My friends Tim and Kristina have a Yorkie named Misha that looks like an Ewok from Star Wars. My friends James and Nikki have an adorable Cavalier King Charles named Zoey that I have to confess I have been tempted to steal. I can’t say much about Steve and Kim’s rat other than to wonder who sinned, Steve or his parents, that he was born allergic to dogs. Animals play an important role in our lives as teachers. This is biblical. Proverbs 6:6 tells us, “Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.” Leeches, ravens, eagles, serpents, ants, rock badgers, locusts, lizards, lions, and roosters are among our teachers in Proverbs 30. Three of my best teachers were dogs.
Noel was a scruffy little Schnauzer who taught me the power of welcoming people who may feel awkward and out of place. Kelly was a black Labrador Retriever who loved to sit with me for long periods of time. She would rather be with me than her own kind. She taught me about lingering in the presence of God and being at peace in the presence of the One who is Wholly Other than me. My current teacher is a tricolor Aussalier named Millie. She has never met a stranger, and she is a terrible guard dog because she thinks everyone is a friend that wants to rub her belly. While I will not be offering my belly to anyone for a rub, I do find myself regularly praying, “Lord, teach me to love people the way Millie does.”
I realize dogs sometimes appear in negative contexts in the Bible, though they are not listed as ritually unclean animals. There is archaeological evidence from the skeletal remains found within the Levant that the domestication of dogs did not happen until the Persian (559-331 BC) and Hellenistic (323-30 BC) periods within Israel. The historical setting of the Old Testament ranges between 1500 – 400 BC, so their context predates the domestication of dogs in their area. Over time Jews began to view dogs more positively, as can be seen in the second-century B.C. book of Tobit. Tobit, a devout and wealthy Israelite living among the captives deported to Nineveh from the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722/721 B.C., suffers severe reverses and is finally blinded. Because of his misfortunes he begs the Lord to let him die. But recalling the large sum he had deposited in faraway Media, he sends his son Tobias there to bring back the money, accompanied by the angel Raphael and the family dog, “The young man went out, and the angel went with him, and the dog came out with him and went along with them. So they both journeyed along, and when the first night overtook them they camped by the Tigris River” (Tobit 6:1–2, NRSV).
Other ancient authors began to observe that dogs know to elevate an injured leg, just as Hippocrates prescribed. They also observed that dogs know what plants to eat as medicine to induce vomiting if they have eaten something that upsets their stomach and that dogs know to lick their wounds to ensure it remains clean and will heal more quickly. Dogs began to be associated with healing as a physician of the animal kingdom. Dogs appear in the cult of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine. Sacred dogs, living in the god’s temples, would lick visitors’ injuries. Their tongues apparently soothed and healed wounds. Perhaps this gives insight into the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). While the rich man could not be bothered to offer mercy and aid to this destitute man, a dog had compassion on Lazarus, providing company and licking his sores to bring relief and remedy. The dog was teaching compassion, but the rich man would not listen.
You do not need to rush out and get a dog, but I do want to encourage you to slow down and listen to God’s voice through his creation, be it a dog, a cat, a gerbil, and yes, even a rat. Hurry, rush, time crunches, FOMO, and the love of exhaustion and busyness rob us of the simple joys of welcome, presence, and love. Thank you, Noel, Kelly, and Millie, for teaching this to me. I am a better person because of you.
The following excerpt is from my forthcoming book, Following Wisdom, Leading Wisely: Proverbs as Ancient Wisdom for Today’s Leader.
What is desired in a man is steadfast love, and a poor man is better than a liar.
Proverbs 19:22
It has always seemed strange to me that one of the two “greatest commandments” is buried in Leviticus 19, a chapter that seems to bring together a hodge-podge of random and unrelated laws ranging from don’t gossip, don’t hate, don’t take revenge, don’t bear a grudge to laws of social justice, such as leave parts of the harvest for the poor; don’t pervert justice; don’t withhold wages; don’t use false weights and measures. And while you are it, don’t crossbreed livestock; don’t plant a field with mixed seeds; don’t wear a garment of mixed wool and linen; don’t eat fruit of the first three years; don’t eat blood; don’t practice divination; don’t cut yourself. The whole book seems devoted to blood, guts, fire, and prohibitions against very tasty seafood.
