Confronting a small group “leader”

Posted by Timothy

December 25, 2008

I have been finding alot of application or parallels in reading 1 Samuel with the need for us to talk to the small group leader.

I have been the leader for this group since the inception, but when I switched churches, because the other fellas attended the same church, I stepped down to allow “Joe” to lead.

After at least a year, I have concluded: I’ve still been leading, and it is more of a drain for me and has allowed the others to flounder.

This will be a difficult confrontation, because when small issues have been raised, he’s gotten very defensive, and there’s alot of rationalizing that can happen. I am praying he won’t be like Saul, but this passage stood out:

And Samuel told him, “Although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? … Why haven’t you obeyed the Lord? Why did you rush for the plunder and do exactly what the Lord said not to do?”

“But I did obey the Lord,” Saul insisted. “I carried out the mission he gave me. I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else.”….

But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Obedience is far better than sacrifice. listening to him is much better than offering the fat of rams….stubbornness is as bad as worshipping idols.”

This is not to make a one to one comparison with Saul, but the heart is there. To rationalize doing things your way, in the face of what one is expected to do.

The challenge is building the case of what real “leadership” is, and we’ve been bringing them up:

Living life together, versus dispending advice from on high
Life on life, versus departmentalizing…making the other brothers just an “option”
Knowing the word, not knowing the world.

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