MAY 25 "IMPERFECT LEADER...NO WAY?!"

  Are you being led by an imperfect leader? If you are, then welcome to the rest of The Church of Jesus Christ; for we are all being led by an imperfect leader. The heart of a leader is what matters, not his perfect tract record in decision making. David asks his spiritual leader/adviser what he thinks about his desire to build God a house to dwell in. Nathan responds, "whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you". The problem is that most of us rely to much upon our leaders and not enough on God. Our relationship with our leader is much stronger than our relationship with God and this is a ticking bomb waiting to explode. On the other hand, others are "super spiritual" and they believe all they need is a relationship with God and they have no relationship with their Pastor. They avoid spiritual leadership and refuse to give them any recognition, "he puts his pants on in the morning the same way I do" is often the mantra of these pseudo spiritual disciples. You'll notice in verse 18, our text says, "Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said...." David has the right balance between headship and Leadership because he is not "super spiritual" he is simply a true man of God. He understands the place of spiritual headship in his life and he also understands the place of God in his life. The two work in conjunction with each other. A man who has great relationship with headship but no or very little relationship with God is a recipe for disaster. The man who has a TRUE relationship with God WILL have a good relationship with his headship. A man who believes he is in love with Jesus but avoids and disregards headship is a deluded man who God will never be able to use to his full extent and desired purpose for that man. What is admirable about this particular leader (Nathan) is his ability to admit to the one he is supposed to be leading, that "he was wrong". How many leaders would rather hope and pray that things somehow just work out, rather than return and apologize or return and admit that they were wrong, gave bad advice and retract what they have spoken. I don't know what went through Nathan's mind, but if he is like the rest of us, I'm sure it went something like this..., "how stupid I am going to look going to David now and telling him he can't build God's house after I so confidently told him it would be okay. How can I do this? David will look at me now and not know what to believe? Perhaps David will lose confidence in me as his spiritual advisor and headship, how then will I lead him, it's better I don't say anything, God somehow will stop him and I can save face; otherwise David will think I don't hear from God and I am just making it up as I go"

I'm sure these were some of the thoughts that passed through Nathan's mind, but yet he put them aside, humbled himself and went back to David. The best harmony in any relationship between disciple and leader is one where the disciple is humble enough to seek his leader's advice and one where the leader is humble enough to admit when he is wrong and most important, it is one where both are seeking God behind the scenes and each has their own relationship with God and ultimately relies on God to be the ultimate decider and director of a man's destiny and purposes on this earth.
Proverbs 19:21 There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the LORD’s counsel—that will stand." This is our hope and our promise and this is exactly what happens in our text. David has many plans in his heart, but ultimately it is God's will that comes to pass and there's no grievance between these two men (leader and disciple). If you're having problems getting anywhere spiritually it could be that your relationship in either of these two areas is to to heavy in one and to light in the other. Relationship with God = relationship with headship & relationship with headship = relationship with God, humility as the preface and trust in God as the base = destiny, purpose & harmony.

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