Leadership Lessons From Abraham: Part One

Abraham is one of the most respected figures in religious thought. Jews, Christians and Muslims all look up to him and these three religions are often called the Abrahamic faiths.

Who was Abraham? Abraham was from the city of Ur, in what is modern Iraq. His father Terah, brought the family from Ur on a journey to Canaan. However, Terah brought them approximately halfway and then settled at Haran. It was at Haran that God called Abraham to complete the journey to Canaan. Abraham was the father of Isaac and the grandfather of Jacob, who would become Israel.

When we look at Abraham, we see a man that was very real and who had a mix of both negative and positive qualities. It is interesting to note that the Bible does not seek to hide his weaknesses.

Abraham had a struggle common to many leaders and that is fear. Abraham and his wife Sarah ended up travelling to Egypt because of a famine in Canaan (Genesis 12). Abraham lied to the Egyptians by saying that Sarah was his sister and not his wife. Abraham feared that the Egyptians would kill him and take Sarah if they knew he was her husband. While Sarah was his half-sister, it was still a deception because he withheld their marriage relationship. Not only was this done out of a sense of self-preservation, it also put Sarah’s well-being at risk. Abraham put Sarah in a very vulnerable position. How many leaders make the lives of those they are responsible for more difficult out of fear of what could happen to them?

Having done this once was bad enough, but Abraham did it again. Abraham lied in the same way to King Abimelech of Gerar (Genesis 20). This was worse than lying because it reveals that Abraham did not learn from his first mistake. While honesty is a virtue for leaders, so is a teachable spirit. Instead of taking advantage of his second chance, Abraham repeated his mistake. It is inevitable that leaders will make mistakes. A good leader will see these not as representing failure but as an opportunity to learn. Unfortunately Abraham missed this opportunity.

In addition to promising the land of Canaan to Abraham, God also promised that he would have a son (Genesis 15:4). From this son would come a great nation. Unfortunately for Abraham, God allowed a significant amount of time to pass between the promise and the fulfillment. Another virtue of leaders is that of patience. While Abraham had faith, he did lack patience. To move things along, Abraham fathered a child with Sarah’s servant Hagar (Genesis 16). While it is true that this seemed to have been Sarah’s idea, Abraham does not escape the blame. Hagar’s pregnancy could not have taken place without Abraham’s active participation. This represents another temptation faced by leaders. God may give us a vision for a ministry or project but not provide the timetable. We may lose patience and decide to move things along in our own strength. Effective leaders keep the vision present, but allow God to bring it about in his own timing.  

Next time we will look at positive lessons from the life of Abraham.