Joshua Chapter 7 – The Danger of Personal Agendas.

 

Introduction.

Before I go any further let us first look at some of the names that we find in this passage: 

First of all we have the Canaanite city of Ai (pronounced Ay-eye) the probable meaning of this is ‘The Ruin’ which it later became.

Secondly, we have Beth-Aven meaning house of idols/nothingness/iniquity/trouble.

Now we come to Achan which again probably meant trouble, which is also the probable meaning of the Valley of Achor.

So, as you can see there is an awful lot of trouble in this passage, and this was to be the case for the children of Israel and ultimately Achan.

Following the destruction of Jericho, God forbade Israel to take anything whatsoever from that city for themselves.

However, Achan thinks that this either doesn’t apply to him or he thinks that with all this loot lying around it won’t be missed. It’s funny how human nature never changes as we often reflect in the UK of the great community spirit that existed during the Blitz of 1940/41, what people don’t realise is that the looting bombed buildings and homes was quite a problem. In fact, my mother told me a story of how when her family was bombed out a biscuit barrel they owned mysteriously relocated to another neighbour’s house.

Here we see that Achan starts by coveting what he sees in the ruins of Jericho but then he steals, and then lies and doesn’t put God’s commands first by breaking at least three commandments.

This sin has a consequence not just for him (ultimately) but also for Israel – who already think that Ai is going to be a push-over!

1.     Danger of personal agendas.

       2.     Personal agenda’s frustrating God’s purposes.

       3.     How to deal with personal agendas.

Personal Agendas – The Lust for Power.

At the root of nearly all personal agendas is one thing a lust for power. These days we dress it up in all sorts of acceptable garb, we say that a person is ‘driven’ ‘focussed’ ‘career minded.’ Let’s face it we have all come across these people and they will use whatever they can to get ahead including you. For those of you who have ever seen or read Shakespeare’s play Richard III we have a tale of one man who has no scruples in how far he will go to become King. In my experience you can drop that storyline into any corporate environment and don’t think for one minute that churches are exempt from this!

Just who was this Achan?  From what we can gather he was already the head of the family of Zimri. Was he content with this or was he like Richard III aiming considerably higher? Did he as we sometimes say have ideas above his station?

So, what is a Babylonian robe and some silver and gold going to get you in Old Testament times? First of all, the elaborate robe from Babylon is going to create an image and certainly cover up those clothes you have been wandering around the dry and dusty wilderness in and it would help to get you noticed and stand out from the rest of the crowd and the silver and gold can either buy power and influence but also be used to further enhance that image that you wish to project. Just in the same way politicians employ an image or PR consultant, and increase their exposure in the media when they want a bit more power?

Then on the back of this they begin to act the part – and certainly in my experience at work introduce themselves with the words ‘I am………’ Whilst all the time my cynical old Welsh mind is thinking ‘Yes, I’ve met your sort before, and I know exactly what you are.’

This is the way of the world that we live in, it is all about outward show, self-promotion. I like to call this the Waitrose complex. Having grown up in a Welsh chapel I have seen this first-hand when you see people coming in wearing their fox-fur stole with matching hat and gloves. It was no different in Jesus’ time either when he calls out the religious leaders of the day in as ‘whited sepulchres’ in Matthew 23, he sees behind the facades of each one of us.

Jesus however never had to put on a show. He was God in human form, all of the Godhead in one man, there was never any need for Him to dress the part or act the part there was no need as we can read in the testimony of the gospel writers.

Personal agenda’s frustrating God’s purposes.

In verse 13 of the chapter God declares this to the people following their defeat: ‘You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.’

The nineteenth century German Field Marshall Helmuth von Moltke once said: ‘No plan of operations extends with any certainty beyond the first contact with the main hostile force.’

Here Israel’s hubris and self-reliance along with Achan’s sin already made whatever plan of attack they had for dealing with Ai null and void before they had even started getting prepared for battle. They made the wrong choice in not obeying God when it came to how many men they sent against the city. Israel was no stranger to making the wrong choice; Abram and Hagar – the result Ishmael. Even despite what happened at Ai the same mistakes are repeated throughout the Bible.

Making the wrong choice is something that is not just the preserve of people in the Bible – I have done it in more ways than I can recall and quite a few of them I felt wholly justified in doing and suffered the painful consequences of these actions. I have done it in so many areas of my life. God does allow us to be chastised for the things that we do that are so contrary to His character and will. There is hope though, we have Jesus, because of the cross we have access to the one we can go to confess those sins and have them forgiven.

Israel mistakenly thought that the walls of Jericho had fallen without the need of an armed siege that God was going to help them conquer Ai without obeying what he had commanded them to do. Obedience to Him in all things is at the very heart of this, God calls to the world we live in that through Jesus is the only way of salvation. But this is not what the world wants to hear so they substitute Christ’s atoning sacrifice with good works, giving to charity, turning up to church each Sunday. I know that this was the path I was on as I as I thought being ‘converted’ to follow Christ was only for the bad people that you heard about in the news. When the bible says: ‘For all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory’ All means all, without any exceptions and all need Christ, our own works will not suffice.

Also, when we do not seek God’s guidance and strength when setting out on a task, just like Israel it will flounder in due time. We are doing it in our strength which as we all know is limited, we need to trust in God who does not get tired

Be careful: There is no ‘I’ in team – but it does contain the word ‘me’

How to deal with personal agendas.

I must admit that due to my non-conformist upbringing I have always wondered why liturgy is so prevalent in certain branches of the church. That was until I sat down and had a good long look at the following piece that is written in the Book of Common Prayer:

Almighty God, our heavenly Father,
We have sinned against you
And against our neighbour
In thought and word and deed,
Through negligence, through weakness,
Through our own deliberate fault.

We are truly sorry,
And repent of all our sins.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, who died for us,
Forgive us all that is past;
And grant that we may serve you in newness of life
To the glory of your name.

Amen.

There is plenty in there to make us examine ourselves as to both our actions and our motives for actions. Without this we can not only end up pursuing something that we have no business in, but also take others with us. How many times have we seen a church, ministry or organisation being split because of one person thinking that it was ‘their’ church, ‘their’ ministry, or ‘their’ organisation and in turn leading a whole load of people off in the wrong direction and in turn what sort of witness is that to the world outside?

So, this begs the question how do we deal with a believer that gets ensnared by a personal agenda?

This begs the question then, how do we combat them? - Treat with grace – not with stoning!

Pray, Read, Watch.

Self-Examination Through Prayer.

Spending regular time with God and asking Him to point things out to us.

Psalm 139 v23 – Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

Self-Examination Through Reading the Word.

With scripture: Does what they or even we are doing/saying measure up with what it says in the Bible?

Acts 17 v11 – The Bereans went and tested what Paul was saying to make sure that it measured up with scripture.

Self-Examination Through Watching Ourselves.

Keeping a watch on what we do and say:

Rom 7 v15 – I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

By ensuring and maintaining that closeness with God our Father, starting with these three precepts and applying them daily in our lives it will help us from falling into following somebody's personal agenda or forming and following our own. Without this we can so easily fall into the same trap as both Israel and Achan,