The Fear of Man Kills Leadership Potential! - February 24th, 2009

2 Chr.24:2 - “Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years of Jehoiada the priest.” Joash was very impressionable. He only did good while Jehoida was supervising him as priest and after Jehoida’s death he was manipulated by the officials of Judah to forsake God (v.17-18). He was controlled by the fear of man. He did have a genuine heart for God early in his reign - he alone decided to restore God’s temple (v.4). What is apparent though, is that he wasn’t much of a leader but instead a weak follower - for good or bad depending on who he was following. Margaret Thatcher once said, “consensus is the absence of leadership.” Very true, far too often. Col.3:23 reminds us that whatever we do, “work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men.” The fear of man cripples me as an individual but kills me as a leader. A leader can’t be an impressionable follower of other men, but must instead be willing to follow only Christ, risking everything to obey Him, knowing all else ends in failure.