PEOPLE ministry: People should be good bosses

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DO you know that we are all bosses? What does that mean, you ask, I am not a boss! I read an article in the newspaper saying we voters are like bosses, we can vote to teach incompetent representatives a lesson.

But how do we become “bosses”? How do we vote? Who do we vote for? Deuteronomy 17:14-20 helps us to understand the type of people we should vote for:

“14 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” 15 be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. 16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” 17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his

God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20 and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.”

This passage helps us to understand that when we choose a leader, we need to choose one who is: 1. Chosen by God; 2. Does not allow the people to suffer; and 3. Does not lead the people into sin.

First, choose the one God has chosen.

1. God’s chosen (Deut 17:14-15) In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses reiterated God’s commandments to the Israelites before they reached Canaan. Deut 17:14-20 is one of those commandments, which is the “principle of appointing a king”.

In verse 14, Moses said, “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you…and you say, ‘Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us.'” Moses said, (v15) “be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses.” So in choosing a king (or a leader of a country), we must choose the one God has chosen. Later, the Israelites indeed wanted a king, and Saul became their first king.

But, brothers and sisters, in fact we can say that the king chosen by God was not actually Saul. If you read over the events of Saul’s kingship (1 Samuel chapter 8 to 31), you will see that God never once said he “chose” Saul. Even if he did, it was only to Samuel (1 Sam 10:24). A commentator said, “Saul was used by God to punish the Israelites”, because they did not want God to be their king (1 Sam 8:7), they insisted on “man” as their king.

In the end, King Saul offended God many times and never led Israel to become a strong country. He even died on the battlefield.

Also, according to Genesis 49:8, God’s chosen king would be from the tribe of Judah (foreshadowing Jesus coming from the tribe of Judah, as king over all); while Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin and not God’s “candidate”. God’s real chosen one was David from the tribe of Judah.

If we then look at how David was anointed as king, it was very different! Before God wanted to anoint David as king, he said to Samuel: “I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” (1 Sam 16:1) God had “provided” David as king. David was  God’s “chosen one”!

Later, when Samuel went to David’s house and saw his brothers, beginning from the eldest, God told Samuel many times:

The Lord has not chosen this one.” (1 Sam 16:8) “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” (1 Sam 16:9) “The Lord has not chosen these.” (1 Sam 16:10). Then Samuel saw David, and God said: “This is the one.” (1 Sam 16:10) Before that God kept saying: “I have not chosen this one… I have not chosen this one…” until David came and he said, “This is the one”. This shows that David was God’s “chosen one”.

In the end, King David became Israel’s greatest king, leading Israel to become a strong country.

Brothers and sisters, today if we want our country to be strong, if we want Malaysia Boleh and a real 1Malaysia, our country also needs a “King David”, a leader chosen by God.

So when we vote, we need to choose the one God has chosen. But the problem is, how do we know who God has chosen? We really cannot fully know. We must depend on prayer, asking God to let us “see” who he has chosen.

But besides prayer, the next two points can also help us to know who God has chosen. That is, we must see which leader “does not allow the people to suffer”.

2. Not letting people suffer (Deut 17:16-17) Verses 16-17 list many things that kings must not do. Verse 16 says: “must not acquire great numbers of  horses for himself”, “must not make the people return to Egypt”, “must not go back that way again” (that is to return to Egypt). Verse 17 says: “must not take many wives”, “must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold”. Here it is saying that a king must not prioritize his own gain, for example “must not make the people return to Egypt” means not selling the people to Egypt as slaves in return for horses (“acquire horses”). A king must not cause the people to suffer for his own gain.

Brothers and sisters, is our country’s government of today letting the people suffer?

So who do we choose? We must choose the one God has chosen and who does not let the people suffer. Thirdly, we must choose the one who does not lead people into sin.

3. Not leading people into sin (Deut 17:18-20) In verses 18-20, (v18) the king must “write a copy” of the “law”, (v19) he must “read” and “follow”. This is teaching the king to prioritize the law, not to sin and not to lead people into sin.

In this country, we indeed ought to be thankful, because in some issues of sin, our country does not easily compromise. For example, the legalization of gay marriage will never be allowed in this country (because it is also forbidden in Islamic teaching). Also, the country is tough on crime (e.g. drugs), hence it fulfills the responsibility of not leading people into sin.

But for some other sins, our country is perhaps keeping one eye closed, for example: abortion, gambling, prostitution, bar fights, etc. Perhaps in these matters, our country is not actively fighting sin.

A good and strong country needs a leader that fears God.

On the United States dollar bill are the words “In God We Trust”, meaning “we believe in God”. These words date back to around 1870 when they were added by the American leaders. Several times, Americans have wanted to remove the words, but because their country’s leaders feared God, these words “In God We Trust” remain on the US dollar today. In 1956 “In God We Trust” even became their national motto.

So, the United States “was” strong (in fact now they are regressing because the people are being led into sin), because they had leaders who feared God and did not lead the people into sin.

So, we need to pray for the leaders of Malaysia, and hope that our country can emulate the United States of the past. Whether or not they are Christians (though it is best if they are true Christians!), we ask God that they will govern this country according to God’s will. Only in this way Malaysia Boleh!

So, we must be good “bosses” – voting “bosses”! Who do we vote for? We must vote for one who is: 1. Chosen by God; 2. Does not allow the people to suffer; and 3. Does not lead the people into sin.

Written by Rev Ling Tiong Cheng
(Hwai Ann Methodist Church, Sibu)
Translated by Joy Tie