Wise Leadership is Meaningless Apart from Jesus

Foolish Leadership

Aaron Schock

In 2009, Aaron Schock became the youngest member of the Illinois House of Representatives when he won a seat at age 23, and went on to become the youngest member of Congress when he won a seat in the House representing his home state. In 2012, his re-election bid faced heavy scrutiny. Schock had successfully served six years in Congress before it was discovered that he had been spending government funds to redecorate his office to look like the set of Downton Abbey. A month after the revelations came to light, he resigned. In 2016, he was indicted for using tax payer money for lavish trips, which he eventually beat.

ROD BLAGOJEVICH

Democratic governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. Before that, he was a state representative and then a member of Congress representing Illinois's 5th District, a predominantly white section of Chicago. Blagojevich was arrested in 2008 for corruption relating to the orchestration of several "pay to play" deals, most notably for an appointment to fill the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama when he was elected president. Despite recordings on which he was heard expressing his fervent desire to get something in return for making certain appointments, Blagojevich claimed he was innocent. In 2009, he was impeached by a vote of 114-1, but continued to maintain his innocence, frequently on national television shows. Several publicity stunts followed, including an appearance on Celebrity Apprentice. In December 2011, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison. In 2020, president Donal Trump commuted his sentence.

What do these two men have in common?

Both men are examples of foolish leadership.

Both men were elected and trusted to use sound ethics and moral decision making to govern and maintain political order for those whom they represented in the state of Illinois. Both men failed in their leadership, and unfortunately, both men are not alone.

Since foolishness ruins leadership, choose to lead and your leadership wisely.

The Foolishness of Fickleness Ruins the Strength of wise Governance (Eccl 9:13–10:4).

Solomon reveals the peril of a community of fools. He tells a story of a small city that was besieged by a great king. The king was so powerful that the city seemed to doomed to perish. In that city, however, was an insignificant poor man who was wise. By his wisdom, the city was saved from this powerful king. The poor wise man’s wisdom was so great that Solomon says it was superior to strength, which is brute force like a military. Remember, Solomon has already said,

Ecclesiastes 7:19 HCSB

Wisdom makes the wise man stronger than ten rulers of a city.

and Solomon further says,

Proverbs 10:7 ESV

The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.

At this point you would think that the city would elevate this man and his proven wisdom would be valued and he would be placed in a position of significant leadership.

And yet,

Ecclesiastes 9:15 HCSB

Now a poor wise man was found in the city, and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

Man is fickle in his ways

Despite this man’s great wisdom, his work and his name were forgotten. As one commentator put it, people are fickle and fame is fleeting. Fickleness the work of foolishness. Fickle people have no loyalty and easily forget. A fools memory has a short lifespan. And when you live in a community of fools, the consequences are severe.

The Cup Bearer was Fickle

If you are familiar with your Bible, then a slew of examples might be filling your head right now. Think about the story of Joseph. His story ripples outward of wise good works forgotten. Joseph is thrown into prison in Egypt. He interpreted the dream of the cup bearer correctly. Joseph asked to be remembered when the cup bearer is delivered.

Pharoah was Fickle

Two years later, He is still in a prison. Only after Pharaoh is given a vision about the coming famine does the cup bearer remember Joseph. Then, of course Joesph is delviered from jail and becomes Pharaoh’s right hand man. God grants Joseph wisdom to save Egypt and his people from the famine, and a generation later Joseph is forgotten (Gen 40).

The King was Fickle

Think about Mordecai in the story of Esther. He uncovered a plot to kill the king, but was never rewarded and was soon forgotten (Esther 2:21-23; 6:1-13).

Why doe we forget so easily? Keep in mind, humanity is fickle. Meaning, once the danger is passed, we no longer care.

In Jospeh’s story, the cup bearer was facing the death penalty. While in prison death was a real reality for him. Once he was delviered and restored, he lost sight of his deliverance. The same goes for Egypt.

