Leaders Fail, Jesus Won’t

Intro

What is leadership?

Leadership is one of those terms that is often left undefined until it devolves into some form of “I’ll know it when I see it”

John Maxwell defines leadership simply as “influence” - but that feels underdeveloped

Some describe leadership as “aligning people toward a preferable future”

The challenge there is it seems to assume that leadership is morally positive… or at least morally neutral

But I would argue that Hitler was an incredibly effective leader… just also incredibly evil

So there is really strong “bad leadership” - strong because it is effective and bad because where it leads people is wrong, harmful, or destructive (or all of the above)

We even see that in the church

2 years ago - September 2024 - a well-known pastor, theologian and author was removed from ministry at his church because of a multi-year adulterous relationship

At the time, he was 73 and the woman was in her 20s!

Last week, this same disgraced pastor came out with a book which he described as an “unflinching confession”

From the book’s description: “My giftedness exceeded my godliness” - Steve Lawson

Sounds kinda like what I said just last Sunday, right? About prioritizing competence over character?

Sadly, I find myself conflicted, wanting to believe he is walking in repentance for his sin and yet a little cynical that only two years after he has already had time to write an entire book about it and he is seemingly going to profit off his own sin

Because leadership is not neutral and if character is not guarded, the leader will lead… but the result may be very bad

We need leadership that is not merely strong and effective - but also good and godly

Transition

This morning as we turn to the third chapter of Micah, we are going to see Micah on the offensive with some of his harshest words and most vivid images directed at the wicked, evil, twisted leaders - both civil and religious - of Israel

And he is going to contrast himself against them

Let’s read Micah chapter 3

And hey, before we read it: buckle up because this is intense language from Micah!

Scripture Reading: Micah 3:1-12

Micah 3:1–12 ESV

And I said: Hear, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel! Is it not for you to know justice?— you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people and their flesh from off their bones, who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones in pieces and chop them up like meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron. Then they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil. Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths. Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God. But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin. Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight, who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity. Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, “Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.” Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.

Pray

Summary

Like I said, harsh imagery

I mean, Micah describes the leaders of Israel as cannibals who are cutting up and cooking up God’s people to make a stew

But I want to give a framework for us to understand the passage as a whole along with the vivid imagery Micah employs

This chapter is set up as 3 stanzas of 4 verses each

Verse 1 opens: “And I said: ‘Hear’”

Verse 5 opens: “Thus says the Lord”

Verse 9 opens: “Hear this”

And here is why this is important: this is not Micah saying 3 different things

Micah is saying the same thing 3 times

He is punching… and then punching again… and then punching again

And who is he throwing these punches at?

The leaders of Israel

Verse 1: “you heads of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel”

Verse 5: “concerning my prophets”

Verse 9: “you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel”

He targets the leaders - the government officials, the judges, the prophets, the priests - in his prophetic condemnations

And because I think these three stanzas have the same underlying message, I’m going to jump between the three stanzas to help us see:

What a leader does: his actions

Why a leader does it: his motives

What happens as a result: the consequences

What a Leader Does: His Actions

And I will use the pick up on the language I used last week about “twisted leaders”

Twisted leaders treat people as animals

Look at the second half of verse 1 through verse 3

Micah 3:1–3 “Is it not for you to know justice?— you who hate the good and love the evil, who tear the skin from off my people and their flesh from off their bones, who eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them, and break their bones in pieces and chop them up like meat in a pot, like flesh in a cauldron.”

This is a picture of making a great stew - only using people instead of animals!

If it turns your stomach, that’s the idea

Micah wanted the leaders thrown off balance hearing they were treating people like animals

But it goes one step further

As we saw a couple of weeks ago, Micah uses a lot of wordplay - and this is no exception

Because, in Hebrew, the word “justice” and the word “strip” sound alike

So, instead of pursuing justice for the people, they were stripping them in preparation for consumption

Twisted leaders lead people astray

They take people off the straight path and put them on a crooked path that leads away from the Lord

Notice verses 5 and 9

Micah 3:5 “who lead my people astray”

Micah 3:9 “make crooked all that is straight”

Twisted leaders whitewash reality

Micah 3:5 “Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths.”

Another vivid image here from Micah of people who are hungry and at the brink of war… but being told everything is ok - even better than ok, it’s good - it’s “Peace”

Made me think of the State of the Union address

In 1983, Ronald Reagan stated, “The state of the Union is strong, but the economy is troubled”

Did you know that the phrase “The state of the Union is strong” has been used by every president since then, except for George HW Bush?

This is not a statement about any president in particular… just notice the trend

Slide showing verbiage from each president

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/the-word-nearly-every-president-uses-to-describe-the-state-of-the-union

If we combine all the times these leaders boasted our country was the strongest it has ever been and then add in the “getting stronger”, you would think we are all walking on the moon right now!

Words intended to act as encouragement but really serve more to placate the people instead of an honest reflect of the current moment

Twisted leaders build with blood

Micah 3:10 “who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity.”

This is such a deceptive one - because building Zion and Jerusalem sure sound like good things

And you know why they sound that way?

