Leadership and peer pressure

While it should be a general rule that a leader is loved by those who follow his or her leadership, the leader must not lead to be loved or liked. He/she leads because they are convinced there is something better for those who follow and they believe that, by God’s grace, they can take those people to that better place.

In my Bible reading this morning (Exodus 31-33), I came across a scene where three leaders were placed side-by-side. In the story of “The Golden Calf” in Exodus 32, we see Moses (the tired, seasoned leader), Joshua (the developing leader), and Aaron (a pitiful excuse for a leader).

As Moses was on Mount Sinai getting the Law from God, Aaron was left in charge. I can imagine that when Moses asked Aaron to oversee the Israelites, Aaron may have dropped his jaw as his eyes widened and from his mouth were heard words like this: “Me?! Really?! You’re leaving ME in charge of these people?!”

Bad mistake! Bad! Bad! Bad mistake!

Leadership is a skill that must be developed. Joshua was being mentored by Moses. That's exactly how it should happen. Aaron, on the other hand may have simply been a last minute choice to oversee the people. After all, “What could possibly go wrong?”, they may have asked.

Well, under Aaron’s leadership, the people came to him and presented a plan that was wrong on every level.

Exodus 32:1 (New Living Translation)
“When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. ‘Come on,’ they said, ‘make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.’”

Being such a weak leader and possibly fearful of what would happen if he didn’t do as the people asked, Aaron complied. In fact, he actually went into leadership mode and oversaw the project that would create a golden god that the people worshipped in a way that would have made the most wicked of pagans blush.

When confronted by Moses, Aaron showed how truly weak he was. Listen as he tries to excuse what happened under his leadership:

Exodus 32:21-25 (New Living Translation)
“Finally, he (Moses) turned to Aaron and demanded, ‘What did these people do to you to make you bring such terrible sin upon them?’
‘Don’t get so upset, my lord,’ Aaron replied. ‘You yourself know how evil these people are. They said to me, “Make us gods who will lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.” So I told them, “Whoever has gold jewelry, take it off.” When they brought it to me, I simply threw it into the fire – and out came this calf!’
Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies.”

It’s easy to see what happened. Because Aaron was afraid of the people he was leading, he bowed to their desires and brought great harm upon them in the process.

We could also state it this way: Since Aaron cared more about how he was perceived by others than he cared about those he led, he made a decision that in the short term protected him but hurt the people.

If you are a boss who craves to be affirmed by your employees and therefore cave into their demands at the expense of the business' health, you have much in common with Aaron.
If you are a parent who craves to be affirmed by your child and therefore cower to their sinful demands and desires, you bear a striking resemblance to Aaron.
If you are a student who craves the respect of your peers at school and therefore engages in activity that goes against your conscience and God’s Word, you look just like Aaron.

Whether we're talking about a parent, a student, a boss, a pastor, or anyone else who influences others, a true leader is easily seen when times get tough - they are the only ones standing when everyone else is bowing to peer pressure.

Daniel 3:16-18 (New Living Translation)
"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, 'O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.'"