The famine was a real threat to the nations existence. People were going to die of hunger. Once the rain came and the crops were back to normal, the people forgot who delviered them.

The king in Esther faced a plot to assassinate him. His life was in jeopardy. Once the plot was exposed and the men were killed, the threat was over, and Mordecai became irrelevant.

Fickleness Easily Forgets

The problem with being fickle is forgetfulness. Once the danger is over, you convince yourself you no need for wisdom. And the further we are away from the danger the further away from wisdom we tend to find ourselves.

I read in a medical magazine that heart attack patients are likely to go back to their old eating and exercise habits within two years of almost dying of a heart attack. How easily we forget the danger.

As a pastor, I have seen this in the church. People will come in for counsel or prayer because life is kicking them in the behind. Maybe its a sickness. Maybe it was a car accident. Maybe it was a spouse on the fence about divorce, or a suicide attempt. There is real danger looming and they are scared. Now God becomes necessary, which is good. God does a great work and delivers them from the danger, but then they disappear. God is no longer necessary. The danger is gone, for now.

Fickleness gives credence to wealthy fools

Our foolish fickleness, unfortunately, goes beyond forgetfulness. Solomon warns that the lust of our flesh and the pride of our eyes determine whom we listen too.

Solomon describes the man as poor for a reason. He is making a distinction between the socially elite and the downcast. The wealthy like to think they run the world. And because we admire the wealthy, we give them right to speak foolishness into our live.

I see this the most among our professional athletes and actors. Somehow, because they get paid an insane amount of money to entertain us in the arena or the screen, they are somehow now qualified to be an authority on morality and social justice and politics. Just because you get paid millions of dollars to put a ball in a hoop does not qualify you to be an authoritative or wise voice in any discussion. Just because you get paid millions of dollars to pretend to be somebody you are not for a living, does not qualify you to an authoritative or wise voice in any discussion. And yet, in a community of fools, we will hang on their every word. This is vanity, meaningless.

But even so, Solomon insists in

Ecclesiastes 9:17 HCSB

The calm words of the wise are heeded more than the shouts of a ruler over fools.

Fickleness believers louder is right

Shouting of the foolish is a problem in our culture. The one who is louder draws the most attention, and for some reason we believe that louder is right, or at least worth listening too. For some of you older saints, you may remember Nikita Khrushchev shouting and pounding his shoe on the table at the United Nations General assembly on October 12, 1960. For us today, twitter and instagram might be the loudest voices speaking nonsense.

But Solomon says,”the quiet words of the wise are better than might.” Verse 18 reiterates his point, “Wisdom is better than weapons of war.” The wise guard their words and are careful with the volume of their tone when they deliver them. In doing so, they bring peace and prosperity if their wisdom is not ruined by the nonsense of fools.

One foolish sinner can ruin the greatest work of wisdom, just like one dead fly can ruin a bottle of perfume. Just consider the wickedness that is happening in Russia and the Ukraine.

Interestingly. Solomon is centering his discussion around the political arena. If there is ever a place for fickleness, it is in our politics. A little foolishness in our politics makes the work of wisdom vulnerable and can ruin the strength of wisdom. The consequences of foolishness in governance is severe. There are children dying in the Ukraine as we speak because of such foolishness. In our own country, fools who have been elected into office have created immoral policies that support the likes abortion, that have killed our own children.

Solomon alludes to this in

Ecclesiastes 10:2 HCSB

A wise man’s heart goes to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left.

Obviously he is not speaking to the American political spectrum here, but he is speaking of moral decisions made by leaders. In antiquity, left side was the place of dishonor and the right was the place of honor and deliverance. You get that sense when you read

Psalm 89:13 ESV

You have a mighty arm; strong is your hand, high your right hand.

The right was the side of moral goodness and favor. When Jesus separates the sheep and the goats in his parable of the judgment of the nations, the sheep go to his right hand while the goats go to his left (Matthew 25:33). The sheep are the righteous while the goats are the unrighteous.

