When Weak Is Strong

One set of stories from the Bible includes an early kind of leader called a "judge." The stories of the judges are remembered and told in the book of Judges. The early model of leadership for the Hebrew people was about raising up leaders from among the people almost exclusively when a community crisis was imminent. The model recognized that everyone and everything are ultimately under God's leadership; it further recognized that human self-interest might make a "long-term" human ruler seek selfishly after their own interests at the expense of all else. (Sound familiar?) In any case, this week we will explore the story of the judge Gideon for clues about ourselves and our relationship to all else.