Several years ago, my daughter visited a small traditional church with one of her girlfriends. They wore very casual clothing to the service wearing a pair of ripped jeans (not revealing, just ripped) and the pastor decided to discuss the inappropriateness of ripped jeans in general and especially at church. He did so, according to her, for over 10 minutes. During the course of the discussion, she felt it was obvious as eyes began to turn towards her, that she was being singled out. I explained to her that pastors are like anyone else, they are not God, but fallible human beings. I explained that even if he disagreed with her attire, calling it out before a congregation, rather than talking to her privately was not the correct way, biblically. Most important, I explained that she cannot judge God based on the actions of His leaders or teachers.

The Israelites were exposed to many leaders throughout their 40 years wandering in the desert, some good, some bad. Deuteronomy means "second law" and retells much of the history and the laws to a generation 40 years after it all began so that they would not make the same mistakes that the prior generation did. We read in Deuteronomy 1:34-37, "And the Lord heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and took an oath, saying, 'Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land of which I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because he wholly followed the Lord'. The Lord was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, 'Even you shall not go in there.'" We see Moses ask God again, restating his own case in 3:26, but we read, "...So the Lord said to me: 'Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter."

The Israelites were led astray by the ten leaders who scouted out the land and came back with the report that their opponents were too big and fearsome for them. Every household has a leader called their father and mother, who also led others astray by siding with the leaders as opposed to Joshua and Caleb. Even Moses, who was a good, meek, and humble servant and leader, mistakenly misrepresented God in Numbers 20, and could not enter the promised land due to his disobedience. None of these leaders take the place of God, all were fallible. Moses explained their error of looking anywhere else but at God in 1:30-32, "The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.' Yet, for all that, you did not believe the Lord your God,".

Whether we want to accept the responsibility or not, we all lead others at some level. Every parent is placed in that position with their children. Every Christian who takes the Great Commission to heart (Matthew 28:18-20), takes on a role of leadership to those they have planted seeds to. The world is watching whether or not our walk matches our talk. But the most important thing a leader can do, is submit as a willing and humble vessel and be led by the Holy Spirit. In so doing, though God's representatives, we will deflect all focus onto Him. By getting other's eyes on Him and His Word, even our own disobedience and questionable actions will not destroy their faith, but by getting others to become lovers of His Word, rather than just getting them to say the sinner's prayer, others will be in a position to be led by the only True and Perfect One. May we all take our positions of leadership responsibly, seriously, and faithfully, loving and caring for those God has put in our sphere of influence, pointing them to the only perfect One.