Our leadership team recently read the book, A Tale of Three Kings. The book retells the biblical story of Saul, David, and Absalom! Persecuted first by a mad king and then by a vengeful son, the book tells how David resolutely trusted God when he was treated unfairly.

In considering the book and these stories, I was reminded how 1 Samuel 14:35 states that: “Saul built an altar to God; the first one he had ever built.” But fast-forward one chapter to I Samuel 15:12 and we see that, “Saul went up to Carmel to build a monument to himself.” Somewhere between those two verses, Saul stopped building altars to God and started building monuments to himself. At some point, it was no longer about God and it became about Saul.

In looking at the lives of David and Saul, it got me thinking about some of lessons we can learn from these two guys as it relates to leadership in the church. Here are some of those key learnings for leaders to remember…

1. Don’t play the comparison game. First, you’ll always find someone doing a better job than you and you’ll get discouraged. Second, you’ll always find someone that you’re doing a better job than, and you’ll get full of pride. Either way, you’ll be dead in the water.
2. Remember success isn’t about numbers. Saul got caught up in the numbers game. And David had better stats. Jesus was successful because he poured his life into twelve people! And like Jesus, we need to invest in the few for the sake of the multitudes. Rick Warren puts it this way, “A church should be judged not on its seating capacity, but on its sending capacity.”
3. Celebrate your failures. As we see in Saul, insecure people are afraid of failing. Secure people laugh at themselves. They celebrate failure because it accentuates what God can do in spite of us!
4. Don’t panic. Insecure people get nervous. They give up. Secure leaders hang in there no matter what. David waited patiently for the Lord because he was secure in his leadership and in God’s calling on his life.
5. Don’t get defensive. How you handle criticism will make or break you. I’ve learned over the years in ministry that you need tough skin and a soft heart.
6. Surround yourself with the right people. Who was Saul’s greatest asset? David. But if you are insecure, your greatest asset will become your greatest threat. And it will short-circuit your ability to surround yourself with a great team. And it will limit your influence.
7. Keep building altars to God. Remember, it’s not about you! It’s easy to drift like Saul did and build monuments to ourselves. 1 Corinthians 10:31 reminds us of this, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.^{” He is the Potter, we are the clay! He is the Vine, we are the branches. Apart from Him, we can do nothing!}