The heart of a leader

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The historic rise of Barack Obama to the presidency has rekindled an old question: Who is a leader?

Is a leader someone who inspires others to follow by the power of vision and example? Is a leader a charismatic individual who attracts followers with personal magnetism? Does a leader impose authority on others by sheer force of will, or persuade them with reason?

“The enormous potential of human leadership ranges from Attila the Hun to Mother Teresa,” writes Joseph S. Nye, a Harvard University professor and author of The Powers to Lead. “Most everyday leaders remain unheralded. The role of heroic leadership in war has led us to over-emphasize command and control and hard military power — and downplay other styles of leadership.”

In Nye’s view, we need to see leaders less in “heroic terms of command” than as people who excel in “encouraging participation throughout an organization, group or network.”

Doesn’t sound very exciting. But for all his charisma and oratorical gifts, Obama probably would agree with Nye’s definition of leadership. To succeed as a national leader, he must find ways to bring together many people with differing opinions to accomplish urgent objectives. Abraham Lincoln, the leader Obama often cites as a model, brilliantly co-opted his political opponents by bringing them into his cabinet — the “team of rivals” — during a time of great national crisis.

Lincoln, however, possessed other attributes in short supply among many contemporary “leaders”: personal honesty, moral courage — and humility.

“He was a strong man, and like most men quietly confident of their strength, without vanity or self-consciousness,” observes historian Paul Johnson. “He invariably did the right thing, however easily it might be avoided. Of how many other great men can that be said?”

Not many — particularly these days. Eighty percent of Americans believe the nation faces a “leadership crisis,” according to a poll by Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership.

The center, in collaboration with U.S. News and World Report, recently convened a panel of judges from various fields to select 24 of “America’s Best Leaders” from more than 100 nominees (see http://www.usnews.com/features/news/special-reports/best-leaders.html).

The panel defined a leader as someone who “motivates people to work collaboratively to accomplish great things.” They rated nominees based on their effectiveness in setting direction by “building a shared sense of purpose” to make a “positive social impact”; achieving results of “significant breadth and depth”; and cultivating a culture of growth by “inspiring others to lead.”

Their choices, the fourth such listing published by U.S. News, recognized famous and lesser-known leaders, including educators, scientists, physicians, business executives and entrepreneurs, military officers, politicians, activists and artists.

Many of these leaders richly deserve recognition for their work. What struck me, however, was this: No religious or spiritual leader made the list of 24. Not one.

Did the panelists conclude there is not a single American religious leader motivating others to “accomplish great things”? Or was their perspective on leadership so secular that they didn’t even consider religious work worthy of consideration? I don’t know. But if they’re open to nominations for next year’s list, here’s mine: Eric Reese.

Reese, 42, a Southern Baptist missionary serving in Brazil, recently received the Pedro Ernesto Medal of Merit from Rio de Janeiro, named in memory of a renowned mayor who fought poverty in the city. It’s the highest honor conferred by the city on its citizens and foreigners.
Reese puts his life on the line daily to work with the poor in some of the most dangerous favelas (slums) of Rio, where shootouts, prostitution and drug trafficking rule the streets. He’s been threatened by drug dealers and paramilitary gang members, but he’s befriended them, too. Watch him tell his own amazing story here.

“I might be crazy,” the Albany, Ga., native admitted to a reporter. “But one thing I know: I know Jesus, and I'm gonna preach His name. I'm passionate about my work. Back when I was in the Army, fighting and jumping out of airplanes ... I told God I’d do the same for Him.”

And he motivates Brazilians formerly trapped in misery to do it, too.

“There are people who have overcome fear. There are people who have overcome the stereotypes of these communities. And they come in and they set up things and they tell me what to do. They lead out.”

People like Marcia, once a prostitute and drug addict. Now she goes into dangerous places with Reese to rescue others from darkness.

“If you could see her when we met her and see her now,” Reese says, voice cracking. “Only the grace of God can do that.”

Reese doesn’t risk his life in Rio for awards or recognition. He does it because he loves God and God’s children.

Still, U.S. News and Harvard, if you’re looking for someone who “motivates people to work collaboratively to accomplish great things,” I’d match Reese up with all your academics, executives and politicians.

Predictions and possibilities

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The new year brings a fresh batch of forecasts for the future.

Well, semi-fresh.

Some of the predictions from the World Future Society’s recent “Outlook 2009” report already are coming to pass. Others already have proven wrong. Continued growth of the developed world’s economies for another five years? Scratch that one.

