Seven Habits of Highly Humble Leaders

Actually, most of these items aren't habits, and... well.... there aren't really seven of them, but rather two sets of seven.

But I'm told this treatise of mine won't see the light of day unless the title is catchy and reminiscent of other recently successful self-help books.


Act I

1. Be born to greatness.

Exodus 2:1-10 (greatly compressed) — When [Moses' mother] saw that he was a fine child, she took him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son.

2. Show initiative.

Exodus 2:11a — One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor.

3. Have compassion.

Exodus 2:11b — He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.

4. Fail catastrophically.

Exodus 2:12 — Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

5. Discover your failure is public knowledge.

Exodus 2:13-14 — The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, "Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?"
The man said, "Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?" Then Moses was afraid and thought, "What I did must have become known."

6. Run (literally) for the hills.

Exodus 2:15 — When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian...

7. Spend about 40 years in desert solitude reflecting upon your abject failure. Watch your best years roll by.


Intermission...


Act II

1. Get re-commissioned by God to the exact same job you screwed up 40 years ago.

Exodus 3:10

God: "So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt."

2. Explain to God why He is mistaken. (Don't take "Go" for an answer.)

Exodus 3:11 - 4:12 (compressed)

Moses: "Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"

God: "I will be with you."

Moses: "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue."

God: "Now go; I will help you..."

3. Keep arguing with God until He gets pissed.

Exodus 4:13-14

But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it."

Then the LORD's anger burned against Moses...

4. Accept the job.

Exodus 4:18 — Then Moses went...

5. Be unappreciated.

Exodus 5:20-21 — When [the leaders of Israel]... found Moses... they said, "May the LORD look on you and judge you! You have made us obnoxious to Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us."

6. Love, serve and pray for those entrusted to your care.

(the ones who find fault with you, that is...)

Exodus 5:22-23 — Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all."

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for approximately forty years.

(A small word of advice: You have lots of time, so... be creative. Try many variations on this theme.)

Exodus 15:24 — So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What are we to drink?"

Exodus 16:2 — In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses...

Exodus 17:3 — But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses.

Numbers 14:2 — All the Israelites grumbled against Moses...

Numbers 16:41 — The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses...

To repeat.... respond to all this endless whining, disobedience and grumbling in the following manner: love, serve, and tirelessly intercede for (especially) those miserable souls whom God has placed in your life.

Stand between God and the grumblers when God himself loses patience and decides to kill them all. Threaten to quit your job so as to stay God's hand. (Then when God relents from slaughtering them all wholesale and kills only a few... watch those grumblers who are — thanks to you — still alive turn and blame you for the few deaths that did occur.)

Let your own sister accuse you of being arrogant. Watch God strike her with leprosy for having done so. (Now intercede with God to have mercy on her all the same and heal her.)

It would take a long time to rehearse all that Moses endured. Suffice it to say...

Just follow these simple steps, my friends. Do this for about 40 years and humility, true humility, my friends, will be yours for the taking.

Numbers 12:3 — Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.

Superior In Every Way: Part II (Service)

OK, so this series of reflections is moving ahead slowly. I wrote Part I in March.

Be that as it may, I was reflecting on true service, and am reminded again of Jesus. Superior in every way.

There are so many ways to look at Jesus as a servant, and how he, God incarnate, was better at serving than those who owe their very existence to him, let alone their salvation. We live because of him... and yet cannot even serve him well. And yet he serves us.

The scriptures are full of examples of how Jesus served others, and I suppose the most famous passage would be the last supper, where he got down on his knees to wash the feet of the other disciples. He took the job his disciples were too proud to take. But today I am drawn to another passage: Matthew 14-15.

In Celebration of Discipline Richard Foster notes, "When we choose to serve, we are still in charge.... but when we choose to be a servant, we give up the right to be in charge. There is great freedom in this."

The other day I was with a good friend and saw a call come through on my cell phone. It was a needy soul, and I wasn't in the mood to break away. I let it go to voice mail and called the fellow back a day or two later. On my own time. By my schedule. When it was convenient for me.

Now a case can be made for such decisions. Nevertheless I found myself reflecting on whether the timing of our conversation was best for my friend... or just best for my calendar and my desires. I won't say it was entirely the latter, but it certainly wasn't entirely the former either. I didn't feel like answering the call. My service button was in the "off" mode.

For a sharp contrast, we need go no further than Matthew 14-15. Jesus' own cousin John the Baptist has just been beheaded by King Herod. The text then reads...

Matthew 14:12-14
John's disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

[His cousin just died. He's grieving. Does Jesus try to "take a break" from ministry? Yes.]

When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.

[Do the needy people leave Jesus alone in this time of deep sorrow? No.]

Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.

[Does Jesus tell them all to back off and leave him alone? No.]

When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

As noted in the verses which follow, Jesus continue all day to minister all day long to a vast crowd of needy people.

And it doesn't stop there. After a no-doubt emotionally draining day of service to a host of needy people, Jesus again tries to slip away again. Remember, his cousin just got beheaded. He's probably wanting just a wee bit of alone time.

[Here I switch over to the Gospel of Mark's rendition of the same day, simply because I love his word choice...]

Mark 6:45-51
Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land.

He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

On the one day he needs to escape, he instead continues to serve. And serve. And serve.

Superior in every way.