Mineral Springs Church of Christ Podcast
Mineral Springs Church of Christ Podcast
Mission Completed: The Leadership Lessons of Joshua
What can a slave boy teach us about leadership, courage, and living out God's purpose? Everything.
The remarkable journey of Joshua takes us from the mud pits of Egyptian slavery to the promised land of Canaan, revealing how God transforms ordinary lives into extraordinary legacies. Unlike many biblical leaders whose failures are well-documented, Joshua stands apart as a model of consistent obedience and unwavering faith.
Through Joshua's story, we discover what it means to follow God wholeheartedly. While Moses received the spotlight for leading Israel out of Egypt, Joshua quietly served in his shadow, demonstrating exceptional humility and faithfulness. When twelve spies explored Canaan, only Joshua and Caleb believed God could deliver the promised land—even facing potential stoning from their own people for this conviction.
The leadership challenges Joshua overcame are staggering: leading two million people across the Jordan River at flood stage, directing the unconventional battle of Jericho, and conquering 31 kings to secure Israel's inheritance. Behind each victory was Joshua's meticulous obedience to God's commands, summarized powerfully in Scripture: "he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded."
Perhaps most striking is the reminder that even this mighty leader needed God's repeated encouragement to "be strong and courageous." Seven times this divine reassurance appears, revealing that courage isn't the absence of fear but the presence of faith amidst uncertainty.
Joshua's final declaration—"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord"—continues to challenge us centuries later. His life demonstrates that our circumstances don't determine our destiny; our response to God's call does. What mission has God been preparing you for? Will you, like Joshua, step forward in obedience and faith, trusting that God has already gone ahead to prepare the way?
Join us for this powerful exploration of leadership, legacy, and living out God's purpose—regardless of where you started.
I'm Lafe Caton, a former member here. Back in 2010, my wife and I had our only daughter. I've got three older boys, but they were already out of the house by then and my daughter, she, got married last October, so that was a good thing. They're about to celebrate their first anniversary and things are going pretty well for them, but it's good to be back with you and enjoy the Bible class earlier, and we're going to kind of continue with the thoughts surrounding the life of Joshua. Let's see. Is it up? Okay, not being able to see it? I wasn't sure.
Lafe Caton:Okay, so joshua was born into slavery. Now, some of us may have been born in rough conditions, but I don't think any of us were born into a slave family and and you know, I think about him growing up in slavery he probably didn't have a real bright outlook on his future. You know, making bricks for the Egyptians probably was not something to look forward to or think that. However, joshua did not let the past define him the form of Moses, that there were a lot of people that were skeptical and didn't want to believe that Moses was going to make anything happen different. In fact, they complained to Moses when he first went to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh made their job more difficult and eventually they got through 10 plagues and Moses let them out of there and Joshua became Moses' right-hand man. So Joshua refused to let the fact that he was a slave, he refused to let that prevent him from being positive about his future and looking past the slavery. Ok, we've heard that we're going to be delivered, and he believed it. One of the view that believed it until they actually started marching out. So Joshua, he he's cut from a little different cloth than most folks from the very beginning. And I would like to start in joshua 20.
Lafe Caton:At the end of joshua 24, verses 29, there's a description of joshua the lord's servant. Wow, of Joshua the Lord's servant. Wow, my younger sister had just passed away the last time I was here with y'all and that could have been her epitaph the Lord's servant. She was a children's minister at a church in Edmond, oklahoma, for many years, and right now her oldest daughter has five children. The fourth one just got baptized, yeah, yeah, pretty exciting. The other one is coming along. Hopefully the number five will will follow suit, with her three older brothers and her older sister. Uh, but you know that that's a legacy that you leave. Um, her other daughter has one child and he was baptized this summer at camp, and the third one daughter she's got one. That's three, so hopefully, but that's the kind of epitaph we want to leave behind.
Lafe Caton:But he is simply called the Lord's servant and he's also called that in Judges, chapter two, verse eight the Lord's servant. Again, what a great thing to be said about you. I was my. I had a cousin that just passed away up in Charleston and I went up there Thursday to the funeral and as I was walking looking at some of the gravestones, one of them said mission completed. I thought, you know, I kind of like that, I kind of like that and I think that would have been fitting for Joshua's tombstone. God called him to leadership, he did what he was commanded to do and at the end of his life, as we will see, he'll say, hey, I'm getting old and I'm going to be moving on, but he completed his mission and then he stepped away.
