Sermon Tone Analysis

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,

and Solomon further says,

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,

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

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.