LEADER

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Why does the word “leader” evoke such a range of emotions within us? Check in with yourself: What are the visceral mental, emotional, and physical responses to the word “leader” in your own body?

Our cultual moment has a conflicted relationship with the role of the leader. There is a shared sentiment of suspicion of those, and often warranted desire to dethrone, whose desire to lead is to lord over others for their own glory and gain. But there is also an honest longing looking for exemplars, mentors, and guides to follow. The undercurrent of admiration for those willing to risk stepping into the headwinds of change crashes against the rocks of our reality.

I borrowed, and of course then alliterated, the wisdom of J.R. Briggs on what is a leader. Leaders bear pain, build trust, and bring hope. It may be reductionistic, but it begins to frame what a leader is willing to do, whatever context they are leading in. Leaders will carry the weight of responsibility, they will do the relational work for the collective win, and they will hold on to a view of the horizon that lies beyond them. They bear pain, build trust, and bring hope.

As I consider what has it required for me to be a leader working in and with faith communities over the last 30 years, I believe it has been the willingness to go first, fail forward, and create space for others. To lead is to go first, which is not to be confused with putting yourself in the first place. Going first may be speaking least or eating last. To lead is to step into the unknown. The unknown is where all fear resides. Leading requires the resolve to look and lean over the ledge. This is the definition of courage, writes Brene Brown. “Courage requires the willingness to lean into uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure. If we can’t handle uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure in a way that aligns with our values we can’t lead.” To lead is to steward our power on behalf of others. It is acknowledging we have some degree of platform and privilege, and choosing to leverage what we have for the sake of others. A leader believes in the power of generative hospitality. They are committed to create space for others to grow and flourish.

I recently read if you want to know who the leader is, don’t look around the room for the person with the title. Instead, watch everyone’s eyes. When the question is asked, “What are we going to do?” Where the eyes of the group go is the leader in the room. I believe every person finds themselves at some point with the eyes of the room on them. The invitation in that moment is to be the leader.

Jared Ray Mackey

VOCATION

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It comes from the Latin vocare, to call, and means the work a man is called to by God.  

There are all different kinds of voices calling you to all different kinds of work, and the problem is to find out which is the voice of God rather than of Society, say, or the Super-ego, or Self-Interest.  

By and large a good rule for finding out is this. The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you need most to do and (b) that the world most needs to have done. If you really get a kick out of your work, you've presumably met requirement (a), but if your work is writing TV deodorant commercials, the chances are you've missed requirement (b). On the other hand, if your work is being a doctor in a leper colony, you have probably met requirement (b), but if most of the time you're bored and depressed by it, the chances are you have not only bypassed (a) but probably aren't helping your patients much either. 

Neither the hair shirt nor the soft berth will do. The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet. 

Frederick Buechner

- Originally published in Wishful Thinking

HERE IS THE WORLD

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The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you.

Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you.

There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.

Frederick Buechner

INFLUENCE INSTEAD OF IMPACT

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The work of taking spiritual and social responsibility of a specific geography is slow and hidden work. It will go unseen for days, month, and even years. It is not immediate. It requires a rootedness that occurs slowly under the surface over many seasons. It is cultivated by being a faithful presence with families, civic leaders, neighborhood schools, and local businesses.

In his book, The Life We’re Looking For, Andy Crouch offers a challenging invitation. Our desire to make an impact as both individuals and organizations may be misplaced. Or, at minimum, our vocabulary may need correction. The word “impact” until recently had a common understanding as an outcome from a sudden and often harmful force. The impact of an automobile in an accident, or the impact of a meteor on earth, were sudden, and often violent actions that resulted in catastrophic changes. “Impact” was understood as the sudden force sustained in a short moment in time. Crouch offers another term to consider to our purer and deeper desire.

“Influence” is a force that creates a significant shift over a prolonged period of time. Influence is difficult to measure in the immediate, but undeniable in the outcome. A vineyard is the work of influence over generations. A forgiving and loving community, a faithful and hospitable family, or a durable and generous organization are all the result of the patient power of influence. They cannot be created quickly. They require perseverance.

There are both beautiful and terrible moments that impact our lives. They push or pull us in a certain direction. We often refer to these brief moments as the inflection points in our lives. But, when we consider who we are and who we are becoming, both as individuals and as a community, we see beyond impactful moments to the deeper power of influence.

In a cultural moment of instantaneous and immediate approval, it is counter to the dominant culture to be a leader of influence. But, it is influence that works towards the restoration of the relational, cultural, and spiritual fabric of our neighborhood. It requires trusting in what Teilhard de Chardin called, “the slow work of God”.

Trust in the Slow Work of God

Above all, trust in the slow work of God
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.

We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new. And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability-
and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you.
your ideas mature gradually – let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.

Don’t try to force them on, as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.

Above all, trust in the slow work of God, our loving vine-dresser.


Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J. (1881-1955)

GOD AND LOVE

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The two most difficult things to get straight in life are love and God.

More often than not, the mess people make of their lives can be traced to failure or stupidity or meanness in one or both of these areas. The basic and biblical Christian conviction is that the two subjects are intricately related. If we want to deal with God the right way, we have to learn to love the right way. If we want to love the right way, we have to deal with God the right way.

God and love can't be separated.

Eugene Peterson

HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS

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“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.

Emily Dickinson