6 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
run’’ so quickly, because Pharaoh’s ‘‘integrity’’ lasted only a few days.
He went back on his word and pursued the Hebrews into the desert.
We’re all familiar with what happened to Pharaoh’s men when they
tried to pursue the Israelites across the dry bed of the Red Sea, which
had been parted for the fugitives. Seas may part for people of honor and
integrity, but they often rush back to drown those whose word means
nothing to themselves or others.
One test of a leader’s integrity is his or her attitude toward ‘‘public’’
property. Some leaders take it all with them; others refuse to take a
penny of the funds with which they have been entrusted. In recent
times we know of leaders like Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda
(she of the thousands of pairs of shoes), who appropriated much of their
country’s wealth before absconding to foreign shores. Compare their
leave-taking to that of Samuel, who presided as the high priest of Israel
for several decades. Not only did he refuse to take anything not belong-
ing to him, he also asked his countrymen to identify anything that he
had accumulated through the power of his office, and he would quickly
and cheerfully return it!
Here I stand. Testify against me in the presence of the Lord... Whose
ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated?
Whom have I oppressed? From whose hand have I taken a bribe to make
me shut my eyes? If I have done any of these, I will make it right.
‘‘You have not cheated or oppressed us,’’ they replied. ‘‘You have not
taken anything from anyone’s hand.’’ (1 Sam. 12:1–4)Now, how many of today’s business or political leaders would will-
ingly open themselves up to such scrutiny? Michael Milken and Ivan
Boesky certainly would not pass the test. Neither would many of the
third-world leaders like the Sultan of Borneo, who made off with $
billion worth of his country’s oil wealth. But the third world is not the
only place where political leaders fail to measure up in this area: Just ask
the driver of the truck that pulled up to the Clintons’ new Westchester
County mansion to quietly remove and return to the White House a
large collection of expensive furniture that had been donated—not to
them personally but to ‘‘the Office of the President.’’