A reflection on leadership
30/09/12 05:24
Today is the last day of September. The first of the presidential debates is coming up this week and the election is just over a month away. It is interesting to live in a state that is not considered to be a “swing state” this year. The candidates are, for the most part, ignoring us. Their election strategies are focusing on other states. That is really all right with me, in a way. I don’t think that we need millions and millions of dollars worth of advertising to make up our minds how to vote. On the other hand, it is hard to get excited about an election when you are being told that your vote doesn’t matter.
Leadership is continually a difficult issue for this country. Our nation grew up with a distinct notion that we didn’t want a king. The separation from England had a lot to do with authority and abuses of power. The freedom that people sought and experienced as they left Europe had them chafing at the taxes and regulations imposed by the far-away government. The establishment of a new government, however, resulted in new taxes and regulations. Great care was taken, at the time of the forming of the government of the United States, to create a balance of powers and keep the executive branch of government in check. The balance of power has shifted in different generations and we are experiencing a series of increasingly weak and ineffective legislatures while the executive and judicial branches remain much stronger. The situation is not caused by a flaw in the constitution, but rather by intense partisanship and the huge role of money in election politics.
I am no expert on government or politics. And I doubt that I have any information that might add to the public debate. What I do know is that the struggle over leadership is much more ancient than our nation.
It wasn’t long after Moses led the people of Israel out of slavery that our people began to have issues with leadership. They knew that they didn’t want to return to slavery, though there were voices that argued that even slavery was preferable to wandering in the wilderness. Moses was a gift from God, and there had been no election or popular say in his becoming a leader. The demands of leadership were too much for him to keep on top of everything. When he went away to consult with God, the people lost their faith and sense of direction. When he tried to focus his attention on being attentive to the people, there were too many disputes for him to handle. A system of judges seemed to be the solution, and for a few generations there were many judges, some good and some corrupt, who served to provide leadership for the people.
Influenced by their neighbors, the people began to desire a king. They were warned repeatedly of the dangers of an earthly king. Too much power in one place results in humans who abuse that power. Still the people begged for a king.
They got what they asked for. The experiment with a monarchy didn’t work out all that well for Israel. Kings tended to be human with all sorts of human failings. The best of the kings were guilty of huge crimes against the people. The most successful of the kings left behind a wake of people who had been disenfranchised by their consolidation of power. The monarchy resulted in divisions of the people into different factions and finally Israel was overrun by other governments and lost self-governance. For most of their history, the people of Israel have been governed by others.
Faithful leadership is difficult to establish and maintain.
It is, in fact, difficult to imagine.
Jesus spoke frequently about God’s realm and the distinction between the failings of temporal government and the promise of the eternal. The funders of the King James version of the Bible – the most popular of English translations – made sure that the bible reflected the norms of English monarchy and insisted on the translation of many biblical words into the titles of their political structure. Thus the name of God in the Hebrew Bible is frequently translated “Lord.” Jesus’ parables about God’s realm end up being about “the Kingdom of God.” The result was a masterpiece of literature. The bible is poetic and beautiful to read and clearly picks up on the major themes in ways that people can understand.
It also makes unrealistic comparisons between God and earthly rulers. You can only think of God as a king if you are willing to understand that the examples of king that we have in human governments are all much different from God. Kings who convince themselves that they are gods rarely act in the best interests of the people they serve.
The struggle for fair leadership among humans continues and I don’t expect to see a perfect model in this generation. What we can do is to look to some of the biggest mistakes of the past and try to avoid them. This world has had enough experience with benevolent dictatorships to have learned that dictatorships are never benevolent. We have learned that over centralization of power to know that power is best when authority is spread out.
Jesus’ model of servant leadership remains the best human example of leadership, but it is one that is difficult to follow. Whoever wants to be first must become last and servant of all. True leadership is modeled by service, not by consolidation of power and wealth.
