Leadership and the Crisis of Confidence

When I started working on this text, I thought there was a sermon on busyness in there. After all, Pharaoh’s basic strategy is to keep the people so busy they lose all spiritual ambition. Which reminded me of an old saying from Corrie Ten Boom, “If the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.”

But as I pressed into the text further, I saw a more prominent theme. Something to do with leadership.

Now you may remember a number of weeks ago, we talked about the Exodus pattern in scripture. God moves people out of a bad situation into a better situation. And that there’s usually a middle situation – the wilderness.

Now in chapter 5-6 we see the basic leadership pattern that is related to the basic exodus pattern. And this is going to repeat over and over again in Exodus, in the whole bible, and in your life as you attempt to lead those God has called you to care for.

Six C’s of Leading Through Change:

This is going to help you lead your families.
This is going to help you lead in church contexts.
And it’ll make you a better church member.
But even in work contexts – you’re still God’s leader even there. So that even if the change isn’t explicitly spiritual in nature – this is all still going to apply.

Call – the leader receives a plan from God
Change - he begins to lead his followers into the new state
Conflict - the “forces” who prefer the status quo are provoked
Cost - the followers feel friction
Complaints - the followers blame the leader
Crisis of Confidence – the leader questions everything

In this story –

Moses receives God’s call (Exodus 3-4)
He initiates the change (Exodus 4:29-5:1)
This change is in conflict with Pharaoh’s need for the status quo (5:2-5)

But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” (5:2)

But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” (5:4)

Pharaoh fights back inflicting a great cost on the followers (5:6-19)

“You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves.” (5:7)

The people grumble and complain to Moses (5:20-21)

They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; and they said to them, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.” (5:20-21)

Moses has a crisis of confidence (5:22-23)

Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.” (5:22-23)

Now this one goes well. God responds to Moses with kindness.

In fact we get this structure chiastic structure in chapter 6

  Development of Yahweh’s response (6:2–8)
     A.      I am Yahweh (2)
       B.      I appeared to … Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (3)
         C.      I have established my covenant (4)
           D. I have heard the groaning in bondage (5)
              E. I am Yahweh: I will liberate you; I will deliver you; I will redeem you (v. 6)
           D′. I am Yahweh who redeems you (7)
         C′.      I will bring you to the promised land (8)
       B′.      To give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (8)
     A′.      I am Yahweh (8)

I’ll return to this in a moment.

He brings this word back to the people. But they don’t believe him. Look at vs. 9 –

“Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.”

The people have been effectively demoralized. Moses and Aaron have nobody with them but the Lord. This is the loneliness of leadership. They are sandwiched between Pharaoh’s hard heart and the people’s broken spirit. But they press on.

Now there are other times when this same pattern plays out but it doesn’t go well.

Exodus 20-32 – all happening at the foot of Sinai. Moses is up there with God for 40 days and 40 nights. Aaron is down there with the people. The people grow restless, Aaron violates his own calling, they make the golden calf, etc… Aaron’s failure of nerve.

Call is to wait
Conflict is with their own lack of peace and patience
Cost is that they’re supposed to refrain from sexual relations and remain in a “consecrated state.”
Complaints
Crisis of Leadership – Aaron folds

This is similar to what we see in 1 Samuel 13.
And I think also in the matter of Abraham and Sarah and Hagar – if you’re familiar with that story.

And the thing to understand as a leader is that sometimes you’ll have no choice other than to be at odds with the God you love or with the people you love.

There is so much that can go wrong for the leader at this final point.

God doesn’t let squishy leaders off the hook. He calls Abrahm out for listening to his wife. He cuts Saul’s reign short and says, I’ll bring in a guy who wants to please me. Who is after my heart. And in the case of Aaron, Moses held him responsible saying, “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” – Exodus 32:21

So I think that is probably what we should talk about.

II. Three Common Complications:

A leader’s own insecurity – We know from chapter 3 that Moses is far from confident that he is the right man for the job. This is common. Very few men feel up to being the spiritual leader of their homes. Very few pastors feel like they should actually be in charge.

