Leadership Abuses

 Ezekiel 45-46; Luke 1

“’This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have gone far enough, O princes of Israel! Give up your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing my people, declares the Sovereign Lord…The prince must not take any of the inheritance of the people, driving them off of their property…’”

Ezekiel 45:9; 46:18

God holds leaders accountable for how they administer the authority he has given them. Israel’s princes were abusing their authority and using violence to rob people of their inheritance. Instead of serving the people, they were called to lead Israel’s princes who were exploiting their people. God reminds the princes and leaders today, that people actually belong to the Lord. It is God, whose ways of justice and righteousness are being ignored and violated, who is the ultimate injured party. In the restoration plan for Jerusalem, God resets his expectations for leaders who serve his people.

As we live out our leadership callings in Christ’s kingdom, do we understand how we reflect God’s ways in our leadership?

If we are to serve and lead as Jesus did, let us humble ourselves and invite Jesus to lead through us, for his glory.