The Art of Leadership
Deception is the art of misleading people by false statements or false appearances. The world lives and thrives on deception. Most things are not as they seem and people tell lies as second nature. Lying and deception are negative traits that will destroy a leader’s work.
Things A Leader Must Know About Lying And Deception
- Lying and deception bring curses. A cursed person is a frustrated person. Nothing works out for him and he always laments about his misfortunes. Cursed is the deceiver, says the Word of God. The deceiver will be frustrated. The deceiver will not succeed. The deceiver will not be happy. The deceiver will be disappointed.
“But CURSED BE THE DECEIVER, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen” (Malachi 1:14).
- 2. Lying and deception cause division and discord, even among brethren. “A perverse man spreads strife, and a slanderer separates intimate friends” (Proverbs 16:28, NASB). Such characteristics never lead to increase. Deception causes you to lose everything, to divide everything, to fragment everything and to break up everything. Leaders who lie to different sections of their people to please them end up losing everything.
- Lying and deception are coverings for hatred. When somebody lies to you, the person hates you. The Bible is clear about this and says, “A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it…” (Proverbs 26:28). The Bible also teaches that deception is the covering of someone’s hatred for you. “Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shown before the whole congregation” (Proverbs 26:26).
A person full of deception and hatred is not going to build anything good. He is an evil person who will self-destruct. The Bible predicts the self-destruction of wicked people. “But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it” (Proverbs 2:22). “…Men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days…” (Psalm 55:23, NASB).
The Astrologer
Louis XI, the great Spider King of France, had a weakness for astrology. He kept a court astrologer whom he admired, until one day the man predicted that a lady of the court would die within eight days. When the prophecy came true Louis was terrified, thinking that either the man had murdered the woman to prove his accuracy, or that he was so versed in his science that his powers threatened Louis himself. In either case, he had to be killed.
One evening Louis summoned the astrologer to his room, high in the castle. Before the man arrived, the king told his servants that when he gave the signal they were to pick the astrologer up, carry him to the window and hurl him to the ground, hundreds of feet below.
The astrologer soon arrived, but before giving the signal, Louis decided to ask him one last question: “You claim to understand astrology and to know the fate of others, so tell me what your fate will be and how long you have to live.” “I shall die just three days before Your Majesty,” the astrologer replied. The king’s signal was never given. The man’s life was spared. The Spider King not only protected his astrologer for as long as he was alive, he lavished him with gifts and had him tended by the finest doctors. In the end, the astrologer outlived the king by many years.
The astrologer and the king actually hated each other and their worlds thrived on deception. It was a dangerous game of how much each could deceive the other.
- 4. Lying and deception are negative traits of people who imagine evil things. “Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil…” (Proverbs 12:20). A leader who continually imagines evil is not going to do well. The evil that he imagines will be his own downfall. Notice what the Bible says. “Though they intended evil against you and devised a plot they will not succeed …” (Psalm 21:11, NASB).
- Lying and deception cause successes to be short-lived. “The lip of truth shall be established forever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment” (Proverbs 12:19). Because deception is a false foundation, what is built on it is short-lived and often comes crumbling down after a while.
- Lying and deception lead to punishment and destruction. “A false witness shall not be unpunished and he that speaketh lies shall perish” (Proverbs 25:18). Punishment and perishing are your future because of your lies and deception.
People struggle for years to overcome the habits of lying and deceiving. Our prayer, indeed, is that every leader be saved from lying and deception!
theaol@ymail.com
By Dag Heward-Mills