We have been studying in the first six chapter of Isaiah over the last few week on Sunday mornings at The Way. We have been doing this in preparation for a time of repentance the last weekend in September. One of the passages that we looked at last Sunday morning is found in Isaiah 3.
“My people, your leaders mislead you; they confuse the direction of your paths. The Lord rises to argue the case and stands to judge the people. The Lord brings this charge against the elders and leaders of His people: ‘You have devastated the vineyard. The plunder from the poor is in your houses. Why do you crush My people and grind the faces of the poor?’” [v12-15 HCSB]
God gave this warning to the leaders of the Kingdom of Judah, the Southern Kingdom. He promised to hold leaders accountable for the way they led. That is a fearful thing, especially if you are a leader.
The leaders of the nation were getting rich and oppressing the poor. Not only were they holding the poor in their poverty, they were the cause of the poverty. That’s a double-woe!
What if we applied this condition of God’s people in the nation of Israel to the condition of God’s people in the God’s Church today?
Could we say that in many churches across our nation, the leadership is creating a poverty of Spirit in the way in which they teach and lead. Perhaps preaching a diminished Gospel and a warped view of the work of Jesus Christ. Or preaching only the parts of the Gospel that tickle the fancy of people and none of the Gospel that pricks hearts with godly sorrow and leads to repentance, confession, change and growth.
God promised to rise and argue against the leadership in Israel. I think He is doing the same right now to the churches in America. He is bringing His charge and we would do well to heed it. We must make sure that the leaders we follow have God’s will, God’s way, God’s Holy Spirit as their sole motivation.
Oh LORD God Almighty, Heavenly Father, fill our churches with good righteous leadership! Amen.
