Well, let’s take our Bibles and turn to the Book of Genesis, chapter 41. We’re coming tonight to finish a message we looked at a couple of weeks ago, Finding Yourself a Leader. We’re at this place in Joseph’s life where he has become state president after some years of being a state prisoner. It’s an amazing turn of events all within the sovereignty and providence of God. He rises to power by God’s good hand, and we want to take a look at him as a leader and his leadership. So Genesis 41, verse 37. We’re at a place where Joseph has interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams. He has mapped out an answer to the problem of the seven years of poverty that will follow the seven years of plenty.
And we read… “So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, ‘Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the spirit of God?’ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘In so much as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and as wise as you. You shall be over my house and all my people shall be ruled according to your word. Only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.’ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘See, I have sent you over all the land of Egypt.’ Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. And he had him ride in the second chariot, which he had, and they cried out before him by the knee. So he set him over all the land of Egypt.” Look at verse 46. “Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh, King of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went throughout all the land of Egypt.”
Finding Yourself a Leader. Part of the college application was directed to the applicant’s parents. And one of the questions on this application was, “Would you consider your child to be a leader or a follower?” After much deliberation, the father wrote that he felt his son, although very much a unique individual, was really more of a follower than a leader. Not long after, a letter of acceptance arrived from the college to the home, accompanied by a note from the registrar, welcoming this father’s child, with these words, “We feel he’ll fit in especially well, as he is the only follower in a class of 249 leaders.” Leaders need followers. This class needed one follower at least. Leaders need followers and leaders, beget followers. E.V. Hill is famous for the saying, “If you want to know that you are a leader, just look over your shoulder and see if anybody is following you. If not, you’re just out for a walk.” In the passage before us, we return to tonight, Joseph looks over his shoulder and finds the nation of Egypt following him. In the passage before us, Pharaoh finds himself a leader and Joseph finds himself a leader. I think much to his surprise, but certainly within the providence of God and no surprise to the Almighty, Joseph talks himself into a job. And suddenly, the state prisoner becomes the state president.
And I want to look at Joseph as a leader tonight. It’s a good study for us. We have already looked at certain dimensions of his leadership, and we’ll round out the study tonight. And it’s a good study for us, for we’re always looking for leaders in the church, in the home, in the nation. We’re always looking for leaders and we’re always looking for what leaders look like. The past shows us that our future is bound up in the rise and rule of godly leaders, and Joseph was such a leader. And I want us to return to the text tonight. If you remember back to the study before this one, we gathered our thoughts concerning Joseph’s leadership around three ideas, his providential emergence, his personal excellence and his practical expertise and we covered that first thought, his providential emergence. We saw that it was some years before God placed Joseph into the sphere of leadership that he had promised him so many years ago in the dream. And how his father and his family would bow down before him. Joseph wasn’t ready for leadership. He had to be tested, he had to be proven, he had to be developed. Too much too soon ruins young leaders. But as he emerges, he emerges mature, competent, developed in his character. He has been tested and he has been proven, faithful and fruitful and forgetful. We saw those marks of maturity.
But we’re coming tonight to pick up the second thought. As we look at Joseph, the leader, we have looked at his providential emergence. Let’s now look at his personal excellence. Joseph was a man marked by quality and excellence. He stood head and shoulders above the rest. He surfaced among a sea of applicants as the prime candidate for the job. We read in verse 37 of the text before us, “So the advice was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants.” Remember, Pharaoh had scoured the country for an answer to his dreams. The best and the brightest in Egypt didn’t step up to the plate. Here’s this young Jewish Hebrew, and the advice that he gives this man of great power and stature is good in his own eyes and in the eyes of all the servants. And Pharaoh says, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the spirit of God?” Joseph was not Pharaoh’s second choice. This wasn’t the case of, “He’ll do until we find somebody.” Joseph was top drawer in terms of his character and his competency. He deserved pole position. There was an excellence about him. He had been tried and he had been tempered in the furnace of affliction, and the dross had been removed and his character had become solid steel and solid gold in terms of its qualities and character.
Someone said of Gerald Ford, and I’m not saying this was true of Gerald Ford, but a Washington lobbyist once said of the former president that he was superbly average. It’s not really a great compliment because it means you’re either the sorriest of the best or the best of the sorriest. Joseph was certainly more than superbly average. He excelled in person and in profession. And certainly, that’s what the Lord wants of us, and that’s what followers deserve in leaders. Remember, Jesus said to his own disciples, “You know what? If you only love those who love you, then what do you more than others?” There’s a specific context to that text. The general principle is that Christ seems to infer from that that he expects of his people something more than the average. “What do you more than others? I expect you to love your enemies and love those who curse you and despise you.”
