The degree to which a Christian leader tolerates known sin in their own life or the operation of their team is the degree to which they separate themselves and their team from God’s grace and favor. Read Joshua 7:1-26.

I grew up with six siblings. My parents knew that what one of us did that they “viewed as good” would soon show up in the behavior of the others and what one of us got away with would soon affect the behavior of all seven. My mom seemed to have a “proverbial type” saying to fit every situation. One of those sayings was “One rotten apple can spoil the whole barrel.” In today’s world we don’t typically keep barrels of apples around the house so the saying could possibly be changed to “one apple, rotting in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator will cause all the other apples stored in that drawer to get soft spots and begin rotting.” (I do like my mom’s version better.)

According to John Maxwell in The Maxwell Leadership Bible, Joshua practices the Law of Victory. Read Joshua 6:1-20.

Maxwell states:

Perhaps the most memorable of Joshua’s many victories came in the destruction of Jericho. But what a strange story it is! Try to picture how absurd God’s military strategy must have seemed to the real men of war. March around Jericho 13 times in one week, blow some trumpets – and that’s it? No weapons? No fighting? No plan of attack? No doubt, the residents of Jericho laughed heartily at the weeklong entertainment provided by the dizzy Hebrew army circling their walls.

Abraham is still held in high esteem by Jews and Gentiles alike. His name seems synonymous with respect and leadership. At least one of the reasons Abraham still enjoys this position of respect is because Abraham followed through on his commitments. Genesis 12-22