The Art Of Leadership
BUILDINGS SOLIDIFY your gains and stabilise you for the future. Buildings can be a defence in time of difficulty and need. Churches tend to disappear into thin air after some years. Without buildings, many of the great churches you and I know, would not exist today. One of the ways to fight a war is to build things. The following Scripture shows us that a conqueror knows all about building.
There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and BESIEGED IT, AND BUILT GREAT BULWARKS against it:
Ecclesiastes 9:14
A leader may defend himself against future attacks by building structures and constructing things. The building of concrete structures makes victory permanent and brings even more stability to the conqueror.
The lack of a building, for instance, makes it more difficult for churches to thrive. It is not that easy to lead people out of an established building and into an open space.
You may convince some people to follow you but many will not be convinced because you are not leading them into a higher level of establishment.
Many Christians are carnally oriented and respond to carnal leadership. Carnal people need to see natural and human power. Natural human power is based on what you see. Carnal Christians are stabilised by the church buildings in which they worship. You can stabilise many people with a church building because they give the outward impression of permanence and stability.
Get ready to lose all your members one day if you do not build something! Don’t be surprised if you are left with nothing in the future. If you are a good general, you must know how to build. Building is an act of war! Building is an act of defence! Building and construction is the art of sealing your victory with a stamp of permanence.
Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar is the name we all remember when we think about the Roman emperors.
He was the most famous of the Roman Emperors and the month of July is named after him. Each of the Roman Generals became powerful by going abroad and conquering new lands and territories for the empire.
Julius Caesar, in particular, conquered many territories in Gaul (modern-day France).
The Roman General most famous for fighting with the Gauls was Julius Caesar. One battle of note between the Gauls and the Romans was the Battle of Alesia. The battle of Alesia was also Julius Caesar’s greatest military triumph. Julius Caesar won this war by creating a super siege.
The siege of Alesia came about because the Gauls, led by Vercingetorix, had revolted against Roman rule and Julius Caesar was in hot pursuit of them. He caught up with them at Alesia, a fortified city. Alesia was on a hill and surrounded by rivers and valleys, and therefore offered a strong defensive position. Arriving with his army, Caesar decided to lay siege to the town.
Caesar expected the siege to be brief. To ensure that Alesia was fully cut off from aid, Caesar instructed his men to build an encircling set of fortifications. Julius Caesar set about to build an eleven mile long set of walls, ditches, watchtowers, and traps. This first wall was to prevent the people of Alesia from escaping.
Vercingetorix, the Gallic general, launched several attacks to prevent the completion of this eleven mile long wall. During one of these attacks, a small force of a Gallic army escaped to bring reinforcements to help the army in Alesia.
Julius Caesar promptly set about to build a second set of identical walls, ditches and traps. This second wall was thirteen miles long. This second wall was to prevent any army from coming to rescue the people within Alesia. Now the city of Alesia was surrounded by two rows of walls.
Julius Caesar himself occupied the space between the two walls. Through his determination and ability to build two sets of walls and traps, the city of Alesia was isolated and conditions quickly deteriorated as food became scarce. Hoping to alleviate the crisis, the Gauls sent out their women and children with the hope that Caesar would have pity on them and allow them to leave. But Julius Caesar had no mercy on the women and children and left them to starve outside the walls. As the women and children starved, the morale of the soldiers in the town was destroyed.
Through the leadership of Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony, the Gauls were defeated on both sides. With the Gauls unable to break out of Julius Caesar’s siege, their leader, Vercingetorix, surrendered himself to the victorious Caesar who promptly executed him. Indeed, Julius Caesar defeated the Gauls, through his super construction efforts in building two sets of walls, one eleven miles long and another thirteen miles long.
Dear leader, become a builder and you will be a successful fighter! Through building, you will overcome many enemies and secure your future!
theaol@ymail.com
By Dag Heward-Mills