January 20, 2003

Feb. 2
___Jeremiah 22:1-5, 13-17; 23:9-18

Leadership begins with following God
___By James Shamburger
___One of the greatest tragedies in the world today is leadership that is trying to lead by worldly principles instead of godly principles!
___In the book of Jeremiah, we find God's man divinely called in his youth from the priest city of Anathoth. We find Jeremiah a heartbroken prophet with a heartbreaking message. Jeremiah labors more than 40 years proclaiming a message of doom to the stiff-necked people of Judah.
___Even though he is despised and persecuted by his countrymen, Jeremiah loves the people whom God called him to serve. By his preaching, he faithfully declares that a surrendered life is the only way to escape calamity. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul declares the same truth, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 3:23). Yes, the surrendered life is the only way to escape calamity!
___Leader in his day
___No prophet was more tied to history than Jeremiah. His life and work were so intertwined with the national situation that it is hard to think of Jeremiah apart from the political and religious setting of his day.
___Josiah was the king of Jeremiah's early years and the father of Jehoiakim. In 22:15, Jeremiah addressed Jehoiakim, recalling the piety and justice of Josiah.
___After Josiah's death, he was succeeded by his son Shallum (Jehoahaz). Jehoahaz ruled only three months before Pharaoh Necho's forces came and took Jehoahaz to Egypt. Jeremiah 22:1-10 refers to Jehoahaz's exile from his native land.
___Jehoahaz was followed on the throne by Jehoiakim, another son of Jehoahaz. Wicked Jehoiakim was the target of Jeremiah's most burning accusations, as in 22:13-19.
___Jehoiachin (Coniah), son of Jehoiakim, was the next king, but he was deported to Babylon after only three month's reign. Jeremiah discussed Jehoiachin in 22:24-30.
___The final king in David's line was Zedekiah, Jehoiakim's brother, whom Jeremiah addressed in 21:10. Zedekiah was the weak ruler during the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C.
___In most cases, Jeremiah blamed the kings for leading God's people astray. Jeremiah related abuses of the kingly office that eventually called down God's judgment on the nation (2:21-23:2).
___In all cases, Jeremiah held out hope for the exiles. He predicted they would be restored to the homeland. He also announced the future, ideal (messianic) king of David's line (23:3-8).
___Reason for calamity
___The religious leaders of Judah, like the political leaders, contributed to the downfall of Judah. Because of their corrupt lives and false worship, God predicted they would experience disaster (23:12). The leaders who were appointed to proclaim the true word of God, instead spoke soothing words to support the wicked acts of the people.
___God warned the people not to be lulled into a false security the prophets dreamed up, for the Lord's wrath would surely descend on them like a storm (23:31). He promised punishment to those who used the Lord's name to give credibility to their own false words (23:9-40).
___Parallel to today
___There is an amazing similarity of America to Judah of Jeremiah's day. We have just gone through decades of liberalized Christianity. A great deal of the problems America is experiencing today are because of the soothing words of ungodly leadership in our country. We have experienced calamity because of our sin. We have let our guard down just as God's people did in the day of Jeremiah.
___Some of our leaders in our nation have lead us to a "new age" of sexuality. We now have homosexuality as an "alternative lifestyle." The Bible doesn't talk about Adam and Ed. It talks about Adam and Eve. We worry about whether our daughters and sons will contract AIDS because of the liberality of our sexual society.
___Alcohol is killing our young people by the thousands, yet we let the advertisers sell us the lie that it is life's greatest elixir.
___Our economy is reeling because of the lying of leaders in high places. Several of those CEOs of companies that have gone bankrupt were reported to be Christians and members of evangelical churches.
___We have more division in our churches today than ever before. Some Christians can't be trusted to tell the truth. We have to pass new bylaws and complicated policies so we can simply carry out the work of the church.
___What can we do?
___ We can listen and obey the words of Jeremiah! "Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong" (Jeremiah 22:13).
___ We should evaluate carefully the leaders we follow--Judah followed without weighing their leadership against God's standard. We have a choice of political leaders, but we often don't bother to vote. In the church, we need to pick leaders who are truly leaders (attend, tithe, etc.). In the community, we need to select godly Christian leaders that live their faith and not just talk it.
___ We should make sure our leaders are held responsible for their leadership--accountability is the key. In Jeremiah's day, God held the leaders responsible for their actions. We should too.
___ We as Christian adults should commit ourselves to lead with integrity--Christians must be aware of their influence for good or evil. They should view leadership positions as opportunities to serve.
___ Commit ourselves to a "surrendered life"--every day the Christian should say, "Father, not my will but thine be done!"
___Questions for discussion
___ How faithful are you to the responsibilities God has given you?
___ What can we do to help our leaders to reflect God's ways?
___ Do you lead by example? At work? At church? At home?
___ What are some ways in the church we might lead by example?
___ Are God's laws reflected in the book of Jeremiah just for pastors and political leaders?
___James Shamburger is pastor of First Baptist Church in Victoria

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