1. Disloyalty occurs with the apparent weakening of a leader.

All leaders go through different phases of their lives and ministries. In the prime of their ministry, they often appear very strong, hard, tireless and invincible. Leaders may appear to weaken in the latter part of their ministries. They seem to be vulnerable to things that before were far off. This apparent weakening of a minister is not actually a diminishing of his strength. Sometimes in later years, the maturing minister speaks with a softer tone and is more accommodating. Sometimes it is a result of entering into another phase of ministry.”

In the early part of Jesus’ ministry, He was very strong on certain things. At one point He spoke about how He was anointed and people tried to kill Him. At that stage of His ministry Jesus just ignored His persecutors and went His way.

And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way.

Luke 4:28-30

At one point, Jesus preached and called His listeners snakes. He told them to their face that they were vipers.

O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things?

Matthew 12:34

Jesus was a strong direct preacher. He was a no-nonsense personality. There was a time when people wanted to kill Him. Jesus told them directly, “I know you want to kill me.” He continued, “Your father is the devil.” These were direct statements which infuriated the crowd. Yet, Jesus persisted in this line of confrontational preaching.

But now ye seek to kill me, A MAN THAT HATH TOLD YOU THE TRUTH, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. YE ARE OF YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.

When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, GOING THROUGH THE MIDST OF THEM, AND SO PASSED BY.

John 8:40, 41, 44, 59

In those days, Jesus did not seem to be moved by death threats. But later in his life, Jesus began to say things like, “I am going to suffer!”

And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you BEFORE I SUFFER…

Luke 22:15

At another point, Jesus was in a reflective mood and said, “This is my last drink.”

For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.

Luke 22:18

Jesus continued and said, “There is a betrayer amongst us.” If He was a good leader, why didn’t He do anything about the betrayer. Had He lost His power? Judas must have heard these words and felt that Jesus’ power was waning.

Jesus’ power never diminished. The anointing on His life was stronger than ever. If His power had diminished, how come He was able to heal the boy whose ear was cut off by Peter (John 18:10)? If His power was diminished, how come everyone fell under the power of God when Jesus identified Himself as the one they were looking for?

As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground.

John 18:6

Jesus’ power had in no way diminished, but He had entered a different phase of His ministry. This power would help Him go to the cross and accomplish his sacrifice for the sins of the world. But Judas misinterpreted this to be a weakening of His master’s anointing. Judas was encouraged to rise up and rebel against the Lord when He heard Him speak of dying. If you eat with someone who speaks of dying and taking His last drink, would you not think there was something wrong?

The High Priest and the Pharisees were afraid of Jesus. There was great mystery and intrigue surrounding Christ! Jesus was a public figure and they could have arrested Him at any time. Jesus did not go around in secret. But they feared the people and were unsure of what sort of powers Jesus would conjure up against them if they tried anything.

Judas waited for a sign of the apparent weakening of Christ’s ministry. As soon as he felt his leader was a little weaker, he betrayed Him. Dear pastor, do not be deceived. If God has called somebody, and you betray Him, you will pay for it! It may seem easy to rebel at certain times, but that is the devil luring you to your own destruction.

2. Disloyalty occurs with the aging of the leader.

For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.

1 Kings 11:4

“King Solomon turned away from God in his old age. It may sound strange, but it sometimes requires physical strength to keep on doing what is right. King Solomon had married so many different women in his younger days. He wanted to be sure that he did not fall into the mistake of adultery as his father did. So he married all the ladies he met to prevent himself from having an affair with anyone. But in his old age, the resolve to serve Jehovah was weakened. He began to succumb to the pressures of his ‘unbeliever’ wives.

“Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

1 Kings 11:7, 8

I am a young man. As I write this book it is my prayer that I will be loyal to the Lord as I get older in ministry.

In the life of King David, it was when he was very old and stricken in years, that Adonijah rebelled against his father. Adonijah was one of David’s sons who had been a loyal member of the family for many years. He did not rebel with Absalom. Nor was he associated with any other rebellion. Yet, he was tempted to be disloyal when he realized that his father was weakened by old age.

