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Three Characteristics of a Poor Leader
1 Kings 1:9
"And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by Enrogel, and called all his brethren the king's sons, and all the men of Judah the king's servants:"
We often hear and read about the characteristics of great leaders, but what are the characteristics of a poor leader? Just as it is important to be cognizant of what good leader is, it is also important for us to learn to identify those who would be poor leaders. Many times in our lives we must choose someone to be our leader. When you choose a pastor, you are choosing a leader. When you choose a school for your children, you are choosing a leader. In both of these cases, and in many instances, when we must choose a leader it would be good to identify their characteristics before making our choice.
The verse above shows us the characteristics of a poor leader. Adonijah, though he was a good man, was a very poor leader. Just because someone is a good man does not make him a good leader. When you look at his life, you find a man who desired to fill his dad's throne. However, though he desired that position, he was the wrong man to fill the position. When you study Adonijah's life there are three things we see that made him a poor leader.
First, he was filled with pride. In verse 5, we find that the Scriptures say that he exalted himself. The only reason why someone would try to exalt himself is because they are filled with pride. As an older pastor once told me, "Don't worry about promoting yourself because God knows your name and address. If God wants to exalt you, then He knows where to find you." If you are a leader, don't let your pride cause you to exalt yourself. You will never become a great leader by pushing yourself. Likewise, when choosing someone to be your leader, don't choose someone who constantly promotes themselves. If a preacher is always talking about what he has done, or talks about how great he is, then this is the type of man you don't want to be your pastor. You want a pastor who promotes God and not himself. Poor leaders are filled with pride and will exalt themselves.
Second, Adonijah forsook the pattern of older godly men. Instead of going to Nathan for direction, Adonijah went to Joab. Joab was not the godliest of men. A poor leader is one who does not go to the older godly men for counsel and patterns to follow. Instead they look to the present generation to determine their direction. When choosing a pastor, don't choose one who talks negatively about men from the past. Don't choose a pastor who follows a younger generation more than he follows the older generation. Poor leaders look to their peers for direction, while great leaders look to the past for their direction.
Third, Adonijah was a wasteful man. Verse 9 tells us that Adonijah slew sheep and oxen in abundance. This was a wasteful act. Poor leaders are wasteful with what they have. They're wasteful with their money. They're wasteful with their time. They are wasteful with their relationships. Poor leaders spend what they have instead of saving what they have. Be careful about placing yourself under someone who is wasteful. If they will waste what they have, then they will have no problem wasting your time, money and life.
Be careful with whom you choose to be your leader. Whomever you choose to be your leader will eventually determine your direction in life. Your leaders will determine what your children will eventually become. Your leaders will determine what kind Christian you will be later on in life. When choosing a leader, be careful that the ones whom you choose to follow do not carry these three characteristics of Adonijah. Choose to follow people who are humble, choose right associations and are frugal with what they have. By choosing the right leader you give your future a better chance to be successful and happy.