By Hoyt Wilson
Pastor, Flatwoods Baptist Church, Holladay
Focal Passage: Joshua 1:1-9
Before Gordon Bethune became the CEO of Continental Airlines in 1994 he said it was the worst of the worst. Of the nation’s 10 biggest air carriers, Continental was worst in on-time arrivals, worst in baggage handling, and worst in customer satisfaction. With a stock price near $3 per share, a history of bankruptcies, a string of ten different CEOs, and 10 consecutive years of losses, employees were removing the airline’s insignias from their uniforms and refusing to admit where they worked. (From Worst to First, Gordon Bethune. 1998). To investors and future leaders the place was a badland, a wilderness of unhappy people with no leadership, until the board of directors commissioned Gordon Bethune, a savvy, solution-oriented chief. From there Continental’s story looked up. Way up.
For 40 years before Joshua was commissioned as their leader, God’s people wandered in the badlands. They were disobedient, unhappy, and now with the imminent death of Moses they were grieving and soon to be leaderless. Imagine the despair. Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel once said “… If I were alone in the world, I would have the right to despair. But I am not alone.” Nor were the children of Israel alone. They had a sovereign father who, like Continental’s board, was about to commission a new leader.
And what a commission it was. In Deuteronomy 31 God tells Moses to call Joshua so God can commission him. The commissioning included a vision of the future and a promise of God’s presence. God said this land, promised to Abraham, is yours. It flows with milk and honey. But don’t fear challenges; don’t be weak; I’ve gone on ahead said the Lord. See it, Joshua? When God commissions a leader it is always to join God in His vision and to be with Him in His work.
See it, church? See it Christians? We’ve been called by the Holy Spirit and commissioned by God. His commissioning includes a vision and a spirit of courage because He’s gone ahead of us to that new job, that new school, that new relationship. He’s gone ahead of us to the missions field, to that church plant, or to the neighbor’s house. And He won’t leave us. It’s His work to be done His way. The choices we face today have that guarantee — a promise of God’s vision and a promise of God’s presence. That’s how He commissions us.
Friends, we are not in the business of turning our homes and churches around. God alone sits on the board of directors. He does the commissioning of His leaders. He sets the vision. He leads the troops. He fights the battles. He sets strategy and policy. And He chooses us. So let’s put the insignias back on our uniforms and let the world know we work for the best. Let’s hold our heads high as God takes our churches, our classes, and our homes from worst to first!
