Sabbath Thought – Judgement, Mercy and Faith

Leadership is generally viewed as “I am in charge and I get to say what you do.” This is a worldly view and not one we are to emulate. Christ gave us instruction on how to lead in a Godly manner: “But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant.  And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many," (Matthew 20:25-28, NKJV).

What does this look like in practice? What is a servant from God’s perspective in considering leadership? Does it mean we do all the work? Does it mean to never give direction or correction? We have one part of the answer in Micah 6:8. God inspired Micah to record His Words to Judah because the leadership had become so corrupt.  Leaders were leading like the gentiles (devoid of God’s spirit – selfishly). In Micah 6:8 he records, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Eternal require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Justice, mercy and faith – these are the weightier matters of the law (Matthew 23:23), the weightier matters of leadership (as we train to be leaders in the Kingdom of God), and the weightier matters of true service. 

Why? Because God holds leaders responsible for an environment that promotes and strengthens a relationship with Him. Humanly it is simple – we tend to emulate behavior that is modeled and promoted. Ask any parent with a toddler. Ask any employee who is told “Do as I say, not as I do.” Spiritually, we learn justice, mercy and faith when the environment created supports that. In order to properly give mercy we must know first what is right and what is wrong (judgment), then doing what is right (faith - Romans 14:23) and allowing another person’s sins to ultimately be between them and God. As we want to be forgiven by God, we should want to forgive others (mercy – Matthew 7:12).

So, anyone who claims to be a disciple of Jesus Christ must act justly. This means justice and integrity rule our decisions. We must love mercy – to have a love for people and develop relationship skills that show that love. We must walk humbly with God because nothing is ours – it all belongs to God including our spouse, our children, fellow members of the Body of Christ, and certainly anyone we lead or serve.

May we always practice justice, mercy, and humility in every aspect of our Christian walk. Happy Sabbath!

Dan Dowd

21 June, 2025