided a way of escape. A Passover lamb was to be sacrificed, its blood sprinkled on the doorposts of their homes. And Yahweh promised them, “The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt” (Ex. 12:13) As the firstborn son, neither he, nor any other firstborn Israelite would ever forget that night or the next morning. The mournful wailing of Egyptian parents filled the air as they discovered that every eldest son had been slain. But how wonderful to be spared and to walk out as a free man from the slavery of Egypt.   The New Testament teaches that at salvation we become a new creation. Revelation indicates that we get a new name. Joshua got a new name. His parents had named him Hoshea which simply means salvation. Moses renamed him Joshua which means Yahweh is salvation. The Greek form of “Joshua” is “Jesus.” We need more than salvation in a generic sense. Many folk talk about salvation in a generic sense. Some are trusting in their goodness, their church, their morality but the only thing which can free us from slavery to sin is the blood of the Lamb. All godly leaders start out as slaves, rescued by God from the slave market of sin. Lesson #2: Godly Leaders are prepared to lead by learning what their true power source is. Exodus 17:8-14. This is the first official recorded act of Joshua. As Joshua led Israel’s army, they defeated the Amalekites. This is early on after the Exodus. The Amalekites attacked Israel about two months after they had left Egypt. Verse 14 suggests that God already had greater plans for Joshua.   It’s here that Joshua appears in what will be his characteristic role, the general of the Lord’s armies. But in this first battle he learns a foundational lesson, the battle belongs to the Lord, vs. 11. This representation of God’s strategy for victory in spiritual warfare is aptly epitomized by the poet William Cowper: Restraining prayer, we cease to fight, Prayer keeps the Christian’s armor bright, And Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees. While Moses stood with arms spread wide, Success was found on Israel’s side; But when through weariness they failed, That moment Amalek prevailed.   In this first battle Joshua learned a critical lesson, prayer is mightier than the sword. It was not Joshua’s sword, but God’s power that won the battle.   Moses sent Joshua out to fight while he, now in his eighties, climbed to the top of a hill with God’s staff in his hand, the same rod God had used to divide the Red Sea, and the same rod that God used in miracle after miracle. As the rod was raised in intercessory prayer, Israel prevailed; as it sank, the Amalekites prevailed. When sunset came, Israel had carried the day.   It wasn’t some sort of magic. God was teaching His people and particularly His general an unforgettable lesson. While we have to fight, exert effort and use the abilities God has given us, it is only God working through us that brings the victory. The power is God’s, not our’s. When we depend on talent, brains or ability, we’re going to fail. And no one is truly a spiritual leader who thinks that the power is his own or victories are a result of his/her genius. The overriding lesson at Rephidim was that the backbone of any work done for God is prayer. Leaders must learn to depend on God’s power, not their own.   The power of the Church is not the pulpit or programs. It’s the prayer of the saints holding God’s work before His throne. Invisible prayer brings about visible results. Godly Leaders are prepared to lead by learning what their true power source is. Lesson #3: Godly Leaders are prepared to lead by first learning to serve. Exodus 24:13 records this insight for us, “Then Moses set out with Joshua his aide” Joshua was literally Moses’ “minister.” This is a principle continually reiterated in Scripture – before someone can lead they must first learn to serve. No one should be in a position of leadership if they have not first been a faithful servant. That’s the lesson of the upper room when Jesus washed His disciples’ feet. Jesus said, “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave–just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:26-28).   Columnist Cal Thomas talks about the time that he found himself called a “Christian leader” by a leading Christian magazine and he wondered what that meant. “More speaking engagements? Perhaps an appearance on a Christian talk show? It would certainly give me the right to start putting Scripture references under my signed name in books I have written. I would surely sign more Bibles, which I find a curious practice since I didn't write that Book.” Thomas wonders if we’ve reversed things, God's strength is made perfect in weakness. He then said, “In a church I once attended, there was a man of tremendous faith. His wife is an alcoholic. His daughter has psychological problems. He was often poor in health. Yet, week after week, he never complained. He always smiled and asked me how I was doing. He faithfully brought to church a young blind man who had no transportation. He always sat with the blind man, helping him sing the hymns by saying the words into his ear. That man was a 'Christian leader' if ever there was one.”   a) By serving Joshua was also mentored by Moses. This is a wonderful practice which is coming back today; this act of mentoring. Joshua became a great leader because he walked in Moses’ shadow. He was there with Moses in times of victory and testing, and learned to lead from Moses.   Are you being mentored? Most of us would do well to get some spiritual heroes who could mentor us and help us move to higher ground. I don’t think that you ever get to the place where you can no longer be mentored. Often those who need mentoring the most are those who don’t feel that they need it.    Then, are you mentoring someone? Are you investing your life in the next generation of believers? Read the pages of Scripture, whether Jesus’ disciples or Paul’s missionary team, the New Testament demonstrates mentoring.   