Leaders, Where Is Your Backbone?

A great leader can make tough calls today for the sake of a better future.

I rarely remember sermons from years ago, but this one I do. It was Andy Stanley during the last US presidential election, on leadership. He spoke about the Old Testament Joseph and how he made tough choices today to keep his people alive through a 7-year famine. He had the courage to save grain during the good years, when starvation was the furthest thing possible on people’s minds.

As a global economic crisis is looming on us, our leaders should be able make tough decisions today, take responsibility, have foresight so that the future could be better.

The temptation is to make political decisions based on the hope of re-election, while the world needs leaders who will take the responsibility today, so that current economic problems won’t multiply and explode on the lap of the next generation.

Unfortunately our Western culture has deteriorated so nicely into pure Individualism that such leaders with true foresight are hard to find. This is true in our personal lives too.

How to have that perspective and humility, that it is not just about me and my pleasure, but about coming generations?

Fight Your Own Battles

When you receive something for free, chances are you don’t appreciate it.

You’re living in a nation that is under a dictatorship. An outsider comes, fights the dictator and liberates your nation. Suddenly you’re free, but you’ve never lived in freedom before and don’t have a clue on how it’s done.

It seems like if you’re living under oppression, and have the courage to do something about it, fight the necessary battles, then you also have the willpower to live this new liberated life. But if someone else does the hard work for you, you don’t know how do life in the new situation.

The process is crucial. The frustration that builds up until you cannot remain silent, and must act. The determination you need to get rid of the old to bring in the new. It’s like maturing. You learn some ugly facts about yourself and the world and decided to deal with it. The immature reaction being not dealing with it, and throwing a tantrum instead.

The oppressive governments of Iraq and Afghanistan were overthrown with the help of outsiders. Now Egypt and Tunisia have gotten rid of their leaders by themselves. Iraq and Afghanistan have had trouble learning to stand on their own two feet. It will be interesting to see how life turns out in Tunisia and Egypt.

Ultimately a nation needs a leader who loves his country and his people. May all these nations find such leaders.