Lafe Caton:Joshua 10, verses 40. Joshua was obedient. It says that he did everything that the Lord commanded through Moses. In Joshua 11, 15, the same thing. And the lord commanded his servant, moses. So moses I thought I'd be able to read that commanded joshua, and josh Joshua did it. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses. How would you like to have if any of you has ever owned a business or any of you have ever been responsible for other people, if any of you have raised children wouldn't that be nice if you had somebody that you're teaching and bringing along to say that they did everything just as they were told to do it? You know, like I say, when I I did a 10-week study. You know, like I say, I did a 10-week study this summer for the church where I tend there in Marshall, texas, and I'm going to try to condense 10 weeks into one lesson here, so I'll try to move quickly. But it says he did everything that the Lord had commanded through Moses. Wow, joshua is a great example of leadership, you know.
Lafe Caton:You think about some of the other great leaders that God called, you know and are mentioned through Scripture. Noah well, he wound up getting drunk, you know, after building an ark and being an embarrassment to his children. Abraham he lied about his wife, called her his sister more than once. Moses he killed a man, you know, and then, when God did call him, he said no, I don't want to do it, you know, get somebody else, I'm not qualified. And then David, well, he was an adulterer and conspirator to murder, you know.
Lafe Caton:But I'm sure that Joshua had some flaws, but they're just not mentioned in Scripture. You know, joshua 9, 14 is the closest thing that you can find to a fault, because when the men of Gibeon came in all the raggedy clothes and made it look like they had come a great distance, they used deception and said we want to make a peace treaty because we're from a long way away, but we've heard about how y'all have devastated the armies around here and that how god is has said that you're going to inherit this land and so. So they deceived Joshua and the rest of the leaders over Israel and it said that they did not inquire of God. I'm sure Joshua was a little bit preoccupied with the surrounding armies that he knew he was going to be doing, but again, that is the only negative thing that I find in scripture about joshua was the one time he didn't go to god for guidance. He and the other leaders were just as guilty.
Lafe Caton:So let's uh, let's see if we can't uh learn something from this guy and and how he was, uh, successful as a leader and, like I mentioned in bible class this morning, you know it's hard to follow a great leader and he had to follow Moses, who had gone and taken them out of slavery. I mean and I referred to it for USCC fans how would you like to follow Nick Saban as head coach at Alabama? You know you're almost in a no-win situation unless you can win a national championship kind of thing, and so it's really hard to follow with the expectations of the people. Well, you know he ain't. Moses is gone. He, he, he went up on the mountain and didn't come down, you know. So here we're, we're left with joshua.
Lafe Caton:Now moses had done all he could to say, hey, joshua is next in line, y'all need to do what he says. He's the God-appointed leader here. And then God of course, helped Joshua out by making him victorious as commander-in-chief of the army, and then he had him cross the Jordan River. So God was involved there. But winning the people over is not an easy task. God did a lot of great things through him, a slave boy, and he had that planned all along.
Lafe Caton:My question to you this morning is what does God have planned for you? What's God's plan for you and we know, according to Scripture, that he has a plan for you. Will you be obedient to God's call? More than not, we tend to be more like Moses, where, you know, I don't speak very well, I think you got the wrong guy. Or Jonah Lord, I'd rather go to Tarsus. I really don't want to go to Nineveh. Well, it didn't work out too good for Jonah, right. So God has a plan for you and he's put you here in this place for a reason. He's put you with the person you're with for a reason. I have discovered there are no coincidences in life. God's working his plan and for this slave boy he had a plan for him and he's now leading over a million people, probably closer to two million people, into a land that is hostile, you know, but he's obedient.