Paul says to Timothy of the minister of the gospel and the expositor of God’s inerrant and infallible word that he needs to be a workman that need not be ashamed. Leaders and the servants of God need to be men and women of excellence and quality and nobility. Now for a few moments, let me just expand on that, explain that further. And I want to gather these thoughts around ABC. What are the ABCs of excellence? What ought to mark you and me in the arenas of influence that we have? Because when we begin to influence, we begin to lead. Here’s the ABCs of excellence. Good leaders, number one, accept responsibility. Accept responsibility. What a moment it was when Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of the nation’s affairs. Can you imagine that? His mouth must have dropped open and his head must have spinned as Pharaoh in quick succession basically says in verse 40, “Hey, I found my man. Joseph, you shall rule over my house and all my people.” [inaudible 00:10:11] context. He has just stepped out of prison. He has just shared his dungarees, and now he’s in fine linen and a chain of office has been put around his neck. But you know what? He accepts the responsibility.
What a thrill and what a privilege. Joseph steps up to the plate. He doesn’t shrink back. It’s a huge task where he risked the wrath of Pharaoh if he failed. The nation of Egypt and its welfare hung in the balance. And Joseph would soon find out that the welfare of Jacob’s house itself hung in the balance of his leadership. He was no clerk in a mum and pop store. He was second only to Pharaoh, the text tells us. But this leader, this young Hebrew takes the tiger by the tail. He took on the burden of leadership, I think soberly but gladly. Throughout his life he had cared and he had carried his responsibilities well. And I think he was driven by a number of things. He was driven by God’s glory. He accepted the responsibility as an assignment from God. As a stewardship in anything God gave him to do, he did well because he knew he was culpable before God’s throne.
You see this in his response, don’t you, to Potiphar’s wife when she tries to seduce him in verse nine of chapter 39. “How can I then do this great wickedness and sin against God?” Later on in his first encounter with his brothers in Genesis 42 verse 18, we read, “Then Joseph said to them the third day, ‘Do this and live, for I fear God. I fear God.'” He accepts his responsibility, under the gaze of God, to the end that God may be glorified. He took his responsibilities seriously because he took God seriously, and he took them as assignments and stewardship from heaven itself. And he sought the welfare of others. He sought Egypt’s welfare. That was the assignment that Pharaoh gave him in chapter 41 verse 41. “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” And he took that responsibility seriously. In fact, he will later learn that the very welfare of his family was what was also at stake. In chapter 45, he’ll tell his brothers not to be angry with themselves because he’d come to realize that God had sent him before them to preserve life. The welfare of Egypt, he saw that with foresight. The welfare of the house of Jacob, he came to understand that with hindsight.
But he bore all those responsibilities. He was conscious of those realities. And I think you and I need to understand that leaders live in a world of self-judgment and burdens. The constant care of others are upon their shoulders and they serve with the fearful eye to the judgment seat of Christ. And what’s true of leaders specifically or officially is true of all of us if we bear any kind of responsibility for the welfare of others spiritually or physically, within our own families or the family of God. Take that responsibility seriously because God’s glory hangs in the balance. The welfare of others’ bodies and souls and minds and innocence hangs in the balance also, whether we’re a pastor or a parent. Throughout his life Joseph cared deeply for God, and Joseph cared deeply for others, and I think that is a glorious quality. It’s one of the ABCs of excellence. Someone has said that we have the Statue of Liberty on the east coast, and what we need now in America is a statue of responsibility on the west coast.
Let me give you one other example outside the context of our context. Go over to 2nd Corinthians 11. 2nd Corinthians 11, Paul is just outlining all that he has gone through. I mean I’m sure you’ve read this as I have with your eyes fully open to all that the Apostle Paul went through. God wasn’t joking when he told Paul in Acts chapter 90 that he suffered many things for the kingdom. And he gives us a catalog of all the things he had to put up with and go through. 2nd Corinthians 11, verses… Let me see. We’ll break in at verse 23. He’s defending himself in terms of his credentials as a servant and a minister of Christ. And he says this… “I more than others labored more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews, five times I received 40 stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I’ve been in the deep.” And you go on down this, the weariness and the toil. Verse 27, the sleeplessness, the hunger, the thirsting, the fasting. And we think we serve the Lord. And then he says this in verse 20. This is staggering. “Besides the other things, what comes upon me daily, my deep concern for all the churches.”
