2 Samuel 19:5-7
Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “You have today covered with shame the faces of all your servants, who have this day saved your life and the lives of your sons and your daughters and the lives of your wives and your concubines, because you love those who hate you and hate those who love you. For you have made it clear today that commanders and servants are nothing to you, for today I know that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased. Now therefore arise, go out and speak kindly to your servants, for I swear by the Lord, if you do not go, not a man will stay with you this night, and this will be worse for you than all the evil that has come upon you from your youth until now."
Loyalty of leadership is to the Lordship of Christ and the follower-ship of their organization, community or, in this case, kingdom. In the above story David was grieving over his rebellious son, Absalom. Absalom had attempted to steal the kingdom from his father, David. David went on the run and in the process of Absalom's pursuit he was killed by Joab, David's commander in the field. When David hears of the death of his son, he goes into mourning. This is the context of the above passage. David is so crushed by the death of his son, he forgets that his warriors had put their lives on the line that day to fight for him against Absalom. The passage in the previous chapter says that over 20,000 men died that day because of Absalom's rebellion. Yet, David sat and wept for his son, rather than support and commend his warriors for their hard work and dedication. Instead of loyalty to follower-ship, David was loyal to kinship. Leaders can't afford to send mixed-messages to followers. Followers, even the strongest of Warriors, need to know that their leader supports them and is proud of their accomplishments. We often, as leaders, can get so caught up in the ancillary issues of the "war" that we forget the support that those who serve need from us. Absalom was a rebellious son and did not deserve the loyalty that David was giving him. True, this was David's son, but his responsibility, as the leader, was to something far bigger and greater. No son wants to hear that, but the truth of the matter is that David's allegiance was to those who were allegiant to him and his cause. Jesus was confronted one day about the fact that his mother and brothers and sisters were waiting for him. Note what our Savior says about kinship and our loyalty to them:
Matthew 12:46-50
While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Those who are saved by the Blood and baptized by the Spirit are our mothers and brothers. David needed to hear the truth from Joab. We need to know the truth about our relationships. Those who are loyal to the central figure of Christ are those we are to be loyal to in our lives. Leadership should be loyal to their follower-ship. However, not all followers are followers of Christ. The ultimate loyalty is found in our combined relationship to our Savior.
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