I don’t expect to hear the candidates speak of their role as servants in the debate. But then, I think there are plenty of leaders in our world who never receive recognition and whose faces don’t appear on television with any regularity. That, I am sure, is perfectly fine with those people. They have other things in their lives that are more important than gaining attention.
No matter who the winners and losers are in our upcoming election, I suspect that we still have much to learn about governing ourselves.
Leadership is continually a difficult issue for this country. Our nation grew up with a distinct notion that we didn’t want a king. The separation from England had a lot to do with authority and abuses of power. The freedom that people sought and experienced as they left Europe had them chafing at the taxes and regulations imposed by the far-away government. The establishment of a new government, however, resulted in new taxes and regulations. Great care was taken, at the time of the forming of the government of the United States, to create a balance of powers and keep the executive branch of government in check. The balance of power has shifted in different generations and we are experiencing a series of increasingly weak and ineffective legislatures while the executive and judicial branches remain much stronger. The situation is not caused by a flaw in the constitution, but rather by intense partisanship and the huge role of money in election politics.
I am no expert on government or politics. And I doubt that I have any information that might add to the public debate. What I do know is that the struggle over leadership is much more ancient than our nation.
It wasn’t long after Moses led the people of Israel out of slavery that our people began to have issues with leadership. They knew that they didn’t want to return to slavery, though there were voices that argued that even slavery was preferable to wandering in the wilderness. Moses was a gift from God, and there had been no election or popular say in his becoming a leader. The demands of leadership were too much for him to keep on top of everything. When he went away to consult with God, the people lost their faith and sense of direction. When he tried to focus his attention on being attentive to the people, there were too many disputes for him to handle. A system of judges seemed to be the solution, and for a few generations there were many judges, some good and some corrupt, who served to provide leadership for the people.
Influenced by their neighbors, the people began to desire a king. They were warned repeatedly of the dangers of an earthly king. Too much power in one place results in humans who abuse that power. Still the people begged for a king.
They got what they asked for. The experiment with a monarchy didn’t work out all that well for Israel. Kings tended to be human with all sorts of human failings. The best of the kings were guilty of huge crimes against the people. The most successful of the kings left behind a wake of people who had been disenfranchised by their consolidation of power. The monarchy resulted in divisions of the people into different factions and finally Israel was overrun by other governments and lost self-governance. For most of their history, the people of Israel have been governed by others.
Faithful leadership is difficult to establish and maintain.
It is, in fact, difficult to imagine.
Jesus spoke frequently about God’s realm and the distinction between the failings of temporal government and the promise of the eternal. The funders of the King James version of the Bible – the most popular of English translations – made sure that the bible reflected the norms of English monarchy and insisted on the translation of many biblical words into the titles of their political structure. Thus the name of God in the Hebrew Bible is frequently translated “Lord.” Jesus’ parables about God’s realm end up being about “the Kingdom of God.” The result was a masterpiece of literature. The bible is poetic and beautiful to read and clearly picks up on the major themes in ways that people can understand.
It also makes unrealistic comparisons between God and earthly rulers. You can only think of God as a king if you are willing to understand that the examples of king that we have in human governments are all much different from God. Kings who convince themselves that they are gods rarely act in the best interests of the people they serve.
The struggle for fair leadership among humans continues and I don’t expect to see a perfect model in this generation. What we can do is to look to some of the biggest mistakes of the past and try to avoid them. This world has had enough experience with benevolent dictatorships to have learned that dictatorships are never benevolent. We have learned that over centralization of power to know that power is best when authority is spread out.
Jesus’ model of servant leadership remains the best human example of leadership, but it is one that is difficult to follow. Whoever wants to be first must become last and servant of all. True leadership is modeled by service, not by consolidation of power and wealth.
I don’t expect to hear the candidates speak of their role as servants in the debate. But then, I think there are plenty of leaders in our world who never receive recognition and whose faces don’t appear on television with any regularity. That, I am sure, is perfectly fine with those people. They have other things in their lives that are more important than gaining attention.
No matter who the winners and losers are in our upcoming election, I suspect that we still have much to learn about governing ourselves.