It’s almost like he… And he doesn’t, but it’s almost like he dismisses the beatings, the shipwreck, the hunger, and he says, “I’ll tell you what really concerns me. What weighs me down is the daily burden I have for the sanctification of God’s saints, for the reaching of the lost, for the training of the next generation of expositors and ministers.” I’m sure he was thinking about the divisions at Philippi where two ladies were going at it. He was thinking about the apostasy at Galatia where he would marvel that they had so soon turned from the gospel. He was worried about the abuses at Corinth. He was concerned about the fanaticism of Thessalonica where they become so heavily minded and caught up in prophecy and end times, theory and ideas that they were giving up their day jobs and becoming lazy and busying themselves in other people’s lives. When he says, “You need to be quiet. Live out your life faithfully for Jesus’ sake.” Think about the responsibilities that God has given you and me in this church, in our homes, in our communities and take that responsibility seriously.
In fact, just piggybacking off of that, some years ago as a young pastor in my first charge in Carr Baptist Church in Northern Ireland, I came across a story regarding John Walsh. And it challenged me and it troubled my own soul about why I wasn’t troubled enough about the souls in my own congregation. John Walsh was the son-in-law of John Knox. He pastored a little congregation in Anwoth in Scotland up in the north-east of the country, I believe. A church that would later be pastored by Samuel Rutherford, famous for his letters. The story is told that one night his wife awoke to find him out of bed in a cold winter night with a tartan or a plaid blanket around him, on his knees interceding for the people of his parish. And she begs John, “Come back to bed.” To which he replies of his parish, not only his church but the whole outlying area, he says, “I have the souls of 3000 to answer for and I know not how it is with many of them.” That’s excellence, isn’t it? Here’s a man accepting his responsibility. Excellence accepts responsibility.
Secondly, excellence begets recognition. The book of Proverbs, in Proverbs 18 verse 16 says that, “gift makes room for itself.” What’s the point? This is the observation of the wise sages of Israel. This is a generally true observation. Remember, the Proverbs are not promises, they’re not cast iron guarantees. They’re observations of wise men who say generally, within the providence of God, you’ll find this is the way life shakes out. And usually, a man who’s gifted and excellent and takes his responsibility seriously and executes them well, you’ll find he will beget, he will receive recognition. “Gift makes room for itself.” Proverbs 18:16. True leaders come to the fore naturally. They don’t have to elbow their way in. They don’t have to push others. They don’t have to wave and say, “What about me?” No, leaders are spotted. They don’t have to stand up. Others see it in them. They don’t have to promote themselves, they just have to be made of the right stuff. And discerning people who are obedient to God’s word will pick the right leader and acknowledge his giftedness. A good man or a good woman’s gifts, not their mouths will speak for them.
Joseph was such a leader, wasn’t he? He begets recognition. I mean Pharaoh, he says, we read it, “Can we find such a one as this?” “Hey, I don’t know about you, but this kid is impressing me.” And no doubt the butler was speaking in his ear and saying, “Everything you see in him now, I saw in him then. He’s the real deal.” Joseph had a tremendous testimony. The butler recognized it, Pharaoh recognized it, others recognized it. It’s a very simple thought, but it’s a good thought. As we look at his providential emergence and we look at his personal excellence, we see that others came to see what God saw all along and God put in Joseph’s life. You see this principle worked out in Acts chapter six also, just the whole idea that excellent leaders beget recognition. People will see it, people will discover it in them. They won’t have to bring it to the attention of others. Others will see it for themselves. You’ve got this situation, the church is growing, some things are falling through the cracks. The apostles say, “You know what? We’ve got to give ourselves to the word. We’ve got to pick out some men who will give themselves to the tables.”
And here’s what they say in verse three. “Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom whom we may appoint over this business.” Verse five [inaudible 00:22:01] pleased the people, the whole multitude.” And they chose Stephen, listen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit. There was a match. They connected the dots. As soon as they heard from the apostles, “Here’s the kind of guy you ought to be looking for, a man full of faith and wisdom and the Holy Spirit…” You know what? It didn’t take them long. A few of them just [inaudible 00:22:25] turned to each other and said, “Here’s Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit.” Stephen begat recognition. Wasn’t a beauty contest, it wasn’t a casting of lots and a rolling of dice. Cream rises to the surface. And so I think that’s important. Joseph begat recognition. Leaders earn the respect of others through their godliness and their giftedness. That’s not to say that leaders won’t grow or that they come as a complete package, but there will be enough in them and others will see it and others will embrace it.
I like the story of the pastor. He was presenting himself to a church for candidacy and he began sharing his vision and he began setting out multiple demands and directions for the church and what they needed to do, and he had a video with him from his well-known evangelist father, challenging the people to follow this guy without question. And an elderly member of the church who served on the church staff for years listened intently, and leaning over to a friend, nudged him and said, “Boy, he’s sure asking for an awful lot on credit.” Good leaders don’t ask for things on credit. Others will recognize their wisdom and they will follow naturally. They won’t have to be cajoled or badgered or intimidated by degrees or recommendations from others.
