Called to Lead - Week 2: Jeremiah
For three and a half years after I graduated from High School, I worked construction on a bricklaying crew. Days were long and backbreaking. Shoveling wheelbarrows full of “mud.” Setting up, stocking, and tearing down scaffolds that were sometimes three stories high, carrying brick, shoveling sand…the labor was intense. But at the end of a long work day, there was something so satisfying about seeing the finished wall. The brick was evenly spaced, jointed, and swept just right, straight, tight corners…
I felt SO accomplished being able to see the FINISHED product of my HARD work that years later, when Kristy and I started dating, I drove around and pointed out the houses I had helped brick. (What a romantic guy, right?)Even though the labor was intense, it was DEEPLY SATISFYING for me to see the FINISHED PRODUCT. It was MEASURABLE progress.
But leadership in the church is different. GOD-CALLED LEADERS don’t always SEE the result of HARD work. We don’t always see the result of PRAYER. We don’t always see the result of PREACHING. Sometimes we see a MARRIAGE restored, RELATIONSHIPS reconciled, a person SURRENDERS their lives to Jesus and is BAPTIZED…But OTHER TIMES we see MARRIAGE end in DIVORCE, RELATIONSHIPS end, and people MOVE further away from TRUSTING Christ as their Savior.
Today, we are in our second week of our Called to Lead Series. Last week, we looked at Moses, and today, we look at Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a GOD-CALLED LEADER who experienced more FAILURE than any other Prophet in scripture. HE was NEVER able to see the RESULT of HARD WORK. Moses saw God work MIRACLE after MIRACLE as HE LED the people of God. Jeremiah PREACHED all his life, and NEVER SAW one changed life.
So why are we looking at the Call of Jeremiah in this leadership series if he never saw a miracle or a changed life? Isn’t he a terrible example of leadership to look at? Not if you UNDERSTAND what leadership REALLY is. In LEADERSHIP, you’re not always called to WIN. Sometimes, you keep laying bricks, but you never get to see the finished wall.
Jeremiah 1:4-10, 17-19 (NLT2)
The LORD gave me this message: 5 “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” 6 “O Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I can’t speak for you! I’m too young!” 7 The LORD replied, “Don’t say, ‘I’m too young,’ for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you. 8 And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the LORD, have spoken!” 9 Then the LORD reached out and touched my mouth and said, “Look, I have put my words in your mouth! 10 Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. Some you must uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow. Others you must build up and plant.” 17 “Get up and prepare for action. Go out and tell them everything I tell you to say. Do not be afraid of them, or I will make you look foolish in front of them. 18 For see, today I have made you strong like a fortified city that cannot be captured, like an iron pillar or a bronze wall. You will stand against the whole land— the kings, officials, priests, and people of Judah. 19 They will fight you, but they will fail. For I am with you, and I will take care of you. I, the LORD, have spoken!”
When Kristy was PREGNANT, we had 3-D ultrasounds and could tell some of the FEATURES about our girls BEFORE they were born. We could see the SHAPE of their head…we could tell they had TWO arms, two legs, lips and eyes. But even with all that information, we still didn’t KNOW them. We learned a lot about them, but we did not KNOW them.
When God called Jeremiah to lead, he began with the simple truth that he KNEW Jeremiah BEFORE he was born. GOD knew him, and GOD had a PURPOSE for Him. AND GOD knew YOU before you were born, and HE HAS a PURPOSE and a PLAN for YOU too.
That’s why you have heard the statement that…
Leaders are called before they are qualified.
BEFORE Jeremiah was CONCEIVED, God ALREADY decided WHY HE would exist. The only reason WHY Jeremiah’s life BEGAN is BECAUSE God had a PURPOSE for his LIFE! Jeremiah wasn’t called after he PROVED himself. He wasn’t CALLED once he got it all together. He was CALLED to lead BEFORE he took his first breath. In fact, before he was conceived, God had already decided why JEREMIAH would exist. The only reason Jeremiah’s life began…is because God had something He wanted to do through it. And the same is true for you.
You’re not here by accident.
You’re not a mistake.
You exist on purpose…because God has a purpose for you.
You may not feel it right now. You may feel discouraged, forgotten, stuck. But your feelings aren’t the author of your life. God is. He knew you. He formed you. He called you. And He still has something He wants to accomplish through you.
Ephesians 2:10 (NLT2)
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Like Jeremiah, EVERY person is a MASTERPIECE of God. You have a UNIQUE calling. God has CREATED you for HIS purpose. I know it does NOT feel like you have a purpose at times.
I know you get DOWN, DISCOURAGED, and sometimes FEEL like God made a mistake. Whether you BELIEVE it or not, you are a MASTERPIECE created for GOD’S PURPOSE. SO EMBRACE it.