Lafe Caton:Joshua some of his attributes and accomplishments. In Exodus 17.10, I think we find out first that a good leader is humble, right, and to be obedient you have to be humble. The people that aren't obedient are the people that are in charge, because whatever Moses told him to do, throughout the Scripture, when you look at the Exodus story and the wilderness and setting up the tabernacle, it says Moses would go to the place of tent of meeting, meet with God and then leave. But it said, joshua stayed at the tent of meeting, he didn't leave. When Moses went up on the mountain he took the elders with him, but then he left the elders at some point and then went on up and Joshua went up. It didn't go all the way up with with Moses, very top that he he was up. Remember when, when Moses started down, joshua was the first one. Joshua said hey, there's a, there's sounds like war in the camp Moses. That ain't that, ain't, that's not war, the sound of war. So Joshua was, was in the shadow of moses. He was his right hand man through all of that and did exactly what moses had great humility, great respect, uh, for moses and knew his role and he fulfilled that role.
Lafe Caton:Joshua was courageous, in numbers 14, six through nine. That's the story of Joshua and Caleb and the other 10 spies going into the land of Canaan and then coming back and giving a report. Joshua and Caleb were the only two that says hey, we can take this land. Joshua and Caleb were the only two that says hey, we can take this land, and the other 10 spies says no, we can't. We're like grasshoppers in their sight and the people were ready to stone Caleb and Joshua and Moses and Aaron for leading them out there. That takes some courage In Numbers 32. 10 through 12.
Lafe Caton:It says God's anger Burned against Israel, but not Joshua and Caleb, because he said they followed me wholeheartedly. Whole means completely, 100%, with all of their heart. They knew that they could take the land. He says let's go. You've brought us here. We know they're big. They have fortified cities. Yeah, let's go, you've brought us here. We know they're big, they have fortified cities. Yeah, we saw that. But God said to take the land. We trust him, not our own abilities and our own skills. And so we know that he had great faith, even in spite of adverse, in the face of adversity, when, like I say, they were ready to kill him and he didn't back off. Not one bit. Keys to success.
Lafe Caton:In Joshua, chapter one, verses seven through eight, he says do everything Moses has commanded. So he was obedient. Second part of that you must know the commands in order to obey, don't we? If you don't know what's being commanded, if you haven't spent time finding out what God's plan is for you or what God has commanded, it's hard to be obedient to it. I you know sometimes, as a former school teacher, I thought I would was explaining, not said, about Joshua.
Lafe Caton:He knew the commands, he studied the commands and then he did it exactly the way it had been commanded. All right, some of his accomplishments these he experienced success because one he knew the lord, he knew the commandments and he followed those commandments exactly. So as a result of that, this slave boy was able to lead two million people across the river jordan at flood stage. This is maybe the most impressive thing. He had all the men circumcised that had been in the desert. You think they were anxious to follow that command. No, only a great leader could get a group of men to do that.
Lafe Caton:They celebrated Passover for the first time in 40 years, since they had come out of Egypt. They marched around Jericho for seven days and on the seventh day they marched around seven times and he did exactly what God had told him to do and the walls came down when they blew the trumpets and they shouted just like God told him to do. It Didn't waver, didn't go six times, they didn't play a guitar, they carried those trumpets and they sounded those trumpets, and then all the people. He says when you hear the trumpets, everybody shout. The six days previous he said I don't want anybody to say a word, I just want you to march around the city. One time he did. I mean so many times, don't you know?
Lafe Caton:Joshua says why don't we do that sometimes? Why do we have to do that? Well, you know, that doesn't make any sense to me. Well, there's a reason, I tell you, and it may be that god just wants us to humble ourselves before him and do what he says. Have you ever? Parents said because I said so, you know, uh, and we expect our kids now. We have a reason for it. When we ask a child to do something, we have a reason for it, but we don't always feel like it's necessary for me to explain myself each and every time I ask them to do something. Oh man, all right, I've got about five more minutes.
Lafe Caton:He then went and had to deal with a relative, someone from his own clan, that when they took Jericho, everything was supposed to be destroyed or anything that was not perishable was to be given to the Lord. Went to the temple, was to be given to the Lord. Went to the temple. Well, one of the young men. Achan went in there. He saw a gold bar and a nice robe. He kept it for himself, buried it in his tent. Well, joshua, he's thinking man, we're great, everything's going good, let's go to Ai. We're only going to take 10,000 soldiers, because it's not a very big place. Well, they go up there and they get thrashed. And then Joshua falls face down and he's crying for the Lord, saying why did you lead us out? Now all the armies around us are going to come and attack us and we're going to be gone.
