A Leader’s Responsibility

A Leader’s Responsibility

Leadership Lessons Book-by-Book – Jeremiah

I was a senior in high school. My sister was in the sixth grade. My parents had to take an emergency trip to deal with some family matters overseas. My parents asked if I could take care of my sister while they were gone. As a senior in high school, I figured I was pretty grown up and could handle this responsibility. The primarily responsibility would be to get my sister to school in the morning and pick her up right after school, while a family friend took care of the food, otherwise our meals would consist of cereal and ramen. Because my parents didn’t like having my sister at school too early, it would mean I would only have a few minutes to spare by the time I got to my school and I couldn’t hang out with my friends at the computer room. And because my parents didn’t like having my sister linger after school, I would have to leave my school as soon as the bell rang and I couldn’t hang out with my friends at the computer room. #firstworldproblems.

I took this responsibility very seriously. I started to think like a parent and would begin to worry like one. What if my sister got sick during school? What if she forgot something at home? Was there enough money on her meal card? Fortunately, everything turned out okay and there were no emergencies. My parents came back soon enough and rewarded me with a new Sony Walkman from Hong Kong…which I showed my friends in the computer room.

We all have responsibilities…all the time. If you’re a parent, you have responsibilities to your children. If you’re a child, you have responsibilities to your parents. If you’re a student, you have responsibilities at school. If you’re a teacher, you have responsibilities to your students. If you work, you have responsibilities to your employer. If you’re an employer, you have responsibilities to your employees. If you do ministry, you have responsibilities to your church. And if you’re a leader in your church, you have responsibilities to those you influence.

Do you take your responsibilities seriously? Are you diligent in executing proper actions so goals are achieved? Have you ever asked yourself what your main responsibility is? The leaders of Judah should have asked this last question. Because somewhere along the line, they forgot what it was. It’s the same responsibility we have as Christian leaders today. And if we miss it, we could face the same judgment.

During the time of the prophet Jeremiah, the nation of Judah and the city of Jerusalem were not doing good. The northern nation of Israel had already been scattered by the Assyrians because the people drifted away from God.

The Lord says,
“As a thief is shamed when caught,
so the house of Israel shall be shamed:
they, their kings, their officials,
their priests, and their prophets” (2:26).

Notice where the Lord places the responsibility: the kings, their officials, their priests, their prophets…He places responsibility on the leaders.

Did Judah learn from that? Apparently not, because the Lord uses Jeremiah to cast judgment on the nation, but more particularly on its leaders. God points to the nation’s leaders for it’s misplaced worship.

“At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings of Judah, the bones of its officials, the bones of the priests, the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be brought out of their tombs. And they shall be spread before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and served, which they have gone after, and which they have sought and worshiped. And they shall not be gathered or buried. They shall be as dung on the surface of the ground” (8:1-2).

Instead of pointing the people to worship God, the leaders pointed the people to worship things other than the Lord. They worshipped foreign gods. They worshiped celestial objects. And at the same time they put their trust in the Temple and its offerings.

The Lord says to the people through Jeremiah, “Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord’” (7:4). They believed that because they had the temple, because they were God’s people, nothing bad could happen to them.

What were the leaders supposed to do? The responsibility of God’s leaders were to point people to Him. In other words, get people closer to the Lord! Worship Him! Love Him! Instead, the leaders did the opposite.

What about today? The same responsibilities the leaders of Judah had are the same responsibilities we have…get people closer to the Lord! Worship Him! Love Him!

Are we in danger of worshiping other things? You might be saying, people today don’t worship foreign gods or celestial objects. But there are other things we worship today. Two things come to mind. I’ve seen people worship the church. People love the church they go to because their friends are there or there is worship music they like. So they make it a priority to be at many church activities. But what happens is they fall in love with the church more than falling in love with God.

The second thing I’ve seen people worship is ministry. They love using their gifts, talents, and skills for the Lord. They like to be in positions of influence. They enjoy sacrificing time and money so goals can be accomplished. But what happens is they fall in love with ministry but not with God. They have time for ministry but they don’t have time for Him.

As Christian leaders, we have the responsibility of getting people closer to the Lord. Church is a vehicle for doing that. Ministry is a vehicle for doing that. But they are means to an end, not the end. You may need to refocus your responsibilities to make sure first, you are getting closer and closer to God, and second, you are getting those you influence closer to God.

Questions to Think About
• Are you more in love with God than the church or a ministry?
• Are the people you are influencing more in love God than the church or ministry?

© Gary Lau 2015
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