Last thought here… Excellence accepts responsibility, begets recognition and commands respect. This is the ABCs of excellent leadership. Good and godly leaders command respect. It’s a bit of a piggyback here off the former thought. They will not only gain recognition, they will indeed command respect and again, it won’t be forced, it’ll be given. As the leader, Joseph had gained total respect from both the godly and the ungodly. That’s one of the striking things about him. He was a magnet in terms of people’s loyalties and people’s respect for him. They saw an honest heart, they saw a pure character, they encountered a kind disposition. They saw in him a godly fear and they respected him. They saw him stay pure in the midst of filth and corruption. They saw him be faithful when people were looking and when people weren’t looking. We won’t go over all of this, but I think you from the text he commanded the respect of his fathers. We did identify Jacob’s favoritism, and it would be right to note that. But I think you also need to see in his love for Joseph, there was a quality to this young man, a quality that God would bless in the days to come. He saw something in Joseph he didn’t see in the brothers.
In fact, when we get into some of the leader chapters, you’re going to see when the brothers come down in that whole scenario where they’re sent back up to get Benjamin, you’ll see that the father won’t release Benjamin. If you read the words, it’s almost as if Jacob [inaudible 00:26:17] onto them. “I’m not sending Benjamin with you lot. Something bad would befall of him.” There was something in Joseph, something that was very attractive and admirable in this son for the father. He commanded Potiphar’s respect. I think I made a note of this. Just to refresh your mind. Why didn’t execute, lop the head off Joseph when Potiphar’s wife said, “You know what? He tried to take advantage of me.” I mean, you’re dead on the spot in that culture. But he’s not. Seems to infer that while Potiphar had to save face and cart Joseph off to prison, it almost seems to me an inherent admission. “You know what? I’m not sure I believe her.” It was this respect he commanded from his father, from Potiphar. You see it immediately in this context that he gains respect.
I’m not going to turn to these, but this is one of the marks of leaders. They command people’s respect. They look at their homes, they look at the way they conduct themselves, the way they dress, carry themselves. There’s something that you want to respect about that because there’s a seriousness and a soberness and a reality to what that leader’s doing, that you know he’s not a perfect man or she’s not a perfect woman. There’s an authenticity there. There’s authority there and it’s not just cold, weighty authority. There’s the life and leadership of God being manifest through them. I won’t turn to these, but if you’re taking notes, you see that in Matthew seven, verse 29, we read that the people said he spoke with authority, unlike the scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus commanded respect, because he denounced those leaders. Later on in Matthew 23 where he says, “They say, but they do not.” They tell you to do stuff they don’t do. And the people were onto the leaders of the Jewish culture and people of that day.
It’s an amazing little incident. In Acts 27, verse three, while Paul’s on his journey towards Rome before he shipwrecked, I think they come to Sidon and they dock, and you read that the Roman commander gives Paul liberty to go to his friends. Paul commanded the respect of that man. He was given liberties. Paul could be trusted not to go AWOL. The elder in 1st Timothy 3:7 is said that he ought to have a good report of those who are on the outside. Leaders ought to command respect. Joseph did. Listen to me. I speak this to myself. It’s a great thing to command someone’s respect. Somebody can’t give you much more than give you their respect. It’s a beautiful to have from somebody, where they’ll trust you, where they’ll look up to you, and that’s why you never want to let them down. To get someone’s respect is a wonderful gift. Our children give us it naturally. Congregations give their pastors it. And we could go on multiplying the scenarios. It is a beautiful thing to be admired by someone, for them to believe you’re the real deal, that your walk with God is real, that your love of life is passionate, that your commitments are strong.
I had the privilege of being with a friend, June and I visited our friends, the Van Wingerdens a couple of months ago. John’s a board member at Masters with us. He’s a very successful businessman in horticulture, sells flowers all across the country. What you buy normally in a Walmart or a Home Depot, especially in the Midwest and the East Coast, you’ll buy from the Van Wingerdens nursery. It was his 60th birthday. It was a big bash down in the Ritz-Carlton in Cleveland. We had been invited. It was a phenomenal night. The food was marvelous and the company was good, and he was roasted and toasted all night long by some of the top businessmen in Cleveland. Alistair Begg, a personal friend of John’s, roasted him and toasted him. His family roasted and toasted him all night long. And I sat there enjoying every moment of it, and June and I spent a couple of days with them at their home and enjoyed an intimate dinner with them, and one of their sons who we’d been involved in marrying.