I admit it, Leviticus is a challenge for me. It even threatens my habit of reading through the Bible every year. I start the new year in Genesis, a book with fantastic stories and interesting characters. So far, so good. Then comes Exodus. It’s exciting at first. God delivers his people from Egyptian slavery. Then things get messy, but I keep reading. After Exodus comes Leviticus, the graveyard of Bible reading plans. Well intentioned readers have walked into Leviticus never to be seen again, lost somewhere between burning bulls, tossing blood, and fat covered entrails. Leviticus is usually the last book Christians read. It is, however, traditionally the first book Jewish children learn in the Rabbinic system of education.[1] And I think they have the better of it.
The book itself focuses on the newly consecrated priests Aaron and his sons and is basically a manual of priestly regulations and procedures. The reason the Israelite priests were given such detailed instructions about the care of God’s sanctuary was to ensure his continuing presence with his people.[2]
The English name Leviticus comes from the Latin Leviticus. The Jews used the opening word of the book, Vayikra’, ‘he called’, as the title of this book.[3] Jewish rabbis explain that “He called” is a term of endearment. Many of God’s messages in the Torah are prefaced by the words, “he said,” “He spoke,” or “He commanded,” but Vayikra, “He called,” is the language of invitation, friendship, and love. “In love God called Abraham to follow him. In love God led the way for the wandering Israelites in a pillar of cloud by day, fire by night. In love God calls the people Israel to come close to Him, to be regular visitors at His house, to share His quality of holiness, difference, apartness: to become, as it were, mediators of His presence to the world.”[4]
While Leviticus seems about as far removed from our world as a book could possibly be, it is a key text, if not the key text, to Judaism, and consequently, Christianity. Leviticus was central to the education of Jesus, as well as the Apostle Paul and all the other Jewish followers of Jesus.
The command of God to love your neighbor, your enemy, and the stranger is far more than demanding than “the Golden Rule.” In Matthew 7:12, Jesus says, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” The idea of “The Golden Rule” is not unique to Judaism or Christianity. Similar examples of this rule are found in Hinduism, “This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain for you” (Mahababharata 5.1517); Confucianism, “Do not do to others what you would not have them do for you” (Analects of Confucius 15:23); Buddhist writings, “Hurt not others in ways you yourself would find hurtful” (Udana-Varga 5.18); and in ancient Greek philosophy, “May I do to others as I would they should do unto me” (Plato, Laws II).[5] The concept appears as well in Islam, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, and most of the world’s major religions.[6]
Notice, however, that the Golden Rule, as stated by Jesus, is not actually a direct quotation of the commandment recorded in Leviticus 19:18, 33-34. He will do that later. The Golden Rule, as generally communicated, is not about love, but rather about justice and ethics, or perhaps what evolutionary psychologists call reciprocal altruism. But notice, the Leviticus passages do not tell us, “Be nice to your neighbor, because you would want him to be nice to you.” It says, “Love your neighbor.” That is something different and far stronger. It is this stronger and different sense that Jesus captures when he is asked, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:34–40). Notice how Jesus takes us beyond a universal call to be nice to people to a specific call to go beyond kindness and to love your neighbor as yourself.
In Luke 6:27-36, Jesus so intermingles acts of justice and mercy with the command to love that one can hardly distinguish one from the other. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” Personally, I think Jesus places these acts of obedience and the heart of love side-by-side because sometimes I must do acts of kindness to plant seeds of love in my own heart. Other times, I may feel love for a person and yet fail to express that love with acts of justice and mercy. Most of the time, though, my heart is hard and loveless, filled with judgement and prejudice against those not like me. It is here that I must learn again the power of doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with my God (Micah 6:8). Doing justice, being kind, and showing mercy hammer away at my heart of stone, cracking it open that love for my neighbor and love for my enemy may find lodging in a heart once at enmity with God and others. It is the act of obedience that becomes the organ of spiritual knowledge. I learn to love when I learn to be kind and merciful. And it is this love of the other, both neighbor and enemy, that helps insure the continual presence of God in my life. Leviticus is starting to make sense to me.
Now, back to Leviticus 19. This chapter contains two of the most powerful of all God’s commandments: to love your neighbor and to love the stranger. The first is in Leviticus 19:18, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord” (Lev 19:18). The second is in Leviticus 19:33-34, when the command to love your neighbor as yourself is taken to an unheard-of height when God commands that we also love the stranger, the alien, the one who is not like us. “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” It is this love that sanctifies and makes holy, that sets apart humans as the temple of God. It is love that opens your eyes to see God in his image-bearers, as broken and as hostile as they may be.
