“Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” 1 Corinthians 16:13
I want you to imagine that you are leading a group of troops into battle. You being the leader, have not only the obligation of leading your men into the direction that has been assigned to you, you also have the responsibility of your troops lives. At every move, you either endanger or protect your men. You do not want to lead them into a trap, and you do not want to lose anyone. You are going to do everything possible to ensure that your men make it out alive. How do you do this? Be on the ALERT! You know the danger; you know that you and your men are walking through a hostile situation. No doubt, you will find out every bit of information that you can about the terrain that you will be walking through, the suspected weapons that the enemy will be using, and the location and strength of that enemy. As you walk through enemy territory, you will keep your eyes peeled, your ears will listen for every unfamiliar sound, and your mouth will be ready to send off orders in order to protect your troops.
As discussed yesterday, men have been entrusted with leading their families and their congregation. We must view our job description as one who is leading his troops into battle. We are at war. The evil one wants our families and congregations to fall prey to his evil schemes. He wants our wife, he wants our children and he wants our church members. 1 Peter 5:8 says: “…be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”. If we have been entrusted to lead our families and congregations, we best do our very best to not allow them to fall under our watch. This can only be done if we are ALERT.
How can you become one who is alert? Be a detective. To be alert, one must look for clues. One must know what the ways of normal life are, and be able to find rather quickly anything that is out of the norm. Know your physical and spiritual families well enough that you can detect when there is a problem.
Look for Tension. Arguments that go out of control can be a root cause for losing a soul in battle. Whether it be between your kids, you and your spouse, or church members, unneeded tension can bring a family down.
Look for Sin. Your job as the leader of your family and congregation does not give you the right to expose sin in order to hurt someone. The purpose of finding sin is in order to save souls. You should be on the alert for sin in your wife, children and spiritual family in order to help them, not humiliate them.
Look for Predators. Be on watch to find those that would exploit the physical and spiritual families. Predators can attack physically, and spiritually. It is our job as men to watch out for the physical safety of our wife and children, but also for those in the congregation. Predators can come from outside of the family, and unfortunately predators can come from within the congregation as well.
Men, lead like men! This can only be done if we are on the ALERT.
Morality Check 