Chapter 7 - Character Qualities God Promotes

                      
One reason we want to be loyal to God is because He rewards loyalty with greater responsibility. In fact, there are several character qualities that are especially important to God. Loyalty is just one of them. When God finds a vessel that is walking before Him in integrity, He promotes that servant to places of nobler responsibility and deeper servanthood.

Serve a little bit, He’ll give you greater ways to serve. Handle properly what He’s given you and He’ll give you more. “‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance’”(Matthew 25:29).

When God considers which vessels might be entrusted with greater spheres of servanthood, He does not look for sincerity, or for passion or giftedness or education. He looks rather for character. The great issue before God is whether the vessel has evidenced growth of character. Is this person becoming more like Jesus? Is this person increasingly manifesting the character qualities of Christ? When the answer is yes, God will take that person to the next level of testing and inner development.

By looking at Psalm 101, we can discover the character qualities God is looking for.

A Psalm About Leadership Criteria

In this Psalm, David will itemize the qualities he looks for in choosing leaders.
Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; the one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure. My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me. He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; he who tells lies shall not continue in my presence (Psalm 101:5-7).

David is speaking of those he invites into his presence, or into his home—that is, into his inner circle of leadership. David is basically saying, “These are the character qualities I look for as I build my leadership team. When I need to appoint someone to a place of service, let me tell you the kind of person I’m looking for.”

Someone might ask, “Isn’t it sort of strange to write a worship song about criteria for choosing leaders?” True, it’s not the kind of lyrical prose you’d expect to find in today’s worship songs. Keep in mind, though, that the songs of that day were used as one of the primary methods for teaching children and adults the truths of the covenant. They didn’t have books and textbooks as we have today, so most instruction was conveyed orally through poetry, songs, and rote memorization. David felt strongly enough about leadership qualifications that he wanted these themes to be remembered throughout the generations.
 

David’s Top Five Leadership Criteria

I see at least five character qualities David valued in the lives of those on his leadership team: Loyalty, humility, faithfulness, uprightness, and truthfulness. Let’s look at them individually.
 

Loyalty

“Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy” (verse 5a).
While David doesn’t use the word “loyalty” here, he talks the language of loyalty. The one who slanders his neighbor is one who is not loyal in his earthly relationships. The loyal friend does not stoop to slander. Rather, he does all in his power to promote the good reputation of his friend. David begins his list by saying he will not tolerate the overt disloyalty of slander among his leaders.

In raising issues of loyalty first, it’s obvious that it was a very important quality to David. His own experiences had taught him the value of loyalty. While serving under Saul, he had learned that it wasn’t enough to be a giant killer and the theme of maidens’ songs. Even though he had given his strength for the sake of the people and had been a mighty deliverer for them, they had still plotted together with Saul against his life.
No, strength and ability were not enough. Above all, David wanted loyalty on his leadership team.
 

Humility

“The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure” (verse 5b).
David was hesitant to bring into leadership positions those who carried themselves in a way that conveyed a haughty attitude.

God also has the practice of promoting humility. Scripture says, “‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:5-6). When we embrace humility, we qualify to be exalted “in due time.” Humble people have ownership of Christ’s words, “Without Me you can do nothing.” They realize that no matter how strong their giftings and talents, all their labors are of no effect if God isn’t building the house.
If you’re a leader, develop a nose for humility. Notice when it’s a

bsent, and notice when it’s present. When you see arrogance in one of the servants, don’t shrug it off as an insignificant thing. Pride should never be promoted. When you’ve discerned a member of your team who is truly humble, you have found a vessel that is safe to promote to higher responsibilities. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that promotion will help the vessel to learn humility. Make sure the humility is there first. If God waits to see humility before promoting someone, then we should too.

Faithfulness

“My eyes shall be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me” (verse 6a).
David was on the lookout for faithfulness, and wise leaders today will do likewise. Is the person faithful to execute small details with diligence and accuracy? Is she a woman of her word? Does he follow through to full completion without having to be monitored? We don’t need people who think they are God’s gift to humanity; we need people who will serve diligently and faithfully.

God promotes faithfulness. When He sees a servant that is faithful and diligent to fulfill all his responsibilities, God says to that faithful servant, “‘You were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things’” (Matthew 25:21). In other words, God promotes faithfulness to higher levels of responsibility.
If God does that, leaders should also promote those who are most faithful on the team. Don’t promote mere talent; promote faithfulness. Develop an eye for faithfulness. When you see it, mark it. You’re probably looking at a servant that will be promoted in time to an even greater servanthood.

Uprightness

“He who walks in a perfect way, he shall serve me” (verse 6b).
Here David is pointing to the character quality of godliness or blamelessness. A man had to walk in a manner of life that was above reproach in others’ eyes before David would bring him into his inner circle.
God feels the same way. He also promotes uprightness. God is holy and true (Revelation 6:10), and when He sees people who are holy and true, He brings them into the immediacy of His presence and promotes them to greater spheres of service. Godliness is an essential qualification for leadership. Never promote someone without it.
 

