Teen Tuesday: Becoming a Leader

Easy Steps to Becoming a Leader

Bro Jason Watford

“Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, to the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.” (Joshua 1:1-2)

I can remember being told while sitting in multiple chapel and preaching services, “Be a leader, be a leader,” but honestly I had no idea what I was supposed to do in order to lead people. The Bible never commands one to be a leader, however, the Bible does teach that if you follow certain biblical principles that you will inevitably lead people. In this article, my goal is to show you how from a scriptural perspective to be a leader in some very easy steps based on the life of Joshua .

Moses was succeeded by Joshua, his minister. Have you ever wondered why Joshua succeeded Moses and not Aaron? I am convinced that the Lord chose Joshua to lead the children of Israel because of some qualities that Joshua developed in his life over the course of time and mainly during his teenage and young adult years. Joshua was born as a slave in Egypt. This shows us that it does not matter what home life or surroundings you were or are being brought up in, you can still be a leader. Joshua is only mentioned a few times in the Bible before Joshua chapter one. Allow me to take you step by step and review those times in Scripture where Joshua is mentioned before Joshua chapter one, and let us learn what he did to become the great leader.

1. Exodus 17:13, “And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.”

We all know the story of Aaron and Hur holding up the hands of Moses during a heated battle causing the children of Israel to win the battle with Amalek. However, Joshua was with the men in the battle and fought with them. While he was fighting with the men of Israel against Amalek, he was winning the hearts of those men by battling hard WITH them. To be a leader of people, you have to work hard. This is something that everyone can do. So many people want to watch people work and tell them how to work, but never work themselves. To be a leader in your school, YOU must make good grades, YOU must work hard on your bus route, YOU must work hard on your ball team, and YOU must work hard at walking with Jesus. Do not delegate to other people, lead by example like Joshua did.

2. Exodus 24:13, “And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.”

The second thing I find in the Bible about Joshua is that he associated himself with other leaders. Joshua went with Moses when he left to get the Ten Commandments. He could have stayed with the children of Israel, but he probably would have fallen into sin with them had he stayed. So many times teenagers “settle” to be around people who do not push them for Christ. I challenge you today to get with the leaders of your church. Walk with them, talk with them, take them out to eat, pick their brains with questions, and get to know them. Do not dominate their time, but try to get time with them as often as you can.

3. Exodus 32:17, “And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.”

The third thing that I find in Scriptures about Joshua is that he was too busy to sin. While all the people of Israel were dancing and worshiping a calf, he was too busy to partake in the sin. An idol mind is the Devil’s workshop. Too many people in churches have too much free time. Let me encourage you to get busy in your studies, bus route, prayer life and Bible reading so that you have no time for the Devil.

4. Exodus 33:11, “…but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.”

The fourth thing that I find about Joshua is that he was always where he needed to be. You never find Joshua somewhere that he should not have been. We often make leadership too hard. Leadership is being where you are supposed to be.  Be in church every week, be in your Bible, be in school, be at soul winning, be on your bus route and do not miss!! That is leadership!

5. Numbers 11:29, “And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon thee!”

The next thing that I find about Joshua is that he could be corrected. Leaders do not wear a chip on their shoulder. When a person is corrected, how they respond shows if they are qualified to be a leader. When your parents, youth pastor or teacher correct you, you show your leadership skills by how you respond.

6. Numbers 14:38, “But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still.”

The last thing that I find Joshua did before succeeding Moses was that when he was given a job, he could be trusted. When a person gets into high school they should be able to complete a job when given one. That is leadership. When you are given a job, a halfhearted effort shows a lack of leadership. I thank God that everything Christ does, He does it all the way, 100%, decently and in order.

Are you a leader? Do you do the simple things that makes one a leader? Joshua would have never succeeded Moses unless he took the right steps before he took over. If you desire to be the “top dog” one day, then you must also start taking the right steps as mentioned above.