Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Character/Competency
- Character: Having the interior life that is necessary to support the work that God sets before a person. It is hearing from God and obeying. It is doing the right thing when nobody is looking.
- Competency: Being able to accomplish what one is called to do.
God
desires leaders who are both having high character and high competency. Such leaders have unlimited potential for
seeing breakthrough in the kingdom of God.
We see these leaders in the likes of Daniel.
However,
not all people have both the character of God and competency. When a person has high character but no
competency, there is a possibility for kingdom breakthrough but it is very
limited. Most of us worship in churches
where this is the norm. There is some
kingdom development, but hardly what any of us would call a movement. Our churches are filled with people who
desire the character of God but who have little competency for making
disciples.
The more
dangerous position is when a person has great competency but no character. Such people actually have unlimited potential
for harm. They are competent leaders who
don’t have the character of God and they move people to obey their will instead
of God’s will. Competent leaders who don’t
have the character of God are manipulators of people instead of being disciplers
of them.
We see
this dangerous possibility in the leaders mentioned in Daniel, specifically in
Daniel 11:21-35. Most scholars agree
that these verses speak about Antiochus IV, a ruler of Greece who brought great
abominations to Jerusalem. But let’s
look at what these verses say about the leadership of Antiochus IV. He will win by flattery. Armies will fall before him through war and
deceitful alliances. He will profane the
holy spaces. He will seduce people in
power. He will magnify himself. He will make rulers those who magnify
him. Do you hear these verses? Antiochus IV was a very competent leader who
had no character. He had unlimited potential
for kingdom harm.
Pay
attention to a person’s character, not just their competency.
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