3 Warnings for Leaders About Boasting
I think our leaders need a lesson on how our words sound next to the actions of God.
1 Samuel 2:3 says: Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed.
Compared to the holiness of God, we are nothing. But, according to the speech of many politicians, you’d never know it.
When Job questioned God as to His intentions and actions, God responded by reminding Job that His ways were beyond our comprehension, even when they seem to contradict the normalcy of our experiences. Job was forced to admit that humanity’s vision of the universe and beyond is a little limited compared to the One who created it all.
Hannah’s prayer here in 1 Samuel 2, comes as a response to God granting her wish for a son. She saw in His graciousness, a God who could do and would do more than she imagined. And in her prayer of praise, she reminds all of us that the actions of God overwhelm any weighty words that come from us.
Why is it that we are so prone to boasting? I think this simple verse from Hannah’s prayer gives us great insight:
(1) Pride and arrogance come from a confusion of order
Define boasting however you want, but it is simply listing a set of accomplishments, meant to make the boaster larger than life. Funny statement: larger than life. Doesn’t larger than life imply larger than God? Or, certainly as close to God as you can get. God creates life and has power over life and death, so if we’re larger than life we believe that mere life can’t contain all of the laurels we deserve.
If one could finally broker a Mideast peace agreement, would that make them larger than life? If one created the cure for cancer, would that make them larger than life? Many might be tempted to say yes, because lowly mortals have not come close.
Yet, I would say that either of those would be borne out of the many lessons of history and so far failed attempts at creating those solutions. Those achievements will have been built on a foundation of valuable research, and yes, those breakthroughs will be momentous (if they happen), but they come from a confusion of order.
Here’s the thing: all achievements in this world are built on a platform that has a history attached to it. Even smartphones, as radically different as they are, are still phones. There is a history, a level of growth that leads to a new place. It all has an order to it. We are a part of an ordered world. Where we get into trouble is believing that we have broken the order of things and put ourselves in a place where we believe others cannot be.
Can we create something from nothing? Do we have the power to reorder the order of this universe? Some believe they do, and they list their accomplishments as a testament to that, but what they fail to recognize is that their achievements, though certainly good, are built on a foundation of ordered history, and they exist in the same sphere of life that we do.
God alone is the master of order. He created it, and He alone can take it. Everything else is pride and arrogance.
(2) Knowledge and insight (and speechwriters) are king
He who can give a good speech can sway more hearts than one who overwhelms by brute force. A master orator can make you feel like they know and understand you, and that you matter, even when you may not to them. Brute force hangs life, death, and submission over you. Who would you rather have as a leader?
Our mastery of rhetoric and the good speech can lead us into a place of security and insecurity. It’s a passive-aggressive jaunt into the pursuit of the better speech.
Have you ever noticed how a lot of candidates have a passive-aggressive tone in their speeches/debates? They’re sure, yet unsure about their accomplishments, willing you, the voter, to believe that they would be better than the person standing across from them on the platform, but trying to keep a positive attitude toward the other person?
People who live and die by oration will always struggle with the lines. Where have they crossed those lines? What’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable? As orators, all we can do is pray to the God of knowledge, and ask for Him to bring clarity to the boundaries of presentation vs. boasting.
(3) We want to be judged according to worldly righteousness, not Heavenly righteousness
Worldly righteousness can mean whatever we want it to be, and so we can twist words, laws, and judgments to put us in exalted positions. If we were to seek judgment based on Heavenly righteousness, we would be willingly putting our actions up against our Lord. Very few people want to make that comparison.
He who welcomes the oversight of the Almighty will remain grounded in proper righteousness. It’s at this place that we realize that God’s actions are built on righteousness, and our actions are either built on supporting that righteousness or built on the politics of personal absolution. We will either support something higher or what can make us appear higher. We will either seek God’s gain or our own perfect perfection.
Leaders must be willing to let God judge our actions, not the world. If the world wins, we don’t and God’s glory is profaned. Too many leaders do not understand that their arrogance blasphemes the exalted Lordship of our Savior. When we seek to dispense grace by our leadership, the true grace that we need is lessened. And so we must be looking out for where we try to replace the great name of Jesus with our own accomplishments.
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Talk, talk, talk; that’s all some people are known for. Let’s be known for less talk and more praise, less boasting and more thankfulness for the God who gives us more than we deserve. Let’s boast of God and let’s invite those seeking higher office to do the same. Amen.
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