There are different types of leadership and systems of governance practiced or adopted over time across civilizations, territories or geographic spaces across the world. The basic ones are that comes to mind are; oligarchy, aristocracy, monarchy, and democracy. An oligarchy is a system of rule or governance where a society is ruled by a few people, usually the rich. An aristocracy is when a people is ruled by the upper class, or nobility. Monarchy is when a society is being ruled by a king or queen, and a democracy is when a society is ruled by the people themselves or by representatives of the people.
Haven looked briefly at these systems of governance, you will realize that the reason why most government, societies, tribes, communities and families fail is because of the system of leadership they practice. John Maxwell once said; everything rises and falls on leadership. Also meaning that it is the leader that determines the limit on the potential for the organization or nation to grow. So, when a nation is not moving fine or falling apart, don’t blame anything else or try to diagnose what the problem is; just fix the leadership and there would be a dramatic change or turn around. Inferring from the statement I began with from the beginning of this paragraph, systems fail simply because there is a kind of leadership that has not yet been introduced. And that is the God factor. When you look through the brief details and explanations describing the four systems of governance mentioned earlier in the first paragraph, you will realize that the people are either governed by themselves, governed by a king, governed by a few people, or governed by the rich. So, where is the place of God in each of these systems of governance? None of these systems says the people are being ruled by God through men. It is a fearful thing for man to be ruled by man. We have seen the consequences from time immemorial. What will happen, or what will be the experience when the people are governed by God? No nation, organization or ministry thrives with the exception of God in its leadership.
1 Samuel 8:11-18 gave a description of how the kings of the earth behave, it said; He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. 12He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 14And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. 15He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. 16And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest [a]young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. 18And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day.”
I want us to note what verse 18 says; it said; “you will cry because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves.” That sounds to me like democracy, a system where the people elect or choose leaders for themselves. But in the actual sense God owns the prerogative right to choose for the people the kind of leader that must lead them. There was never at any time in these definitions or systems of governance that the people willingly submit themselves to the sovereignty, governance or the rulership of God. And that is the missing link. In each of these systems of governance, there has been a loop hole thereby creating an imbalance and forcing societies into a dysfunctional state. I must say that systems of leadership have been exhausted, yet man hasn’t come to the truth or full realization of what should be the necessary ingredient for governance in any given space or region on the earth. And that is the God factor.
So, the focus of this article is to help leaders and kings to know how to bring the God factor which has been the missing link in the systems of leadership cutting across different systems, territories and civilizations. The point I am trying to make is this; it doesn’t matter what system of governance you practice as a nation or an organization, what matters the most is that will the leaders partner with God? So, how can we bring God into our leadership or government? How can we rule like God, what are the systems of leadership that God requires every leader or government to emulate? So, there are certain things we must come to realize, emulate or adopt as prescribed in this article.
The first is service. Jesus made an emphatic statement in Matthew 20 verse 25. He said; “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.” That was exactly what we saw in 1 Samuel 8:11-18. He said; the rulers of the gentiles have a particular character, and it is to lord it over the people. So, what differentiate your leadership from the gentile leadership? It is service. Jesus said in verse 28; “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” You never lead until you have learnt to serve. He said the leaders of this world lord it over their subjects, but not so among you. So, service should be rooted in the core of every leadership, and any leadership that is not willing to serve is a leadership that lords it over the people.
There are three factors rooted or embedded in service that I would like you to know about; number one; Integrity and uprightness. I prefer to call it righteousness and justice. Number two; peace, number three; eagerness and passion. If any of these factors are missing in the service of any leadership, it is no longer service but lordship or an attitude of “I don’t care about the people.” Let me briefly explain these factors for the sake of clarity.