Lafe Caton:God said get up. There's sin in the camp. So it says early the next morning God told him exactly what to do and early the next morning he's dealing with it. And he calls them tribe by tribe, clan by clan, family by family, man for man. And Achan. God said that's the guy. And he looks at him and says my son, what have you done? He says and he fesses up.
Lafe Caton:You know, I really think Achan's still going to be in heaven. He confessed his sin, he owned up to it, he made a mistake and he paid for it with his life. But you know, I think God accepts people that repent. I think there was a thief on the cross that said Lord, I believe in you, you know. And Jesus says, hey, you're going to be with me in paradise. So you know now, I may be wrong, you know, and Jesus says, hey, you're going to be with me in paradise. So you know, now I may be wrong, you know, but it sounds like Achan had the right heart. He just made a mistake. But sometimes our mistakes affect other people, don't they?
Lafe Caton:You know, 36 men died in the battle of Ai the first time. They went up there and their families were suffering because of his sin. But anyway, he dealt with that and he did exactly what God told him to do. He says burn everything they've got and then pile up a pile of rocks on them. And they did. They took him, his children, his family, everything he owned, his livestock, and they, his children, his family, everything he owned, his livestock. And they burned everything they had and then they covered them up with rocks. So you know, that sounds harsh, but do you think Joshua wanted to do that? No, I mean, that's probably one of the hardest things he had to do while he was leader of the people.
Lafe Caton:Then he went to Ai. They took Ai, did exactly God said set an ambush. He did exactly what God told him to do. And then he took the people to two mountains and he read the entire book of the law to all the people and the elders and leaders and officials, and then at the end of that, one side read the blessings if they were obedient and the other side read the curses if they weren't. I mean, I don't know how long that took, but they, they were out there a while.
Lafe Caton:Then he went on uh, the people from gibeon uh said, hey, we, we want to make a treaty with you and you know we'll, we'll be your servants or whatever. Well, they thought they were from a faraway country and they were actually about three miles up the road. But when the kings in that area heard that Gibeon which was a very strategic city, by the way, where it was stationed, and it was a fortified city and it said it had 10,000 very brave soldiers that were very able, fighting men, so it was well respected. Well, when they found out Gibeon, the area, people said let's go up and attack them. We can't have them join in with Israel, you know, uh. So the Gibeonites then, because they had signed that treaty, uh, they became the property of Israel, basically. And so Israel now said okay, we accepted their agreement. So, even though we were wrong to do that, we disobeyed God because they're in this country and we were supposed to eradicate everyone from this. But we gave them an oath that we weren't going to harm them. So now they were literally their property, so they were responsible for taking care of them.
Lafe Caton:So when those kings went, joshua said they marched all night, got up there and they defeated the five kings. And as the armies were fleeing from Joshua and Israel, joshua asked can you extend the day, lord? Can you stop the sun and the sky? And he did. And then God rained down hailstones and said more people died from hailstones than from the sword as the enemy. So you know when you do what God tells you to do.
Lafe Caton:And when they had, even though they had disobeyed, in making a treaty with the Gibeonites, they stuck with their word. And in fact, later on Saul tries to eliminate all the Gibeonites and they wind up. God punishes Israel and David asks what's going on? And he says well, saul, I'm angry with Israel because Saul tried to exterminate the Gibeonites. And so David goes to the Gibeonites and says what can we do to Saul's relatives, men in order to appease God. And all this sounds harsh, but it's a matter of are you a person of your word? And Joshua proved that he was, even if it was tough. But they defeated 31 kings.
Lafe Caton:And then here's another thing Joshua does not try to pass his leadership onto his sons, because when you had a king or a leader, then when that leader got old and passed away or was unable to function, they would promote their sons to leadership. Joshua, there's no sign of that at all. Joshua said I'm getting old. I have fulfilled what God has called me to do, and that's to lead Israel into the land of Canaan to be their commander in chief. We have subdued the armies in the area. Now there were pockets here and there that still need to be cleaned up. But he says now I'm turning my leadership over to the elders and leaders and officials and priests and judges of each tribe to go and finish what God had commanded you to do. And he almost had to. It's like they were all huddled up here at Gilgal and he's like go get out of here, you know. Go claim your land that God has promised you.
