King Saul from the Old Testament is often remembered only for having been the king who unsuccessfully tried to kill king David – “the man after God’s heart.” What we often forget is that Saul was a great king for the first 15 years! It was only after Saul disobeyed God that he fell from grace and his leadership role. From Saul I find four valuable lessons for being a good Christian leader.

1. Leaders are Appointed by God

Saul was anointed by God through Samuel, was chosen by lot and was confirmed by Israel (1 Samuel 10). From this I learn that God chose Saul to be a leader. When I go into the New Testament I find God still is the one who chooses those He wants to lead. When you became a new creation in Christ you received your own unique spiritual gift mix which means that God has chosen the role He wants you to perform in His kingdom. Each person should come to know their own personal gift mix and embrace God’s calling for their life:

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with the faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if is giving then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully (Romans 12:6-8, NIV).

So if God calls you to lead then do so but if He does not call you to lead then find the right role He has assigned to you and embrace it with all your heart, mind and soul!

2.  Leader Must Know and Stay in the Will of God

In chapter 11 of 1 Samuel we find a story about Saul that demonstrates his early faith in God was tremendous!   When the Ammonite king besieged Jabesh Gilead of the tribe of Manasseh the response from Israel was to give up and assume this foreign king was the victor.  When Saul found out he took two oxen and cut them in pieces and told Israel that this is what God would do to their oxen if they refused to obey God’s will.  In 11:6-7 it states that the terror of the Lord fell on the people and they unified and mustered an army of 330,00.  Saul knew God’s will and asked the people to obey God.  As leaders when we know the will of God we must ask Him who is able to do more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20) to change the people’s hearts that we lead!  We cannot lead without God!

3.  Leaders Wait on God to Fulfill the Vision

Later in Saul’s reign he would face another army but this time lacked faith in God’s timing.  The Philistines army came against Israel (1 Samuel 13) with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers and fighting men as numerous as sands on the sea shore.  Saul was told to wait at Gilgal for seven days and then Samuel would arrive to give sacrifices to God for the victory.  When the seventh day came Saul’s men got nervous and they started to defect from the army.  Saul was so scared of them leaving that he offered the sacrifices to God himself.  When Samuel arrived he was furious.  He told Saul that he was the leader but not the priest!  In other words when God assigns you a role in His kingdom stay within that role!  I find similar teaching in the New Testament:

Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many part form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  Even so the body is not made up of one part but many (1 Corinthians 12:12-14).

The church does not function very well when those who lead take on roles not assigned to them, nor does it function very well when so many of His servants ignore their divine calling and do not serve at all!

4.  Leaders Fear God more than People

Later on in his reign Saul was told to attack the Amalekites and destroy everything – take no spoils of war!  Saul’s men of course did not like this command very much and they pressured Saul to let them keep some of the cattle and articles of the foreign nation.  Saul was so in love with his own reputation and genuinely scared that his fighting men might harm him that he gave into their demands.  Because of his disobedience Saul was rejected by God as king of Israel forever!  The lessen that we can learn from Saul here is that God must feared more than people.  Inside of the church there will always be wolves that will oppose the divinely appointed leaders.  When faced with opposition trust in God that He can and will change the hearts of those you lead back to His will.  Leadership is not about what I can humanly accomplish but is about what God can accomplish through me!