Most people in most societies in most ages have feared, hated, and often harmed the stranger, the alien, the one who is different. People don’t usually love strangers. Yet, this is exactly what God commands us to do. The command to love – not just God – but humanity, all of humanity, including strangers and enemies, is an extraordinary commandment and a world-changing idea. It is this love for neighbor and love for enemy that makes us “holy to the Lord,” and this helps insure the continually abiding presence of God among his people.[7] As our rabbi Jesus told us, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).
You can excel in casting vision, managing details, and motivating the masses, but if you are not loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving your neighbor as yourself, you are failing as the leader God has called you to be. For you are called to lead not only to motivate people, make a profit, and increase the influence of your organization, you are called to be holy, to increase the presence of God in the world through love of neighbor, love of enemy, and love of the stranger. You are called to participate in the priestly ministry of democratizing holiness, moving holiness from the sanctuary to society, from your private world to your neighborhood, and from a love of humanity to love for the human near you, even when that human hates you or you feel threatened by them because they are different than you.
[1] Sacks, Jonathan. Leviticus: The Book of Holiness. New Milford, CT: Maggid Books & The Orthodox Union, 2015. 3.
[2] R. K. Harrison, Leviticus: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 3, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1980), 26.
[3] R. K. Harrison, Leviticus: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 3, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1980), 13.
[4] Sacks, Jonathan. Leviticus: The Book of Holiness. New Milford, CT: Maggid Books & The Orthodox Union, 2015. 5.
[5] Michael Westmoreland-White, “Golden,” in Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics, ed. Joel B. Green et al. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011), 331–332.
[6] Raymond F. Collins, “Golden Rule,” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 1070.
[7] Sacks, Jonathan. Leviticus: The Book of Holiness. New Milford, CT: Maggid Books & The Orthodox Union, 2015.
This post is taken from chapter five of my forthcoming book, “Following Wisdom, Leading Wisely: Proverbs as Ancient Wisdom for Today’s Leader.” Publication date to be determined.
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Proverbs 16:18
The temptation of pride and self-exaltation are real for everyone, regardless of their stage or station in life. It is especially dangerous for leaders. When pride becomes a stronghold in a leader, it becomes hubristic or narcissistic behavior that is destructive not only for the leader as an individual, but also for the whole organization.
Hubris is a grandiose sense of self, characterized by disrespectful attitudes toward others and a misperception of one’s place in the world. Although hubrists share grandiosity with narcissists, hubris is more than a manifestation of pathological narcissism; it is an acquired condition caused when an individual attains a position of significant power and then overestimates their abilities and significance and is then empowered by a lack of constraints within the organization on how a leader exercises power. Hubris is a reactive disorder that grows to fruition when an unhealthy leader obtains power in an unhealthy organizational system.[1]
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is one of 10 personality disorders recognized in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.[2] The hallmark signs of NPD read like laundry list of what not to look for in a significant other: An inflated sense of self-importance, grandiosity, self-absorption, vanity, a lack of empathy for others, and a deep, incessant need for constant attention, adulation, and power.
Research presented to the American Association of Christian Counselors in 2015 found that pastors are 500-3000% more likely to be narcissistic than the general population.[3] You read that correctly, 500-3000%. According to the research, the ministerial profession attracts individuals with Narcissistic Personality Disorder as a way to supply their psychological needs. The authors assert, “ministry attracts narcissists for the same reasons that elementary schools and playgrounds attract pedophiles: these institutions provide access to victims.”[4] Clinical psychologist and neurotheologian James Wilder states, “Virtually all Christians will experience a narcissistic pastor during their lifetime.”[5] Ball and Puls research found that 30-90% of churches in the Western world are run by narcissists. Using this information, Wilder concluded that because of the pervasiveness of narcissistic leaders in pastoral ministry, Christian churches are to a significant extent “unable to recognize personality disorders and may even find these disorders desirable in leaders.”[6]
What is desired in a man is steadfast love
Proverbs 19:22
In The Pandora Problem: Facing Narcissism in Leaders and Ourselves, James Wilder asserts that narcissists “seem to lack something needed to be fully human. Scripture says that what is missing is ‘hesed.’”[7]Hesed is a Hebrew often translated as steadfast love, kindness, faithfulness, and loyalty. The core idea of this term relates to loyalty within a relationship. In relation to the concept of love, it denotes God’s faithfulness to his people.[8] This word is used in Proverbs 19:22, “What is desired in a man is steadfast love.” Wilder describes hesed as attachment love. “Attachment love is the kind of force that can form and transform character.”[9] Wilder argues throughout the book that attachment love lived out in community is the solution to overcoming narcissism.