“Now king DAVID WAS OLD and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat. THEN ADONIJAH THE SON OF HAGGITH EXALTED HIMSELF, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

1 Kings 1:1, 5

3. Disloyalty occurs when the leader sins.

When Solomon went after many wives and his heart was turned against God, the Lord raised up rebels to fight against him.

And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king’s seed in Edom.

1 Kings 11:9, 14

It is the grace of God that keeps a church together. What prevents one person from rising against another? It is the mercy of the Lord. What prevents a bodyguard from shooting his own leader in order to become famous? It is the grace of God.

“A leader must be aware that God’s mercy upholds all things. You will not have a single loyal person with you unless God helps you. Ladies and gentlemen, the power of the presidency and the power of leadership are maintained by a delicate balance of forces. God’s grace is what sustains us in all our endeavours. We may give many teachings about disloyalty and loyalty. We may print all the books we can on the subject. Ultimately, it is the grace of God that holds all things together.”

“Jehoshaphat was a famous king of Judah. He served the Lord and God wrought miracles under his regime. God gave the Israelites more blessings than they could carry under the reign of Jehoshaphat. When Jehoshaphat died his son Jehoram took over. Jehoram was not like his father and became associated with Ahab the evil king of Israel. This is because he married the daughter of Ahab.

It is interesting to note that under the reign of this backslidden king, a group of people who had lived in submission to Judah for many years rebelled. The Bible tells us clearly that the people of Edom became disloyal and traitorous under the rule of Jehoram. But why did they stay submissive under Jehoshaphat?

…JEHORAM the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah began to reign. And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. IN HIS DAYS EDOM REVOLTED from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves.

2 Kings 8:16, 18, 20

It is clear from this Scripture that the timing of the revolt of Edom was related to the type of king in Judah. The revolt took place under the hand of an evil person. Acts of disloyalty by followers are often related to acts of disobedience by leaders.

4. Disloyalty occurs upon the death of a leader.

I have watched many churches disintegrate after the death of their founders and leaders. Why does this happen? Disloyal people are often looking for an opportunity to break away or revolt against authority. They are opportunists who will grab at any sign of weakness within the system. Often the death of a leader signifies to them the removal of a factor that has long prevented them from rebelling.

Recently in one African country, the dictatorial head of state died. When his assistant took over, he pursued policies completely opposite to what his leader did. He freed all the enemies of his former boss and set about to return the country to a democracy – something his predecessor was opposed to. What does this mean? It showed that the assistant was not loyal to the former head of state’s ideologies. He could not say or show it publicly whilst his boss was alive. However, upon the death of his leader, his true feelings were manifested! This is a very common occurrence in life.

I remember when a great founder and leader of a denomination in Ghana died. It was not long before some of the prominent pastors of his denomination separated themselves. I also recall when a founder of a great denomination in Nigeria died. It was but a few months before some of the most prominent ministers disassociated themselves from the church. Rebellious people sense a weakening in the system by the passing away of the leader.

“The unexpected death of a head of state can cause instability in a nation where the power is already held in delicate balance. In some countries, the head of state does not even have to die. All he has to do is to travel outside the country. Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of Ghana, was overthrown in a coup d’état when he travelled outside Ghana for a short while. He was in Hanoi for a meeting when he was overthrown. He was never to return to Ghana in his lifetime.

Some pastors are afraid to travel away from their churches because of this.

Ahab, the king of Israel, was a wicked but strong ruler. He had the Moabites under control. But when he died, Moab rebelled almost immediately.

And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep master, and rendered unto the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams with the wool. But it came to pass, WHEN AHAB WAS DEAD, THAT THE KING OF MOAB REBELLED against the king of Israel.

2 Kings 3:4, 5

This is a common pattern for revolts. You see, there are many people who are rebels at heart but are afraid to make a move. They are watching for a sign, a change, a weakening or an opening. With little provocation they will separate themselves and fight against the authorities.

Are you a rebel at heart? Will your loyalty persist even when there is an apparent weakening of the leader? Will age, sin or even death of your leader turn you into a rebel? Time will tell!”