What a Waste!
What a Waste!
Judges 9:4
And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him.
Three characteristics of inept leaders emerge from this single description in Judges 9:4: one, that inept leaders waste the investment of others; two, that inept leaders try to buy allegiance rather than earn it; and three, that inept leaders trust men who can be bought off in the first place.
Now, admittedly, I’m not entirely sure how the mercenary market worked back in Canaan. Maybe it was par for the course for would-be kings to scour the markets for warriors, the way, say, contractors scoured the town square for day-laborers. Maybe there’s nothing especially foolhardy about Abimelech’s decision to amass an army in this manner. After all, he had to start somewhere, right? Maybe this is similar to the loan a small business owner takes from a bank at the outset of a new venture. But I don’t think that’s quite it. I believe the words ‘worthless’ and ‘reckless’ go hand-in-glove with the mercenary occupation. These are guys who’ll travel anywhere and fight anyone and kill any mark as long as the pay is good. They’re prostitutes of bloodshed. Instead of doing honest work on the farm or at the quarry or in the stables, instead of learning a trade or studying law or developing merchandise, they’re guns for hire.
That said, we’d all like a little more investment ourselves, wouldn’t we? Perhaps even a little more influence to go along with it? And we want a few more people beside us, echoing our convictions, cheering us on, following in our steps, and fighting by our side in the crucial battles, right? But do we trust God to bring along those contributors and collaborators in His perfect timing and in His perfect way? Or do we put our own hands on the dial and manipulate the process, maybe even try to buy a success that can only come organically?
Today, God has invested into our account infinitely more than seventy shekels of perishable silver. And He’s placed you in a specific context to lead those around you by example. So, my challenge is this: let’s not waste the next precious seconds on worthless and reckless ambitions. Buying mercenaries—that’s easy. Making disciples—that takes a lifetime.