The forecasting business is about as reliable as the current stock market. But here are some intriguing predictions to watch for:

-- Total connectivity — By the end of the next decade, nanodevices and implants will create an omnipresent, seamless communication network “among all people everywhere” — or at least among those who choose to participate and have access to the technology. Think you’re connected now? Just wait.

-- Yotta, yotta, yotta — The yottabyte (that’s 1 septillion bytes of data) is the digital measurement you’ll be using by 2050. That, according to “Outlook 2009,” raises the possibility that you’ll be able to record and store “every second of [your] life on a computer and no doubt post it on Facebook.”

-- 3-D TV — Mathematicians have developed blueprints for instruments that could project 3-D images, like the holograms in “Star Wars.” Just think: You’ll be able to experience bad reality TV like you’re part of the show.

-- Git along, little microchips — Ranchers soon will round up cattle remotely with GPS tracking devices and related technology. So much for cowboys.

Enough about technology. On a more human scale:

-- Mobility — More migrants moving from poor to rich countries will provide needed labor but increase social tensions and backlashes against immigrants, particularly in difficult economic times. How will Christians respond to the strangers in their midst — with hostility or love?

-- China’s faith to grow — China’s powerhouse (and now rollercoaster) economy could spur a “rapid growth in religions” as tumultuous shifts create a “yearning for stabilizing influences.” Christianity already is the fastest-growing faith in the world’s largest nation. Whether or not it embraces democratic freedoms, China might count more practicing evangelical Christians than the United States within a generation.

-- U.S. “organized religion” to shrink — Despite a 40-percent increase in the national population over the last 35 years, religious congregations are experiencing declines in overall attendance. Thus, “traditional Western religion’s influence over the mainstream will likely continue to wane.” Whether this prediction comes to pass is up to followers of Christ. What if God Himself were to replace “traditional Western religion” with a new movement of the Holy Spirit across the land — through our consecrated lives?

-- New activism will increase — “Self-reliance and cooperation will become prevalent societal values” as younger generations replace the baby boomers as social leaders. Gen X and Y are “highly entrepreneurial and … very socially aware. Societies can expect more small-business activity, more social activism and greater outreach across cultures and political parties.” All of those characteristics will serve the cause of God’s mission — if young Christians use them in His service.

-- Hangin’ loose — “Forty-one percent of U.S. adults say they are delaying major life decisions, such as buying a home [or] marrying. … The main reason cited is a lack of personal savings, along with concerns about the U.S. economy’s overall future.” That doesn’t sound so good from an economic and social point of view. But from God’s perspective, how many people who delay major financial and personal commitments that tie them down might become available for His global purposes?

We’ll see what happens. Anyone can make predictions. God holds the future.

Knocking at the gate at Christmas

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It’s human nature to focus inward, especially during lean times.

We do it as individuals, as families and as a nation. Let the world take care of itself for a while, we say. We’ve got to worry about home base until things improve. Enough already with endless global crises, foreign wars, etc. Let us have a quiet, peaceful Christmas for a change.

If only the world were so accommodating.

“You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you,” communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky once said.

Trotsky’s grim observation was cited recently by The Economist magazine in an analysis of the many overseas challenges faced by President-elect Obama.

Case in point: the November terror attacks on Mumbai, India.

The Mumbai massacres weren’t just another blip on the global chaos meter. They illustrate once again the power of a small but well-organized band of murderers not only to kill innocents and paralyze a city, but to spark dangerous international confrontation. The threat of war between India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, serves the interests of no one — except terrorist organizations seeking to destabilize the region.

The United States and other world powers simply cannot ignore that kind of crisis. So they respond to try to calm tensions and avert far greater violence.

SPIRITUAL CRISIS

In the personal and spiritual realms, however, it’s easier to look away when people are in crisis. I’m an expert at being (or pretending to be) clueless about the needs of folks all around me. You can’t help everybody, right?

“I think one human tendency resulting from the fall of man is to protect oneself from being consumed by the needs of others,” says a missionary serving in one of the poorest, most violent and least-evangelized countries of Central Asia. “I’ve found that fear within and fought it many times in pursuit of love.”

When things get tough, she asks, “Does God give me a ‘Holy Bible for Chaotic Times’ that directs me to give only to family and treat people the best they should reasonably expect me to under the circumstances?

“Or can He still be telling me, ‘Give to everyone who asks of you’?”

She avoided these uncomfortable questions more easily in the United States, where whole communities prohibit “soliciting,” where donations for the faceless needy can be dropped in offering plates and collection boxes. In the Muslim nation where she works, the poor are everywhere. Giving alms is expected, but the socially acceptable gift is a tiny amount. If you give more, you will be inundated with constant pleas for help.

All very reasonable — until someone comes to you needing more.

