God's Bad News

So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn’t I tell you he never prophesies good about me, but only disaster?" - 1 Kings 22:18

Even the best of leaders make mistakes. No one, except for God Himself, is infallible and often decisions must be made in haste (though perhaps, not as often as declared) rendering the best judgment an impossibility. In other words, good leaders mess up, but they manage their "mess-ups" better than others.

Yet, what about the leader who consistently makes bad decisions, particularly in the eyes of God?

The leader that pursues ungodly aims, as did Ahab of Israel, is often free to do so. He may successfully lead his followers to "drink the Kool-Aid," because no one ever wants to face the harsh reality of bad news. When the goal of a leader is to remain in power and the goal of the people is to remain comfortable, wisdom is often sacrificed on the altar of expedience. Just know that the leader who knowingly and consistently ignores God's inconvenient, uncomfortable truth will not escape God's wrath or punishment any more than the followers who blindly follow him to their mutual destruction.

Ahab didn't appreciate the truth coming from the mouth of God's prophets because it wasn't what he wanted to hear, but sometimes the leader's best counsel and the people's best hope is God's bad news.

Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill