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| | | From: Texasgal (Original Message) | Sent: 4/9/2004 3:31 PM |
Contemporary Comments on the Adult Sabbath School Lesson
[Title] Crisis of Leadership
[Text] 2 Chronicles 26 and Isaiah 6:1-13
[Use] April 10, 2004
For some, it was the "ultimate interview"! Literally thousands of hopefuls
slept, stood, or even came with their own leather recliner to wait in line
with others who see themselves as leaders. The event: their chance to be
seen with enough book smarts, street smarts and business savvy to be chosen
as contestants for the second season of the hit reality show, "The
Apprentice." Hosted by multibillionaire, real estate tycoon Donald Trump,
the hit reality show airs Thursday nights on NBC. The show will end its
first season April 15th. Of the thousands that will be interviewed in cities
across North America during the next couple weeks, only 16 will be finalists
and appear the second season on "The Apprentice 2."
The show calls on two teams to compete to see who can earn the most money in
a business venture designed by Trump by pushing the envelope and thinking
outside the box. Unfortunately, the smart players often have a fatal flaw:
They can't get along with others, they can't focus.
At least one individual on the losing team is eliminated at the end of each
show in a boardroom after being reminded of their loss of focus or where
they contributed to their team's crises. The ultimate loser hears Trump's
fatal pronouncement "You're fired!" and is immediately exiled from the
boardroom. With personal belongings in hand, he or she heads for the waiting
taxicab. The last individual standing at the end of the season wins the
right to run one of Donald Trump's companies for a year at a salary of
$250,000.
In our Bible lesson today, qualified people selected a king to reign over
Judah, a sixteen-year old boy named Uzziah. For 52 years Uzziah stayed
focused on God and did what he was directed to do. Uzziah used his
leadership gifts to the glory of God. One only has to list his
accomplishments in resume format to understand his skill and to know he was
well-suited for the position of ruler over Judah (see 2 Chronicles 26:
6-16). But like some of the smart players on "The Apprentice," Uzziah had a
fatal flaw: He became proud and started lying. In fact, he became angry at
the spiritual leaders of the temple of the Lord when he was himself in the
wrong! (vs.19).
When Uzziah heard "You're fired!" from God, it was not a pleasant experience
at all. Read about it in 2 Chronicles 26:20. There was no cushy taxi ride
waiting for Uzziah to take him into exile, either. When Uzziah defied God's
law of separation between church and state (the office of king and priest
having different leadership rights) he was immediately struck with leprosy,
which meant he was excluded from the house of the Lord and treated by others
as lepers were treated in that society until the day he died (vs. 21-22). As
our lesson author points out, King Uzziah's death in 740 B.C. marks a major
leadership crisis among God's people, the Israelites. God does amazing
things through Isaiah and others at that time.
While we study and discuss this week's lesson, we just might see some
examples that are parallel to what is happening around us in our own city,
state, province, country governments and even high-powered corporations
today. Crises in leadership are all around us. But just like in Isaiah's
time, God's leadership is revealed more prominently at times of failed human
leadership. There is no guarantee we won't have crises in our lives. There
is, however, a power and peace we sometimes cannot explain when we serve as
an apprentice of our heavenly Father.
Our challenge is to get along with others while maintaining our focus on
Jesus.
--clk
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