Such a one came to her last year: a desperately poor grandmother pleading for help to care for her orphaned grandchildren. The missionary did what she could and wondered guiltily during a visit home to the United States if the old woman and her grandchildren survived an especially hard winter.

“Maybe I did what I could instead of doing what Jesus could,” she admits. “I was unwilling to love extravagantly for Jesus and excused myself with ‘culture stress.’”

The missionary returned to Central Asia this year. The old woman found her again, with the same plea for help. The uncomfortable questions within returned.

“How would Jesus have me ‘Give to everyone who asks of you’?” she asks herself.

“If I had been used all of my life, yet blessed with children and grandchildren, and yet have their orphaned care fall upon my bent back and their little bodies draw close against my thin, bony frame and into my tattered [cloak], and if I saw their dark eyes in smudged faces looking wearily into my emptiness, and if I knew there was a person with great resources living on a certain street in a courtyard behind a certain gate, might I hope that person would charitably give me more than a [five-cent] coin?

“And if I, standing inside the courtyard gate, knew that the Father loved this beggar woman since eternity and accomplished salvation for her and her loved ones and longed to enfold her in His love this very moment, what might the love of Christ do through me?”

This same beggar woman is standing at your gate and knocking at your door. Not literally, perhaps, but she is there. Whole nations and peoples are there, pleading not just for food but for the Bread of life, the Word of God made flesh.

“What child is this?” they are asking. “Could He give us hope, too?”

Yes, it’s easier to ignore the insistent knocking, to pretend they aren’t there. But when the missionary in Central Asia feels overwhelmed, she turns to Jesus.

“I consider Him and think, ‘Jesus, You love me and I love You. That’s all I know for sure.’ Then He seems to put His arms around my shoulders, smile and keep walking.

“I want to be able to look back on these days with a smile that I got from Him.”

The hunger for story

Don’t see “Australia” on an empty stomach.

The epic – and I mean epic – movie starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman is easily two and a half hours long. You’ll faint from hunger unless you lug a giant tub of popcorn into the theater with you.

“Australia” director Baz Luhrmann calls big, sweeping dramas like his film "banquets of cinema." But “Australia” is more like a strip-mall buffet restaurant of cinema: mounds of reheated, generic glop and none of it fully satisfying. The film tries to be a drama/adventure/comedy

/Western/love story/hero vs. villian/historical pageant. Oh, and also an expose' of white Australia’s many sins against the continent’s Aboriginal peoples. It doesn’t quite succeed in any of those genres.

Still, I enjoyed it. In a world of “Saw V” and moronic computerized cartoons, I’m thankful for any movie that attempts to tell a dramatic human story – and takes right and wrong semi-seriously.

Sweeping epics are very expensive. Movie studios fear spending big money on productions that don’t appeal to their main target audience: action-hungry teens. But Susan King of the Los Angeles Times wrote an interesting piece about the appetite people still have for big, dramatic, emotional stories:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-et-epics28-2008nov28,0,2446854.story

King writes:

“Australia” deliberately hearkens back to the kind of filmmakers and films (think David Lean and "Lawrence of Arabia" or John Ford and "The Searchers") that gave cinema its bigger-than-life scale. The kind of epics that few directors or studios even try for anymore … .

[Baz] Luhrmann believes passionately that audiences still crave the epic. "The way the world is at the moment and the feeling of great fear and trepidation, there is a function for cinema to allow people to pull into a world and really feel direct, hard-core emotions," Luhrmann said….

Film historian Joseph McBride remembers a conversation he once had with "Lawrence" star Peter O'Toole about what made Lean's epics so memorable. O'Toole told him "that the secret of David Lean's success with epics is that they were almost intimate personal stories where it was about a small group of people that you deeply cared about and got to know well.

"But they stood for something larger. They were part of a large event. That is what makes an epic -- it focuses on certain people, but they represent all of society or a big part of society."

Epics, of course, have been around as long as there has been storytelling -- "Gilgamesh" and Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey," for example. Cinema has embraced the epic genre dating to the Italian 1912 version of "Quo Vadis" D.W. Griffith's 1915 Civil War tale, "The Birth of a Nation," was the first real American cinematic epic ….

[Filmmaker Ed] Zwick believes there are several factors as to why Hollywood has been shying away from traditional epics, including an "unwillingness to be embarrassed about certain kind of themes" ….

Despite the plethora of special-effects movies, film historian Leonard Maltin agrees that audiences still want to be swept away on a tide of emotions."The enormous success of 'Titanic' proves that audiences' tastes for epics have not vanished," he said. "Even in this hip, postmodern era, I don't think audiences have changed that much. I think filmmakers are more cynical than audiences."

