<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a sad day for any nation, organization, or fellowship when persons of low character get power. This truth is illustrated by a parable told by Jotham, son of Gideon, to the elders of Shechem after they\u2019d passed him up and made a scoundrel (Abimelech) their king, and just because he was one of them\u2014because he belonged to their tribe. I love this parable found in Judges 9:6-15: <\/p>\n\n\n
\n\u201cAnd all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all Beth-Millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.\u00a0When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim, cried aloud, and said to them, \u2018Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, \u2018Reign over us.\u2019 But the olive tree said to them, \u2018Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and hold sway over the trees?\u2019 And the trees said to the fig tree, \u2018You come and reign over us.\u2019 But the fig tree said to them, \u2018Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?\u2019 And the trees said to the vine, \u2018You come and reign over us.\u2019But the vine said to them, \u2018Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?\u2019 Then all the trees said to the bramble, \u2018You come and reign over us.\u2019And the bramble said to the trees, \u2018If in good faith you are anointing me, king, over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
What are some differences between olive trees, fig-trees, grape vines, and a bramble bush?<\/h4>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\n
- Fruit trees are valued for their sweet, life-giving, visible fruit, but the bramble bush is barren. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n
- Fruit trees have earned a reputation by their service to mankind. The bramble has no such reputation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
\n
- Fruit trees and fruitful vines have passed through seasons of painful pruning, while the bramble grows wild.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
The men of Shechem chose the bramble bush instead of the fruit tree, and it cost them their lives! Whom would you rather rule over you? Not all Christian Leaders are equal, and over the years I\u2019ve noted some important distinctions. Here are a few:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
- People of good character\u2014Olive tree leaders\u2014gain power, or influence, through their integrity.<\/strong> People of low character\u2014bramble bushes\u2014know that they can\u2019t gain power through integrity so they grab it through gifts, cleverness, and connections. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
Integrity is vital to the preservation of everything worth preserving. Many years ago, the Southern Baptist Convention made this resolution in response to Bill Clinton\u2019s immoral acts in the White House: \u201cTolerance of serious wrong by leaders sears the conscience of the culture, spawns unrestrained immorality and lawlessness in the society, and surely results in God\u2018s judgment\u201c (from, The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory,<\/em> by Tim Alberta<\/mark><\/a>).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
- Olive tree leaders have earned respect, so they lead in love<\/strong>. People are attracted to them and are naturally influenced by them. Bramble bush leaders have not earned respect, so they create fear.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
\n
- Olive tree leaders have gained power through a servant’s heart<\/strong> by listening, learning, teaching, meeting needs, and being \u201cpresent.\u201d Servant leadership produces an atmosphere of loyal love, but bramble bush leaders have not earned loyalty, so they hold onto power by silencing their critics (and other power plays).\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
\n
- Olive tree leaders have gained power through the sanctification of suffering<\/strong>, while bramble bushes have taken the easiest path to the \u201ctop.\u201d\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
\n
- Olive tree leaders leave a good legacy, <\/strong>while bramble bushes leave a stain.<\/strong> They bring pain on themselves and all who follow them (judges 9:22-23; 52-54).\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
What kind of \u201cruler\u201d will you be, an olive tree or a bramble bush?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s a sad day for any nation, organization, or fellowship when persons of low character get power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":16461,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,4],"tags":[8,72,11,71,7,14,15],"class_list":["post-16459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-classifiee","category-devotionals","tag-bible","tag-christ","tag-jesus","tag-leadership","tag-sgc","tag-shepherds-global-classroom","tag-training","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16459"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16459\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16462,"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16459\/revisions\/16462"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shepherdsglobal.org\/th\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}