Christian Leadership

I believe that the New Testament outlines a consistent model of leadership, both within the family and within the Church. I would welcome comments from my readers on this attempt to outline the essence of Christian leadership.

Christian leadership is loving
As Paul writes:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Cor 13:4-7)

Christian leadership is sacrificial
This extends the first point. Christian leadership puts the needs of the led before the needs of the leader. This goes beyond the traditions of military leadership:

See that your men are properly quartered, clothed, and fed. There will be many times, when your airplane and crew are away from the home base, when you may even have to carry your interest to the extent of financing them yourself.

The Christian leader is obliged to go much further:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her... and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Eph 5:25, Phil 2:8)

Christian leadership nurtures development
This is also a key part of military leadership:

Bear in mind that the pilot in the right-hand seat of your airplane is preparing himself for an airplane commander's post too. Allow him every chance to develop his ability and to profit by your experience.

Jesus himself first trained twelve disciples, and then let them preach on their own:

He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. (Matt 10:1)

The apostle Paul also emphasises teaching to the leaders he nurtured:

Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned. (Titus 2:6-8a)

Christian leadership is humble
The proud leader wishes to direct everything, and do everything his way. The humble leader allows others to contribute, doing things their way. After all, their way may even be better, and if not, doing things their way will at least provide a development opportunity.

The greatest example of humility in leadership was set by Jesus Christ.

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him... When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. (John 13:3-5,12-17)

Merely human leaders have far more cause to be humble, since human fallibility means that all merely human leaders make mistakes, and human variability means that other people also have their own areas of expertise:

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. (1 Cor 12:14-20)

Christian leadership takes responsibility
Adam's avoidance of responsibility for his actions (The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it - Gen 3:12) is an example of what not to do. The parable of the talents describes what should be done instead:

Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.'

His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

The man with the two talents also came. 'Master,' he said, 'you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'

His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'

His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.

'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' (Matt 25:14-28)

Hymns 3

One of my favourite CDs has Mahalia Jackson singing this one:

Endusomai
leukhn stolhn
para ton potamon
para ton potamon
endusomai
leukhn stolhn
para ton potamon
poiwn mh polemon

poiwn mh polemon
poiwn mh polemon
poihsw ou polemon
poiwn mh polemon
poiwn mh polemon
poiwn mh polemon

Sunanthsw
pantaV filouV
para ton potamon
para ton potamon
sunanthsw
pantaV filouV
para ton potamon
poiwn mh polemon

poiwn mh polemon
poiwn mh polemon
poihsw ou polemon
poiwn mh polemon
poiwn mh polemon
poiwn mh polemon

¢Upodhsomai
crusa sandalia
para ton potamon
para ton potamon
¢upodhsomai
crusa sandalia
para ton potamon
poiwn mh polemon

poiwn mh polemon
poiwn mh polemon
poihsw ou polemon
poiwn mh polemon
poiwn mh polemon
poiwn mh polemon

Another old favourite on the CD is this one (and yes, I know, there are no smooth breathings or iota subscripts, and the Greek doesn't show up in some browsers):

TouV ¢agiouV
en tw eiselqein
touV ¢agiouV
en tw eiselqein
boulomai einai en mesw
touV ¢agiouV
en tw eiselqein

egw eicon filouV mou
sunanekeinto eme
meta ton me epistrafhnai
apestrafhsan eme

touV ¢agiouV
en tw eiselqein
touV ¢agiouV
en tw eiselqein
boulomai einai en mesw
touV ¢agiouV
en tw eiselqein

Hymns 2

It's a little early for Christmas, but I love this hymn, partly because Connie Willis makes such good use of it:

O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.

For Christ is born of Mary, and gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars together, proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth!

How silently, how silently, the wondrous Gift is giv’n;
So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His Heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!

Pilots and copilots

Recently I've been disturbed by suggestions that the Christian Bible teaches that men should lead and take the initiative, and that women should merely follow. Even young women seem to echo this point of view from time to time, which I find especially disturbing. My Bible certainly never says anything like it. I don't normally respond to random blog posts, but this time I'll try:

It seems to me that the best analogy for the Christian teaching on male and female roles is that of pilot and copilot.

The pilot and copilot both have a responsibility to the CEO of the airline, even if ultimate responsibility lies with the pilot (Ephesians 5:23). The ultimate responsibility of the pilot doesn't in itself imply a division of roles, it simply implies that the pilot will carry more blame in an after-accident investigation (1 Corinthians 3:12-14). Both pilot and copilot are in fact responsible for the aircraft. However, the pilot also has a specific responsibility to help train the copilot, who may need to take over from him one day (1 Corinthians 14:35, 1 Peter 3:7).

