Christian Leadership Foundations 3 - HeartSampel

HEART MATTERS

Leadership Devotion

The people of Israel wanted a leader like the surrounding nations. So, Samuel reluctantly anointed Saul as their first king under God’s direction. Saul started well, but unfortunately, his leadership deteriorated as time progressed. He had character problems. He became selfish and self-dependent, and disobedient to God. Eventually, God had had enough. He decided Israel needed a new dynasty. It was time for a leader with his heart (13:14).

In chapter 16, God tells Samuel to go and anoint the new king he has chosen (a rather dangerous activity seeing Saul was still in charge). Samuel ended up at Jesse’s place, where God said he would find this new king.

When Samuel laid eyes on Jesse’s eldest son, Eliab, Samuel knew he had his man. In those days, the king’s main role was to lead the army in battle, and Samuel saw that Eliab was ideal. He was big, strong, and handsome, just what Israel needed in their leader. Outwardly he looked great. You could not get much better than this, but God had very different ideas. He said to Samuel, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (16:7). Samuel still had to learn the most important thing in choosing a leader was not how gifted or smart or pumped they were, but what was going on inside their heart.

Out in the backblocks was Jesse’s youngest son. He was not even considered for this king-choosing contest. Maybe he was too young. Maybe he had a youthful physique. We know he was capable and good-looking (16:12), but as the runt of the litter, Jesse didn’t even bother to call him in. He had much more impressive sons to show off.

But God had looked at the hearts of all these young men, and David was the one who got his tick of approval. He wanted David to lead his people. God had found a man with his own heart (13:14). Yes, he was too young and untested and inexperienced and undeveloped. God could work on that. It was his heart that mattered, and God had found a beauty.

You see, God is not all that interested in our gifts and abilities. Anything good and impressive about us comes as a gift from him anyway. As God raises and calls a leader, their heart matters to him.

To Contemplate

What is your heart like? What motives and passions are driving you? Would your friends say that you have a heart for God?

Leadership Reflection

We think of our hearts as the center of our emotions in the West. The Hebrew meaning of heart is much broader and deeper than this. In Hebraic thinking, your heart was not just the center of your passions and sensations but also the center of your thinking and decision-making. It was the core of your whole being. Your heart was the seat of all your motivations, directions, and decisions.

For Christians, God is in our hearts, but there are usually many other forces driving us. We are often also influenced by things like our past pain, habits, insecurities, perceived needs, pride, and idols. Our hearts can be rather crowded at times, producing mixed motives for our thinking and behavior.

It looks like no one could have a heart for God, but this is not true. When the leaders of Israel were driven by selfishness and pride and, therefore, abusing and preying on the people they were supposed to be leading, God made this promise to his people through the prophet Jeremiah, “Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding” (Jer. 3:15). Ultimately, Jeremiah referred to the ideal shepherd (Jesus), but the promise is plural. He was assuring them that there would be many shepherd leaders with God’s heart in the future.

How can you recognize a heart for God?

God checks out our hearts. Unfortunately, we humans don’t have that same ability. It’s difficult for us to tell what drives people to do the things they do. Is the worship leader driven by a passion for God or a desire to show off their skills? Is the community carer looking for approval from God or appreciation from those they serve? Is the Christian businessperson motivated by a heart to serve God in the workforce or the desire to make money or run a successful organization? While heart makes all the difference in Christian leadership, it’s hard for us to discern a person’s heart. We only get to see the “outward appearance,” so it’s easy for us to get it wrong, particularly when people are very passionate or gifted, or successful.

Fortunately, Jesus has shown us a way to assess a person’s heart for God. In helping his followers uncover false prophets who were incredibly dangerous but externally looked very much like the real thing, Jesus said to check out their fruit (Matt. 7:16-20). It’s our fruit that reveals our heart. But what sort of fruit is Jesus talking about?

Fruit particularly relates to character. If you want to know if someone has a heart for God, you look at their character and see whether it reflects the fruit the Spirit produces through a godly heart. Paul starts by outlining some of the character evidence we are looking for: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”. (Gal. 5:22-23)

Peter adds to Paul’s list:

“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Pet. 1:5-8)

While we can’t see a person’s heart as God can, we have a fair idea of what is happening in a person’s heart by looking at the fruit of their life, particularly their character. The Bible has much to say about the importance of godly character in every Christian, but God is particularly fussy about the character of those who lead others (1 Tim. 3:2-7). God sees the character as more foundational than competence or accomplishment in his leaders. That’s because good character reflects a godly heart. Godly character is produced through a genuine desire for God and a heart to please him.

Out heart for God can be seen when we behave like God (godly character).