There's a thought from David's life that I can't get out of my mind. It's in 1 Samuel 22.2, during the time that David was running from Saul.
All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.
There's a philisophy that universties tend to implement in their recruiting departments. It goes by different names. Essentially it is a hot list. The hot list is intended to identify potential students who meet two criteria. They are interested in the universtiy, and the university is interested in them. High SAT scores, good leadership experiences in high school, and ability to pay for school are factors that land high school students on a university hot list.
David's first 400 leaders came from the cold list. No high test scores. No good leadership experiences. They are described as being distressed, tied to debt, and discontented. Just like their leader.
David was in distress. The end of chapter 21 records one of the most humiliating events of his life. He had to pose as an insane man to protect his life. He made marks on doors and let saliva run down his beard. He was a mess.
David was in debt. He was on the run and had nothing. In chapter 21 he had to rely on a handout just to eat.
David was discontented. He had to be. He is called to be a king but lives in caves.
David attracted 400 guys who were just like him. They weren't on anyone's hot list. They were run-aways. They were cast-aways. They were throw-aways. No one else wanted them.
They were projects.
I love to compare 1 Samuel 22 with 1 Chronicles 11. 1 Chronicles 11 is about a later period in David's life and describes his mighty men. The list is not a typical list of Hebrew names. It is a list of guys who started with David when he lived in caves.
Jashobeam killed three hundred men on one day with one spear.
Eleazar stayed in a barley field when the entire Israelite army fled and defeated the Philistines without them.
Benaiah went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion, not to mention he killed an Egyptian who was seven and a half feet tall.
Jashobean, Eleazar and Benaiah made the hot list.
I wonder how many university recruiting departments would have fired Jesus? It doesn't seem like He used a hot list. He took the leftovers. He took fishermen and zealots and tax-collectors. He took the guys the other Rabbis had decided couldn't cut it. And he transformed them.
I think David's leadership proves that transformation is a group project. He attracted men who were like him; destitute and in debt. But they didn't stay that way because he didn't stay that way. He took them on a journey. He became a warrior and so did they.
Vision is inseparable from leadership. But maybe our definition of vision is too narrow. We need vision to see where we're going. We get that. But we also need vision to see who will go there with us. Any leader can recruit people off the hot list. A leader with vision sees people differently and understands that some of the mightiest men are just waiting for someone to lead them out of their cave.
So good. I'm glad that God is a respecter of no man(or woman). Any person, seemingly talented or not has the potential to be a kingdom champion... otherwise, I'd be off the list.
Posted by: Tiffany | May 03, 2006 at 02:19 PM