In the bible there was a man named Adonijah who thought he was leadership material and announced it by taking over a kingdom. He had a few followers but the true leadership of the time wasn’t behind him. He took over without the blessing of King David who had promised the throne to Solomon.
1 Kings 1:5 Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, “I will be king.” So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. 6 (His father had never interfered with him by asking, “Why do you behave as you do?” He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.) 7 Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they gave him their support. 8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei and Rei and David’s special guard did not join Adonijah.
Because he never qualified for leadership, he was unseated rather quickly. Rather than take it like a man, he went to the King’s mother to complain that he had been unseated unfairly. In Adonijah’s own eyes he was owed something. So we find Adonijah complaining with the victim mentality of how he is now owed something and trying to make a deal he has no right even asking for.
1 Kings 2:13 Now Adonijah, the son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. Bathsheba asked him, “Do you come peacefully?” He answered, “Yes, peacefully.” 14 Then he added, “I have something to say to you.” “You may say it,” she replied. 15 “As you know,” he said, “the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to me as their king. But things changed, and the kingdom has gone to my brother; for it has come to him from the Lord.
So there is nothing new here. It is the Spirit of the Wannabe and it struck a chord with me. Leadership always makes a place for itself. It can’t be faked. I have been a leader my whole life. Part of it is that I was a first born and so naturally bossy and a take-charge personality. A bigger part is a God-ordained gift. Pastor Doug laughs when I bring up the Spirit of the Wannabe and has added to the phrase, “Those that don’t wannabe leaders often are.” It’s true. Leaders naturally lead and others always see their ability.
The Wannabe tries to overtake a position without qualification. The Wannabe is the one crying loudly about how victimized they are and yet how much of a leader they are and how they would do things differently. They create chaos and in that chaos they try to overtake a position. True leadership makes a place for itself through natural talent, appropriately directed. Satan was an angel who had a gift of praise and worship and a position in a kingdom but like Adonijah he tried to forcibly take a position that wasn’t his. Satan was the first one with the Spirit of the Wannabe. He got a few followers but was not able to sustain it and he was unseated in quick order.
You see a true leader really doesn’t fail. The idea may not work but it doesn’t keep the leader stuck in a losing proposition for any length of time. The true leader gets up and tries again even when they don’t want to because their gift directs their path. They never need smoke and mirrors they just are. Leadership is natural but it still has to be developed to its full potential. This is where the Wannabe and the Leader part ways. The leader takes the time to develop skills, the wannabe fakes it saying phrases like “fake it till you make it”. Only the problem with that is authentic leadership doesn’t have to fake it, and wannabes never make it.
Pastor Susan 