Top Dog

Top Dog
October 20, 2014
2 Kings 3:11  "But Jehoshaphat asked, 'Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?'"

The Lord never intended for humans to follow anyone but Him.  Unfortunately, the Lord knows man needs a hierarchy of leadership, simply to maintain order.  If everyone followed the Lord wholeheartedly, there would be no need for a leader, political OR spiritual.  The first leader in the Bible was Moses; He was a spiritual leader first and foremost.  As the nation of Israelites grew in size, it was necessary to give them more formal leadership.  The Lord allowed a king.  The first king was Saul, who was a spiritual leader as much as a political leader.  The second king was David, who was a spiritual leader as much as a political leader.  The third king was Solomon, who was a spiritual leader as much as a political leader.  But even these first three kings fell short of being a respectable leader at times.

Over time, however, the kings became less and less spiritual leaders; they became dictators.  Sadly, this happened in only a few short years, not centuries.  In fact, the kings fell so far away from being spiritual leaders, that they required prophets if ever they wanted to inquire of the Lord.  When reading the Old Testament, you'll notice the kings would get themselves into a pinch, then as a last resort they'd call for a prophet to inquire of the Lord.  The kings were so far from a relationship with the Lord that they could not hear His voice.  They didn't even know how to pray, let alone receive a word from Him.  Sadly, this is still true today of our leadership, certainly political leadership and sometimes even spiritual leadership.

We live in a time when political leaders refuse to have a strong public relationship with the Lord, lest they lose political constituents.  We live in a time when our church leadership gets so caught up in the politics of the position, that they too fall short of a perfect relationship with the Lord at times.  I imagine it's hard to be the top dog in any situation, the pressures of the people pulling you away from a relationship with the Lord.  At least in the Old Testament they still had prophets who would inquire of the Lord.  But today, who do we have today inquiring of the Lord for direction?  No longer are there spiritual leaders so great that they can speak on behalf of the Lord.  Yes, after Jesus, we all have the opportunity to become a spiritual leader, but few have ever followed in the likeness of the Apostle Paul even.  Some churches aren't even a reflection of the Bible, but of society and our worldly practices.

This presents opportunity in our spiritual leadership.  You and I have a duty to have a right relationship with the Lord so we may follow His direction and inquire of Him directly.  We must do this in every area of our lives, and let it affect our actions and choices, especially our political choices.  If our actions and choices would speak so loudly that we demanded political leadership to be spiritual leadership, our world would be a different place.  If our church leadership followed the Lord wholeheartedly, even through controversial decisions, our world would be a different place.  If our churches and businesses were filled with spiritual leaders our world would be turned upside down.  The top dog was always supposed to be a spiritual leader.  Maybe it's time YOU take on a leadership role?

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  1 Sam 23:3-5, 1 Sam 28:5-7, 2 Kings, 1 Chron 10:13-14, Is 8:11, Jer 2:2-8, Jude 1:19