It takes character and humility to be mentored. Isaac Stern, the famous musician, once said that of all the instruments in the orchestra, the second fiddle is the most difficult to master. Joshua had the wisdom and humility to play second fiddle and to be mentored.   b) Joshua had a sensitive spirit. There’s another scene which demonstrates his servant’s spirit, Ex. 32:17-19. Now Joshua drew the wrong conclusion but I think that his military ears were attuned to the people being attacked or being in trouble. A servant must be sensitive to the needs of those under him. That was Joshua. He was concerned about the people.   In the middle of Kansas City, Missouri there is a memorial dedicated to a Kansas City native who was killed in World War I, Major Murray Davis. Major Davis was killed in a battle in France on September 28, 1918. On the sides of the monument, chiseled into the stone, are these words; “A KINDLY, JUST AND BELOVED OFFICER, WISE IN COUNSEL, RESOLUTE IN ACTION, COURAGEOUS UNTO DEATH. SERIOUSLY WOUNDED, HE REFUSED TO RELINQUISH HIS COMMAND UNTIL, MORTALLY WOUNDED, HE FELL, LEADING HIS COMRADES TO VICTORY. HIS LAST WORDS WERE, ‘TAKE CARE OF MY MEN’.” A leader must learn to be a sensitive servant.   Lesson #4: Godly Leaders are prepared to lead by spending time with God. The fourth episode from Joshua’s life is in Exodus 33:7-11. Moses was unique, Yahweh spoke to him face to face, as one speaks to his friend. Though he was not so privileged, Joshua was so overcome by God’s presence that he would not leave the Tabernacle. There’s passion in this picture. “Lord, you are so wonderful. I cannot leave this room. I beg You, let me stay.”   True spiritual leadership demands a love for the closet, for time alone with God. The heroes of the church, John Bunyan, John Wesley, George Mueller, Amy Carmichael and many others made personal devotion their top priority. Over a hundred years ago the great C.J. Vaughn commented, “If I wished to humble anyone, I should question him about his prayers. I know nothing to compare with the topic for its sorrowful confessions.” What if Vaughn asked us that question today?   One tribe of native Americans had a unique practice for training young braves. On the night of a boy’s thirteenth birthday, he was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then he had never been away from the security of his family and tribe. But on this night he was blindfolded and taken miles away. When he took off the blindfold, he was in the middle of thick woods. By himself. All night long. Every time a twig snapped, he probably visualized a wild animal ready to pounce. Every time an animal howled, he imagined a wolf leaping out of the darkness. Every time the wind blew, he wondered what more sinister sound it masked. No doubt it was a terrifying night for many. After what seemed like an eternity, the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest. Looking around, the boy saw flowers, trees, and the outline of the path. Then, to his utter astonishment, he beheld the figure of a man standing just a few feet away, armed with a bow and arrow. It was the boy’s father. He had been there all night long.   As we study this book, we’ll observe that Joshua was aware and confident of Yahweh’s constant presence. That awareness of the continued presence of God comes from spending time at Jesus’ feet. Lesson #5: Godly Leaders are prepared to lead by learning to identify real problems.  Charles Allen in his book, Miracle of Love, writes of a fisherman friend who told him that one never needs a top for his crab basket. If one of the crabs starts to climb up the sides of the basket, the other crabs will reach up and pull it back down. Some people are a lot like crabs. Sadly, some Christians are a lot like crabs, always pulling other believers down.   While we need to have godly discernment, some seem to think that their gift is the gift of criticism. They continually critique other believers.   Can I be very candid? That’s why I don’t listen to one of our local Christian radio stations in the afternoon? The programming is consumed with criticism.  And sadly, most criticism is fueled by envy.   Joshua nearly made the same mistake, Numbers 11:24-30. It is so easy to misplace our zeal. Joshua had to learn that spiritual leadership and self-promotion are incompatible. Moses knew this. He was the humblest man on the face of the earth (Num. 12:3) and he refused to let Joshua glorify him.   For Joshua, this was probably a watershed experience. Had he not been checked here, his critical jealousy for Moses’ honor could have easily made him into a narrow, petty man. Critical people are usually small people. They can only “enlarge” themselves by putting others  down. At the root is pride.   We need to learn to rejoice wherever God is working. God is not limited to our ministry or our particular flavor of theology. I’m not talking about jettisoning truth but I am talking about getting a vision of God and His work that is bigger than ourselves and our particular camp. Lesson #6: Godly Leaders are prepared to lead by learning to face the heat. Outside of the book of Joshua, we are most familiar with Joshua because of his famous faithful duet with Caleb, “we can do it, we can do it!!” Moses had sent twelve men to spy out the land. Ten came back and said “it’s impossible. There are giants in the land.” They believed their senses rather than the promises of God. The people were convinced by them and as a result, the nation was punished by wandering the wilderness for forty years until they had all died.   But God commends Joshua and Caleb in Numbers 32:12 “not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the LORD wholeheartedly.” They followed the LORD wholeheartedly...even when no one else did.   This crisis revealed the stuff Joshua was made of and why he was fit to be the next leader. The ten spies saw the difficulties; Joshua and Caleb saw God and then the difficulties. Their God was big enough for the battles down the road.     