My pulpit message notes: Courageous Leadership

Courageous Leadership

My Pulpit Message Notes are extracted from the sermon preached at the Nairobi Baptist Church (NBC) Ngong Road on Sunday 24th July 2022. Preacher: Rev. Majid Ochieng’, NBC Deputy Senior Pastor . Scripture: 1 Samuel 17:1-58. Topic: Courageous Leadership

Leadership has been defined by John Maxwell as influence. To be able to influence others to move from one place to the other. Bill Hybels says that it is influence to be able to move people from here to there, where here, is a place that people are dissatisfied and there is a place that people desire to be at. Here is a place where people are not so happy, but there, is a place where people see some kind of hope. When that influence happens it is not forcing or coercing people but to work in such a way that people will be enthusiastically involved out of their own volition.

Therefore the misconception that leadership is a position should not apply. Leadership is not a position. It means primarily that wherever we are we are able to influence, meaning that all of us at any given point in time life there is someone that we are able to influence. We pray that it will be positive influence because that is what God desires.

Positions should just come to affirm the leadership abilities and qualities that the Lord has given to each of us.

Courageous leadership: David and Goliath

One dictionary defines courage as a mental, or moral strength to venture, or to persevere, or to withstand danger, fear, or difficulty. Another one says it is the ability to control your fear in a dangerous, or difficult situation.

This means fear, or the anxious moments may be there, but somehow we are able to overcome that. The context we are going to look at it, for we Christians, something is already happening inside of us that when it is expressed it is an affirmation of the work that has happened inside of us so that fears are still there, but we are able to overcome.

The context here is the war between the Israelites and the Philistines. The Philistines had this huge giant in the name of Goliath. 1 Samuel 17:4 “4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.” This is equivalent of nine feet six inches. He was a towering giant. He was in this valley where the Israelites were on one side and the Philistines were on the other side. He kept terrifying/taunting the Israelites, ‘Bring your strongest man so that I can fight him then willwe know who your God is.”

A young boy by the name of David, who was not following his brothers. He had seven brothers the first being Eliab, the second Abinadab, the third Shammah and the others and as people were preparing for the war, these first three had followed to where the war was and David was left at home and his father sends him and packs some meal for him to take to his brothers.

While there he hears what is going on and what Goliath was saying and he kept asking, who is this man and what is he saying? At some point Saul had said, ‘whoever will beat this man will be able to get so much wealth and the king’s daughter’s hand in marriage’.

So David asked and his older brother kept telling him to keep quiet, and the young David said, ‘What is wrong, can’t I even ask just speak and understand what is happening? And he asked then question, and he was told what has been said and what will be given. And some of the intelligence that Saul had, heard him speaking and he was sent to Saul and King Saul asked, what did you say?’

David said, ‘please give me a chance’. Saul also almost dismisses him and says, ‘you are just but a young boy and are not able to fight. And one of the things that David says is that, ‘I will goin the name of the LORD. I will slay this giant in the name of the LORD.’

Three points on courageous leadership

1. The God of the Leader: 1 Samuel 17:28-37, 45-47

2. The Goal of the Leader: 1 Samuel 17:25-30

3. The Garments of the Leader: 1 Samuel 17:37-44

The God of the Leader: 1 Samuel 17:28-37, 45-47

31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. 32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” 33 Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

- When David had all these experiences, he acknowledges that - I am a small boy, but there is a God. - Remember at the point when David was being appointed to be a king, it was said that - ‘he was a man after God’s own heart.’

- When we know who God is, when we know our God, it does to matter the size of the giant. It does not matter if it is a lion or a bear, but David acknowledges that the God who made it possible for him to kill a lion and bear, it is only that God.

- John Maxwell says, ‘courage is actually fear that has said it’s prayers.’ It is fear that is presented to God. It is the worries that we present to God, knowing our abilities and sometimes lack of it and we surrender and say, ‘God where my strength perhaps ends, please begin it from there.

- The question we always need to ask, especially in a situation we are in as a nation, where we are going into elective politics and campaign, what is the source of the authority of the leader? If it is not God, it will be something else. It can be in resources, the godfathers, and sadly it can even be in the dark forces. But for David, he says, the God who allowed me to subdue and kill the lion and the bear will always be able to deliver me. And so he was able to go with courage.

