Proverbs 28:2
"By the transgression of a land many are its princes, but by a man of understanding and knowledge, so it endures"
Each sin against a people is remembered in the collective consciousness and causes people to be distrustful of that type of problem. There are collective sins where leaders abuse people. This happens in churches, in civic organizations, in business, in political parties – anywhere there is leadership over a group. If the leader is not willing to lead toward righteousness rather than selfishness, then there are offenses and new leaders spring up to pull the group back toward the righteous action that should have been taken.
The word land is the idea of a group of people. If the leader of a group of people becomes corrupt and uses them for his own personal gain exclusively instead of for everyone's benefit and God's glory, then this transgression will mark this people and they will develop champions for their own causes.
There must be a sense that the leader is concerned and leading with the best for everyone in mind, not just the best for himself or the political party or the best for the company. The people must sense and see that an everybody-wins strategy is being employed. If not, it is like personally growing factions and factious leaders.
No leader wants to have factions and lots of small-time rivals. The answer is clearly: Lead with a righteous everybody-wins agenda and they will be silenced and diminished. One expects, in a church, to have a leader who has a bigger scope than selfishness; but it is not always the case as men build empires instead of God's church.
If politicians are ever going to go beyond a fractured landscape, they must go beyond their own ideology and support what is truly wise. If a leader is going to really bring unity, there must be a clear sense that this person is not out for himself or herself but instead has the best interest of everybody on their mind.
by a man of understanding and knowledge, so it endures
This is the answer to how a leader keeps everyone moving forward together. The good leader must be constantly aware of relationships between people and things – which is understanding. Also the leader has accurate information and appropriate skill to hold people together. There is a lost art of leading a larger group, pointing out the rightness of the various causes that make up the group and their linkages but also having the skill to have people unify behind a larger vision than just the one issue. In every group leaders must learn and demonstrate these skills. If they don't, then there will be an endless number of factions and cliques.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz