Pastor Bell's Words To Live By

A real problem faced by leaders is that of dealing with the sin of others. Not only is dealing with the individual difficult, dealing with the after effects can also be problematic. Whilst issuing pronouncements, we are well aware that ‘but for the grace of God’ I could be in that same predicament. As leaders however, it is a situation that must be addressed, for if sin ‘remains in the camp’ it can have devastating effects on all the members of the camp and halt whatever progress was being made. Joshua could have allowed his emotions to control his actions and assume that since we all have the propensity to fail, then we should forgive whoever it was and move on. However, this is how he dealt with it and could be a model for how modern leaders deal with gross misconduct in their context.  He got all the leaders together to pray, and they fasted and prayed all day. Joshua 7:6. He petitioned God and reminded him of his promises to them vv.7-9.  He listened and heard what the Lord God said to him, vv. 10-15.

Joshua used his ability to listen and hear what God said about the situation to save his fledgling nation from defeat and annihilation by those who served other gods. Emotional intelligence is the ability to listen better to help to resolve problems. It must never be placed above SI (Spiritual Intelligence) as this gives you the ability to be aware of the situation. For Joshua he realised that if sin remained in the camp then they would all perish.  And although in the end, all of Achan’s family perished, the million or so Israelites survived to take the Promised Land.  Today as a leader, ensure that you PQ follow your EQ which in turn follows you IQ and SQ! If not then the pronouncement of the Lord to Joshua will apply, “I will be with you no more unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. Proceed to sanctify yourselves, if not, you will not be able to stand against your enemies”, v.12b-13.  Many leaders are being destroyed because of compromise. Today apply the Joshua model and clean up your house. Read Joshua 8 to see what happens when you do!