- I pray that you will always know that greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world. - Wherever you are, we are influencing at every given moment of our lives. I pray that you and I will know who God is. When David knew who his God was, he was able to face the nine foot giant six giant.

- Verse 45

“David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

- It’s not about the superior weapons, but he was able to face the impossible because he knew who his God was.

- Verse 46

“This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands”. David knew who his God was.

- I pray that wherever you are, we will always be acutely aware of Him whom we have believed in. If we know Him, there is nothing that we are not able to overcome.

- The courage of a leader starts when the leader knows the source of his authority. As a believer, our source of authority is none else other than the God Almighty, the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

The Goal of the leader: 1 Samuel 17:25-30

- David primarily wanted to remove the disgrace from Israel. - Verse 25-30

“25 Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. 26 “26 David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” -

This is what was motivating / driving David. This was the goal of David.

- Any time you have a compelling goal / vision it is able, depending on our God, it makes us do that which sometimes looks like it is impossible.

- For David, his number one goal was to eradicate this Philistine because he had caused some kind of disgrace to this children of God.

- The leader’s goal always drives them to do that which sometimes is impossible.

- What the leader is aiming at should be a compelling goal or vision.

- Ultimately leaders should have a sole goal of improving livelihood of the led. The leaders should be more concerned with the service and primarily service to God, because when we serve God, service to man will just follow as a ripple effect.

- For David, his number one concern was the ridicule / disgrace he had seen, and that motivated him to want to eliminate Goliath. -

Unfortunately more often than not you find that leaders are driven by selfish interests. How to benefit self, how to protect self, how to build empires, economic or otherwise. Those are not as compelling. The real compelling vision and reason and goal for a leader should be service to God and to humanity even as we serve God.

The Garments of the leader: 1 Samuel 17:37-44

- A leader must use their garments. I use this metaphorically.

- When David was somehow able to convince Saul that he is going to face this giant, Saul brought his war clothes and put them on David, but David said, he could not fight in those, they are so big. So he threw them away

-“38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armour on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.”

- I use ‘the garment of a leader’ metaphorically. What is it that you have been wired for? What is it that God has used you to do before? When Saul gave David another garment, David said no.

- A leader must be comfortable in their own garment. That could be skills, the abilities that are God-given. If as leaders we are not careful, we could be dancing other people’s tunes and wearing oversized jackets that you hope to go to war with, but it is not yours.

- Sometimes you have heard, ‘O the people said that I go’ and so you find that in this place you are there because of the pressures of the people and yet this garment that I am talking about could also qualify as your competitive advantage. The skills that God has built over the years in your life, could qualify as your experience. So everything that Saul thought could be used for war, none was fit.

- In fact when David faces Goliath he says you are not even dressed up and we all know what David was able to do. -

What are you qualified for, or what are we trusting God to qualify us? - There are times that you see people are pushed, or try to wear shoes that they cannot fit in and yet other times it takes a little longer for preparation so that you are able to fit in those garments and shoes. -

David was so much aware of Who his God was, Who his goal was, of what garments he had, his experiences that he was not going to be just tossed all over. -

It is important for a leader to know what they are wired / qualified for. There are times that people jump into leadership without being honest, or ignoring that honesty and sincerity because bottomline is this, when we are left to ourselves, we know what we are able to do and what we are not able to do. -

People sometimes get into leadership because there is no other option, or pressure from others or the led, because of prestige, or the perks that come with the leadership. Because of power that comes with leadership. -

David was very comfortable in his own garment. It did not look like it was suitable for war, but he was familiar with his garment and weapon. He had his own unique experiences. -

Each and everyone of us, we are uniquely created and wired by God. May you be comfortable in your own unique garments. When you are, you will not be tossed all over. You will be successful because you know who your God is, your goal and what God can use you to do. And that is what David brought. - Courageous leadership takes into consideration; the God of the leader, the goal of the leader, the garments of the leader. -

As we look at this next space, I pray that we will be asking those questions, as we elect our next MCAs, MPs, Women Representatives, our governors, senators and highest office of this land, who is the God of this leader? What is the goal of this leader? What is the garment, or ability of this leader? When we do that, then no matter how big the giant is, could be nine foot six or even beyond, we are able to go, because we know -

greater is He who is in us that he who is in the world. -

As John Maxwell says, ‘courage is fear that has said it’s prayers’.