They also stood up against the majority and it nearly cost them their lives. It has been well said that “one with God equals a majority.” It would take that same type of courage for Joshua to lead the people into the Promised Land forty years later. Spiritual leaders do not necessarily go along with the majority. They’re willing to take the heat to do what is right.   Then, Joshua was willing to wait, even though he was waiting because of someone else’ sin. That’s character. Forty years of burying doubters before he was able to enter the land. I have a feeling that he and Caleb met regularly with each other to encourage each other during those long years of waiting.   A godly leader must see the providence and promises of God rather than the problems. They must also be willing to stand against the majority if that’s what it takes to obey. And often they must wait on God’s time table. That’s the kind of leader Joshua was, one willing to risk his life to do what was right! Lesson #7: Godly Leaders are prepared to lead by having their gifts affirmed. My good friend, Fred Froman, often quips that there are two calls to preach, “You have to be called to preach and someone must be called to listen.” In Numbers 27:18-23, Moses affirms Joshua’s call to leadership. It is not enough to think that you are leader, someone must also be called to follow. Your leadership must be affirmed. That’s one of the responsibilities today of the local church, to affirm godly leaders.   Deuteronomy also has an account of this affirmation and ordination to leadership by Moses. Three times Moses exhorts him, “Be strong and courageous” (Deut. 31:6, 7, and 23). It takes strength of character and courage to be a leader. They need to have that encouraged and affirmed.   Sadly, as we have neglected mentoring, we have also neglected affirming, particularly affirming leaders. Recently, one of our ministry leaders shared with me how encouraged they were when they received a note thanking them for their faithfulness in their ministry from someone else in our church family.   Just last Sunday our assistant pastor led our teens and did a wonderful job of leading us in worship. Can I ask you a question? Did you encourage either him or the teens? Did you affirm that they had blessed us by using their gifts? I hope that you did not get in the car or at dinner discuss what you didn’t like or what they could have done “better.” There’s an important principle here, leaders need to be affirmed.   American culture, particularly the media, models second guessing and armchair quarter backing. Scripture though teaches us that we are to affirm and encourage godly leadership. Perhaps we have a shortage of leaders in the Church today because they are so rarely affirmed.   Although Joshua was no Moses, it’s interesting how often their leadership styles and ministries paralled one another. Both were given charges to serve in leadership; both led the nation of Israel from one land into another; both experienced the miracle of the parting of the waters; both gave powerful and moving farewell addresses; and when each died the people of Israel were at a peak of spiritual health, determined to serve the Lord.   After all those years, God now designates Joshua in the presence of all the people as His leader. Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit was upon Joshua. That’s the critical quality for all spiritual leadership. J. Oswald Sanders writes, “Spiritual leadership is a matter of superior spiritual power, and it can never be self-generated. There is no such thing as a self-made spiritual leader.”  The New Testament agrees. Acts 6:3, 5 “Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom...They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.”   We must equip ourselves the best that we can but when all is said and done, we must understand and believe that without the Holy Spirit nothing will happen. Spiritual leadership depends on the anointing of the Spirit of God. Conclusion: Only one thing remained in Joshua’s preparation for leadership, the death of Moses, Deut. 34:1-9. Moses was the greatest spiritual leader that Israel ever had, far greater than Joshua. The transition from Moses to Joshua was like going from poetry to prose. But even Moses was dispensable. Joshua learned no one is indispensable. God replaces His workmen, not His work. What a truth for us all, for me, for fellow pastors, for the Body of Christ. God does not need us; He can use donkeys if He wants. But He does use us. Let us glory in God. Let us glory that He uses us. Let us never glory in ourselves.   Let’s bring what we have learned about preparation for spiritual leadership together:  * We all came from the same raw material, sin and slavery.  * Moses’ outstretched hands teach us that spiritual power does not come through human power, but through prayer.  * A leader must have a servant’s heart.  * Joshua’s refusal to leave the Tabernacle shows the necessity of heart-devotion for spiritual leadership.  * Moses’ reproof of Joshua’s protective jealousy indicates  the necessity of excluding self-glorification. His name, “servant of Moses,” beautifully tells us that a spiritual leader plays a good second fiddle.  * Joshua’s spy experience taught him that the majority report is not always the way to go.  * His ordination illustrates the necessity of the Holy Spirit for true leadership.  * And Moses’ death shows that no one is indispensable. When God wants to drill a man  And thrill a man        And skill a man, When God wants to mold a man To play the noblest part; When He yearns with all His heart To create so great and hold a man That all the world shall be amazed, Watch His methods, watch His ways! How He ruthlessly perfects      Whom He royally elects, How He hammers him and hurts him, And with mighty blows converts him Into trial shapes of clay which Only God understands: While his tortured heart is crying And he lifts beseeching hands! How He bends but never breaks When his good He undertakes; How He uses whom He chooses And with every purpose fuses him; By every act induces him To try His splendor out– God knows what He’s about.