Better Than Sacrifice

"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice."--1 Samuel 15:22

Saul had been commanded to slay utterly all the Amalekites and their cattle. Instead of doing so, he preserved the king, and suffered his people to take the best of the oxen and of the sheep. When called to account for this, he declared that he did it with a view of offering sacrifice to God; but Samuel met him at once with the assurance that sacrifices were no excuse for an act of direct rebellion. The sentence before us is worthy to be printed in letters of gold, and to be hung up before the eyes of the present idolatrous generation, who are very fond of the fineries of will-worship, but utterly neglect the laws of God. Be it ever in your remembrance, that to keep strictly in the path of your Saviour's command is better than any outward form of religion; and to hearken to His precept with an attentive ear is better than to bring the fat of rams, or any other precious thing to lay upon His altar.

If you are failing to keep the least of Christ's commands to His disciples, I pray you be disobedient no longer. All the pretensions you make of attachment to your Master, and all the devout actions which you may perform, are no recompense for disobedience. "To obey," even in the slightest and smallest thing, "is better than sacrifice," however pompous. Talk not of Gregorian chants, sumptuous robes, incense, and banners; the first thing which God requires of His child is obedience; and though you should give your body to be burned, and all your goods to feed the poor, yet if you do not hearken to the Lord's precepts, all your formalities shall profit you nothing.

It is a blessed thing to be teachable as a little child, but it is a much more blessed thing when one has been taught the lesson, to carry it out to the letter. How many adorn their temples and decorate their priests, but refuse to obey the word of the Lord! My soul, come not thou into their secret.

by Dan Reiland

Leading from the driver's seat requires you to pay attention.
When you're in the passenger's seat, unless you are teaching your daughter to drive, you can literally close your eyes and take a nap. Leaders never have that privilege. You must be alert and watching a number of things simultaneously. Mackenzie is learning how difficult this is. Looking forward, watching for kids, keeping her eyes on other cars, watching for anything in the road, keeping her eyes on street signs and traffic lights, operating brake and gas pedals, steering, making signals, looking before she turns, and of course getting the right song on the radio. Let's be honest, there is a lot going on all at the same time. The same is true in leadership. You don't have the privilege of deep and undivided focus on one thing at a time. Leadership may not be quite as simultaneous as driving a car, but you get the idea. Even if you have leadership over one department, there are a number of things going on at all times. Focus is a good thing, but if you take your eyes off the big picture you can drive your church right over a cliff. If for example, you are a senior pastor and all you do is write sermons and preach, you will soon be in trouble. Pay attention to what people are saying, what the finances reveal, what your visitor flow is telling you, the morale of your staff, how prevalent the vision is in your church, and the list goes on.

Leading from the driver's seat requires you to take responsibility.
There is only one person responsible for everything that happens in the car. The person behind the wheel. You can make all the excuses in the world, but the bottom line is that you are responsible. Mackenzie was backing out of a parking spot at a local convenience store that also has gas pumps. She put our 2000 Explorer in reverse and backed up nicely. So far so good. I told her to drive on. So she mashed down on the gas and proceeded to head right at the gas pumps while I'm yelling STOP! Her response was, "YOU told me to drive." I then explained the importance of changing gears from reverse to drive before you actually drive on. The conversation that followed was all about who is responsible when you are behind the wheel. Church leader, you are responsible. Whether you head up a Sunday School department or you are the Senior Pastor, when you are leading you are responsible. If things aren't going well, don't look in the rear view mirror to see who messed up. Look in your own mirror. Ask yourself what your contribution was, own it, and then step up to do something about it.

Leading from the driver's seat requires you to have a plan.
When we go to Destin, Florida for summer vacation, the trip requires a road map and a travel plan. Even though we know the trip we still make a plan to get the most out of the experience. When we head somewhere new we make even more careful plans. We have limited time and don't want to waste any of it along the way. My daughter and I are heading to Jacksonville, FL in a week or so to see the Jaguars play the Broncos (Go Broncos!). Even a simple trip like this requires a plan, from getting tickets to arranging for a hotel to getting good directions. This will be a special trip we will long remember. Without a plan it would never happen. It would remain an idea and all talk. Translating ideas from talk to reality requires a plan. It's fun to do the dreaming, but you must take the time to put your pen to paper and write your plan down. The more complex the plan and the more people involved, the more detailed your plan must be. I recently asked a pastor to tell me his dream and to put it in simple words. I didn't want him to recite the church mission statement on the wall. He said: "I want to fill my church full of un-churched people and win them to Christ." Good answer. I then asked him what his plan was. He responded: "I don't really have a plan." I leveled with him by saying I didn't believe his dream would come true unless he made a plan, wrote it down, and stuck to it.

Leading from the driver's seat requires you to make good decisions.
Sitting in the driver's seat requires hundreds of decisions every time you take a trip. Pull out or wait? Let the guy cut in or not? Stop and wait or let the pedestrian go? Go through the yellow light or stop quickly? Talk on your cell phone or pay attention to your driving like you should? Get gas now (tank on empty) or push your luck looking for cheaper gas? The list is endless. When you are leading, you are making decisions on a continual basis. What will I preach on? Do we remodel or relocate? Do I fire him or not? Do I increase the budget or hold? Do we stick with Sunday School or start small groups? What ministries do we start? What ministries do we stop? Do I really have church this year on Christmas morning or move the services to Christmas Eve? Making good decisions requires all the things mentioned so far. To make a good decision, you need to pay attention, take responsibility, and make good plans. Making good plans requires thorough homework and preparation. Good decision-making also requires much prayer and listening to wise counsel. What is the most important decision you must make today, this week, or in the next three months?

Leading from the driver's seat requires you to ignore the "backseat chatter."
This last one is a little tongue-in-cheek, but it's more true than not. I don't think I need to explain the concept of a "backseat driver." This person is one of the most annoying of God's creations. Though they may sincerely want to be helpful, they are not. In fact, they are just as likely to contribute to the cause of an accident as to help the driver get to the destination the quickest and safest way. When you lead you will experience a lot of "backseat chatter." You must learn to ignore the vast majority of it. Everyone has an idea and a list of things "you should do." Ignore most of that stuff. Listen to God's voice, seek wise counsel from your key leaders, and, like I mentioned, stick to your written plan. So there you have it. Pay attention, take responsibility, have a plan, make good decisions, ignore backseat chatter, and let me add in closing...keep your eyes on the road.

An interesting and true comment by Dr. John C. Maxwell:

When we train people, we focus on the job. When we develop people, we focus on the person. When we train people, we're adding value to specific things, such as what their job description is. When we develop people, we add value to everything. They not only become better in their jobs, they become better in life.