Solomon is using the same imagery in verse 2. The heart of the wise is inclined to the right, that is the morally good and pure and favorable. The fools heart is inclined tot he left, the perverse and stupid. If the heart is the well spring of life, then where your heart is inclined matters a great deal to how you lead, or who you choose to lead.

Put it all together and you see our problem. Foolishness is wrapped up in our hearts. By nature we are fickle and lack gumption and conviction. We easily forget the dangers of folly and become complacent. Elections have consequences. if we have become fickle, we will elect fickle officials. Then the system by which we govern ourselves becomes susceptible to corruption and the corrosion of morals and good values. The foundation of our democracy becomes littered with holes, like the inside of a tree with termites. And the people suffer at the hands of wickedness.

Furthermore, when the wise do speak in a soft whisper, the fools are so loud you cannot hear the truth that will save you. This leaves wisdom vulnerable and easily ruined by foolishness. And in the realm of governance, it is disastrous for our country. When fools govern, the whole system eventually collapses. Maybe a case in point is Russia-maybe even the United States. The next points elaborates this even more. Because it points that its incompetence that does us all in.

Foolishness Ruins the Strength of Wise Competence (Eccl 10:5–11).

In verse 10:5-11, Solomon makes the case that foolishness can turn political order upside down. In Eccl 10:5

Ecclesiastes 10:5 HCSB

There is an evil I have seen under the sun, an error proceeding from the presence of the ruler:

Solomon says there is a real evil in this whole dilemma. That is the evil of overturning a political system, not because it is evil but because of incompetence.

Ecclesiastes 10:6 HCSB

The fool is appointed to great heights, but the rich remain in lowly positions.

In verse 6, the fool has been put into a position of leadership. its the people of verse 3

Ecclesiastes 10:3 HCSB

Even when the fool walks along the road, his heart lacks sense, and he shows everyone he is a fool.

It is the people who lack wisdom and sense in such a blatant way that they literally announce to the world how idiotic they are. I think of every election in the last 20 years we have said in one capacity of another, “How did that guy get elected?” How did that happen? He literally gets up every morning and drinks a tall cold glass of stupid. We know this because of the decisions he makes in his community and in office that verify it. Hence Aaron Shock and Rob Blagovejch.

There is another issue that just shows the tension we live in this world. We have the rich who tend to exploit the poor for their own good life. So, we don’t care for them much. However, the rich are typically better trained, more educated, and have real experience in dealing with government systems because their wealth has afforded them the opportunity for good education. They are rich for a reason, and they know what they are doing. So, when the fool is in office and the rich are sitting in the low place, we have created, as Raymond Van Leeuman puts it, “an upside down world.” This creates political upheaval.

Ecclesiastes 10:7 HCSB

I have seen slaves on horses, but princes walking on the ground like slaves.

The Bible warns,

Proverbs 19:10 ESV

It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury, much less for a slave to rule over princes.

Here is how it applies to us. We live in a republic. We elect representatives to vote for policies that are lawful under the Constitution and reflect our moral and democratic convictions. We look for leaders who know what they are doing, who are wise their words and discerning their decisions. When we elect fools into office, we are essentially making the slave rule over the prince. We are putting incompetent people into a position with a lot of power and influence nationally and globally. Their decisions determine the kind of life we live now and the life we make for our children. The fruit of political incompetence is experienced in verse 5.

Ecclesiastes 10:5 HCSB

There is an evil I have seen under the sun, an error proceeding from the presence of the ruler:

The ruler, the king, the president, the congressman or woman, errors making life hard for everyone. Foolishness ruins the strength of wise competence. Where is our inflation coming from? Why are gas prices to high? Why is there such disruption in the shipping industry? Why is there upheaval in the streets? Why are we entertaining the idea of getting rid of our police force? Why is what is right being deemed evil and what is evil being deemed right? Why do we still murder children through abortion? Why have we given credence to the LGBTQ view of marriage? Why? Because we have elected fools into office that do what is right in their own eyes. They have no loyalty to you and I.