It is this absence of community, Wilder argues, that causes professional counseling to have limited or no success in treating narcissists because counseling is almost exclusively done in the absence of a community. Transformation cannot be done alone. It requires a community rooted in hesed. The fundamental human community is the family. The foundational relationship in a family is the husband and wife.
The New Testament equivalent to hesed is agape. Agape signifies the true and pure love of the Father for his Son (Jn 17:26), his people (Gal 6:10), and for all humanity (Jn 3:16; Rom 5:8). The Bible declares the very nature of God is love (1 Jn 4:8, 16). Love is the law of the New Covenant (Rom 13:8-13). When we walk in love we are walking in the light (1 Jn 2:10). When you betray the law of love, you enter into the darkness of self-deception.[10] Your view of reality becomes distorted because when you turned away from the light of walking in love and now darkness and deception cloud your heart and mind. You begin to see the world in a way that justifies yourself and condemns others. This is what John is talking about in 1 John 2:9-11, “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
Here is an example of what I mean. Let’s say you come home at the end of a long and exhausting day of work, as you enter your house your wife says, “Honey, before you take your shoes off, could you run to the store to pick up some bread and milk.” You have a choice to make: Will you choose the law of love, or will you betray it? If you choose the law of love, your response will be something like, “Yes, why of course.” You are happy to serve your wife and family this way. Off you go to the market. You might even pick up some flowers or chocolate for your wife to express your love and appreciation for her.
If, on the other hand, you decide to betray the law of love, you will enter the darkness of self-deception. You begin to think of yourself as the victim of your wife’s laziness, “why couldn’t she go to the store? Doesn’t she realize how hard I work to provide for this family, and she has the nerve to want me to go to the store. She doesn’t appreciate all I do for her.” The whole time you are sulking around the supermarket, you are exaggerating her faults and magnifying your virtues. This is what happens when you betray hesed/agape.
The depth of heart-change caused by a marriage rooted in hesed/agape helps root out self-exaltation, hubris, and narcissistic tendencies in leadership. In order for the marriage relationship to become a healing community, it is required that both spouses are committed to health and wholeness as individuals and as a couple. It is for this reason, I believe, that Proverbs celebrates both the man and the woman of noble character. Both the noble husband and the noble wife are equally committed to following the path of wisdom, feasting at wisdom’s banquet, and listening to wisdom’s voice. Following the way of wisdom in marriage will bring healing to this most fundamental of all relationships that in turn heals the wound of sin and the lust for self-exaltation that seeks to rule the heart.
[1] Asad, Sarosh, and Eugene Sadler-Smith. “Differentiating Leader Hubris and Narcissism on the Basis of Power.” Leadership 16, no. 1 (February 2020): 39–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715019885763.
[2]Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition Text Revision: DSM-5-TR. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 2022.
[3] Ball, R. Glenn, and Darrell Puls. “Frequency of Narcissistic Personality Disorder in Pastors: A …” Accessed June 7, 2022. https://cardinalcaregroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/AACC_2015_Paper_NPD_in_Pastors-1.pdf.
[7] Wilder, James. The Pandora Problem: Facing Narcissism in Leaders and Ourselves. Carmel: Deeper Walk International, 2018, 16.
[8] R. P. Nettelhorst, “Love,” in Lexham Theological Wordbook, ed. Douglas Mangum et al., Lexham Bible Reference Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
OK. So, I have this thing and I am asking for your help.
I have been involved in developing national church planting movements for more than 25 years. Over the years, I have seen one problem that arises again and again when developing national church planting movements: The need to develop new leaders to multiply ministries and churches that advance the Gospel into unreached and under-reached nations and people groups.
I am pursuing the Doctor in Leadership in Global Perspectives at George Fox University because I want to discover pathways to break through this barrier in order to reach more people, make more disciples, develop more leaders, and plant more churches so more people can hear about Jesus.
