Grosey's Messages

A Russian Aeroflot jet crashed in Siberia in 1994, killing all seventy-five people aboard. When the authorities listened to the black box recording, they discovered that the pilot’s sixteen-year-old son and twelve-year-old daughter had been alternately at the controls of the plane! When the boy pushed a certain pedal, the plane went into a spin 1,300 feet above the ground. The crew pulled the plane out of the spin, but not soon enough to gain the altitude needed—and the plane crashed. The pilot’s last recorded words were, “Everything’s fine . . . take it easy . . . take it easy I tell you!”

When I pondered that newspaper report, I thought of the words of the prophet Isaiah describing the political situation in ancient Judah: “Jerusalem staggers, Judah is falling. . . . Woe to them! They have brought disaster upon themselves. . . . Youths oppress my people. . . . My people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path” (Isa. 3:8, 9, 12). Effective leadership can benefit from experiments, but experiments must be balanced by experience. The young may be daring but the adults must be wise. Leaders must have the kind of maturity that comes from fighting battles and carrying burdens, maturity that is painfully developed in the school of life.

The American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie said, “Here is the prime condition of success: Concentrate your energy, thought, and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged.” The apostle Paul agreed with this counsel when he wrote, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13–14). As Dr. Laurence J. Peter wrote, “If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.”

If we desire to become leaders for God, we must give ourselves totally to the Lord and obey whatever orders He gives us (Rom. 12:1–3). He wants my heart so that I will serve Him joyfully out of love, for service without love is drudgery. He asks for my mind because I must know both His will and how to do it if I am to serve Him intelligently. Zeal without knowledge is dangerous and destructive. My will must also be yielded to the Lord so that I willingly obey what He commands me to do. After all, the will of God is the expression of the love of God for us (Ps. 33:11).

If we don’t love God, we will not truly love our co-workers and the other people who come into our sphere of influence; and then leadership will become dictatorship. The key word will be “authority” and soon we will become “authoritarian.” Leaders who must repeatedly remind others who is in charge are either running scared or just plain egotistical. I recall one company president who prefaced his “official” opinions with, “As the first officer of this corporation . . .” Real leaders don’t have to remind you where they sit or who put them there. They prove they are in charge by leading successfully, and that includes listening to you, being concerned for you, and helping you become a better worker and leader in your own sphere of service.

Like Jonah, unwilling leaders may get things done and even bring some blessings to the organization, but they themselves will not be a part of that blessing! Jonah in his anger sat outside Nineveh (where he ought to have been ministering), hoping God would destroy it. In his stubborn pride, he was missing a priceless opportunity for spiritual growth (Jon. 4). The prodigal son’s older brother stood sullenly outside the family home, giving vent to his envious anger, when he could have been enjoying fellowship at the feast and experiencing the joy that comes when we forgive others and God forgives us (Luke 15:25–32).

It’s possible to be a blessing to others and yet not experience the blessing ourselves. That’s why David prayed, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation” (Ps. 51:12). If our hearts are not right, our service will be a burden and not a joy, and then we will become a burden to others.

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it" Prov 4:23