As the Hebrew nation camped on the border to the land God had promised to give them, Moses selected leaders from each tribe to go in and bring back a report on what it would take to move into this land. There were 12 spies that scouted out the land of Canaan and of the 12 only Joshua and Caleb believed that the Israelites could take the land. After returning with their reports, the 10 leaders had more influence over the people than either Joshua or Caleb. Even though he had the correct position before God, Joshua had not matured into a place of great influence. Read Numbers 14:1-12.

If we look only at this early part of Joshua’s life of leadership, we could get discouraged. I have seen several potentially outstanding leaders give up when they were ineffective in the use of their influence. Fortunately for the nation of Israel, Joshua did not fit into that mold. Joshua had a major setback in his leadership life but he continued to be faithful to God. As he matured he eventually became a leader with great influence and was the man God chose to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land 40 years later.

Over the next several days, as we look at Joshua as a leader, it will be helpful to look at some general elements of leadership. The Maxwell Leadership Bible points out the following concerning the nature of leadership:

• True leadership is influence not position. Joshua was a tribal leader but that alone was not enough to help him influence the majority of the people.
• Leaders do not possess influence in every area. All those selected to scout out the land were leaders. This means Joshua was a leader with some influence, but his influence apparently didn’t outweigh that of the other 11 leaders.
• Our influence is either positive or negative. If all 12 spies had given a good report of the Promised Land, the people of Israel likely would have obeyed God and crossed into the land. But influence is a two-edged sword; it cuts both positively and negatively. The 10 unfaithful tribal leaders used their influence to lead the people astray – a disaster for those leaders and for all of their followers.
• Faithful leaders use their influence to add value. Influencers who lead out of a desire to advance their own agendas manipulate the people for their own gain. That is what the other 10 spies did. Their fear prompted them to use their influence to frighten Israel. They lied, claiming the land “devours its inhabitants” (Numbers 13:32). On the other hand, Joshua and Caleb desired to motivate their countrymen to do what would benefit everyone – always the agenda of great leaders.
• With influence comes great responsibility. Maybe the 10 unfaithful tribal leaders didn’t want to start a rebellion, yet that is what they did. Following their negative report, the people sought to depose Moses and Aaron and return to Egypt. As a result, those 10 leaders died of plague, and all of their followers died in the desert.

Do you have a criterion to determine if you are acting out of selfish motivation and personal fear rather than God’s direction? What steps can you put in place when making a major decision that will help you determine God’s will?

Tags: Influence, Leadership, Responsibility