Integrity and uprightness. I will explain this point in the light of righteousness and justice. What is the meaning of integrity? It means the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. What about uprightness? It is the condition or quality of being honorable or honest. Something dramatic and instructive happened between the children of Israel, prophet Samuel and his sons. In 1 Samuel 8:1-3, The Bible says; When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders.[a] 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. My emphasis will be on verse 3; it says; But his sons did not follow his ways. The question we should ask is this; what was the way they ought to have followed? The way their father followed, the way of righteousness. See what prophet Samuel asked the children of Israel; I have walked in front of you since I was young, in other words I have led you all these years, until this day. 3 Here I am. Speak against me to the Lord and Saul His chosen one. Whose bull have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? To whom have I not been honest? For whom have I made it hard? From whose hand have I taken pay for closing my eyes to the truth? I will return it to you.” That talks about integrity.
Surprisingly the response of the people proved he was an upright leader, they replied; “You have always been honest with us. You have not made it hard for us, or taken anything from any man’s hand.” If you are a leader and you take the issue of righteousness for granted, it will cost you your leadership and the state of your own people. See what his sons did? See the way they followed; They turned aside from the way and followed after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. The Bible says in Psalm 89:14 that righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. Proverbs 14:34 says; Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. If you fail to establish righteousness and justice in any land, there is bound to be chaos and unrest. Every kingdom leader takes the issue of righteousness and justice with utmost priority. The lessons we must learn from this point is that leadership and governments must avoid Perversion and lawlessness.
The second point to be noted as a leader serves is; peace consciousness. The scripture says unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon His shoulders. And the question is; what kind of government? Is it the governments that we all know and have experienced or a new kind of government? It is simply a government of peace. How do you know a righteous leader is in leadership? You will find a basic and necessary ingredient called peace and rest. Therefore, inherent or deeply rooted to the core of every leadership, government or rule is a factor called peace. Peace should primarily be the objective of every leader. I am talking about the peace of the subjects or people subject to that rule or leadership whether foreigners or citizens. The Bible says and of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end. One of the parameters or basis for judging a good government is that peace becomes an experience of the people. Jesus said my peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you; if you don’t know how to restore order, peace and tranquility as you lead, you are simply not a leader. Inherent in true service is the leader’s ability, capacity and willingness to advocate for peace or ensure peace.
The Scripture says; “and of the increase of His government and peace”; so the aim of every governance must be to establish peace and ensure continuous peace. Subjects must never leave in fear or panic, they should sleep fine in full assurance and confidence that the leader is in charge. The absence of peace is the presence of chaos, you know an unrighteous leader when his/her leadership is characterized by chaos, fear, panic and insecurity. So, peace should be the second ingredient or objective for every governance.
The third ingredient or factor that we noted under service is passion. In John 4:34, “Jesus said unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.” The beauty of service is seen when the drive or motivation of the leader is supplied by an inner energy in alignment with purpose and divine calling. It is passion that makes the leader to be consistent, ready, willing and always available to serve even without been cajoled or coarsed, without grumbling or murmuring, without remuneration or financial gain or motivation. This is the factor that makes leaders serve with cheerfulness, gentleness, goodness and kindness.
Finally, Acts 6:3 gave us a breakdown for who is eligible for service and what should be used to serve the people as a leader and as a government institution. It says; “Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.” The question is; how many people in service or in government possess these requirements? This is the reason why we must stop to wonder or cry or feel dejected for the sorry state of our nations. What criteria or parameters did we use to select or elect the leaders we have in the seat of power? Are they honest? Are they full of the Holy Ghost? Are they full of wisdom?
It is not enough to wish to serve, what do you want to serve the nation with? Nations and government will continue to fail, systems will continue to be stagnant, economic growth will only be a thing to be admired and not to be experienced because those that serve are perverse and lawless, they give less priority to peace, there is no enthusiasm, willingness or passion to serve. And most importantly they lack wisdom, they are dishonest, empty or devoid of the Holy Spirit and they Lord it over the people. Understanding the kingdom system of governance is to imbibe, emulate or adopt the principles of service spelt out in this article.
Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Apeh Francis Abah!
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