Leaders Eat Last

One year ago -- I got to take my dad out to eat. 
He was a good leader and a great example. What you saw on 
the outside, is who he was. He was humble, genuine, and generous 
with others. 

Scripture:

Jude 8   Yet in the same way these dreamers also defile the flesh, reject authority, and slander the glorious ones. ⁹ But when the archangel Michael contended with the devil and disputed about the body of Moses, he did not dare to bring a condemnation of slander against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” ¹⁰ But these people slander whatever they do not understand, and they are destroyed by those things that, like irrational animals, they know by instinct. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they go the way of Cain, and abandon themselves to Balaam’s error for the sake of gain, and perish in Korah’s rebellion. ¹² These are blemishes on your love-feasts, while they feast with you without fear, feeding themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted; ¹³ wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the deepest darkness has been reserved forever.

Observation:

Jude is so concerned about the condition of the believers that he continues in this negative vein. Those who have infiltrated the church are leading people astray and their behavior must be examined. They are not practicing a life of virtue, but are finding excuses to engage in immoral sexual behavior. They reject the authority of Jesus Christ and the Apostles, and they intentionally slander the angels, and anything else they do not understand. He then gives examples of their punishment from the Old Testament.

Jude moves into examples of how these uninformed leaders affect the church. As the church gathers for their love feasts, as also described by Paul, they are greedy, eating first, without thinking about the others present. They don’t provide needed spiritual nourishment for their people; they do not bear the fruit of the spirit; they live without shame and flaunt their behavior; and instead of shining like stars in the night sky, they are like a meteor that burns up when it hits the atmosphere. 

Application:

Jude’s letter is pretty harsh as he comes down hard on leadership. There are times when this type of condemnation is appropriate, especially when the behavior of the leaders will have a detrimental impact upon those within their care. These are bad shepherds, who refuse to put the needs of their flock before their own. Dangerous heresies from the mouths of false leaders will try to infiltrate the church from one generation to the next. Jude would remind us to examine the lives of those who purport to be leaders in the church. 

Good shepherds care for their sheep before they take care of their own needs. They don’t amass financial resources for themselves while they watch their own people go hungry. A few years ago author Simon Sinek wrote a book, Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t in which he observed great leaders and discovered that they let their team members go first, and always ate last. What he may not have realized was that this is a Biblical principle that should have already been practiced for two millennia. When leadership becomes consumed with their own personal needs, placing those above the needs of those whom they serve, they are sliding into the category of a false teacher. As a false teacher, they may feed the people what they want to hear — kind of like giving my grandkids dessert all the time — but the people won’t grow spiritually. Eat last — and give all the good food to those who need to be growing. 

Good spiritual leaders will demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit in their daily lives. They won’t preach one way on Sunday and live differently at home among their family members. They will be thoroughly Christian in all that they do, looking like and reflecting Christ whether anyone is watching or not. This includes self-discipline in all areas of life, whether it comes to food consumption, consumerism, feeding the sexual appetite, or watching or reading materials that are not conducive to a spiritual life. A leader should never flaunt inappropriate behavior before other believers, or they will lead new followers of Christ astray. 

In Philippians 2, Paul says that we are to shine like stars in this corrupt world. That’s what good leaders are supposed to be like — stars that shine because they are reflecting the light of Christ into this world. 

These challenging descriptions from Jude can make us uncomfortable, but they may also make us reflect on our own behavior, and that of our leaders. Real leaders do not seek the limelight or the glory for themselves, but follow the humility of Christ, willing to eat last. 

Prayer:

Lord, may we have ears to hear and eyes to see the warnings from the past that are so real today.  Amen.