Lafe Caton:All right, then I think it's interesting that seven times Joshua is told be strong and courageous, do not be afraid. In Deuteronomy 31, 22 through 24, don't you think Joshua, taking those people into the land, had every reason to be afraid? Do I hear an amen? Do we ever face anything where we're scared, we're uncomfortable with it? We haven't been there before and I think we can't let. We've got to be strong. We've got to put our faith in God, not in man.
Lafe Caton:And in Joshua 1, 9 through 10, god made a promise. Does that mean anything? How about when Jesus says, in the same way, you saw me go up into heaven, I'm coming back. Do we believe that? Do we believe Jesus is going to fulfill his promises? Do we live like? We believe that promise Joshua did? He said look, god promised you this land. What more do you need? And he believed it and he acted on it, and that gave him courage to do what he did.
Lafe Caton:1 Chronicles 22, 13. He says Obey the laws and I will go with you. God talking to him Everywhere you go. There's no place you can go. You know, I've heard people pray for missionaries that Lord be with them as they go to this land. I'm telling you, god's already there. He's there waiting on you. Say, what took you so long? You know he's everywhere, he's walking ahead of us. He's not yeah, jesus is alongside of us, but he's been there. He's prepared the way for us to go and we need to grab his hand and hang on and go for the ride, but obey the laws and I will go with you everywhere you go. Now, if we don't obey, you know, he might, he might leave us. So what are we scared of and what? What do you think God is telling us to do today?
Lafe Caton:Leif Caton, born into a large middle-class family in Inola, oklahoma, you know not exactly slavery, even though sometimes I felt like it when Dad said grab that hoe and get out there in that garden, on them green beans. You know, but all of you put your name in there. What were you born into? You put your name in there. What were you born into? What you know? I didn't have aspirations of greatness coming out of inola. You know from a fifth of six kids.
Lafe Caton:But what do I want my epitaph to say? The lord's servant mission accomplished, well done. I want to be obedient, I want to be humble, I want to be brave, I want to be courageous, I want to have great faith. Do you know and understand God's will? Do we study and share it? Do we take action?
Lafe Caton:In Ephesians 2.10, God has a plan for you that he has been preparing for you. He says these good works I have planned in advance for you. All I need you to do is suit up and go, follow wholeheartedly. There is no I'm going to put my foot in and test the water. You jump in. It's the full plunge. Trust God, be strong and courageous, do not be afraid.
Lafe Caton:Again, joshua had to be told that seven times in the scripture. Be strong and courageous, don Don't be afraid. And how is that possible? Is great faith. Do we trust God to be there for us? Do we trust that he has been ahead of us and is waiting for us, that he has prepared you? You know, it wasn't like he just threw Joshua into that leadership role. He had been with Moses since they left Egypt. He has been preparing you your whole life. Some of you are real young. He's still preparing you right now. He's preparing you for things that you're going to encounter in the future. And you don't think I don't know what to do here. You think Josh was uncomfortable at times. Yeah, he was. So my time is up. I'm a little bit over, sorry, but, like I say, you got about 10 weeks worth of study in one lesson today.
Lafe Caton:So you know and of course, one of the verses that everybody knows, you'll see it in nearly every Christian's home Joshua, when he's addressing the people, he said choose you this day who you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the lord and I want you to make that decision today. The people all around and you know, in bible class we talked about the people. They said, oh, we're going to serve god. He says, then, get rid of the idols that you have among you. So they thought they were serving God, but they had idols. And he says get rid of the idols. God has to be first. And he says, for me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord, we're going to be obedient, just like I have been my whole life.
Lafe Caton:And it said the people as long as Joshua was alive, the people followed God and were obedient to God. But don't be like them when the preacher's gone or moves, or this elder is not here anymore or so, and so you know they don't save you. It's you and God, you and God. Get that relationship working and then bring as many people with you as you possibly can in service to him. Thank you, it's been a blessing to be here and to share this with you, and I woke up this morning about five o'clock and it was a bad thing.
Lafe Caton:I started having thoughts of what else I need to say. I thought, no, I've got too much already. So but anyway, spend time in the word, get to know God and then just humble ourselves and obey him and put our faith in him. Trust him. God's faithful and he's full of grace and he's full of love and he wants you to be with him in heaven forever. He promised that he's preparing a place for us and he's coming back for us. Believe it and live it and then share it with as many people as you possibly can. Let's have an invitation song.