I don’t know who said it first. I don’t even know if I will quote it accurately. But, I know that I’ve heard the concept again and again in my adult life. It goes like this: “If you want to know whether or not you are a leader look behind you.”
It makes sense, doesn’t it? Because if people are not following behind you then you are clearly not leading. This is a challenging lesson I’m learning as I wonder while I wander.
I look back through my ministry experience and realize I have had seasons with few followers and seasons with many followers. When I was first in ministry I think of the two or three people that absolutely believed in me from the start. They were there to chase after the dreams with me. Though there were many nay-sayers, they were not about to let me be beat down because they believed in me.
As I’ve gotten older, it seems the crowd willing to follow has grown. I have been blessed to lead incredibly supportive teams in a variety of areas. I’ve been humbled when I have had people push for something even hard than I felt we needed to because they believed in our vision. I’ve been incredibly humbled as I’ve heard young men refer to me as a mentor. As I sit here, a bit contemplative in thought, I must admit it is mind-boggling to have people put such trust and hope in where they believe I can lead them.
But, now what? Now, I know I’m being called to lead, but I don’t really know whom I will be leading or whom I will be leading with. What a strange feeling that is. It reminds me of a conversation Moses had with God in one of my favorite Old Testament passages. Exodus 33:12 says:
Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’
Here’s what we know about this passage. We know that Moses is having a conversation with God. We also know that when Moses refers to “these people” he is referring to God’s people, the Israelites (Exodus 3:10). So, what seems a bit peculiar to me is Moses statement, “but you have not let me know whom you will send with me.”
At first glance, it makes me think Moses is looking for another person or perhaps many people to help him lead. But, consider where this is. This is not the first time God is calling Moses to lead the Israelites. God called Moses to that task 30 chapters earlier. This means that Moses knows who he has been working with and that has not had any signs of dramatic change.
So what is it that Moses is asking God? He’s asking God if God Himself is going to go with them. You can read the rest of the account in Exodus 33:12-23. This is great comfort to me because Moses, one of the greatest leaders to ever live, has been leading under God’s leadership for quite some time now and he still has to ask God, “You gonna be there?” This is quite funny to me, although it may have been incredibly irritating to God. Let’s briefly look at a little history in this relationship.
Exodus 3:12 – God says he will be with Moses
Exodus 7:8-13 – God turns Aaron’s staff into a snake as He had promised Moses
Exodus 13:21-22 – God lead them with a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night
Exodus 14:21-31 – God uses Moses to part the Red Sea so the Israelites could go through on dry ground and the Egyptians were destroyed.
In chapter 15 God turned the bitter water into sweet water–a blessing. In 16 He provides them manna and quail–a gift. In 17 He produces water from a rock–amazing. In Chapters 19-31 the Lord has this long talk with Moses about everything the people should ever need to know about what they need to do–an intimacy. Then we get to chapter 33 and Moses says, “Lord, You gonna be there?”
Why would Moses ask that?
Moses would ask that because he knew that God was a Holy God and the Israelites were a mess. All God’s faithfulness in chapters 3-31 and in Chapter 32, while Moses is up on the mountain talking with God, we see that His people choose to build an idol–something that essentially replaces God (Exodus 32). Moses was so keenly aware of who God was that He knew God did not need to put up with all they had done. So Moses, perhaps sheepishly says (remember, in Exodus 3 he was a Shepherd) in Chapter 33, “but you have not let me know whom you will send with me.” And by God’s, we see that He told Moses that He will go with them (Exodus 33:12-18).
So, I can’t say I have it figured out yet, but here’s what I’m wondering about. I began this exceptionally long post with the quote, “If you want to know whether or not you are a leader look behind you.” This account of Moses makes me think about it a little different. Perhaps it should say, “If you want to know how to lead for God you must spend more time looking ahead to Him than you do looking behind at the people.”
Just something to think about.
