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Read through 1 Samuel 8 the other day, and noticed something I’ve never seen before. What prompted the Israelites to reject God as their king, calling for an earthly king instead, was the failure of Samuel’s sons as leaders. Like Eli’s sons before them, Samuel’s sons, Joel and Abijah, did not follow in their father’s footsteps. Rather, they abused the power and privileges they were given, serving themselves by taking bribes and corrupting justice.

In the wake of this abuse, the Israelites were willing to sacrifice many of their freedoms in exchange for a seemingly more effective leadership model — where power was consolidated, centralized, and delivered over into the hands of one chief executive. Despite God’s warnings, they found it more preferable to serve a single human king they could see, rather than a God they could not see.

Makes me wonder — do we trust God’s leadership when human leaders fail or abuse their power? How much of our own freedom/responsibility do we trade in to serve leaders we can see (and hope to affect/control on some level?) versus God, who we can neither see nor control?

How does such abuse affect us? When we have a chance to lead, do we follow the way of Jesus (bottom up, washing feet/servanthood, preserving freedom, empowering), or that of earthly kings (top down, being served, limiting freedom, consolidating power)?

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