Exodus 33 "Leadership 101"

Thursday, March 20, 2008 - Brandon Hatmaker

"Christian Leadership 101"

(Exodus 33)

“Then Moses said to him, ‘If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” – Exodus 33:15

Moses knew better than to leave the presence of God. Although God had told him to go ahead into the land of milk and honey (vs.3), God said he was not going with them because the people were too “stiff-necked”.

In all honesty, “stiff-necked” is a prefect description of how we get sometimes (a lot of times). That should serve as a warning for us. But there is hope when we learn from what Moses did in response to God. In verse 13 he said to God, “If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."

Moses gave us an incredible "four point" leadership outline through his petition to God: (1) He truly desired to be taught the ways of God, with a willingness to do it: This willingness was unconditional. He wasn't reserving the right to make a decision to follow once he learned God's ways. He had already accepted the fact that God's ways were higher than his and he didn't have to try and figure it out on his own. (2) His motivation for wanting to know God’s ways was to “know” Him more deeply: That was priority one to Moses, not just for selfish gain and to know how to do stuff better, this was more about God than it was about Moses himself. (3) The ultimate goal was to find favor in God’s eyes: A lot of great things can happen when we find favor with God. Those successes were not the most important thing to Moses, finding favor with God was. (4) He offered the entire nation of Israel back to God, all the time reminding himself that this nation does not belong to him.

Simply put, each point places God back on the throne of our efforts. That's what Moses did. And how did God respond? “And the LORD said to Moses, "I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name." – Exodus 33:17

Lord, I desire to learn and live your ways, your methods, and your strategies. I want to know you more deeply each day. On my greatest day of faith, I want to know you more the next. I pray God that you would sharpen me that I would find favor in your eyes. All I have is yours, dear God, may I live and lead from this truth.