How Will You Lead

Introduction

Okay, so we return to our study in Ecclesiastes, and today we tackle the second part of chapter 10 so jump in your Bible to Ecclesiastes 10. I'm hoping that even though we are still not able to meet together corporately, many of you are gathering in homes, with another family or two. Today, there are a few human beings in the room with me. I can't tell you how cool that is!

So let's get after it. Get your eyes on the pages of your Bible so you can see it for yourself. Here's an encouragement for you to not just listen to, but interact with Solomon in the text he wrote and God preserved.

Now chapter 10 reads a lot like the book of Proverbs. When you read the proverbs you have some proverbs that are standalone verses. They aren't connected to anything before or after. Other proverbs are couplets. Still others are whole paragraphs or chapters that are a clearly connected thought, like the adulterous woman in chapter 7 or the virtuous woman in chapter 31.

The second part of Ecclesiastes chapter 10 is one of these connected sections where Solomon is addressing the difference between wise and foolish leadership. Once that is understood the entire section opens up. So today we are going to hear the wisdom of Solomon as it relates to leadership.

Let's talk about leadership. You cannot understand leadership without first understanding power. All leaders need power and here's why. Leaders are responsible to work and affect change. Leaders cannot work and change things unless they are given power. Power is what makes change possible.

Work and change are impossible without power.

- We might observe a backhoe digging a trench and think, man that is a powerful machine. It would take me a long time to dig a trench that large. Power can accomplish work and affect change.
- We might observe a tornado, river, tsunami, earthquake, or volcano and say, "Wow, that's powerful." It can take a very strong house and just annihilate it as if it wasn't even there. There's no way to resist this kind of power. It's not even a contest. Power can accomplish work and affect change.

We can talk about the powerful forces of nature but we can also talk about powerful people. These are people because of their position, prominence, personality, privileges, perspective, and prosperity can affect change, not in nature, but culture.

- A person can be powerful because of their position. They make decisions that affect people.
- A person can be powerful because of their wealth. You can solve a lot of problems and lubricate a pretty powerful machine with enough cash.
- A person can be powerful because of their personality, their charm, their looks. Celebrities and athletes fall into this category. Because they are charming, beautiful, talented, and entertaining, they have power.

A powerful person can change the culture.

We all are feeling the effects of powerful people who are above us that are making decisions that affect even our Sunday morning gathering. I'm not making any sort of political statement; I'm just observing the effect of powerful people. Nobody asked us. Powerful doctors, powerful political leaders, and people in positions of power changed our gathering.

When you hear "powerful leader" you probably picture horns and a pitchfork. But listen, society can't function without powerful leaders. If you want your leaders to lead you must give them power. There will always be powerful people. The million-dollar question is, "What kind of powerful leader are they?"

In our passage today, Solomon is going to cause us to reflect not on others, but ourselves. We are all leaders in some way. So, how will you lead? Foolishly or Wisely? And we get a bit of contrast through the text today.

- Give power to a fool and he's like a bomb; he just explodes and destroys. The more power that passes through him, the more destructive he is.
+ A foolish parent, destroys his home.
+ A foolish mayor destroys a city.
+ A foolish governor destroys a state.
+ A foolish president destroys a country.
+ A foolish emperor or chancellor can destroy the world.
- Conversely, give power to a wise man and he's like a hydroelectric plant. The more power that passes through him, the more clean energy he generates to serve the city.
+ A wise parent, encourages a family.
+ A wise teacher, inspires the classroom.
+ A wise pastor, shepherds a church.
+ A wise employer, influences a company.
+ The more power you give wise rulers, the more blessing they become to the communities they lead.

Now, just for the record, it's much easier to be a foolish leader than a wise leader. Remember last week, it only takes a little folly to outweigh a truckload of wisdom. Just a small fly makes the perfume go south. There's one way to balance a broomstick and a million ways it could fall.

So here's the question on the table this morning. What kind of leader will you be? Everyone is leading in some way.

- Moms and dads, you are leading your children.
- Older siblings are leading the younger ones.
- You could be leading your friend group.
- You have some sort of leadership in the organization you are part of.
- You may be leading in your Bible study or small group.

So the question for all of us is this: How will you lead? The entire outline today is in the form of questions that you ask yourself.