Because they are!

But these leaders were doing so with blood and iniquity

Sketchy business practices, cutting corners, shadow handshake deals to get things done

It may have looked good on the outside, but with a foundation built upon skeletons

Twisted leaders take bribes

Micah 3:11 “Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money”

The leaders were lining their own pockets through unethical practices

All the while, they were in the pockets of whoever could pay the highest price

Twisted leaders lie

Micah 3:11 “yet they lean on the Lord and say, “Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.””

All the things they were doing were capped by lying to the people that the Lord was on their side

Why a Leader Does It: His Motives

If those are What a Leader Does, they beg the question: Why?

Why does a leader do it? What are the motives of these wicked leaders in Israel?

This is a question of the heart

Does a leader love what is good and right?

Or does a leader despise those things?

Micah 3:2 “you who hate the good and love the evil”

Micah 3:9 “who detest justice”

The leaders - from the government officials to the heads of families to the judges to prophets and priests - all loved evil and detested justice

Instead of leaders caring for the people, rooting them in truth, guiding them in the way everlasting…

They did evil, wicked things because they loved evil, wicked things

No matter what words came from their mouths, their hearts were far from God

What Happens as a Result: The Consequences

Which all brings us to the consequences of these leaders’ actions

What happens as a result?

No answer from God

Micah 3:4 “Then they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them”

Micah 3:7 “for there is no answer from God.”

The first result is that there will be radio silence from God

God will hide his face

Micah 3:4 “he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil.”

For the Israelites, the face of God upon his people is one of the great declarations of his favor

Consider the well-known words of Aaron often used as a benediction at church services

Numbers 6:24–26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

God’s face upon his people is a sign of blessing

So for God to hide his face?

A sign of condemnation

Disaster is coming

Micah 3:12 “Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.”

Just as the northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians, so also the day was coming when Jerusalem would fall

It didn’t happen until 586BC - about 115 years after Micah wrote these words - but Jerusalem was flattened and the people carted off into captivity to Babylon

God will raise up another

Finally, the promise that God would be faithful still

Micah 3:8 “But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.”

And here, even in the midst of darkness and impending judgment, God reminds us that he is faithful to his promises

He gave Micah - filled with the Spirit of God - power and justice and might to call the people to repent of their sin and return to the Lord

Micah would stand as light in the darkness to remind the people that, as his name implies, no one is like the Lord

But he also stands as a type, an anticipation, a gospel hope

Because one would come who not only declared that no one is like the Lord, but was indeed the Lord himself

One would come who was not only filled with the Spirit of God, but was equal with the Spirit of God

One would come who would call people to repent of their sin… but then accomplish their own redemption through his death on the cross

Yes, Jesus was coming

For Us

Alright, so that is a lot - pretty heavy and heady stuff

If that is what we are to know and believe from this passage, what do we do with it, some 2700 years after Micah first wrote these words?

3 thoughts:

You will fail

We saw twisted leaders that treat others as animals, lead others astray, whitewash reality, build with blood, take bribes, and lie

Maybe you hear that list and one jumps out as you as your particular weakness, an area where your sinful actions are especially evident

Or maybe there is some other action you can think of

But the point is: you will fail

No matter what, they all point to our sinful motives

Why do you do it? Because you, like the twisted leaders of Israel, have hated good and loved evil

And almost certainly you have experienced the results of your own sinful actions - and probably of the sinful actions of others - at some point

The task is not to deny failure, but to embrace the ever-constant reminder that you will fail

We believe in what is sometimes referred to as “progressive sanctification”

What we mean by that is that the process of reflecting Jesus more in your life is just that… a process

It is progressive, growing little by little as you are formed and reformed by the work of the Holy Spirit in you

Your leaders will fail

Both in the public sector and in the church

Now, there is some failure that is disqualifying and the leader needs to be removed

Recognize that and be on guard lest those twisted leaders lead you astray

But also, a recognition that leaders will fail is an invitation to be agents of grace to them

Just as you are in process, God is not done with your leaders yet either

We, especially leaders in the church, need your prayers for protection and your grace for our mistakes to serve the church well

Only Jesus will never fail

And finally, all this is a reminder to us that only Jesus is enough

He is the only one who, as we already sang this morning, will never fail

“He’s never let me down, he’s faithful in every season, so why would he fail me now? He won’t”

You need his faithfulness, your leaders need his faithfulness

And we will need that great truth again tomorrow, and again the day after that

Conclusion - Jesus as Leader

Let me close by jumping over to the words of Hebrews 12

In Micah 3 we saw what a leader does, why a leader does it, and what happens as a result

So let’s ask the same thing of Jesus

Hebrews 12:1–2 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

What Jesus did: his actions

He endured the cross - he suffered and died

Why did he do it: his motives

“For the joy set before him”

And what was that joy?

Us - you and me - those who would be redeemed from sin and death by his death

What happened as a result?

We are freed from the power and the penalty of sin

And Jesus is, even now, seated as the right hand of God the Father to rule and reign in justice and mercy forever

Pray