Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Resisting and Receiving "You can't resist the will of God and receive the grace of God at the same time." Andy Stanley I'm reading John Maxwell's The 21 Most Powerful Minutes in a Leader's Day. It is a book of devotions for leaders, or wanna be leaders. In day 2, he looks at Joshua and Caleb's inability to influence the people of Israel to enter the promised land. Chapter 2 includes the great quote from Andy Stanley. That is exactly the situation many of us find ourselves in. We resist God's will, yet hope to experience his grace. The strange thing is: we do experience, at least, his mercy. The shame is: God promises to give us "more grace" and that grace is available to those who humble themselves before him in submission and obedience. In his book Maxwell says that Joshua and Caleb lacked influence. If I accept that premise, then I must also say that God was lacking in his leadership also. God told Moses, "they have not rejected you, but me". He told Samuel the same thing when the people asked for a king. We could say that God himself lacked the ability to influence the people of Israel to follow him. Maxwell seems to imply that if only there was good leadership, then people would follow and do the right thing. In scripture Joshua and Caleb are commended for their faith, not criticized for their leadership or lack thereof. To be fair, I don't think Maxwell intends to criticize, rather to point out that leaders need to influence others to follow them. I think I prefer the word "invest". Christian leaders invest in the lives of a few people, with a view, to influencing many for Christ. 7:18:14 AM    comment []

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