The Character of Leadership‏

Deuteronomy 1:10-17 – The Lord your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. (The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!) How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do. So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.

When Moses appointed men to assist him in judging among the children of Israel, he established specific requirements:

1. They should not be a respecter of persons. This will ensure everyone will be heard without any specific prejudice or undo influence (i.e. bribe).

2. They will hear small and great cases. This would allow everyone to be treated fairly. One person or will not be considered more important than another.

3. They should not be afraid of men’s faces. They would not fear certain men/women among them or desire to please others because of their previous position or age (Jeremiah 1:6-9; Ezekiel 2:1-7). Their judgments would be fair, just, and without any impartiality.

In various levels of work, home, and church, many people have the responsibility of making specific decisions. May we all take note of these character traits so we would be fair and impartial to everyone under our purview, whether it is one person or one thousand.

^{Photo courtesy of Stock.XCHNG.com/dwogen}