Beware of would-be leaders who always tell you what you want to hear. If such people always tell you things you find acceptable, they probably aren't leaders and you aren't being very discerning.
Remember that in Old Testament times, God's people didn't want to hear the truth from the seers and prophets God sent to them:
"They say to the seers, "See no more visions!" and to the prophets, "Give us no more visions of what is right!...
"They say to the seers, "See no more visions!" and to the prophets, "Give us no more visions of what is right!...
"Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions." (Isaiah 30:10)
Robert Kennedy once told a story about the kinds of leaders who always do and say the things their "tribe" want him to do and say...
Robert Kennedy once told a story about the kinds of leaders who always do and say the things their "tribe" want him to do and say...
Kennedy told about the French general who saw people marching in the streets for a cause in which they believed. "There go my people," he said. "I must follow them so that I can lead them."
Never trust a would-be leader who ignores facts or truth, who can be swayed by easy answers and wishful thinking, who stands at the ready to ply people with reassuring falsehoods for the privilege of following people so that he can be considered their "leader."
True leaders are servants who love people enough to risk rejection by telling the truth. And the greatest leaders follow Jesus, "the Way, and the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6)
God, deliver our nations, from leaders who are evil, treasonous, venal, incompetent, unwise, and narcissistic. Give us leaders with servant hearts who are unafraid to hear and speak Your truth and wisdom, who speak the truth no matter the pressures placed on them by the crowds.