Amen to that. People are hungry – as they always have been – not just for something larger than their own lives, but for meaning, for story.

The greatest epic of them all is the story of God’s quiet but dramatic personal entrance into human history.

The Christmas story.

Thanksgiving in a sea of troubles

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What would William Shakespeare say about America’s deepening economic crisis?

“Now is the winter of our discontent,” perhaps.

Maybe he’d challenge us to stoically “suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.” Or to act boldly, to “take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them.”

How quickly overconfidence turns to anxiety, fear and anger when the human institutions we rely on inevitably falter or fail. “Lord, what fools these mortals be!” Shakespeare’s Puck proclaims in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

“WWSS” (What would Shakespeare say?) is a valuable exercise. His plays are a comprehensive guided tour of human behavior, which he saw as comic or tragic — or both at the same time.

The best guide to human fallibility, however, is the Bible, which also provides an antidote: God’s faithfulness.

Thanksgiving is an ideal time to refocus on the only reliable foundation we have. That’s what the Pilgrims at Plymouth did, and they went through harder times than we’re experiencing.

“Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. For our heart rejoices in Him, because we trust in His holy name. Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us, according as we have hoped in You” (Psalm 33:20-22, NASB).

“Lovingkindness” or “steadfast love” are translations of the Hebrew word chesed, which appears over and over in Scripture. It expresses the inexpressible — the infinite faithfulness, love and mercy of the Lord, which span all generations.

He doesn’t promise permanent prosperity. He promises Himself to those who seek Him — and He never breaks a promise, no matter how long it takes to fulfill.

I thought about God’s acts of faithfulness — some large, some small — when I saw these recent reports from mission fields:

An American teenager, age 13, knew she had a story to tell. So when a natural disaster befell the people her Southern Baptist missionary family serves in East Asia, she insisted on going with her parents to minister in the area. One day she and an older Christian woman shared the Gospel with a non-Christian mother and her teenage daughter.

The mother had heard previously about Jesus’ death on the cross but hadn’t heard about His resurrection. Once she and her daughter heard the complete story of His love, however, they indicated their willingness to accept Christ. But the mother insisted her daughter was too young to make such a drastic decision.

“Well, I’m only 13 years old and I believe,” said the young American. “When God gives you understanding, it doesn’t matter how old you are.”

Both mother and daughter prayed to receive Christ that day.
In another East Asian location, a missionary had labored to the point of despair. He never imagined that he and his wife would serve among an unreached ethnic minority group for seven years without seeing any spiritual fruit whatsoever.

“For the first seven years, there was not a believer, nobody convicted of sin, nothing,” he said.

During the past year, however, they’ve seen God move.

“We have seen the first Christians come to faith, the first baptisms and the first church started,” he said, barely containing his emotion. “We have heard the first praise songs sung and seen the first Scriptures translated. Now God has raised up a leader from within the group.”

His joyful tears flowed as he praised the faithfulness of the One who called, sustained and used them to proclaim His name to those who had never heard. In His time, the response came.

If material blessings seem scarcer this Thanksgiving season, bless the Maker of all things instead. Bless Him for Himself, not just His gifts.

“Thyself, o my God. Thyself for Thine own sake, above all things I love,” prayed Lancelot Andrewes, a contemporary of Shakespeare and one of the principal translators of the King James Bible. “Thyself as my last end I long for . …”

His lovingkindness is better than life.

London: end of 'Christian civilization'?

Before reading this post, check out “London: Capital of the world,” a short multimedia presentation and overview of the challenge of omnicultural London at http://www.commissionstories.com/?p=45.

“Upon this battle depends the future of Christian civilization.” – Winston Churchill, June 1940, preparing the British people for expected Nazi invasion

The discouraging news headlines just keep coming for Christians in London and the rest of the United Kingdom:

-- “Government plays down Christmas for fear of offending minorities”

-- “Active Muslims to outnumber Christian church members by 2049”

-- “Planned London mega-mosque would be biggest religious building in Britain”

-- “Archbishop calls incorporation of Muslim shariah law into British legal system ‘unavoidable.’”

-- “Britain ‘no longer Christian,’ says influential think tank

That last item isn’t exactly stop-the-presses news, given the long, slow death of the Church of England. But it jars nevertheless.

“It’s time for Britain to recognize that it is no longer a Christian nation and should embrace multiculturalism,” said a news article summarizing conclusions of a 2007 study by the Institute for Public Policy Research. “Echoing sentiments heard throughout Britain in recent years, the authors of the report say the traditional pillars of British identity have now vanished or been greatly weakened. Church attendance is at historically low levels, the British Empire is gone, the monarchy is far less popular and the Second World War is inexorably slipping into memory.”

