Managing Disloyalty
Numbers 16:26
"And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins."
Disloyalty never makes sense. Disloyalty is normally caused by a jealous follower who wants the position of the leader without paying the price of that position. They want everything handed to them without having to earn it. Literally, it is a lazy, selfish person who desires the position that is not rightfully theirs.
Unfortunately, we learn how to deal with disloyalty through the life of Moses. Moses was one of the greatest leaders you will learn about in the Scriptures. He was the epitome of how a leader should lead. You would think that everyone would be pleased with his leadership, but we find this was not the case. Korah gathered a group of people against Moses and told him in verse 3, "...Ye take too much upon you,..." Korah thought that Moses didn't have the right to lead the way that God told him to lead. Korah's disloyalty affected several people and their families, because they eventually lost their lives. When studying this story, God shows us how to manage the sin of disloyalty.
First, leaders should deal with disloyalty promptly. God did not wait for the disloyalty to work its way out. I have found many leaders make the mistake of thinking that the disloyal person will eventually come around, to their own detriment. When you see disloyalty, you must deal with it immediately. The longer you allow disloyalty, the more time you give to the person who is disloyal to influence more innocent people.
Second, in person you must approach the disloyal person about their disloyalty. Moses didn't send Joshua or some other person to deal with the disloyalty, but he went himself to deal with it. Leaders must not be afraid to deal with disloyalty face to face. If you have done nothing wrong, then you have nothing from which to hide. Many leaders won't deal with disloyalty because they don't like confrontation, but as a leader you must confront the disloyal person about their disloyalty so that you can quickly squelch its roots.
Third, you must deal with disloyalty to the degree of the disloyalty. Because Korah's disloyalty was very open, God dealt with it in an open manner by killing Korah and his followers. The more open a person's disloyalty is, the more open you must be in dealing with disloyalty. If you catch disloyalty before it becomes public, then you can deal with it in a private matter; however, when a person is publicly disloyal, you must then deal with that person in a public manner. This will show others that disloyalty will not be tolerated at any level.
Last, followers must not associate themselves with a disloyal person. God told everyone to get away from Korah and his followers. He told them not to "touch" anything that belonged to them. When you see someone is disloyal, you must stop having any association with them. You may think you can handle their disloyalty, but it will eventually affect your spirit, which will eventually affect your actions.
Christian, be careful that you don't get caught up in the sin of disloyalty. Disloyalty is like leprosy in that if it is not dealt with it will spread, and if you come into contact with it, you will be affected by it as well. If you will learn to always keep your eyes on God and follow Him then you will find that you will never be caught up in the sin of disloyalty.