When the Leader looses Legitimacy

When The Leader Looses Legitimacy 

I Kings 12:18, 20 NKJV

[18] Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the revenue; but all Israel stoned him with stones, and he died. Therefore King Rehoboam mounted his chariot in haste to flee to Jerusalem. 

[20] Now it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they sent for him and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There was none who followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.

In Political Science, " legitimacy is the right and acceptance of an authority, usually a governing law or a regime.". It comes from being recognized by the people as authority. Someone describes the chemistry of legitimacy in leadership  in the following words, " A legitimate leader is not in charge because of his rank, he is in charge because his people trust his ability to lead. When a leader is illegitimate, people follow him not because they want to, but because they fear the consequences of being insubordinate (like people obeying a dictator). The moment an illegitimate leader loses his leverage or power over his people, they immediately revolt". That describes what happened to Rehoboam. When he tried to send the Minister of finance to get taxes, they people stoned him to death. The revolution had begun. Destiny had arranged for Jeroboam to have come back and be in the center of Ahijah's prophesy. The people took and made him the king of the northern kingdom. Rehoboam had abused power by being arrogant and unfeeling for the plight of his people . A blog writer submits that, " Leaders who abuse power, however, lose favor in the eyes of those they lead.  Eventually, their abusive behavior leads to a diminished leader-member exchange that eventually erodes and power is lost". Our leaders need to learn from this. Christ demonstrates the height of a leaders sacrifice for his people. Christ died, but his influence lives on for today. Dont loose your legitimacy. Good morning.