And as I reflected on that whole weekend, the thing that struck me about that night was John Van Wingerden had their respect of friends, business associates, pastors. He’s a wealthy man, he’s a successful man in every dimension of his life. But as him and I talked, to have his sons get up and his daughters get up and his friends get up and say, “You know what, John, you’re the real deal. We love you as a man. You’re a lot of fun to be with. You love life. You love the Lord. You’ve committed yourself to the Word. You command our admiration and respect.” Could you have been given any better a birthday present than that? He was given a lot of gifts. I don’t think he was given anything more that night than to know that the 200 people that were in that dining hall at the Ritz-Carlton in Cleveland were giving him their respect. And it wasn’t phony. It was real, and I loved every minute of it. And I challenged to say to myself, “I want a piece of that.” When you get to a certain point in life, your friends fly from different places in the country to come into a room to say, “You know what? You’re the real deal, and we love you, warts and all. We respect you. We admire you for who you are as a man and as a father and as a friend.”
Okay, let’s steam ahead. We’ll wrap up here in probably the next 15 minutes. Let’s look at his practical expertise. His practical expertise. We say that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Well, the proof of a leader is in the leading. What kind of a leader was he? Most of the things we’ve looked at are character traits, and that’s a good thing because leadership begins with character, before we move to [inaudible 00:33:25], his gifting. Begins with grace, graces before it moves on towards gifts. But here we’re kind of looking at as gifts, some of the practical outworking of this innate leadership that was recognized and respected by others as this man took on his responsibilities with a certain seriousness and sobriety.
Let’s look at his practical expertise under a few thoughts. It’s evidenced in his deliberation, it’s evidenced in his deliberation, Joseph had an ability to size up a situation, measure the problem, and draw up a solution. That’s exactly what he does, right? I mean he’s interpreting the dreams and he just automatically goes in, in chapter 41, doesn’t he, towards the end of that chapter and begins to tell Pharaoh, “You know what? You need to appoint officers,” verse 34, “over the land to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years and let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.” He maps out a plan, a martial plan for the saving of the nation of Egypt. And we’ll find later on, for the blessing of the surrounding nations also. We see his innovative side come out. We see his creative juices flow as he offers a blueprint to Pharaoh for the next 14 years of ups and downs in the life of this nation. Leaders are deliberate innovators and visionaries who plan and anticipate, and where necessary, chart a course of action to make things happen. And I think that’s a quality you and I’ll want to emulate in any sphere. We need to anticipate, we need to plan, we need to deliberate. You see his deliberation.
And he goes on in the next chapters to implement all of that. And I think that’s a challenge you and I just want to grasp and gather, that you and I be thoughtful. Are we thoughtful? Do we just let life kind of chase us down and overwhelm us, or do we say, “You know what? This is going to happen, and this is what we need to do in the light of what is going to happen if the other thing has any chance of happening.” You see that in the life of Nehemiah, don’t you, where again, we won’t turn there. I’ll draw upon your knowledge of the book since we preached it just about a year ago. He’s burdened about Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the city. Right? And it shows up on his face. And Artaxerxes says, “Hey, what’s up with you, buddy?” And he says, “Well, to tell you the truth,” he says, “the land of my fathers in the city of David lies in ruins.” And God in his great providence turns the heart of the king, which God is able to do, and makes him sensitive and open to Nehemiah. And Nehemiah says, “You know what? I’ve had my way. I’d love to leave here.” And Artaxerxes says, “Well, how long will you be away?” And right there and then Nehemiah tells him basically, “Here’s what I need to do and here’s how long it’s going to take.”
He was ahead of the game. He was ready for the moment. Leaders don’t get overtaken, certainly not consciously or willingly. When he even gets there, makes that journey, we read in chapter two in verse 11, following, that he spends three days, resting up and going through the city, sizing it all up before he presents the plan to the people. Howard Hendricks said, “I’m convinced that any leader who does not spend at least 15% of his time in thinking is systematically setting himself up for failure.” A noted surgeon once said, “If I knew I had only five minutes to perform a delicate operation, I would spend the first two minutes planning the procedure.” Can we find such a man as this? But find ourself a leader? What do you find in a good leader? You’ll find deliberation, you’ll find thoughtfulness and preemptive action in the light of current needs and anticipated needs.
