UNLIKELY LEADERS
Opening Prayer
My King, I meditate on Your glory and majesty today with awe and wonder.
Read Acts 7:20–38
20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.[a] For three months he was cared for by his family. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’
27 “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’[b] 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’[c] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’[d]
35 “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.
37 “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’[e] 38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.
Footnotes
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Who are some leaders you admire?As we’ve read about the unstoppable force that is God’s people, the church, certain factors in its survival have emerged: the Holy Spirit’s work, courageous evangelists and a clear and transformative message. But although there have been glimpses of strong, visionary leadership along the way, the miracle of today’s worldwide church is perhaps in spite of rather than owing to any particular leader. Even the best of them are glaringly flawed.
In today’s reading, Stephen reaches the part in his narrative where one of the greatest biblical leaders makes his appearance. Moses was God’s instrument in rescuing the Israelites from Egyptian bondage and teaching them their new identity as a nation set apart for worship. And look, here he is committing murder and fleeing the scene for four decades (24, 29, 30). An inauspicious background to say the least.
There is something deeply reassuring about the failings of Moses. We can’t expect our churches to be led by superheroes, and flawed leaders certainly won’t hold God back.
Apply
You might be a leader who feels inadequate or you might be under a church leader you deem inadequate. Thank God that neither scenario hinders His good purposes, and strive to extend grace.
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, build up and strengthen my church. May we thrive under the leadership You have placed there.
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