Faith Breakers 3

Faith Breakers 3

“When Leaders Fail”

2 Sam. 11:1-4 “In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war, David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites…However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.

2 Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath.

3 He sent someone to find out who she was, and he was told, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her; and when she came to the palace, he slept with her.”

11:14-15 “So the next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and gave it to Uriah to deliver. 15 The letter instructed Joab, “Station Uriah on the front lines where the battle is fiercest. Then pull back so that he will be killed.”

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I want to talk to you today about the faith-breaker of fallen leadership.

It happens when a man or woman you hold in high esteem, who you’ve placed on a pedestal, who have led you, inspired you, fed you, and represented Christ to you falls into some kind of sin or error…

What do you do when a leader fails or falls? How do you respond?

Do you decide Christianity is fake and just walk away?

Do you use it as an opportunity to descend into criticism and heavy judgmentalism?

Do you allow it to give you license to sin—for after all, if my leader went off the rails, why can’t I?

Thousands of formerly church going Christians across America will not attend today because of the faith-breaker of a failed or fallen leader.

I want to show you today how to turn the faith-breaker of fallen leadership into a faith-maker that can literally take you to the next level…

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In our text we read of David’s darkest hour…

It is difficult to grasp how the man after God’s own heart could have walked through such a dark door as to not just commit adultery, but send Bathsheba’s husband, one of his own mighty men, with a note instructing Joab to have him killed.

But it happened!

Following David’s terrible deed, Nathan the prophet came to him, called him out on it, and told him that he would reap the consequences within his own family.

“I will raise up adversity against you from your own house” (2 Samuel 12:11).

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Almost immediately the consequences began to fall…

The baby conceived through D and B’s sin died…

Soon his other children began to go wild on him—incest, murder, betrayal, and heartache visited David’s household in wave after wave.

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His household troubles reached their apex when David’s handsome son, Absalom, developed a root of bitterness against him and hatched a plot to overthrow his own father and take his place as king.

Over time, through flattery and manipulation, Absalom succeeded in turning half the kingdom away from David and unto himself.

The Bible says “the conspiracy was strong!”

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Within a few short years, Absalom led a full-fledged mutiny.

Along with a handful of loyal supporters, David was driven into the wilderness, running for his life.

One commentator writes, “No more pathetic page is found in the Old Testament than that which tells the story of David’s flight before Absalom.”

“He is crushed by the awareness that his punishment is deserved—the bitter fruit of his sin.”

It was God’s word through Nathan coming to pass, “I will raise up adversity against you from your own house.”

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As David flees to the wilderness in humiliation, sackcloth on his body, ashes on his head, running for his life, his past FAILURE is now bringing consequences the whole nation sees firsthand.

More people than not understood that all this was happening due to David’s sin.

And it is during this time that two key people step onto the stage of history with two different responses to the king’s failure.

For one of them the failure of leadership was a faith-breaker from which he never recovered.

But for another it was a faith-maker that took him to his next level.

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The first person’s name is…

Ahithophel

Ahithophel had been David’s counselor, friend, confidant, and supporter.

Ahithophel was accomplished, brilliant, polished, and highly favored in Israel.

He was especially known for his wise counsel.

The Bible says that in David’s time Ahithophel’s counsel “seemed as wise as though it had come directly from the mouth of God” (2 Sam. 16:23).

But when David failed, rather than walk through his friend’s valley with him, Ahithophel turned against him.

It is Athithophel about whom David wrote:

Ps 55:12-14 “If an enemy were making fun of me, I could stand it. If he were getting ready to oppose me, I could hide. 13 But it’s you, someone like myself. It’s my companion, my close friend. 14 We used to enjoy good friendship at the house of God. We used to walk together among those who came to worship.”

David’s close friend, the one he went to church with, who he had worshipped with and shared his heart with, couldn’t handle the faith-breaker of David’s fall.

For Ahithophel, David’s sin was a deal killer, an insurmountable obstacle.

Adding insult to injury, he ultimately joined hands with David’s traitorous son, Absalom in the attempt to overthrow him.

Ahithophel changed teams and became Absalom’s counselor to literally give him advice on how to capture and kill David.

When David was told that Ahithophel had defected to Absalom, it broke his heart.

It ended badly for this formerly great man…

Ahithophel tragically ended his own life when Absalom decided to reject his advice for the counsel of someone else.

The once successful, influential, angel-like counselor of the king died a depressed, dejected suicide.

Offense over David’s failure became the event that changed his life forever!

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But another man had a completely different response to David’s failure…his name was:

II. Ittai (It-tai)

Now Ittai had been a servant of David’s only a short time when the king was forced to flee from Absalom.   

No doubt he knew all about David’s sin for it was now common knowledge.

Being an intelligent, discerning man, Ittai was able to connect the dots and conclude,

“This mutiny led by Absalom is part of David’s reaping for his sin and failure.”

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But instead of stumbling over David’s failure, It’tai chose loyalty…

His response when David encouraged him to go back home and not follow him into the wilderness is beautiful:

“As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in whatever place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also your servant will be.” 

It’tai would serve wherever his king was, whatever his king wanted, and whatever it cost him.

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Now let me be clear: This is not to say that when a leader fails you should remain under his or her leadership no matter what.

That’s a matter of prayer and obedience to God’s leading for every individual involved, and it depends greatly on whether the leader repents and gets right.

But it IS to say that even if you leave, you should honor the position and avoid character assassination through gossip.

God watches not just the fallen leader himself, but the responses of everyone around them.

For instance, as David fled the city, a man named Shimei ran along beside him “cursing continuously” at David, and “Threw stones at the king and at all his servants” (2 Sam. 16:5-6), accusing him of things that weren’t even true.

God saw Shimei’s actions and later he would lose his life at the hands of Solomon.

Oh, how much Shimei is like so many who become embittered over fallen leadership, hurling “curses and stones” at them!

But not Ittai whose attitude was, “I’m with you in your dark hour, even if you brought this on yourself.”

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Not only did It’tai walk through David’s valley with him, he was made part of the team that went to war against David’s defectors, which was a promotion in David’s army he held forever.

LISTEN: I believe Ittai understood that this whole, ugly insurrection, the attack against the king, was part of a BIGGER picture…

An entire kingdom and the testimony of God through Israel was at stake!

The Bible says the mutiny was so serious that, “…all the country wept with a loud voice.”

It’tai understood that, though David had sinned, he was still God’s anointed king and the attack against him was wrong.

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So let’s break down how It’tai avoided the faith-breaker of fallen leadership and turned it into a faith-maker:

FIRST, He chose to SERVE rather than SEVER his relationship with the king.

Athithophel severed his relationship with David and it placed him on the wrong side of things.

It'tai chose to serve and it placed him squarely on the side of God’s plan for David and Israel.

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SECOND, he chose to SUFFER with the fallen, and in this way he fulfilled the New Testament verse that says, “Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2).

It’s easy to stand on the sidelines and kick a fallen brother or sister when they’re down, but the mudslinger always winds up with dirty hands!

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THIRD, he chose to FIGHT for God’s purpose on David’s life—It was not just about David, it was about God’s plan for a nation set aside for His glory.

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It'tai conquered the faith-breaker of fallen leadership by:

SERVING instead of SEVERING,

SUFFERING with him rather than COMING against him,

and in FIGHTING for God’s cause rather than FIGHTING the fallen…

It’tai transformed the faith-breaker of fallen leadership into a faith-maker!

And he was rewarded with honor after David regained his rightful throne!

LET’S PRAY