You not only see it evidenced in deliberation, you see it evidenced in delegation, in delegation. Joseph was a good delegator. You read about it in chapter 41 in verse 34 where he says to Pharaoh, “and let Pharaoh appoint officers over the land to collect one-fifth of the produce.” Now that was the suggestion. Little did he know that Pharaoh would say, “Hey, okay, great plan, now you execute it,” which he did, Chapter 41 in verse 46. “And Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharaoh, King of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went out throughout all the land of Egypt.” The text doesn’t tell us what he did, but we know what he did. He went out and appointed officers in all the cities to bring in a fifth of the produce. His purpose was to appoint in strategic regions of the country, men and machinery to oversee taxation, produce, and distribution of the food. He enlisted others, he enthused others to get involved and move the plans forward.
And I know some of this is rather elementary, but it’s a challenge to me. It’s good to be put in remembrance of good things. Leaders are deliberate and thoughtful and innovative and creative. Leaders also involve others and delegate others with responsibility. People who hoard ministry don’t make good leaders. People who hoard ministry don’t make good leaders. Some people like to hold all the cards in ministry or in your workplace or whatever, and it’s not a good policy for a whole list of reasons. It hinders others. It doesn’t let others come to the fore. It suppresses others and puts others down where they’re not able to flex their giftedness, and it harms the work. Because nobody’s got all the gifts, nobody has enough energy, enough vision to get it all done. And so in the end, they exhaust themselves, they frustrate others and they stall the ministry. It’s an issue of trust, it’s an issue of humility and it’s an issue of stewardship. That’s what delegation is. And you and I need to see in Joseph some practical expertise. He is a good leader. He’s deliberate. He plans his work and he works his plans, and he delegates.
We won’t turn, but if you’re taking notes, Exodus 18 verse 13 following is another example of that, and there’s examples throughout the Bible of the need for delegation. Moses exhausts himself, doesn’t he? Until his father-in-law, Jethro comes along and said, “What in the world are you doing, judging all the people yourself?” There’s only so much a man can bear. There’s only so much problems a man can hear in any given day and remain sweet and sane. You listen to too much of this and you’ll never go home and kiss your wife. “Come on, here’s what you need to do. Get 70 elders and get them to help you on this. Delegate this thing, diffuse this thing, democratize this thing to some degree.” It’s a good principle, and you can apply it in whatever direction you can. I think it was D.L. Moody who said, “I’d rather get 10 men to do the job than do the job of 10 men.” That’s good leadership. It’s evidenced in deliberation, it’s evidenced in delegation, it’s evidenced in demonstration.
While Joseph delegated his responsibilities, he didn’t obdigate his own responsibilities, and that’s important. A leader should give ministry away but stay a leader, and stay involved and stay engaged and participate in what he’s encouraging others to do. Joseph served through leadership. We read here, he went throughout the land. We read in verse 55, “So when all the land of Egypt was famished and the people cried to Pharaoh for bread and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, ‘Go to Joseph. Whatever he says to you, do.'” Joseph was in the thick of it. And if you read the text, you’ll find him in the thick of everything. Verse six of chapter 42, “Now Joseph was governor over the land and it was he who sold all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth.”
And we know that that text doesn’t mean that Joseph did everything. We know that he went throughout the cities appointing others, he delegated. But at the same time his finger was in the pies. He was the governor and he was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And you know that means that he was involved to the degree he needed to be. It wasn’t he just sent everybody off and locked his door and put his feet up on the table. That’s not leadership. Leaders delegate responsibilities, but they don’t advocate their own. They continue to become involved and participate by enriching the lives of others.
Again, to me, to you, we need to remind ourselves that there’s a style of leadership like that of the scribes and the Pharisees. I quoted it, but I’ll give you the verse. Matthew 23, verse three where he says, “They say and do not.” They write prescriptions for everybody else, but they never swallow the medicine themselves. Leaders don’t just show people the way to go, they walk with them some of the way. That’s biblical leadership. I love this passage. It’s a challenge to every pastor and elder in this room and also to any of our congregation in general. It’s 2nd Thessalonians chapter three. Paul again seems to be defending. I think it’s… Sorry, 1st Thessalonians, chapter two. Let me double check. Yeah. 1st Thessalonians chapter two, and we read in verse seven, Paul’s telling them… There seems to be some who are questioning Paul’s conduct, Paul’s credentials.
And he uses a verb of perception, he uses the term know a lot in this passage. He says, “All right, you’re hearing one thing, but you know another thing. Here’s what you know,” verse seven, “that we were gentle among you as a nursing mother cherishes her own children, so affectionately longing for you. We were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives because you have become dear to us. For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil for laboring day and night that we may not be a burden to any one of you. We preach to you the gospel. You’re witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves. Listen, among you, you saw us. We had the tenderness of a mother and we had the strength of a father.” Look at verse 11. “You know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father does his own children.” That’s a challenge, isn’t it? That’s what good leaders do. They demonstrate, they participate, they live by example.
