Leading from the Middle

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Sixteenth after Pentecost - Year A

Let us pray: O God, you call us to be followers of your way, and you also call us to be leaders along the way. Give us wisdom, humility and courage as we discern the way and our place along it. Amen.

It was pretty difficult this week not to be led to thinking about leadership - with newscasts telling us about the latest speaker at the American Democrat convention in Denver, Colorado, and the historic nomination of Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate in the upcoming American presidential election campaign. If that wasn’t enough, the talks were swirling in Canadian political circles about the likelihood that we would be involved in our own federal election. It doesn’t take rocket science to connect this prospect with recent television ads extolling the leadership abilities of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. And even if we don’t get an election call this week, there won’t be any respite, as the American Republican party convention gets underway in the twin cities of Minneapolis - St. Paul. So, it seems that we will be invited, if not forced, into spending some more time thinking about political leadership for the largest part of North America.

Of course, leadership is also the question raised by the passage we heard from the Hebrew Bible this morning. The enigmatic sight of a burning bush in the wilderness near Mount Horeb invites Moses into a conversation about God’s plan for him as a leader. But Moses isn’t exactly ready to jump into the ring. The fact that a charge of murder was hanging over his head when he returned was no doubt part of the reason for his reluctance. However, it is clear that Moses has considerable doubt about his abilities and considerable doubt about the authenticity of who it is that he is hearing speak to him from amidst this burning bush. Moses wants some credentials from God to prove the story he would have to tell to the Hebrew people about why he was stirring them into an escape from the oppression of Egypt. There’s a sort of subtext here playing into Moses reluctance at being called into leadership. It’s pretty hard to produce credible credentials on behalf of God. We can almost imagine Moses thinking that even if this is God calling him to return to Egypt, it will be hard for God to prove it, and therefore Moses has a good reason to say “no”. His own credibility will be compromised with the very people he is supposed to lead and he therefore won’t have any authority from them to lead.

A major requirement for a good leader is a willingness on the part of the people being led to be led. A leader without a group to lead is not a leader at all. You can imagine this kind of thinking going on in Moses’ head. “Tell me what I should say to the people when they ask who sent me”, he asks the voice emanating from the bush. If you could read his thoughts they might be saying - “No one will believe my story of a burning bush. They’ll want a different kind of proof that this was indeed God - Yahweh who put me to this, and Yahweh will be hard pressed to provide it to me. Therefore I will escape the leadership position that I am so reluctant to assume and God will have to choose someone else.” Well, as we know - the enigma of a burning bush was replaced by the enigma of a riddle for the name of God - and apparently a riddle convincing enough that Moses could no longer escape the call to be the leader for the exodus of the Hebrew people.

It’s not too difficult to see why Moses was a good choice as a leader. He had some impressive credentials. He was a Hebrew man adopted into the Egyptian royal family. He thus was accepted by both the oppressed and the oppressor. His life in a sense was one which had trained him for the job he was about to take on - with knowledge of both his people by birth and the Egyptian people by virtue of his upbringing. His destiny was apparently sealed when his mother - acting as any mother would under the threat of having her young son put to death - made a decision that would preserve his life. Even his reluctance is a sign of good leadership qualities. We are usually suspicious of people who want positions of great power too much. We figure they have ulterior motives, are too much attracted to the power for themselves rather than the power to make things better for the people they lead. In other words, a touch of humility is a helpful attribute. We also like our leaders to have some experience in the trenches so to speak - a leader who is out of touch with the people she is being called to lead may not have much staying power. Moses may have lived his life as a royal, but his Hebrew heritage was important - likely sealed in his psyche at an early age by his Hebrew nursemaid - who also happened to be his mother.

The other passages we heard this morning have something to tell us about leadership as well. The passage from the letter to the Romans could almost be seen as a manifesto for successful leadership. Listen again to some of the directives that Paul outlines in these few verses:

• Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it.

• Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good.

• Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

• Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame.

• Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder

Well, that give you an idea. It’s a good passage to read for someone with leadership aspirations, or someone being invited into a leadership position, placing as it does the proper emphasis on making things better for the people being led and not on the power or prestige to be gained by a leader.

Finally, the gospel passage also has much to say about leadership. While the passage contains a statement by Jesus to follow his lead, we also know that it is a passage which sets an example for leaders to follow - good leaders are good followers first. Good leaders are willing to sacrifice. Good leaders are true to themselves. What good is it, Jesus says, if you get everything you want, but lose yourself. In other words, leadership must be authentic - from the centre of who you are is the way Paul puts it.

Above all, leadership for the person of faith, is about following God’s way - whether we do it as followers of others along the way, or as leaders ourselves. Ultimately, we are all followers, for it is to God’s lead that we respond. Leading from the middle is a two-fold call - to lead with authenticity to the people being led and with authenticity to ourselves - the centre of who we are, and with experience and knowledge of the people whom we are called to lead.

Hopefully, as we enter this season of leadership, these thoughts and insights into the subject will be ones that help us in our own choice of questions about leadership - whether it be our own or the ones we help to choose. May God help us. Amen.