The Consequences of Poor Spiritual Leadership

The consequences of poor spiritual leadership are shown well through Jacob's decision to settle his family in Shechem. Jacob's family, especially his daughter, Dinah, suffered because of his poor spiritual leadership. He planted his family at Shechem, never considering the terrible spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional consequences. What can men learn from Jacob's mistakes? How can fathers and husbands - as well as sons growing up to be men - do to avoid some of these same mistakes? https://youtu.be/2JI_Xx6BYqs The consequences of poor spiritual leadership are shown well through Jacob's decision to settle his family in Shechem in Genesis 34. Table of ContentsSermon Notes on the Consequences of Poor Spiritual LeadershipLesson 1: sacrifice is no substitute for obedience.Lesson 2: a father’s compromise endangers his family.Lesson 3: the world wants to assimilate our families.Lesson 4: a father’s passivity causes problems.Lesson 5: a father must protect his family .Lesson 6: sin ruins our witness.Lesson 7: (part I) it’s never too late for a father to lead…Lesson 7: (part I) it’s never too late for a father to lead (part II) and when he does, his family often follows. Sermon Notes on the Consequences of Poor Spiritual Leadership This morning’s message focuses on fathers, but I’d say it has application for all of you: If you’re a wife, you need to know what’s expected of your husband so you can help him in his spiritual leadership. If you’re a young man, hopefully you’ll become a father someday, so this has application for you as that day approaches. If you’re a young woman, you’ll probably get married someday, so you need to know what to look for in a husband and father of your children. And if you never marry, you will be in the Church with people who are married and you will have opportunities to encourage others in the one-another’s listed for us in the New Testament. So there’s application for all of us! Let’s begin by looking at Genesis 31:13…the context is God talking to Jacob… Genesis 31:13 I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Now arise, go out from this land and return to the land of your kindred.’” Jacob fled from his uncle Laban. God met him and told him to return to Bethel where he had his famous dream of the ladder stretching from heaven to earth w/ angels ascending and descending on it. Look at Genesis 33:18 to see if Jacob went to Bethel like God commanded… Genesis 33:18 And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-aram, and he camped before the city. He settled in Shechem. This isn’t Bethel, is it? Where does it say Shechem is located? In the land of Canaan. Not a good place to be. The people are so evil in a few centuries God is going to call for their extermination. You could read this and say, “Well, he’s just stopping here for a moment and then he’ll be on his way.” Not quite. Look at verse 19… Genesis 33:19 And from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, he bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. 20 There he erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel (which means, “God, the God of Israel”). Jacob purchased land and pitched his tent. He wasn’t planning on leaving any time soon. Instead of obeying God, he delayed, and this compromise caused real problems. Notice it says he erected an altar. In the middle of Jacob’s compromise he did something that all of us can fall susceptible to, and this brings us to Lesson 1… Lesson 1: sacrifice is no substitute for obedience. God didn’t want an altar. He wanted Jacob to get to Bethel. There was no amount of altars he could build or sacrifices he could offer that were going to take the place of Jacob obedience. 1 Samuel 15:22 “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. Sacrifices are no substitute for obedience! This has application for all of us… As fathers… There are lots of sacrifices we can make: We can work hard to take care of our families… We can pay our bills on time… We can work hard around the house… But there’s no substitute for obeying the primary commands God’s given us as men: Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. We can’t work hard enough that it can ever take the place of loving our wives. Loving our wives IS the sacrifice God wants. Ephesians 6:4b Fathers…bring [up your children] in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. God wants men to teach their children about Him. No matter how hard you work – no matter what sacrifices you make – nothing can take the place of praying with your children and reading the Word w/ them. As mothers, there are lots of sacrifices you can make, but there’s no substitute for obeying the primary commands given to you in Titus 2:4-5… Love your husbands and children, be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to [your] husbands. As children, there’s no sacrifice that can take the place of the primary command… Ephesians 6:2-3 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Jacob’s example teaches us that God doesn’t want sacrifices. What he wants is obedience. If Jacob would’ve obeyed God we wouldn’t have to read the terrible account in the next chapter. Look at Genesis 34:1… Genesis 34:1 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the women of the land. Since Dinah was Jacob’s only daughter – surrounded by 12 brothers – she probably went looking for female fellowship. When it says of the land, what land is this? Canaan! So let me ask a few questions: Should Dinah be going out and looking for female friends in Canaan? Is that the kind of fellowship she should have…w/ pagan women who are going to be destroyed in a few centuries b/c of their wickedness? Second, should she be going alone like this? Third, is this really her fault? Jacob is in an area where he doesn’t know the people – or worse HE DOES KNOW THE PEOPLE – and he still lets his daughter go out like this. What could he have done instead? He could’ve forbid her from going. Or he could’ve sent her w/ one – or 12 – of her brothers. And this brings us to Lesson 2… Lesson 2: a father’s compromise endangers his family. One way we can make sure we’re learning the lessons in Scripture that God wants us to learn is to look for repetition. Repetition is God’s primary teaching tool. Jacob settled in an area that endangered his family, and we see a number of men in Scripture do something similar. For example: Abraham endangered his wife twice, in Genesis 12 and 20 when he went to Egypt and lied about her being his sister. Lot ruined – his family by settling in Sodom in Genesis 19. Isaac endangered his wife, Rebekah, in Genesis 26 when he followed his father’s example and lied about her being his sister. Elimelech took his family to Moab in Ruth 1 and it had disastrous consequences. Considering the number of times we see this in Scripture, we should take notice. As fathers: We don’t want to follow the examples of these men and put our families in compromising or dangerous situations. We have to be intentional and purposeful leaders. We have to think about: Where we take our families Where we let them go Where we don’t let them go Young ladies, let me get you to look at me for a moment: If you have a father who would not let you do what Jacob let Dinah do… If you have a father who tells you, “No,”… If you have a father who encourages you to dress modestly, and makes you change if you don’t… If you have a father who discourages you from keeping certain company… If you’ve ever said, “Well my dad doesn’t let me…” and then fill in the blank… You need to thank him! You have a father who’s doing a better job w/ you than Jacob did w/ his daughter. Since he didn’t protect her, it didn’t take long for something terrible to happen. Look at verse 2… 2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humiliated her. 3 And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob. He loved the young woman and spoke tenderly to her. 4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this girl for my wife.” 5 Now Jacob heard that he (Shechem) had defiled his daughter Dinah. But his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob held his peace until they came. 6 And Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him. 7 The sons of Jacob had come in from the field as soon as they heard of it, and the men (Jacob’s sons) were indignant and very angry, because he had done an outrageous thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter, for such a thing must not be done. 8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him to be his wife. (Now notice this…) 9 MAKE MARRIAGES WITH US. GIVE YOUR DAUGHTERS TO US, AND TAKE OUR DAUGHTERS FOR YOURSELVES. 10 You shall dwell with us, and the land shall be open to you. Dwell and trade in it, and get property in it.” Let me get you to think about something… Jacob and his family are basically the nation of Israel. All 12 sons that will become the 12 tribes are represented here. And Hamor is trying to get them to become Canaanites. And this brings us to the next part of Lesson 3… Lesson 3: the world wants to assimilate our families. One of the greatest responsibilities God’s people had in the OT was staying holy and set apart....