Truthfulness

“He who works deceit shall not dwell within my house; he who tells lies shall not continue in my presence” (verse 7).

Honesty is an absolutely essential quality for leaders to demonstrate. No lie is a small lie. David himself had done some lying in his history, but he learned that it never secured God’s favor. Now, he wanted men of integrity on his team—men who would speak the truth.

David wanted those who would serve him in his royal court to evidence these five character qualities. One reason might be that David recognized these were the kinds of character qualities that God Himself desired before His throne. In Psalm 15, David wrote about the character of the person God invites into His inner circle.
LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart; he who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend (Psalm 15:1-3).

God Promotes Loyalty

Whom does God promote to the place of abiding in His presence? Psalm 15:3 says God brings into His immediate presence the man who does not “take up a reproach against his friend.” That phrase is describing a loyal person. One who is loyal to his friend will not be quick to pick up an accusation or reproach against his friend because he knows him. The loyal spirit will say, “No, that can’t be right. I know John. He doesn’t conduct himself that way. John is my friend, and I know he would never intentionally do the kind of thing you’re saying he has done.” A loyal person will not take up an offence or reproach against his or her friend because loyalty puts more weight in the integrity of the friend than in the credibility of the accusation. To the loyal friend, the burden of proof is with the accuser. Unless the accuser can present sufficiently compelling evidence, the reproach is dismissed because of the relationship that loyalty has built. And even if the accusation proves to be true, the true friend confronts and searches out the truth in loyalty and love.

An important part of being a good friend is being loyal. David was asserting that God promotes into His inner circle those who are loyal to their human friends. The Lord seems to think that the one who is loyal to his friend on earth will be loyal, in like manner, to his heavenly Friend.

God earmarks the loyal for promotion. “‘For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him’” (2 Chronicles 16:9). God is always searching the world over for servants who are truly loyal to Him. When He finds that kind of loving loyalty, He raises them up and shows Himself strong on their behalf. The wise leader will take his cue from God’s leadership style and will wait to promote someone until he sees enduring qualities like faithfulness, humility, and loyalty in the life of that member.

Take a lesson from Korah. Korah wanted to be promoted by God to the place that Aaron or Moses held over the people. But God would not promote Korah because he was loyal only to himself. If Korah had been the leader, and God had said to him, “Korah, step aside, I’m going to destroy the entire nation of Israel, and raise up another nation through you,” Korah would have accepted the offer. He would have said, “Here am I, Lord, Your faithful servant; let it be done to me according to Your word.” But God didn’t need that kind of a man as leader. He needed a loyal man like Moses who, when God spoke of destroying the nation, would stand in the breach and turn away the wrath of God.[1] The disloyal servant will never be the intercessor God needs, so he will not be promoted by God.

Look for loyalty in those whom you promote to your primary levels of leadership. You may not enjoy the luxury of having loyalty among all those who serve in secondary or tertiary levels of leadership, but it is critical that those in your inner core of leadership be loyal in love to you.

Others who don’t understand this leadership principle may find your selection of primary leaders to be exclusive and smacking of favoritism. But wise leaders have come to learn that we shouldn’t promote someone simply because he or she has tenure and influence in the system. Tenure does not guarantee loyalty. So a wise leader may choose to promote a loyal person with less experience over someone who has institutional seniority but who lacks a true heart of loyalty.

I’d like to close this chapter with a contemporary example of someone who has been promoted because of loyalty, and Larry Hill comes to mind. A friend showed me a letter he had received from Dr. Larry Hill, Executive Director of Christ For The Nations Institute in Dallas, TX, inviting him to come speak on their campus once again. Larry wrote to my friend, “The Guest Speaker Committee, and the Lindsay family, would love for you to come back to CFNI and minister to our students.” I was struck by how Larry referenced “the Lindsay family” in his letter. Christ For The Nations was founded by Gordon and Freda Lindsay, and is led today by Mom Lindsay and her son, Dennis Lindsay. Larry was honoring their legacy and leadership in his letter. Larry is a powerful minister of the gospel in his own right, and would not need to follow in the shadow of the Lindsays in order to establish his own ministry platform. But he is honoring of the fact that he stands in a place of entrustment given to him by the Lindsays. Even a simple letter of invitation was reflective of his personal loyalty to them. Because of that loyalty, he is trusted to serve as the primary executive leader of one of our nation’s most powerful Bible Schools. His loyalty has been rewarded with a place of greater servanthood.

For Group Discussion

1. How important have you found the character qualities of Psalm 101:5-7 to be, in choosing leaders?

2. Are there any other qualities you would add to that list of five?

3. Can you think of a time when you made the mistake of promoting someone who hadn’t demonstrated loyalty? What were the results?

4. Do you agree with this statement about Korah—“The disloyal servant will never be the intercessor God needs, so he will not be promoted by God”?

5. Discuss the statement, “Tenure does not guarantee loyalty,” and what it means for your team.

[1] Psalm 106:23.