Solomon begins with words. Oh, the power of words to destroy or the power of words to give life. Words can be like bombs with shrapnel that tear through other people's hearts or they can be like healing antiseptics and bandages.

In our book club this month we read a book called, The Power of Words. It's a book about how Winston Churchill changed the world through his pen. Powerful words, spoken in powerful ways can change a world for good or evil.

Solomon asks us to observe the difference between the words of the wise versus the words of the fool.

We could do a whole series on words as the Bible is chalked full of wisdom in this regard. But let's try to stick to the points made in this particular text. Are we foolish or wise in our speech? Let's ask ourselves three questions that come straight out of the text. Here's the first question.

Let's not make this too complicated. Do people like you? If you have favor in people's eyes it's probably largely because of your words. If people don't like you it's probably largely because of your words. Your entire reputation is a sum total of what you say and what you do. Your words, while not the complete picture, account for a massive portion of the favor or lack of favor that you have with others.

To illustrate this just flip it around. Ask yourself, "Who do you like to be around?"
- People who are positive with their words.
- People who are thankful, not complaining.
- People who are gracious toward my mistakes.
- People who compliment you and notice things about your life.
- People who don't always talk about themselves but instead ask you questions.

When someone does this to you, they gain favor in your eyes. Do you see the power of your words? Now that's easy enough, but the tension is typically felt when we run into conflict.

You want to be positive but this is a negative situation. I can't just bury it. I'd like to compliment but this needs to be addressed. I'd like to ask questions but right now I feel like I need to confront. That's great! That's what the Lord would want you to do.

But before you move an inch in that direction ask yourself this question. Which of these two options would you prefer?

Option #1: Communicate truth and love in a way that causes people to dislike you.
Option #2: Communicate truth and love in a way that causes people to like you.

The fool conducts himself according to option #1. The wise man chooses option #2. The wise know obtaining favor is important because not only will others be more likely to listen but also more likely to want to have further conversations.

It's so easy to think, "What I have to say is not likable and therefore it's impossible to say it in a way that I will be liked." The reason they are upset has nothing to do with me. I'm the messenger and the problem is they don't like the message.

That may be true but it may also not be true. Don't underestimate the control you have in delivering true things in favorable ways. The wise man will put great effort into discerning every single variable he has control over so that the offense of the messenger is removed.

- What can I say to soften the soil before I speak? Compliment, areas of agreement to affirm, etc.
- How much of the truth can they handle today?
- Could I pause in the middle of the conversation to lighten the moment?
- Perhaps I could share a similar struggle I have had so that they don't feel isolated, alone, or shamed.
- How can I follow up after a hard conversation to affirm my love?

These are all variables we have control over to obtain favor in the eyes of those with whom we interact.

Often time, it is the obtaining of favor that allows the truth to be heard. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that one of the surest ways to communicate truth is to first gain favor.

- What's the point of speaking truth to deaf ears?
- Ears are opened up as favor is gained.
- The more favor you have with people, the more effectively you can communicate.

So ask yourself, "Do your words gain favor?"

In the text, it says the beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is evil madness. One of the most telling signs of a fool is that he or she really isn't interested in solving problems. That's not really on the radar. It's hardly even a category of thought.

Because fools are narcissistic, they aren't trying to do things for the good of those around them, they are doing things for the good of themselves. A fool mainly loves himself or herself. So the only ideas that are good ones are ideas that benefit themselves. But of course, any idea that is no larger than self is going to be foolish.

He's observing the narrowmindedness of a fool, but the main observation of verse 13 is how he got there. There is a progression of foolishness. There is a beginning of foolish thinking and if left unchecked it morphs into something hideous, monstrous, and evil.

Foolishness begins very innocently. You might even describe it as childish. All children think the world revolves around them. A child thinks, "My job is to go to school, and my parents' job is to pay for my school, clean the house, feed me, and do my laundry." That sounds fair. That's a childish kind of foolishness. It's innocent in a way. It's kind of cute and funny.

But what happens when that is left unchecked? Well, it begins to grow more serious. When there is no change in this self-centered attitude it breeds entitled teens. Entitled teens turn into demanding adolescents. Demanding adolescents turn into tyrannical employers. Tyrannical employers turn into hedonistic madmen.