The copilot has a specific responsibility to the CEO to support and assist the pilot (Genesis 2:18). Of course, that includes telling the pilot when he's wrong. Advice is often the most precious help one can receive (Proverbs 12:1). If the plane is due to pick up fuel and new passengers in New York, and the copilot sees the Golden Gate bridge out of the window, she should certainly tell him so. Forcefully if need be. But (and this is up to her own professional judgment) there is a time when further discussion starts to endanger the aircraft, and she needs to strap in, deploy the undercarriage and slats, and agree to sort out the mess at a more appropriate time (Proverbs 27:15). Naturally, the wise copilot will avoid being rostered to fly a plane together with a pilot who can't take advice.

The Bible is in fact surprisingly vague about male and female roles, although it does give general guidance about developing harmony in the cockpit (1 Corinthians 7:3, Ephesians 5:24-28). But this is understandable, since people can be so different (1 Corinthians 12:4-6). In a crisis, someone needs to handle the controls, and someone needs to comfort the passengers. Who does which will depend on, among other things, who has the more reassuring voice. Either the pilot or the copilot can operate the radio, depending who is the best communicator. Whoever does so, the other would be expected to accept orders relayed from Head Office, and a refusal to do so would certainly be viewed negatively by the CEO. Similarly the CEO would disapprove of pilots and copilots who can't work out some way of sharing flying duties (1 Corinthians 7:10-11).

In an ultimate crisis, when both engines have fallen off the starboard wing, and the pilot is exerting every ounce of strength on the rudder pedals simply keeping the aircraft in something close to a straight line, the copilot will have to do almost everything else, as well as be able to constantly predict what needs to be done next. The pilot wise enough to survive such a disaster will be one who values a copilot with initiative (Proverbs 19:14, Proverbs 31:10-31) more than one with a pretty uniform (1 Peter 3:3-4). In fact, surviving a crisis like that relies on the copilot not only having all the professional knowledge of a fully-qualified pilot, but on knowing from experience the strengths and weaknesses of the person in the seat next to her.

Ultimately, both pilot and copilot have to remember that they're both working for the same boss (Ephesians 4:15), and focus on getting the aircraft and the passengers to their destination in one piece (Philippians 3:14). That, after all, is the important thing, and their boss certainly expects them both to use all their professional skills in doing so (Matthew 25:14-29).

1001 Books?

Having been annoyed by the ridiculous 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, here is my more modest top 20 (which is a little weak on mediaeval literature, I know):

1. The Iliad by Homer. More than 25 centuries old, and they're still making movies of it.
   
   
2. Theaetetus by Plato. More than 23 centuries old, but still a readable dialogue, and still philosophically deep. Like most of these books, available from Penguin.
   
   
3. The Bible. Sacred to billions of people. Available in numerous translations. Read it!
   
   
4. Confessions by Augustine (397 AD). One of the greatest examples of religious autobiography.
   
   
5. The Tale of Genji (Japanese, early 11th century). Arguably the world's first novel.
   
   
6. Beowulf (Old English, around 1000). One of the great monster stories.
   
   
7. The Laxdaela Saga (Icelandic, 1245). Vikings are tough, especially their women.
   
   
8. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (1321). A religious classic, and responsible for making the modern Italian language what it is today.
   
   
9. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1797). One of the most-loved English novels, and repeatedly filmed.
   
   
10. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818). One of the earliest and greatest science fiction novels, and repeatedly filmed.
    
    
11. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1866). One of the great Russian novels.
    
    
12. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (1877). Another great Russian novel, repeatedly filmed.
    
    
13. Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers (1935). The detective story reaches its zenith.
    
    
14. The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis (1942). Devilishly imaginative.
    
    
15. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1943). “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
    
    
16. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien (1954). Perhaps the greatest, and certainly the most-imitated, fantasy novel.
    
    
17. Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges (1962). A collection of fantastic short stories, including The Library of Babel.
    
    
18. Watership Down by Richard Adams (1972). Worth reading, even if you don't like rabbits.
    
    
19. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (1980). Clever, learned, and fun.
    
    
20. Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Høeg (1992). Adventure and some Euclid.
    

Of course, I haven't read all these myself yet: three and a half of them to go...

Coffee!

I'm surprised not to have seen this quiz on John's blog. And maybe I should stop wasting time with wimpy lattes...