Foolishness Ruins the Strength of Wise Counsel (Eccl 10:12–20).

Words have consequences. In verse 12, Solomon contrasts the words of the wise with the words of fools.

Ecclesiastes 10:12 HCSB

The words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him.

The words of the wise bring favor and blessing. People loved what Jesus had to say early in his ministry.

Luke 4:22 (ESV)

And all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth...

He spoke wisdom, the very words of God and it inspired his people. They admired him and his fame spread throughout the land.

By contrast the words of a fool bring ruin.

Proverbs 18:7 ESV

A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.

Fools get caught in their half truths that leave them in trouble. He continues in verse 134

Ecclesiastes 10:13 HCSB

The beginning of the words of his mouth is folly, but the end of his speaking is evil madness.

Many words come out of their mouth, and where there are many words sin is present. They begin with foolishness and end in evil madness. They make claims they know nothing about. Verse 14 clues you in to the kid of madness they are speaking,

Ecclesiastes 10:14 HCSB

Yet the fool multiplies words. No one knows what will happen, and who can tell anyone what will happen after him?

Their foolishness leads them to think they can speak to the future, as if they were in some ways like God. This is pride. No one knows the future but God alone. To think you can determine the future and even predict it is madness.

In verse 15, Solomon says fools have no idea what they are talking about.

Ecclesiastes 10:15 HCSB

The struggles of fools weary them, for they don’t know how to go to the city.

This is an idiom for someone who does not know what they are doing or have no idea what they are saying. We would say something like, “This guy does not know his head from his behind,” or “this guy does not know enough to come out of the rain.” it’s like the guy lived his whole life in the same town and yet he does not know his way into town.

Foolish words brings poor counsel. A great example of this is King Rehoboam who succeeded his father Solomon. His older advisers counseled him to “lighten the hard service” Solomon placed on the people. But his younger counselors advised him

1 Kings 12:10–11 (ESV)

“Thus shall you speak to this people... ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs.

And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’ ”

What was the result of such foolish counsel? Israel is divided and he loses ten of the twelve tribes of Israel. Words have consequences.

Solomon once again moves back into the political arena in verses 16-17. In verse 16, he pronounces a woe to the land that has a child as a king. It is not good for the kingdom to be ruled by a child. Foolishness is wrapped up in the heart of a child. A child will not be able to speak the kid of wisdom needed for the good of the land because they do not have the maturity or understanding.

The foolish leader is also portrayed as a self-centered ruler whose slothfulness leads to corruption by using the public purse to party-hence money answers everything. Its a picture of immaturity and brashness.

By contrast, the land that is ruled by a free nobleman who exercises wisdom in word and deed. He feasts at the proper time, meaning he does sit around getting drunk all day and becoming a glutton off the backs of the people. He rules wisely with his words and his deeds.

How we long for Jesus!

In our text this morning, what we have seen is the picture of two hearts. On the one hand the heart of the fool, and on the other hand the heart of the wise. Jesus taught us that from eh abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34-35). Form his words he rules. The heart of wise is inclined to the right. This kind of leader is not fickle nor does he forget the danger of sin. He uses wise words that do not end in wicked madness, but brings grace and favor. There is no human being in this world who will be to lead with this kind of wisdom.

For all of humanity has sinned. Our best leadership, our best wisdom, our best political systems are tainted with sin. We cannot be surprised by Aaron Shock or Rob Blagevitch, nor even the likes of Vladimir Putin. They represent all of us to some degree. That is why we cannot put our hope in our government, not our political order, or our leadership. All of it will fail you eventually. Your hope must be put in Christ.

Jesus death and resurrection ensures your eternal life in his kingdom. His kingdom is not fickle nor forgetful because its king is not fickle nor forgetful. He has nailed scarred hands and a bleeding side that are constant reminders of the sacrifice he made for you and I. His kingdom will never suffer at hand of incompetent fools. It will