Bishop Dag Heward-Mills
Recklessly advancing will lead to your defeat. What does it mean to advance recklessly? It is true that God wants your church to grow. It is true that God wants you to go out into the world and preach the gospel. But if you advance into these things without due caution, you will be defeated and forced to come back licking your wounds.
And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath promised: for we have sinned.
And Moses said, wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the Lord? but it shall not prosper.
GO NOT UP, FOR THE LORD IS NOT AMONG YOU; THAT YE BE NOT SMITTEN BEFORE YOUR ENEMIES.
For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you.
BUT THEY PRESUMED TO GO UP UNTO THE HILL TOP: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, departed not out of the camp.
Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah. –Numbers 14:40-45
The children of Israel advanced into battle recklessly. They did not do it wisely, carefully and humbly. They did not seek the will of God and they did not go at the right time. This is a perfect example of recklessly advancing.
Reckless Advancing
Recklessly advancing is caused by three main things.
1.Recklessly advancing is caused by hubris born of success: Hubris means pride! Hubris born of success is the pride and confidence that comes because of your past successes. Your past successes have a way of feeding you with confidence that what lies ahead will be defeated as easily as what you just conquered.
2. Recklessly advancing is caused by the undisciplined pursuit of more: Pursuing more fruit is God’s will. Doing more for the kingdom of God is the right thing. As you pursue it, you must maintain the disciplines that brought you to where you are. There is no time in your life that you will not need the disciplines of humility, holiness, love, forgiveness, spirituality and faith. These hidden disciplines of honesty, truth and wholeness are necessary as you pursue more achievements for the kingdom.
Unfortunately, people recklessly advance without regard for their own safety. You must take heed to yourself. You must take heed to your doctrine. You must take heed to your own prayer life. Walk closely with God. Do not simply advance because everyone else is moving on.
3. Recklessly advancing is caused by a denial of risk: The denial of risk speaks of the intentional closing of your eyes to dangers. To say that you are not at risk as you get older and as you pursue more is to deny the reality. In fact, many problems that could not overcome you when you were young are sometimes able to overcome you when you are older. We all know that there are youthful lusts and youthful problems but there are also problems that come to older people. It is important to say to yourself, “I am at risk! I am in danger! I am still in danger!” As you march forward with the consciousness that you are still in a dangerous place, you will ensure many safety precautions are always in place. You will deliver yourself from many evils by acknowledging the risks.
The Reckless Advance of Hitler
Adolf Hitler recklessly advanced into Russia whilst he was fighting a war in Britain. This was a clear example of the undisciplined pursuit of more. He had been successful in overpowering Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, France, Holland and Belgium. The defeat of France within a few weeks was one of the greatest shocks at that time. He was now the master of Europe. Obviously, these successes had fed him the confidence that, he would do to Russia what he did to France.
At the time Adolf Hitler conquered France, France had one the most powerful armies in the whole world. Adolf Hitler then recklessly advanced into Russia.
Denial of risk and the undisciplined pursuit of more were the causes of Adolf Hitler’s defeat in Russia. Because he thought Russia would be as easy to defeat as France he did not prepare for a long campaign and his army was destroyed in the Russian winter. Hitler continued to deny the risks by continuing his invasion of Russia the next year. His entire army was surrounded and annihilated. Recklessly advancing and the undisciplined pursuit of more plus the denial of risk are clearly played out by Adolf Hitler.
A leader must advance wisely, carefully and humbly. You advance recklessly when you do not seek the will of God or move at the right time. Dear leader, there are times when your successes should not inspire you to recklessly advance into more!
The Art of Leadership
By Dag Heward-Mills
theaol@ymail.com