The Crisis of Leadership
St. Mark 10:35-45
This week's lessons are fairly short, and so my reflection will also be short.
In his dialogue with James and John about authority, Christ gives the briefest overview of what is expected of Christian leadership. The rulers of the heathens, he says, dominate their people. They hold authority over their heads, they are proud and boastful. They use their power to control people.
Not so in the household of God. The one who would be chiefest must be servant of all. My mind turns immediately to a text like Psalm 72, the description of the righteous king, whose chief virtue is that he does justice for the poor and rescues the helpless. The goal of leadership is not to exercise authority, but to strengthen the weak.
It is tempting to look at texts like Psalm 72 as simply Messianic. And of course, the Psalm is about Christ and His Kingdom. But we must not forget that we are supposed to imitate Christ. Any authority that we have should be used as Christ uses His. Not only that, but when we are involved in choosing leaders, whether in the Church or in business or even in politics, this is the standard we measure by: humility, service, and charity.
We are suffering a crisis of leadership in our world, and the Church is not immune to it. We must work to restore this standard in our lives, by acting on it ourselves and by requiring it of our leaders.
This week's lessons are fairly short, and so my reflection will also be short.
In his dialogue with James and John about authority, Christ gives the briefest overview of what is expected of Christian leadership. The rulers of the heathens, he says, dominate their people. They hold authority over their heads, they are proud and boastful. They use their power to control people.
Not so in the household of God. The one who would be chiefest must be servant of all. My mind turns immediately to a text like Psalm 72, the description of the righteous king, whose chief virtue is that he does justice for the poor and rescues the helpless. The goal of leadership is not to exercise authority, but to strengthen the weak.
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| Christ the Good Shepherd Mosaic 5th cent. Mausoleum of Galla Placidia |
It is tempting to look at texts like Psalm 72 as simply Messianic. And of course, the Psalm is about Christ and His Kingdom. But we must not forget that we are supposed to imitate Christ. Any authority that we have should be used as Christ uses His. Not only that, but when we are involved in choosing leaders, whether in the Church or in business or even in politics, this is the standard we measure by: humility, service, and charity.
We are suffering a crisis of leadership in our world, and the Church is not immune to it. We must work to restore this standard in our lives, by acting on it ourselves and by requiring it of our leaders.
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