the rockThis week Pastor Miles gave part 5 of his series, Road Trip, on the Numbers chapter 16. The tag line was ‘Follow the Leader,’ and Miles outlined the differences between natural and spiritual leadership. Here is a brief breakdown:

Natural Leadership
Independent
Self confident
Knows men
Makes own decisions
Motivated by self gain
Originates own methods
Enjoys commanding others

Spiritual Leadership
God dependent
Confident in God
Knows men and God
Seeks God’s will
Motivated by love for God and man
Follow God’s methods
Delights in obeying God

Miles compared Korah (natural leadership) with Moses (spiritual leadership). There were five points as follows:

  1. Korah puffs himself up before man but Moses casts himself down before God.

  2. Korah calls men to follow himself, but Moses calls men to follow God.

  3. Korah devalues God’s assignment and Moses honors it.

  4. Korah focused on himself but Moses focused on the people

  5. Korah’s pride destroyed him while Moses’ humility brought him honor.

For point 1, I realize that when I find my self-worth in what others think of me, I am at their mercy, but if I were to find my self-worth in God then I am at the mercy of a loving, all powerful God. For point 2, when we have anyone following us we need to realize that we are following God first and their following is not due to any inherent worth of the leader. For point 3, I find myself always wanting something on the other side of the hill where the grass I hear is greener. For point 4, it’s hard to put others above yourself, but Christ did it, becoming obedient, even to death on a cross. For point 5, I forget too often that my source is God. I can not do anything good unless it is him who works good through me.

Miles summed it bu stating that natural leadership is all about manipulating people for your personal ends, while spiritual leadership is all about receiving.