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

One Book

Having been tagged by the One Book meme, here is my list:

1. One book that changed your life:
Algorithms + Data Strucures = Programs by Nicklaus Wirth.

2. One book that you've read more than once:
The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien.

3. One book you'd want on a desert island:
The Bible.

4. One book that made you laugh:
Bellwether by Connie Willis.

5. One book that made you cry:
Passage by Connie Willis.

6. One book that you wish had been written:
On the Uniqueness of Pythagorean Triads by Pierre de Fermat.

7. One book that you wish had never been written:
Unaussprechlichen Kulten by Friedrich Von Junzt.

8. One book you're currently reading:
Tulipomania by Mike Dash.

9. One book you've been meaning to read:
Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant.

10. Now tag some other people:
If you're reading this and haven't been tagged before, you're it.

Three Little Friars

I wrote this some time ago for a friend (a Dominican friend, I hasten to add). Since August 8 is the feast of St Dominic, it seemed appropriate to post it now.

Three little friars OP we are
Thomas Aquinas our shining star
The Saint of Siena also saw far
Three little friars OP

Three little friars who all unwary
Come from a local seminary
Free from all taint trimillenary...
Three little friars OP

Everything can be analysed
With black and white we advertise
All that is evil we criticise
Three little friars OP

One little friar through the Summa thumbs
Two little friars hear the Office sung
Friars Ordo Predicatorum
Three little friars OP

Three little friars who all unwary
Come from a local seminary
Free from all taint trimillenary...
Three little friars OP

Now there's a serious point to this: you can dedicate your life totally to God without losing your sense of humour. The friars at dominicanfriars.org would, I'm sure, I agree.

Dark Waltz

Recently I was listening to the album “Pure” by Hayley Westenra, which contains several inspirational songs (hat-tip to John for recommending it). One track was just a little bit dark, and suggested the following fantasy. Because of all the up-beat songs on the album, the sombre mood didn’t last, and so it’s a very short little fantasy:

We are the lucky ones
We shine like a thousand suns
When all of the colour runs together

I met Natasha in Paris. Somebody once said that Paris was a woman’s town, and she certainly seemed to have the city at her feet. Everyone around her seemed captivated by her flawless face, and her midnight-dark hair. I, for one, was lost the moment I saw her.

It was in the Musée d‘Orsay one Thursday evening. Once a railway station, the Musée d‘Orsay the now holds some of the greatest works by the Impressionist masters of light and colour. Natasha was absorbed in an enormous plaster sculpture by Rodin, with an intensity that was almost frightening. I had been fortunate enough to have seen a version of the sculpture in bronze back home in the States, and we had a lengthy conversation about the various figures that form part of the composition. She seemed to know them all: not just famous images like “The Thinker”, but also obscure references to ancient Roman authors like Ovid. I felt unusually fortunate to have enjoyed a pleasant evening with such a beautiful and educated woman, but of course I never expected to meet her again.

I'll keep you company
In one glorious harmony
Waltzing with destiny forever

I did, though. Somehow we seemed to favour the same nightclubs, although Natasha invariably arrived just as I was about to leave. She always had a young man with her, but I was still able to dance with her once or twice.

Natasha was a superb dancer: she danced every style as if she had spent a lifetime perfecting it. I was amazed that her young men wouldn’t want a repeat performance, but they seemed to vanish from sight, and whenever I saw her, it was with somebody else.

Sacred geometry
Where movement is poetry
Visions of you and me forever

After some time, I had to leave France on urgent business. On returning to Paris, I was too occupied to visit nightclubs, but one Wednesday after work I relaxed by paying a short visit to the Louvre, and there she was again. This time it was the “Winged Victory” that she was absorbed in as if it was an old friend.

Natasha seemed somehow stronger than at our first meeting, and when we left the museum we walked for several hours through the Louvre courtyards and around the great glass pyramid. We spoke for several hours about the passion for art that we both seemed to share. It turned out that she was at the Louvre to say goodbye, and was planning to return to her family in Eastern Europe. Her French was so perfect that I had taken her for a local, but in fact she was as much a visitor as I was. We said farewell to each other at the pyramid, and I walked slowly and thoughtfully back along the river alone.

Dance me into the night
Underneath the full moon shining so bright
Turning me into the light

I met Natasha only once more. This time I was the one saying goodbye to Paris, standing on one of the bridges over the Seine, and staring at the moon’s reflection in the river. A familiar voice interrupted my reverie, and as I turned around, there she was. I could hardly refuse her invitation to visit a Paris nightclub one last time, but when she kissed me goodbye we were beside the river again. We had never kissed before, and I was surprised by how passionate she was.

I flew back home the next day. The transition seems to have made me a little depressed. I seem to spend the most of the day sleeping, and I don't quite have the enthusiasm for a good dinner that I used to have. I can’t forget Natasha, of course, but I think it’s more than that: meeting her changed me in some way. I’m just not quite sure how…