Special Sunday Edition
Ethan Barton, Pastoral Resident, Tallowood Baptist Church
The rise of Saul, the first king of Israel, was a massive turning point in Israel’s history—one which Samuel was hoping not to see. As a judge, he hoped to see the people turn their hearts to God and worship him as the only king they needed, but instead they demanded a human king, and so God acquiesced. So Samuel’s last word as Israel’s main authoritative figure was a plea to serve the Lord wholeheartedly in this new era. But in order for this plea to have any weight, he had to remind them that he had in fact practiced what he preached his whole life. He had led with character, integrity, fairness, and righteousness. If he hadn’t, why should they bother following the instructions of a hypocrite?
I heard about a pastor years ago who had a consistent affair with a church member for over a year. He was fired once the debauchery came to light, but even though no one knew about it for a long time, it had already been wrecking the church. His leadership abilities and his judgment were compromised. Worse yet, after he was gone, multiple Christians left the faith, because if they can’t trust the integrity of the leader of the church, who can they trust?
You simply can’t teach people to follow Christ and flee from sin if you’re willingly living in the very same sin. Now, that’s not to say you have to be utterly sinless to minister—obviously that’s impossible. But there’s a difference between living in sin and occasionally falling in sin. We can still have upright character, act with integrity and just judgments, treat others with godly love, and repent when we fail to do those things—that way we can effectively lead others to do the same.
Let’s live in such a way that people may say, “You have not cheated or oppressed us, and you have not taken anything from anyone’s hand,” as they said to Samuel. All of us are called to ministry, and the most important part of ministry is leading by example. Let’s walk with the Lord, and then encourage others to follow suit.
