“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.” – Proverbs 13:22
So far this week, we’ve examined the tests of anger and relationships. Today, we will discuss the eighth test: leadership. Samson is in a leadership position as a judge. A judge in the Old Testament was an ad hoc military and spiritual leader. Knowing what we know of Samson’s life, he’s a bad leader. He does everything wrong. He doesn’t communicate or cast vision. He certainly doesn’t lead by example. Instead, he’s picking up the jawbone of a donkey and murdering people. Samson never forms a team, never comes under any authority, and even bosses his own dad around. He doesn’t have any strategic plans for his life either.
As a leader, how many people do you know that have no authority over them, have no team that they’ve built, have no followers, and they certainly don’t have a strategic plan? Without leadership qualities, these people just get up every day, life happens, and they just respond and react. The point here is that, if we don’t have a strategic plan or are not intentional, we’re letting our enemies determine our everyday decisions. Samson would just wait to get attacked and then he would respond.
The lesson here is that you can be a believer, but you can still fail the leadership test. Some questions to ask yourself are: What Authority are you under? What team do you have? Where are your followers? What is your strategic plan? Samson doesn’t have an answer to any of these questions and, by the end of his life, it’s a complete cataclysmic failure. He doesn’t have anyone to hand his “ministry” over to, if you can even call it that. There’s no successor like we see with Paul who had Timothy and Titus or Elijah who had Elisha. Sadly, Samson was a person who was given so much opportunity, but he didn’t avail himself to it.
As believers, we can’t just think about ourselves and our own lives. We must think generationally and how we can equip those who will come after us to be and do better than us. That’s what true leadership is.
There are only two more tests and, tomorrow, we will examine the test of forgiveness.
What is your strategic plan to carry on your legacy to the next generation?
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