Solomon's pointing out this progression. The beginning of his talk is foolishness and the end of his talk is evil madness. So the question is, can you receive correction? When you say something incorrect and others give you feedback and try to correct you, can others around you observe a change?

- Perhaps someone has told you that it's not wise to use superlatives in your communication. Can others notice a change over time?
- Perhaps someone has told you that it's good to start a conflict by complimenting a person first and telling them several things that you appreciate about them. Can others notice a change over time?
- Perhaps someone has told you that your tone is not helpful. Can you hear that and change?

If there isn't change in your words, if your speech is not correctable, then the destination is predetermined - evil madness.

Here's another question to ask yourself. Do you speak too much in ignorance? Verse 14 says, "A fool multiplies words, though no man knows what is to be, and who can tell him what will be after him?" Every leader has to speak into situations. Every leader has to make guesses and speak with incomplete information. But the sign of a fool is that he speaks too quickly, too definitively, too often, and too much.

Have you ever had the experience where someone asks to meet so you can catch up, but really what they are asking is, "Can you listen while I talk the entire time?" That's foolishness. To not even have awareness of this dynamic.

Now take that propensity to speak too much and combine it with a complicated problem that takes a lot of listening to really understand properly. A fool will simplify the complicated so that he can understand it. He makes brash affirmations with limited information. He or she doesn't ask questions about what has transpired thus far in conversations leading up to the point. And they just speak way too much. When words are going out, information cannot be coming in. If the ratio is out of balance, he will always be limited because he's not getting feedback to challenge and correct his simple perspective.

But the fool described here is in a category all unto itself. He does not speak confidently into things that are knowable. He speaks confidently into things which are unknown to any man. Let's be honest. Nobody could possibly know what is being claimed so definitively.

- Here's what the market is going to do. What do you mean? Nobody can know that. It's not knowable. Stop acting like it's so simple.
- Here's what's going on with the coronavirus. Said with such confidence. Does anyone really know? We are all drinking from the same biased wells.
- Here's your problem. You need to do these 5 things.
- Theologians are so confused at this point. Here's the answer.

No problem is that simple. Let your words just be honest. We don't know very much. So let's listen more than we speak. God is in heaven, we are on earth. Therefore, let your words be few.

Every leader has been given some sort of responsibility. And whoever you are leading, that responsibility will come in this form: here is this group of people here and you are responsible to take them there. To do that, you've got to have a vision of where there is. Solomon says, "A foolish leader has no idea where there is."

Here we picture a man exerting all sorts of effort but because he doesn't know where he is going, he just exhausts himself.

- How do you feel following a visionless leader like that?
- How do you feel following someone who says, "This is the direction!" Then a few weeks later, "No, that was dumb, this is the direction." No. Forget everything I ever said, "This is the way!" It's emotionally exhausting.

It's the ultimate picture of a wanderer. He works so hard and gets nowhere. Now take that concept of working to the point of exhaustion without actually getting anywhere and apply it to leadership.

Verse 15 serves as the heading for verses 16 and 17.

A king is the most powerful leader in a country. Solomon, the wisest man who has ever lived, says, "Let's talk about the ultimate form of exhausting yourself without accomplishing anything. Woe to you when your king is a child and when your princes feast in the morning."

In other words, woe to you if you have a king who is irresponsible and runs his country like a child. Consider the responsibility of a king. A king is obligated to serve and lead his kingdom. Nobody else can do this job, so if he fails his people in this way, nobody can step in and clean up the mess because he's the only one who's been given the power to do what needs doing.

So the call here is to consider your responsibility in your position of leadership. What is it? Are you being negligent? What have you been entrusted with that if you fail at it, nobody else can pick up the pieces. You and you alone have the power to affect change?

In this case, the king has a responsibility to lead his kingdom but instead, he's partying.

Morning time is time for work. There's no time to waste. There's never enough time in the day. The problems are never-ending and even 10 lifetimes would not be adequate time to solve these problems due to their complexity. You have the power to command people, to allocate kingdom resources. You have the power to organize and coordinate entire branches of the government to accomplish massive tasks.

And what does he do with that power? He serves himself. He's ordering in a deejay at 9 am. He's invited guests over. He's catered in food paid for by taxpayers' dollars. What are you doing foolish king? It's time to work. It's time to throw yourself into the tasks that have been entrusted to you. You can't shirk those. You can't offload those to another.

It's not that king can't feast at the expense of the taxpayers. He just needs to feast at the proper time. After a long day of hard work, after having wearied himself from serving his people all day long, a meal awaits him that he did not prepare to strengthen himself for the next day filled with service. It's wisdom to refresh your body after the work is accomplished and after the war is won, but it must be done at the right time and in the right way.

Notice the purpose of the feasting. For strength and not for drunkenness.

- This is the difference need versus want.
- Physical necessity versus physical stimulation.
- Using a substance as fuel to prepare you to solve problems versus using a substance to numb you to forget problems.
- Self-centered versus others-centered.

This can be applied to any gift of God.

- Why do you want a new car, for strength or drunkenness?
- Why do you want to play games, for strength or drunkness?
- Why do you want to surf the internet, for strength or drunkness?
- Why do you want a nice house, for strength or drunkenness?
- Why do you want more money, for strength or drunkenness?

So here's the question, "Where are you tempted to use your power, resources, freedom to serve yourself?" Perhaps you have influence or access to resources. And the reason you have been given that freedom and influence and access to resources is to serve others.

Moms, you have been given a large amount of freedom, you have control of the schedule and control over the family budget. How do you use that freedom?

Maybe you are the manager of your division. You have been given freedom in your schedule and budgetary control. How do you use that freedom?

Ask yourself two questions: who do I lead, formally or informally? Kids, life group, classroom, a team at work, a ministry, or a meeting.

Once you have identified who you lead, ask this question, "What is my responsibility?" You are entrusted with something. You need to take them somewhere. Will you take it seriously? Will you see it as something God has entrusted to you that you cannot afford to squander.

The older I get, the more precious time is to me. Oh, that we would all just use our time so carefully. Oh, that we would serve others with our time and our money, for strength and not for drunkenness.

Attitudes are settled ways of thinking or feeling about something. They pertain to a person's present expectations based on a fixed belief that really cannot be called into question.

And to be a good leader you are going to need to not just observe, but study the attitudes in your heart about your position. I like the word "study" here because attitudes are not easy to discern. What are your unconscious biases and expectations that spring forth from these settled ways of thinking?

The foolish leader has an attitude that thinks because he is in this great position of power, others are around him to serve him.

A leader needs to be willing to work. He needs to be willing to do anything. There is no job beneath a leader. A fool will look at the man sitting at the big desk and say, "Man he doesn't have to do any of this grunt work. I'd love to just sit in that position and boss people around."

But true leaders have done all that hard work. They've worked their guts out. They can tell you how every job is done because they have done all those jobs. They see it as an honor to work.

And the only reason they are freed from that work now is that they are needed to think about strategic work that affects the entire organization. The best thing for the community he leads is for him to organize the work of others.

Any gift you have been given as a leader is not intended for you to be free of work. If you choose to avoid work as a leader, there will be consequences.

The thing about leadership is that nobody is telling you to do anything. Moms and dads, what boss is giving you performance reviews telling you if you are on track?

If you have your own business, who's telling you the right thing to do? Who's telling you how to be a good employer to company. You have all the power but there's no rulebook.

Wise leaders are attentive to the work that needs to be done that nobody is asking to be done, but they know if it isn't done, it will result in a catastrophe. The analogy of the roof is perfect. A failing roof fails one drop at a time. Invisibly, it rots away the OSB sheeting and now instead of just replacing the roof, you are replacing decking, sheetrock, and pulling out moldy insulation. The price of negligence is costly and sometimes it's completely irreparable.

But you can't see it. You have to be very observant and thinking ahead. If I don't do this now, there will be consequences.

So good leaders are paying attention to maintenance. They are willing to do the hard work that will pay off in the long wrong. They set up systems that will serve, they do the hard work of organizing, and they do the hard work of communicating. Good leaders are hard workers. Foolish leaders are lazy.

So are you working hard in your position that God has given you as a mother/father leading your kids? Are you working hard in your position of grandmother/grandfather leading your kids and grandkids? Are you working hard in your position of ministry? Are you working hard in your position of employment, not to be served, but to serve?

Study your attitudes as a leader. Do you want to be free of hard work? Secondly:

In this context, the pursuit of fun is not a virtue. Fun is a gift from God but a foolish leader sees everything as designed to create fun.

