Being spiritual about things
1 Samuel 14: Saul did something really foolish that day.
It’s war. Saul’s army is in battle with the hated Philistines. Saul’s son Jonathan leads the way. Single handedly he’s killed about 20 of the enemy. God’s working here, bringing confusion to the enemy army. In addition to the damage Saul’s army is doing them they seem to be at war with one another. It’s now that Saul does a “really foolish” thing. He commands his army to fast while they fight. His men are in hand-to-hand combat all day but eat nothing. When the battle ends at the end of the day they’re so hungry that they’re eating raw meat, meat with the blood still in it, which is contrary to God’s Law. The writer tells us that it’s all Saul’s fault. He’s in charge and they depend on his leadership. He’s let them down by adding to their burden in an attempt to make their effort seem “more spiritual.” It’s important that leaders be spiritually sensitive. We’re not to dress things up to make them seem more spiritual than they already are, but at the same time, we’re to take the lead in recognizing God’s work in even supposed “non-spiritual” efforts. Saul overplays his hand here and the result is near disaster. I pray that God will help me to be sensitive to spiritual things and to be a leader who “is” spiritually minded rather than a person who is foolishly, like Saul, merely “acting” spiritually minded.
Take Away: Spiritual leaders don’t play the role of someone who is spiritually minded; rather, they ARE spiritually minded.