Books I have read recently on leadership (secular and Christian) all spin one common thread, people only follow "successful" leaders. Each book wanted to teach, instruct, and pass along the author’s wisdom of how to be a successful leader--be that success in business or for God.

In the Christian books, they hold up various successful patriarchs of the faith as examples of successes so that we may learn how to emulate them and do leadership right. Moses is a popular success story, as is Abraham. But are the authors who reference such men correct in calling them leadership successes? Well, yes and no.

Moses was a spectacular failure in most of his leadership initiatives. Though he grew up in Pharaoh’s court, he resorted to murder (ie taking the life of an Egyptian was not within his valid area of authority and so he committed a breech of Egyptian criminal law) to accomplish his goals in his own timing. As a result, he had to go into a forty year exile in the wilderness and become a shepherd, leading around only sheep. By this time he was 80 years old; his youth had been squandered, he had become a fugitive, and nothing of substance had yet been accomplished.

When God appeared to Moses at age 80 and told him to go to Egypt to free the Jews, old-man Moses argued back. He noted his speech was not silver-tongued and that he was not the man for the job. The books on leadership normally denounce such behavior as lacking self-confidence, a key ingredient for "successful" church leadership. Further, we take note that Moses really was old by the norms of any culture, and the authors argue that leadership is most often a young man’s game. Finally, at this time, no one was following Moses, except perhaps Aaron, and the acid test for whether you are (or should become) a leader is to assess how many followers you already have. Makes one wonder why authors are so quick to cite Moses as a "good example" of successful leadership when he does not fit their own criteria to be a spiritual leader.

Moses did go to Egypt of course, with only one follower in tow, his brother. On numerous occasions he attempted to negotiate the release of the Jewish slaves, only to be fully rejected and ridiculed. Even the Jews turned against him because his efforts had resulted in their work load being increased. Successful leadership? If one were to adopt the advice offered by leadership authors, Moses would have been tapped on the shoulder by his seniors, told to find a nice easy chair, and permit younger, more qualified men brimming over with confidence and who hold proven track records of success, take over the negotiations.

But God is not constrained by our notions of success. He used Moses not because he was a successful leader, but in spite of the fact that he was not, or more properly stated, He used Moses because Moses was unsuccessful. God uses the weak, broken, and unsuccessful of this world to send a message to it. God’s message, "I alone do what I want for My own purposes, and it is not the man who accomplishes anything by force of his will, but I accomplish all I desire by force of My will and My power."

Moses did eventually lead the people out of Egypt, and they followed, but not because of Moses’ superior skill set, but because God had used His miraculous power to break the Egyptians. The people did follow Moses out of Egypt, but then, what else were they going to do?

As they entered the wilderness, Moses was unable to keep the people from straying, over and over. Even when they got to the promised land, Moses could not convince them to enter and take it, resulting in their wandering for another forty years. Moses of course, being a prophet and law giver, did learn to become a genuine leader during those additional forty years of walking. Yet, he was forbidden to enter the land because of his own leadership failures (striking the rock instead of speaking to it so as to demonstrate God’s power, an act which ruined a prophetic symbol of the Christ to come).

God uses failures. He glories in His use of failures. He takes the foolish and ineffectual people of this world and turns them into mighty spiritual successes in spite of themselves. By His power, and for His glory. Are you a failure in the eyes of this world? Take heart, when you are 80 years old, God may yet choose to direct you in a way that will make a large impact for His kingdom, or perhaps he has already used you secretly, in a way that you cannot yet know. Personally, I take great comfort in the story of Moses, the unsuccessful old man whom God used in spite of his shortcomings and "unsuccessful" leadership style.

Comments to the September 7, 2007 post entitled: Successes or Failures: God-chosen Leaders?