A foolish leader has the wrong attitudes about the purposes of God's gifts.

Bread and wine are not made for parties. Bread and wine are made to sustain life. Bread and wine are present at parties but that's not their ultimate use. The foolish leader sees bread and wine as a means of fun. They expect them to fulfill.

Same with money. The fool says, "Money is designed to solve my problems. It's designed to create fun." Now in one sense, money does answer everything. With enough money, you can solve a lot of physical problems. But can it solve the happiness problem? It can create physical laughter but can it create that deep soul laughter? The fool is so shortsighted in his understanding of the purpose of money.

- Sure, money solves some problems but it creates others.
- Money creates freedom but it also creates bondage.
- Money opens the doors of opportunity but closes others.

What's your attitude toward the gifts of God? Is the goal of life to have fun? To remove all difficulties with money? To party with wine? Is that really the aim? Learn from Solomon's hedonism experiment. Fools have this attitude. Don't lead like a fool. Solomon's whole point all through the book is that the reality of death teaches us how to live. This world is filled with unsolvable problems; tears are unavoidable; death is certain. Bread, wine, and money cannot solve these problems.

A good leader uses bread, wine, and money to point people to the all-satisfying person of Jesus Christ, the one who can actually solve the death problem, the one who can actually answer the unanswerable, who can wipe away every tear. The one who created fun. That's the real reason God has given us bread, wine, and money. The purpose of all God's gifts is to point our affections and others' affections to the giver of that gift.

Study your attitudes. Do you want to be free of work? Do you want to have fun?

Often people want positions of power, not for the money, not to be served, not even for the control, but the respect. Here's a great picture.

Pictured here is a king who is so concerned about others respecting him that his subjects are advised to not even think an evil thought about him because that whisper will be picked up by a sparrow who will alight on the shoulder of the king. And that little winged messenger will whisper your negative opinion of him and the king will become enraged and throw you into a pit.

He's advising this subject, "It's hard to hide your true thoughts so don't even think evil. This guy is so maniacal that he's going to pick up on the eyebrow raise, the inflection in your greeting, the tilt of your salute. He's going to sniff out your disrespect so you'd better just banish that thought."

This type of leadership that demands respect and punishes disrespect is toxic. And the easiest way to test for this attitude in yourself is simply to ask the question, "Are you angry when people question you or disagree with you?"

- Can you accept a contrary opinion without taking it personally?
- Can you hear criticism without your pride being injured?
- Can you learn from disapproval?
- Can you enjoy the process of having imperfect ideas perfected by the wise men and women around you?

So let's get practical.

- Mothers and fathers can you learn from the feedback of your kids or is the one rule in your house that you can't cross mom or dad or you will have to pay? Don't disagree or that will be interpreted as disrespect and you will get thrown in the pit.
- If you manage people or run a company, can you learn from those who you lead? Or is the one rule, never question big boss or he will throw you in a pit.

The culture of this respect-demanding king is not healthy. Don't be a fool. We all need each other. You may have been put in a position of authority by God (just like Pilate was), but that does not mean you are put there because you are perfect and do not need the wisdom of those you lead. Terrible leaders create fear.

Closing Thoughts

So are you a wise leader or a foolish leader? What kind of leader are you? Jesus Christ was the greatest leader of all.

Think about why.

Observe the words of Jesus. Millions today follow Jesus because of his words. His words. Jesus is called the word of life. In the beginning was the WORD. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And that word healed. That word instructed. That word encouraged. That word, cut. That word bandaged. What a beautiful word. What a Savior we follow!

Consider the responsibility of Jesus. Here's a man who knew what he came to do. He had the vision to lead. There's a group of people here and I need to lead them there. And he knew where there was. He was headed to the cross to get them there. He was the good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. He was not there to use his miracle-working ability for himself. He was not there to serve himself. He was there to serve and give his life a ransom for many. What a Savior we follow!

Consider the attitude of Jesus. Was he afraid of hard work? Was he afraid of suffering? Was he afraid of the negative opinion of the religious elite? Was he afraid to defend the marginalized of society? Was he power-hungry? Jesus did not build a single building in his lifetime. He never held a political office. His entire mission was not to glorify himself but to glorify his Father in heaven. He was on a mission to exalt God. What a Savior we follow!

Does this feel overwhelming to you?