Leaders of Choice (Part One)

“Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.” (Exodus 18:22)

God is a God who selects men. Moses himself was a man chosen by God to lead His people. And although God can use and has used donkey breath to do His bidding, and although aside from His own Son He must use mere men, predominantly it is recorded in the Scriptures that the man of choice God places in leadership is a man who fits the description here: “able” (which word in the original language means far more: man of excellence, man of virtue, man of valor—the cream of the crop in every aspect), a man who fears the God who calls him, a man of truth and integrity, a man who deplores greed, envy, and lust.

But God is not the only one who selects men. God calls us to imitate Him and select leaders for ourselves. We must do this—it is hoisted upon us, we have the responsibility. If we are passive in choosing leaders for ourselves, men will seize such a golden opportunity and select themselves—and most of the time for all the wrong reasons: power, pride, and personal gain. When we take up the responsibility, however, we have the added responsibility to choose the right men, men such as God would choose Himself.

These opportunities arise in various arenas at various times in our lives. We may not get to choose our own parents—God does that for us—but we do have the immense responsibility to choose the leaders in our family when we choose a mate. When a man takes a wife, among other things, he is choosing a “leader” in his own little kingdom, and he should choose a woman who fits the bill. Obviously, the woman has just as much responsibility to choose wisely for herself and for her future children: she is called upon to choose the excellent, God-fearing, truthful man who hates covetousness.

God also tasks us with choosing leaders in our civil government—from the most local magistrate (“ruler of tens”—think alderman, police chief, town mayor) to the highest offices in the land (“rulers of thousands”—our legislators, judges, and the President and all his men). When we go to the polls, do we use the criteria given by God here for choosing those who are to rule over us and judge our affairs? If not, why are we surprised or upset when we get what we generally have?

“God, grant to us leaders such as You Yourself choose, and grant us the wisdom and courage to choose such ourselves. Help us in all of the choices continually before us—whether leadership in our homes, in our churches, in our communities, in our businesses, in our nation, or even in our friendships—to select the best, the most virtuous, those who love You above all else, men and women of integrity, those we can trust, those who are not controlled by money or greed or envy or lust. And make us such ourselves, we pray, dear God, in the name of the greatest example of such a Chosen One, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.”