Back to Nehemiah. You’ll find throughout the narrative of Nehemiah the plural we. We built and we stood on the walls. This is Nehemiah’s memoir. He was in the thick of it. He rolled his sleeves up like anybody else and got stuck in. That’s what leaders do. Supreme of all is the Lord Jesus, isn’t he? In John chapter 13, the disciples are bickering about who’s the greatest hours and days away from the crucifixion, or a day away, wouldn’t it be right to say? They’re bickering over who’s the greatest. And what does Jesus do? He just gets up in the middle of the room, and the Bible says he throws aside his garments with which… We don’t want to read too much into, but I want to just at least take my thinking to another level and say, you know what? That’s exactly what he had done in the incarnation. He laid aside his glory and the independent use of his attributes. He laid it aside. And in that room he gets up, throws his garments aside, takes a towel and washes their feet. And then what does he say to them? “You do likewise.” Jesus didn’t ask his servants and his disciples to do anything he hadn’t done himself. It’s good leadership. It’s a fact of leadership.
There was a man in a church I was an intern pastor in, in Milltown Baptist Church in Belfast. He was a man I grew to love deeply. He was a leader to become a chief superintendent of homicide in Northern Ireland. Very much respected in the RUC. He was a man’s man and I loved him. Anytime I kind of felt I needed a jolt or a jump start, I just shook his hands. He’s my kind of guy. And after the meeting I’d meet him and look him out. I had the privilege of following him one day. I’d left the police by this stage, and that was part of the attraction. But this guy was into the thick of things in Northern Ireland. There wasn’t much he hadn’t seen.
I remember going down to his office one day, and while he was going to get some coffee or something, I was talking to some of the young men who were being mentored by him. They said, “Do you know his nickname?” I says, “No, what is it?” And they said, “Geronimo.” I said, “Geronimo? Why do you call him Geronimo?” “Because he’s always leading the troops.” He’s an officer. But you know what? When the riot’s on, he’ll throw his shirt and tie off. He’ll get the riot gear on, get the helmet on, get the shield, get the baton, and he’ll get out under the straight and lead his guys. He’s not a ivory tar leader. This is Geronimo. “We love this guy.” That’s what good leaders do. They don’t bark orders from the side. They get into the thick of things.
Last thought. Last thought, brief thought. It was evidenced not only in his deliberation, evidenced not only in his delegation, evidenced not only in his demonstration, but evidenced in his drive. Joseph was an innovator, a delegator, a participator, and he was a motivator. That’s one of the striking things about him. And you say, “Pastor, where do you get that?” Well, I think I get it from the text, not explicit, but implicit. We read in verse 46 of chapter 41 that he goes throughout Egypt, doesn’t he? He goes out from the presence of Pharaoh and he goes throughout all the land of Egypt. And we know from some of the things he’s already said, he’s going to go and sell a plan. He’s going to go and appoint leaders everywhere. And you know what he’s doing? He’s basically getting out on the stump, to use a political term. And he’s probably had a whole lot of town meetings throughout Egypt. And there was no sign of famine. They were about to enter into seven years aplenty. And so this guy had to be good and he had to inspire and motivate and capture people’s minds and hearts, and I think he did.
In fact, go to chapter 47, towards the end of the years of famine. We’re jumping over that time where he [inaudible 00:51:29] his brother. We’ll get there. But when you get to chapter 47, by this stage, they have sold their land, they’ve given them their cattle. Basically, they’re indentured to Pharaoh. But you know what’s amazing? What do we read? Verse 25. It’s not like, “You know what? Hey, Joseph, you ripped us off. You’re feathering your own nest at our cost.” No, you don’t read that. You read, “You saved our lives.” Is this gratefulness? There’s almost a happiness in their servitude, which is only attributable to the fact that this guy was the real deal. He begat recognition, he commanded respect, and he motivated and he inspired, and he helped people to get through tough times. That’s a great gift, to motivate people and encourage people and keep people hopeful and keeping them working through problems and tough times. His drive helped them to keep driving forward.
Again, we see this in Nehemiah, as the last thought here. Nehemiah gets there, and everything’s broken. People are skulking about the cities, kind of got used to the whole situation. Nehemiah can’t get used to it. He’s not about to accept it, and he spends some time drawing up his plan. Now he’s about to share it. He’s about to motivate. And we read in chapter two in verse 17, “Then I said to them, you see the distress that we’re in? How Jerusalem lies waste and its cities are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem.” It’s like, “What’s up with you people? This city lies in reproach. God’s name has been trailed through the mud. We’re the laughing stock of the nations.” Horonite and Tobiah, the Ammonite and Geshem, the Arab, they’re laughing at us. In fact, that’s what exactly they do before the chapter’s done. And then he says, “Look, hey, God’s hand’s been upon me. God put something in my heart. God’s in this.”
