On the Home Front

“I will raise up a faithful priest who will serve me and do what I desire.”       1Sa 2:35 NLT

Being the high priest in Israel was a prestigious job, and Eli seemed suited to it. Yet he failed badly on the home front. “His sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice” (1Sa 8:3 NIV). As a result, God told Eli He “would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them” (1Sa 3:13 NIV). As a parent and leader you need to answer this question: If God applied the same standard to you as He did to Eli, how well would you do? Eli ended up losing his credibility, his children, his career, and eventually his life. He missed the mark because he made some critical errors. Let’s look at them and see what we can learn: (1) He had the wrong emphasis. He emphasized the Word of God to the people in his congregation, but not to his own children. (2) He had the wrong expectations. He thought his children would “get it” because they lived under his roof and worked in the church. But it doesn’t work that way. (3) He set the wrong example. Eli failed to live at home what he taught at work. He had 20/20 vision when it came to his profession, but where his family was concerned he was blind to his own weakness. Leadership on the home front isn’t about power and control, it’s about “giving yourself” to the people who should matter most (See Eph 5:25). So, how are you doing on the home front?

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