A leader’s love for the people. Good leaders actually love the people they’re called to lead. And so when they see them going through trouble – trouble that appears to be downstream of their leadership – well this really gets to a person. We see going all the way back to chapter 2 that Moses identifies with his people. And he doesn’t like to see them get hurt. That’s one reason he killed the Egyptian. This is huge for evangelism. Can you imagine sharing the gospel with someone in the first century knowing that if they believe it, they’re almost certainly going to suffer for Christ?

A leader’s own limited faith. God rarely gives the leader a lot more faith than his people. He gives them more faith but not usually a massive amount. So the leader has his own doubts about God, etc…

III. Three Things to Do During a Crisis of Confidence

Set your mind in the right direction

Now what Moses does with all of this is crucial. Look at vs. 22

Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

This is far from a perfect prayer. He is accusing God of sin. This is not a model prayer. But the thing that is a model for us is that he turned to the Lord.

With Abraham, Aaron, Saul – these situations that didn’t go well – you don’t see this part. The faithless people get the last word. The leaders don’t do what Moses does here. At least he goes to God.

So that’s a good thing. People ask, what good does prayer really do? Well it has a wide variety of benefits – but in these kinds of situations where you’re one bad decision away from really screwing everything up – from losing your nerve – from compromising – prayer is a kind of decompression chamber. It is always better to pray a dumb prayer than to make a dumb decision.

Prayer has the effect of deflating anxiety. Philippians 4:6-7 says,

“do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Now let’s start layering in some real world application:

Call: God shows you a vision for the people you’re leading.
We’re going to give generously.
Open our home to hospitality.
We’re going to church.
We’re going to start praying together.
We’re going to share the gospel with our neighbors.
We’re going to expect our little kids to obey the first time.

Change: You, perhaps quite hesitantly explain the plan to the people you lead

Conflict: Some part of the status quo is challenged

Cost: Something goes wrong that either is directly connected to the change or “feels” connected to the change.

We start giving and the car breaks down.
We open our home to hospitality and have a big fight right before the guests arrive.
We share the gospel and someone gets offended and calls you a bigot.

Complaints:
The people paying the price complain.

Crisis of Confidence:
You’ll doubt yourself
You’ll doubt the plan
You’ll doubt God

What you do next is key. And we’ve already seen the most important thing. Then Moses turned to the Lord. When we look through the biblical data and separate all of the instances of this pattern between the ones that went well and the ones that went poorly – this “turning to the Lord” is one of the most decisive factors.

Prayer is the place you go to cool off. To get recentered. To let the peace of God overcome the anxiousness of man.

We mentioned Isaiah 26:3 last week. “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

Get your heart settled on the right devotion

It is hard enough to lead people when your motives are pure. We said a moment ago that the crisis of leadership is magnified in some sense by the leader’s love for the people. He hates to see them suffer for something he’s initiated. True enough.

But the heart of the leader is never pure. No doubt he is in part motivated by true love for the people, but there’s a second sinful motive marbled in there.

Yes he loves the people. But he probably also loves to be loved by the people.

If his love for them is pure, he can, by talking to God, fortify his confidence in the plan, in God, in his calling, etc… and stay faithful. But he’s got to expunge this darker motive that has crept in. Namely that he loves to be loved by his people. If this motive is present, he will almost surely fold.

Where did all of the pastors go on the controversial issues of our day? Why have so many abandoned God’s clear biblical teachings about human sexuality and gender? Why has the rainbow mafia been so effective in moving pastors, churches, and entire denominations off the clear teaching of God’s word?

John 12:43 has the answer, “for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.”

Back in Exodus 4:29-31,

Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. Aaron spoke all the words that the LORD had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Would anyone be surprised if Moses thought to himself, “well now, I could get used to this.”

I could get used to being the good new guy. The encouragement guy. The guy who makes people feel good when he enters the room.

But in 5:20-21 – all of their goodwill toward Moses is completely reversed

They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; and they said to them, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

And to be honest, this is more representative of how the people will think of Moses throughout the entire Exodus.

If you want to be a good leader, you’ve got to get use to periods of unrequited love. You’ve got to get used to giving love to people who will not recognize your efforts other than to say your causing them trouble.

Fill your soul with the right doctrine

Look back at 5:22-23

Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

“O Lord, why have you done evil to this people?