And he motivates them in different ways, positive and negative. The positive is, “Hey, God’s in this. Get your eyes on God. God is bigger than any of our problems and mightier than any of our enemies. Come on.” And he gets them motivated on the positive side. And on the negative side he says, “Are you going to put up with us? Is this the kind of life you want to live?” And he motivates. And it’s a great thing. Hopefully, you’re a good motivator. As a leader you’ve got to be. As a parent, as a pastor, as a businessman, whatever, you’ve got to learn to motivate people and excite them. But what excites you? And sometimes you excite them on the positive side of things and the negative. Sometimes you can elicit change in people and get them to become something more than they are by talking about either the benefits they’ll gain by doing something or the losses they’ll suffer if they don’t do it. Positive and negative. Talk to them about the greatness of something.
I remember… And this is where I do close. I remember when I was an aircraft engineer. I was a young apprentice, and one of the more senior engineers kind of took a shine to me, brought me under his wing. And he was brought up from the shop floor to work on a prototype aircraft. It was a new aircraft our company was developing and it had to be built in a certain time. And I had the privilege of going up with him and serving him on the project. And I remember we were brought in to do a number of talks. I remember the little foreman that used to take some of the talks. We nick-named him Sharkey. Sharkey would come in and get us all wound up. He says, “Guys, this project’s got to be done by a certain time.” And it was a bit of a challenge. We would be working a lot of hours, round the clock, seven days a week. In fact… It’s another story. I remember getting in saying, “I can’t work Sundays. I don’t intend to work Sundays.” And I thought, “You know what? I’m going to get taken off the job.” And somehow, God, in goodness, the guy said, “Well, if you just work all the hours we give you, we’ll let you off on Sunday.”
But I remember Sharkey, Ulster man and Irishman, he was saying, “You know what? There’s an English company who actually are developing an aircraft, not unlike ours. They’re our competitor, and they don’t believe we’re going to get ours done on time.” That’s all he had to say to us. A little bit of the Irish-English thing going on there. And we were like, “What? They said we can’t get it done?” In fact, I was in Belfast this summer and I should have bought a T-shirt, which I didn’t buy, and I rue. In fact, my parents are coming out soon and I’ll tell them to bring me it. As you know, the Titanic was built in Belfast, and I saw this great T-shirt in the summer that said, “The Titanic. Built by Irishmen, sunk by an Englishman.”
So there’s this kind of aggravation goes on, and much of it’s good-humored. There’s not as much animosity between Northern Ireland and England as there is between the south of Ireland and England. But nevertheless, there still is a little bit of that Irish-English thing going on. And that’s all he had to say. Sharkey got us all riled up, and it’s like, “Is it over? Let’s get out there and get on with it!” And leaders do that. They don’t manipulate it. That wasn’t manipulation. It was a good thing. We actually got the project done and our aircraft sold well. But there’s a place for that. Good leaders are driven and they help others to drive beyond the borders of the status quo. So our past tells us that our future is bound up in the rise and rule of good leaders. Joseph was a good leader. And I hope that you and I can draw patterns and principles from his life.
Let’s pray. Lord, we do thank you for our time tonight. And Lord, we are amazed at all the lessons we can learn from Joseph. We find him in the prison and in Potiphar’s house, lost in the mundane things of life. And yet, we find him faithful and fruitful. And in this study we find him catapulted in a flash, which is testimony to your sovereignty. Lord, we find him catapulted in a flash to a place of unprecedented power, second only to Pharaoh. And Lord, we are challenged by his emergence, and how in your time you tested him and proved him and tempered him. Lord, help us always to wait upon you. You’re preparing some of us for other things, things that we’re yet to do. Help us to submit to your rod and your chisel and your hammer and your file.
Lord, help us to exude excellence. Lord, you’re a God of excellencies. And as your people, we want to reflect, Lord, excellence in all that we do. Help us to bear our responsibilities nobly, in the good and the bad, in the wins and in the losses. Lord, we want to beget recognition and command respect. Lord, help us to work to the end that looking back we will know that others have looked at us with respect and have admired the way we have conducted ourselves as fathers or as husbands, or as pastors, or as friends or as neighbors. And Lord, forgive us for our ineptitude in so many areas of life. Lord, help us to be more deliberate. Help us, Lord to apply what we are asking others to do to our own lives. Lord, help us to be motivated by your glory and heaven and hell. Time is short. Help us to motivate others towards greater and better things. For we ask and pray these things in Jesus’s name. Amen.