The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. Jeremiah 5:3
The prophets and priests, God’s leaders, were preoccupied with their own agendas and God’s people, “love it this way.” Self-absorbed leadership isn’t healthy but the people didn’t want it changed. This is particularly grave. The leadership reflected the heart of the people.
It happens today in churches. Many leadership boards have their own agendas which aren’t God-initiated. They make comfortable decisions which reinforce the status quo rather than face the challenge of creating a new future in God. And the congregation love it that way. They continually vote or choose the same people to lead them because they don’t want to face God’s challenges any more than the leadership does. The congregation excuses the lack of direction and purpose in the church on the leadership. Meanwhile, the leadership blame the congregation for their lack of commitment and support. When new leadership arises they find cultural resistance to new ideas and a group of people happy to cave into church leadership, even if they don’t have God’s purposes in mind.
As churchgoers, we aren’t always in a position to change the direction of our churches. However, there are some things we can do. Importantly we can pray and seek God’s direction. Perhaps God is calling us to make a difference by standing for a leadership position. Maybe God is asking us to be less critical of new styles of worship or asking us to be more welcoming of young leaders and new ideas.
We often get the leadership we deserve since leadership reflects the heart of the people. Changing leadership begins with changing ourselves.
How prepared are we to seek God and his direction for our churches?
