Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the older men who had attended his father Solomon while he was still alive, saying, "How do you advise me to answer this people? They answered him, "If you will be kind to this people and please them, and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever." But he rejected the advice that the older men gave him, and consulted the younger men who had grown up with him and now attended him. He said to them, "What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, ‘Lighten the yoke that your father put on us’?" The young men who had grown up with him said to him, "Thus should you speak to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you must lighten it for us’; tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins. Now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’"

2 Chronicles 10:6-11

Good leaders do not rely on domineering self-assertion – not at home, nor in church, nor in business. Rather they balance self-assertiveness (which is not wrong in itself) with the principle of submitting to one another. They listen respectfully, admit when they are wrong, show a willingness to change, and mix gentleness with firmness. That is submissive leadership – and it works!

The only leaders qualified to lead

are those who have learned to serve.

Our Daily Bread – February 23, 2004