You WERE called BEFORE you were qualified. But what you are CALLED to do MAY not make you jump up and down with JOY.
God called Jeremiah to uproot, tear down, destroy, and overthrow…kingdoms, nations, and leaders. Before God would use him to build new, he first had to confront what was wrong. And as YOU step into your PURPOSE and begin to lead…understand one of the leadership principles we see in the life of Jeremiah…
You can’t build new if you don’t confront what’s wrong
Jeremiah 1:10 (NLT2)
Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. Some you must uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow. Others you must build up and plant.
God’s PLANS for Jeremiah were TERRIBLE. He had to stand up to nations and Kingdoms and tell them they needed to REPENT and TURN to GOD. He spent FORTY years of his life CONFRONTING what was wrong. LEADERS understand that we can’t build NEW if we are UNWILLING to CONFRONT what is wrong. And this principle is true in every area of our lives.
If you don’t confront what is wrong in your marriage (communication), it is going to get worse.
If you don’t confront what is wrong in your finances (out-of-control spending), you will never get out of debt. You can’t build new if you don’t confront what’s wrong.
And, if you are a FOLLOWER of Jesus, you understand the SYMBOLISM of God’s instructions to tear down BEFORE building up. BEFORE you could become a follower of Jesus, you had to CONFRONT your sinful nature. You had to come into agreement with God that you are a sinner and that you deserved death. After you CONFRONTED your sinful nature, you REPENTED, changed the direction of your life, and became born again by TRUSTING Jesus as your Savior and receiving forgiveness for your sin.
TEARING down is how God BUILDS a follower of Jesus. And, TEARING down is PART of the PLAN God CALLS leaders to ACCOMPLISH. But if you are a LEADER and you are holding a SLEDGEHAMMER in your HAND and you are EAGER to BEGIN DESTRUCTION…please use caution with that sledgehammer.
God has not called you to lead PEOPLE by SMASHING them to pieces. WHEN it comes to BUILDING new as a LEADER, remember to…
Tackle the problem, not the people
Initially, for Jeremiah, it sounds like people ARE the problem. (Don’t be afraid of THEM. Tell THEM everything I tell you…THEY will FIGHT you…) It sounds like PEOPLE are the PROBLEM that Jeremiah must confront. But when we look more closely at the passage, we understand that God called Jeremiah to confront SIN, not people. God’s PLAN was for Jeremiah to SPEAK HIS WORD to people who were UNWILLING to change, repent, or turn back to God.
After Jeremiah surrendered to God’s call to lead…The Israelites did not like ONE word Jeremiah had to say.
They laughed at him…
They threw him into a sewage ditch…
They placed him in stocks in the middle of the city.
They considered him an oddity. A freak. A laughingstock.
BUT they were not REJECTING Jeremiah, they were REJECTING GOD.
As a leader, if you ALWAYS make PEOPLE out to be the PROBLEM, you will never lead effectively. You will think you are leading…you will bark out commands…but NOBODY will follow you. If you TACKLE people instead of the PROBLEM, you will hurt, wound, and turn away the people around you that God has called you to lead. As a leader in the church, this is harder than you think. People don’t always want to CONFRONT the sin inside their hearts. People don’t always like the CHANGE God may send you to LEAD. In leadership, there is no GUARANTEE that people will RESPOND or that you will make a difference.
For twenty years, Jeremiah went where God told him to go. He said what God told him to say. For twenty years, everywhere he went, he was rejected and hated. I imagine he wanted something to break through. I imagine he talked to himself and thought, “This time, the people of Judah will repent and turn to God.
“This time, my people will align themselves with God, give up their idols, and return to God. I will make a difference. I will matter. My preaching and leadership will not be in vain…”
But after twenty years, God told Jeremiah to keep right on doing what he was doing, but people were still NOT going to listen.
Jeremiah 7:27 (NLT2)
“Tell them all this, but do not expect them to listen. Shout out your warnings, but do not expect them to respond.
How discouraging!
So what are we to learn from Jeremiah’s LEADERSHIP? Why would God devise a LEADERSHIP plan for JEREMIAH like this? Why would God tell Jeremiah to keep preaching, though people won’t respond?
GOD wants leaders to be more concerned ABOUT faithfulness than becoming FAMOUS.
God WANTS leaders who CARE more about OBEDIENCE than APPROVAL.
God wants LEADERS who LOVE people who MAY never LOVE him back.
Jeremiah didn’t get to see a FINISHED wall. But he KEPT laying bricks anyway.
So, if you are okay that you MAY not make a DIFFERENCE…If you can accept that NOBODY will ever LISTEN…If you can stomach the thought that your leadership may not make a visible difference…you just may be “Called to lead.”