‘Willful blindness’ is “a legal term that describes when someone intentionally avoids knowing facts that could make them liable for a wrongful act. It’s also known as conscious avoidance.”

Putting one’s head in the sand, in other words, so as not to see what should otherwise be obvious to the honest and seeing person.

Over recent days I have again read 1 Samuel with profound appreciation. 1 Samuel addresses so many issues that pertain to us each and every day. It addresses leaders. It addresses pastor-shepherds. It addresses selfishness vs. selflessness. It addresses pride vs. humility. It addresses, perhaps above all, one of the most enduring themes in literature and history–the contrast between appearance and reality. Let me explain.

in 1 Samuel 14, Jonathan (the son of wicked King Saul) was the real deal. He was a good man, a warrior, a follower of the one and only true God, and he served as the foil to his despicable father, Saul, who was the opposite of his son–a wicked man, a moral coward, a false convert, etc.

In the fourteenth chapter of 1 Samuel, Jonathan goes out with his armor-bearer to battle the pagan Philistines. Jonathan and his armor-bearer are given victory by the Lord, and it appeared that God was vanquishing the enemies of God via his servant Jonathan.

But this is where Jonathan’s wicked father Saul intervenes. He makes it about him (Saul), not about God. And this is how you recognize, how you see the false shepherd. He’s in it for himself, not for the sheep.

If you’re not willfully blind, you will see it. Saul said, “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies” (1 Samuel 14:24a ESV). See what Saul did? He made it all about himself. The Philistines were not so much God’s enemies as Saul’s enemies. Saul’s concern was his own legacy rather than the glory of God and faithful stewardship of the sheep.

If that were not clear enough, the chapter ends with this: “There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he attached him to himself” (1 Samuel 14:52 ESV).

See it? Saul was a moral coward and so he hid behind strong men, valiant men, that he thought would serve as shields amidst his machinations and schemes. And in the very next chapter, God rejects Saul.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Matthew 11:15 ESV).