29 Jan What It Takes to Lead Anything

When Andy Stanley, the pastor of Northpoint Community Church in Atlanta, one of the largest churches in the United States, was asked what was the number one ingredient required for successful leadership, he replied without hesitation,

Courage.

Courage! And he’s right. Why? Because courage, at times, requires boldness, risk, and grit, and at other times, requires patience, waiting, and self-control—

in short, courage is every virtue all rolled into one.

If you have ever led anything, or tried to lead anyone, from a business to a family to a team to the heart of a child, you know that you often see things that no one else does, and see them in a way that no one sees them, and to get people to move from here to there, from one place to another requires…what?

Intelligence? Yes, but not most.

Resources? Yes, but not most.

The right people? Yes, but not most.

What does it require to move people from here to there?

It requires courage—both the boldness and the patience, we see in an incredible picture from Joshua 3.

Here in the history of Israel, God’s people are about to cross over into their Promised Land, but one massive obstacle lies in front of them—not just the Jordan River, but the Jordan River at flood stage—a wild, raging, spilling-its-banks, harder than ever to cross river.

And God said—Cross it.

So what happened? How did they make it? Israel’s leader, Joshua, sent the priests in front of the people, and when the priests’ feet touched the edge of the river, the waters parted and the priests were able to cross, while the waters piled in a great heap upstream, the book tells us.

But—and this is key to see—to lead people, it isn’t enough to just cross over yourselves. The priests could have just crossed, and left the people behind, and gotten their “Promised Land” and forgotten about all the people they left behind.

But they didn’t, and the last verse of the chapter, verse 17, gives us an incredible picture of courageous and godly courage, and what it will take for you and me to help others make it across with us:

“The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.”

What did the priests do? They went out and stood in the middle of the river, in the middle of the place where no one thought they could go or should go, they stood there with God’s presence, worshipping, while person after person filed past them.

Who knows how long they stood there? Who knows how badly they wanted to quit? Who knows how tired they got holding the ark? Who knows how frustrated they got watching children stumble and old men pause? Who knows how their hearts beat with anticipation and frustration?

They were close enough to see the Promised Land, but too far to touch it.

But they stood in the middle of the danger, worshipping, until every last person had crossed.

They were the first ones in, and the last ones out. How did they do it?

They were bold enough to step in first—if they hadn’t, no one else would have come; but, and yet—

They were patient with all the people who struggled to make it across, never condemning or cursing those who lagged behind.

It wasn’t enough for them to make it—true priests, true suffering servants have to go with those they were called to lead, by going in first, testing the waters, proving the safety and wisdom of God’s calling, and then exiting last, the last to taste of the Promised Land.

In short, those priests showed courage: boldness to begin, patience to see it through.

Are you?

Are you showing courage today? Being both patient and bold, in equal measures?

You can, if you see this story really points us to our Great High Priest, who, for the joy set before Him, went to middle of the place we could never pass through on our own—not just a river, but an ocean of God’s just wrath, and didn’t survive like these priests, but drowned there, so that we can now pass over both into heaven in our future, and the land of promise he has for us right now, and, most importantly, as we look to him over and over:

So that his courage can become ours.

In death, in life,
I’m confident and covered
by the power of your great love.
My debt is paid.
There’s nothing that can separate
My heart from your great love.
(“One Thing Remains”)

So, go, only be strong and courageous.

And happy leading. 🙂

Morgan