The government should create a “new and more inclusive national identity, part of which includes honoring the diverse cultures found in Britain,” the study recommended. Conservative critics charged that the study’s authors were calling for “throwing out” history and “denying the fundamental contribution” of Christianity to Britain.

Meanwhile, overall Sunday church attendance declined from 3.7 million in 1998 to 3.2 million in 2005 (year of the latest United Kingdom church census) – barely more than 6 percent of the population. At current rates, it’s likely to fall below 5 percent by 2015.

So has the “Christian civilization” the late, great Winston Churchill courageously called Britons to defend against Nazi barbarism (see quote above) finally succumbed to the quiet onset of senility, secularism and shariah?

If “Christian civilization” means a civic religion to which government and society pay lip service, yes, it’s dead in England – or on life support. If it means the kingdom of God on earth, however, reports of its demise are greatly exaggerated.

“Denominationalism is in big decline, but Christianity is on the increase,” contends evangelical Anglican vicar Mark Melluish, whose multicolored London flock is rapidly growing. London Baptist pastor Boyd Williams agrees — and challenges other London churches to break out of their siege mentality and get moving.

“We’ve got eyesight that isn’t clear,” says Williams. “We don’t see the (believers) around us from other ethnic groups for all the potential they have. They’re more gifted than we are in many ways. They’re evangelistic. They have faith. They just need training and channeling and they will be a mighty force. We’re just scratching the surface.”

Make no mistake: London is an enormous challenge for missions.

“Secularism is the predominant ‘religion’ of the city, but every other ‘ism’ is here in strong force,” acknowledges a Southern Baptist missionary in the city. “The largest Sikh and Hindu temples outside of India are in west London. London is the Islamic capital of Europe. Satanism and all kinds of mystic practices are also alive and well.”

In other words, London mirrors many of the urban centers of Europe. The Gospel is one often-lonely voice in a noisy, crowded marketplace of ideas — not unlike first-century Athens, where Paul preached to intellectuals and pagans, scoffers and seekers.

Christian history shows that sometimes God sends His children to the nations, and sometimes He sends the nations to us. London ceased to be the capital of “Christian civilization” long ago. But it might just regain that title as Asians, Africans, Arabs, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and every other variety of people find Christ there — and take His Gospel to the world.

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A time to lead

Following a historic presidential election — followed not only by Americans but by people the world over — here are some wise words from a wise man, Chuck Colson:

“Whether you voted for Barack Obama or John McCain, whether you’re recovering from your all-night celebration or drying the tears from your pillow, today’s a good day to remember the words of the apostle Paul: ‘I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone — for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness’ (1 Timothy 2:1-3).

“And the new president will surely need our prayers, because he and his administration face huge, serious challenges to the health of our nation and to peace in the world — challenges that, in my opinion, neither he nor any government on earth will have the power to overcome without divine aid.

“How has America come to this point? Why is our economy on the brink of disaster? Why is our culture so utterly depraved? I can only think of what Alexander Solzhenitsyn said about the catastrophic consequences of the Russian revolution. ‘I recall,’ he said, ‘hearing a number of older people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened.’

“Solzhenitsyn was right. Indeed, I can’t find any better explanation for why we Americans find ourselves in the state we are in. We have forgotten God. We have also forgotten that American democracy — indeed Western Civilization itself — is the product of the Judeo-Christian understanding of God and humanity.

Without that revelation that man is created in the image of God, our founders never would have recognized the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Indeed, as I and others like Rodney Stark have argued, modern science and education, liberal democracy, capitalism flourished in Western civilization precisely because of the Judeo-Christian worldview ….

“As I’ve re-read the Old Testament prophets recently, I couldn’t help but notice the recurring theme: The people of God turned away from Him and worshipped false idols. The result was always disaster.

“Is God responsible for credit markets collapsing around the world? No. We’re responsible. Because instead of worshiping God, we’ve worshipped false idols of the marketplace, credit card companies and cheap mortgages. We’ve put our own appetites over our duties to God and neighbor.

“So this is no time for Christians to go into the bunkers. No time to wail or moan over our retirement plans. This is a time to repent, to pray more, to give more. It’s a time for Christians to lead, encourage, and minister to a faltering country in a faltering economy.

“This is a time for the Church to get serious about Christian discipleship. Enough cheap grace. So pray for the new president and his administration. But most of all, my brothers and sisters, this is a time to love our neighbors and to hunger for God and His righteousness.”

Amen to that.

Full Colson commentary: The Day After