God's Standard for Leadership

Every single leader will be judged according to this standard.
• “Did you use your wealth for frivolous living or for the needy?”

• “Did you give more leniency to the wealthy and popular than you did for the poor?”

• “In your warfare, did you harm the innocent poor because they were expendable?”

• “In your church, did you treat the homeless and mentally ill and poor as second-class citizens? Were they excluded because you considered money to be the means of entrance to fellowship? Were people unable to fellowship in restaurants and movies with you because they couldn’t afford it? Were the poor not welcome because they weren’t the same as the rest of you?”

• “In your schools, did you give fewer opportunities to have knowledge to the poor than to the wealthy of society?”

• “In your employment, do you give the poor equal opportunities for employment, even if they haven’t showered, don’t have experience or can’t work a full time job? Are they given short term employment by the wealthy who need clean up or help in their homes?”

• “In your charity distribution, did you give the poor good, nutritious food, good clothing to help them in the weather, or did you give them the items that weren’t good enough for those who could afford it?”

• “In your stores, was the cheapest food the garbage that no one could live off of, or the staples that everyone needs to live?”

• “In cheap housing, is that offered to the poorest of the poor, or only to those who could afford the medium-range prices?”

• “In the value system of your society, are the poor assumed to be immoral, simply because they were poor? Are the poor questioned and doubted when no one else would be? Is there theology that teaches that the poor are less spiritual? Is the poor of one’s family shunted aside and rejected? Does no one want to see them, simply because everyone feels so guilty just looking at them?”

'In your family, did you treat those under you with as much respect as you demanded for yourself? Did you meet their needs, as well as you could, both emotional and physical?'

If the poor are treated badly, then it is God himself that will judge. He alone defends them and will support them. And God will question each one of us according to how we treated those poorer than us. Let us pray we have a good answer. (Exodus 23:23; Matt 25:31-46; Proverbs 19:17)