Well this is just plain wrong. James 1:13 says, “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.”

But Moses’ theology isn’t as refined and sharp as ours. He is asking, “why” and doesn’t fully get an answer.

We have an answer. By the time the New Covenant is in full swing, the spiritual leaders of God’s people no longer ask “why” in the same way Moses did.

Peter is able to say to the believers he’s addressing in his first letter – “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” – 1 Peter 4:12

And again in chapter 5 – “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

Don’t be surprised – this isn’t strange.
The same kinds of sufferings are being experienced by your brotherhood through the world.

So to review.

Call – the leader receives a plan from God
Change - he begins to lead his followers into the new state
Conflict - the “forces” who prefer the status quo are provoked
Cost - the followers feel friction
Complaints - the followers blame the leader
Crisis of Confidence – the leader questions everything

Point your mind in the right direction
Get your heart settled on the right devotion
Fill your soul with the right doctrine

Trials are a part of the Christian life. When we follow God, we find opposition

All who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted – 1 Timothy 3:12

Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God – Acts 14:22

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they keep my word, they will also keep yours. – John 15:19

Sometimes it will be because we upset the world.
Sometimes it will be because we upset the flesh of our followers.
Sometimes it will be because we’ve stepped on Satan’s tail and reminded him that his time is short.

But when we lead people through a godly change, there’s always going to be a cost.

Last week I posted a chronological timeline of all the church history biographies John Piper delivered over the span of about 20 years.

Let me read you what he wrote as he introduced the biography of a pastor named Charles Simeon:

I am, in great measure, a child of my times. And one of the pervasive marks of our times is emotional fragility. I feel it as though it hangs in the air we breathe. We are easily hurt. We pout and mope easily. We break easily. Our marriages break easily. Our faith breaks easily. Our happiness breaks easily. And our commitment to the church breaks easily. We are easily disheartened, and it seems we have little capacity for surviving and thriving in the face of criticism and opposition.

When historians list the character traits of the last third of twentieth century America, commitment, constancy, tenacity, endurance, patience, resolve and perseverance will not be on the list. The list will begin with an all-consuming interest in self-esteem. It will be followed by the subheadings of self-assertiveness, and self-enhancement, and self-realization. And if you think that you are not at all a child of your times just test yourself to see how you respond in the ministry (leadership) when people reject your ideas.

We need help here. When you are surrounded by a society of emotionally fragile quitters, and when you see a good bit of this ethos in yourself, you need to spend time with people — whether dead of alive — whose lives prove there is another way to live.

And so he introduces Pastor Charles Simeon as one such model. Simeon served as a pastor for 49 years and almost all of it was marked by opposition. Yet he remained faithful. And also joyful. In large part because he had mastered everything I’ve described to you today. But I want to draw one particular thing to your attention.
When asked by a friend how he had endured so well he said,

My dear brother, we must not mind a little suffering for Christ’s sake. When I am getting through a hedge, if my head and shoulders are safely through, I can bear the pricking of my legs. Let us rejoice in the remembrance that our holy Head has surmounted all His suffering and triumphed over death. Let us follow Him patiently; we shall soon be partakers of His victory”

The word picture is of someone pressing through a hedge – which in Simeon’s England, serve as fences or barriers marking one field off from another.

And so he says that one key to his enduring joy and faithfulness was to understand that Christ, his head, the head of the church, has already poked his face through into the promise land. The hard part is already done. Indeed in some respect, it is all done. But he acknowledged that there is still more of the body to push through the brush and thorns. But that was ok – the head is already through.

How does God respond to Moses’ very imperfect prayer. He provides a very perfect promise.

Namely the threefold assurance found in 6:6-8:

6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. 7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

Now as I mentioned – these words of assurance were not enough for the people.

Verse 9 – “Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.”

But they were enough for Moses. Humanly speaking, the whole Exodus project depended on whether Moses would trust the Lord.

Brothers, leaders –

We must not mind a little suffering.

When we lead toward the light, the darkness will react. We must not be surprised by the fiery trials that follow.

Let us set our attention on the Lord through prayer
Let us purify our own motives – getting rid of the love to be loved nonsense
Let us fill our soul with sound doctrine – trials are expected – God remains faithful.

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”