I am able to pay about half the cost of the total program. I need your help to pay the remaining annual costs of $6000 per year over the next three years. The total amount I need to raise for the program is $18,000. Student loans are not an option for me. My life and my work do not allow for this type of added debt.
So, I am working on multiple ways to cover my expenses without the added burden of financial debt. I am applying for scholarships, donating speaker honorariums, and asking for your help by starting a GoFundMe campaign. Would you prayerfully consider helping me? Your support will help me a lot. Any amount that you can donate, whether big or small, will be more than appreciated.
We have some incredible people who serve the mission of God in Europe. We are honored to stand arm-in-arm with them to reach the nations. The only way we can do this is because hundreds of people partner with us in prayer and financial partnership. The work that the Lord has invited these individuals to join Him in is so important, and your support for them and their work is mission-critical. Allow me to share with you how your partnership in the Gospel serves them and their work …
A RHYTHM OF SOWING INTO OUR BEST
Over the last few years, our annual fall gatherings have become critical for both ongoing training and refreshing fellowship. In 2019 Gary Dunahoo took our team through the Birkman Assessment Tool. It was life-changing. Seriously. The global pandemic prevented us from meeting in person in 2020, but we were still able to build off of the tools we received through the Birkman assessment by doing an online “Stress Lab.” This helped our FMI Europe team deal with the stress of their work.
Our 2021 gathering in Cologne, Germany, focused on Coaching as a Ministry Skill. We were honored to have Keith and Laurie Webb with us. Who knew learning to ask powerful questions would open up new levels of ministry and discovery?
These fall gatherings have also become an FMI Europe family reunion – full of laughs and hugs, and a place where we as workers are both challenged and welcomed to develop and grow alongside our peers. The 2022 fall gathering will be no exception.
Our October 26-30, 2022 gathering will focus on ‘Care: Finding New Rhythms’ with Angie Richie, president of Life Pacific University. Angie is not only a university president, but she is also a licensed therapist. She specializes in emotional and mental health and will help us discover ways to implement new and healthy rhythms into our lives to keep us well, and empower us to be everything Jesus has called us to be. We will learn new ways to establish healthy boundaries, how to separate ourselves from the emotions of others, and how to find life-giving spiritual rhythms. It will be both challenging and encouraging. We can’t wait to learn from her!
In addition to the rich content presented by Angie, this gathering will also include an emotional health assessment, children’s ministry for our kids provided by a USA church, and times of practical implementation and processing with one another that will anchor these truths in our hearts and minds. We believe the result will be deep personal transformation. Afterward, your workers will also have an opportunity to join a cohort for continued growth and transformation in specific areas of life.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
There are three things I am asking for help with to serve and care for these incredible individuals:
First, can you cover this time of ministry and training with prayer? Please join us by starting now and keeping it covered through October. We are asking God to do deep and real work in our lives. We know that this work begins and continues in prayer.
Second, can you sponsor your global workers to participate in this gathering? Over the last several years, many of you have rallied to fund their participation in this annual event. And because of your financial partnership, we have continued to provide these annual gatherings at minimal cost to our entire Europe-based team. They need only pay to get to the host city, and then for a couple of meals each day. Our costs to host them, which include lodging, breakfast, and field-focused training for four days, will be $400 for singles, $600 for couples, and $800 for families. Would you consider sponsoring those you have sent to participate in this event? It is a very worthwhile investment, and any amount of support will help us.
Third, would you consider encouraging your global worker to participate in this event? Let them know how thrilled you are that they are taking the time to invest in themselves. Those you have sent to the field are self-sacrificing people. Sometimes they need a nudge (or a push) to take time away from ministry to be refreshed, strengthened, and renewed. To invest in themselves. Help us help and care for them.
Thank you for every way in which you support and encourage our Foursquare Missions work on this continent. Thank you for sending your best people, and for continuing to stand with them. It is through your continued partnership that we will see spiritual renewal in Europe!
Jeff, Debbie, and the FMI Europe Ministry Team
FMI Deployed Workers are Making a Difference in these Nations
Debbie and I serve as the FMI Global Associate Director for MENACA and Europe. We focus on cultivating disciples, leaders, and church planting movements.
Debbie and I serve as the FMI Global Associate Director for MENACA and Europe. We focus on cultivating disciples, leaders, and church planting movements.
