20180119
DEALING WITH ERRANT LEADERS
19 JANUARY, 2018, Friday, 2nd Week, Ordinary Time
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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1 Samuel 24:3-21 ©
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Saul took three thousand men chosen from the whole of Israel and
went in search of David and his men east of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. He
came to the sheepfolds along the route where there was a cave, and went in to
cover his feet. Now David and his men were sitting in the recesses of the cave;
David’s men said to him, Today is the day of which the Lord said to you, “I
will deliver your enemy into your power, do what you like with him.”’ David
stood up and, unobserved, cut off the border of Saul’s cloak. Afterwards David
reproached himself for having cut off the border of Saul’s cloak. He said to
his men, ‘The Lord preserve me from doing such a thing to my lord and raising
my hand against him, for he is the anointed of the Lord.’ David gave his men
strict instructions, forbidding them to attack Saul.
Saul then
left the cave and went on his way. After this, David too left the cave and
called after Saul, ‘My lord king!’ Saul looked behind him and David bowed to
the ground and did homage. Then David said to Saul, ‘Why do you listen to the
men who say to you, “David means to harm you”? Why, your own eyes have seen
today how the Lord put you in my power in the cave and how I refused to kill
you, but spared you. “I will not raise my hand against my lord,” I said “for he
is the anointed of the Lord.” O my father, see, look at the border of your
cloak in my hand. Since I cut off the border of your cloak, yet did not kill
you, you must acknowledge frankly that there is neither malice nor treason in
my mind. I have not offended against you, yet you hunt me down to take my life.
May the Lord be judge between me and you, and may the Lord avenge me on you;
but my hand shall not be laid on you. (As the old proverb says: Wickedness goes
out from the wicked, and my hand will not be laid on you.) On whose trail has
the king of Israel set out? On whose trail are you in hot pursuit? On the trail
of a dead dog! On the trail of a single flea! May the Lord be the judge and
decide between me and you; may he take up my cause and defend it and give
judgement for me, freeing me from your power.’
When David
had finished saying these words to Saul, Saul said, ‘Is that your voice, my son
David?’ And Saul wept aloud. ‘You are a more upright man than I,’ he said to
David ‘for you have repaid me with good while I have repaid you with evil.
Today you have crowned your goodness towards me since the Lord had put me in
your power yet you did not kill me. When a man comes on his enemy, does he let
him go unmolested? May the Lord reward you for the goodness you have shown me
today. Now I know you will indeed reign and that the sovereignty in Israel will
be secure in your hands.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 56(57):2-4,6,11 ©
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Have mercy on me, God, have mercy.
Have mercy on me, God, have mercy
for in you my soul has taken refuge.
In the shadow of your wings I take refuge
till the storms of destruction pass by.
Have mercy on me, God, have mercy.
I call to God the Most High,
to God who has always been my help.
May he send from heaven and save me
and shame those who assail me.
Have mercy on me, God, have mercy.
O God, arise above the heavens;
may your glory shine on earth!
for your love reaches to the heavens
and your truth to the skies.
Have mercy on me, God, have mercy.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.2Th2:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Through the Good News God called us
to share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia!
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Or
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2Co5:19
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Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Mark 3:13-19 ©
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Jesus went up into the hills and summoned those he wanted. So they
came to him and he appointed twelve; they were to be his companions and to be
sent out to preach, with power to cast out devils. And so he appointed the
Twelve: Simon to whom he gave the name Peter, James the son of Zebedee and John
the brother of James, to whom he gave the name Boanerges or ‘Sons of Thunder’;
then Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the man who was to betray him.
DEALING WITH ERRANT LEADERS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 SM
24:3-21; PS 57:2-4,6,11; MK 3:13-19 ]
The work of
leadership is indeed very challenging. Those who are not in leadership may think that
decision-making is an easy task. We cannot please everyone. There
are as many opinions on what must be done or should not be done as there are
voices. Whatever we decide or do, every leader has his staunch supporters
and harsh detractors. Many cases of conflict have to do with preferences
or differences in opinion or style of leadership, rather than the integrity of
the leader.
Notwithstanding
this preliminary remark, what should we do when we come across an errant
leader, at least from our perspective, for it might not be so for others?
Leadership cannot be generalized. There are leaders, and there are leaders.
So we must determine what kind of leadership are we speaking about. There
are basically four kinds of leadership; theocratic, religious, political and
corporate leadership. We must determine what is called
forth from a particular form of leadership and in our case, religious
leadership.
Religious
leaders have a different set of qualities. The standards listed for
overseers, bishop or elders in the letters of St Paul to Timothy and Titus are
primarily moral and spiritual. The character of the Church leaders is more
important than his personality, skills, administrative abilities, eloquence in
preaching or even academic achievements. What is underscored is that
leaders must be godly and holy. He is called to be a role model of family
life, temperance, fidelity, honesty and detachment from worldly pursuits. “For
a bishop, as God’s steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered
or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of
goodness, master of himself, upright, holy, and self-controlled; he must
hold firm to the sure word as taught, so that he may be able to give
instruction in sound doctrine and also to confute those who contradict
it.” (Titus 1:7-9) Of course, this exhortation applies to all
religious leaders as well. (cf 1 Tim 3:2-13)
In the
gospel, Jesus chose the Twelve apostles from the crowd that followed Him from
place to place. He did not choose them to be His messengers because of
their faith, because we know that their faith faltered many times when
challenged, especially when they abandoned Jesus at His passion. Neither
were they chosen for their talents and abilities, because none of them stood
out as academically or administratively brilliant. On the contrary, St
Paul wrote, “For consider your call, brethren; not many of you were wise
according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble
birth; but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose
what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Cor 1:26-28)
This is true for our religious leaders as well.
Indeed, the
apostles came from a wide range of backgrounds, trades, political inclinations
and experiences. In terms of leadership potential, they were not much better
than those who were not chosen, or worse! But yet Jesus chose them to be
His followers. “So they came to him and he appointed twelve; they were to
be his companions and to be sent out to preach, with power to cast out
devils.” In spite of their moral and spiritual weaknesses, they stayed
close to Jesus. Because they remained companions of Jesus, they were
given the power to do what Jesus did. “If you abide in me, and my words
abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By
this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.”
(Jn 15:7f)
The Holy Spirit was given to them. “And we are witnesses to these things,
and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” (Acts 5:32)
However,
political and corporate leaders have a different set of criteria. They
are chosen for
their skills, particularly in governance so that the well-being of the people
can be looked after. Political leaders are to ensure harmony and
justice without discrimination and that the common good of the people are
protected. They are to work with corporate leaders to grow the economy
for the progress of the country and the prosperity of the nation. So without
the necessary skills for governance and knowledge of growing the economy, they
would fail as leaders because they become hindrances to the growth of the
country and the peace of their people.
This is where
religious leaders must recognize their limitations when it comes to
administration. Whilst religious leaders also share in the work of
governance and ultimately is responsible for the unity of the flock under his
care, he cannot pretend that he is a trained CEO, as if he knows everything
under the sun. Religious leaders must be humble to seek the advice of lay
leaders. They should learn from the early Church where the administration
was given to deacons so that the apostles could devote themselves “to prayer
and to the ministry of the word.” (cf Acts 6:1-6)
Otherwise, they can end up making decisions in a dictatorial manner, causing
division and conflicts in the community.
So how do we
deal with those leaders when they act in a dictatorial and authoritarian manner
without consideration of the feelings and the needs of the community? Political leaders are
removed by people in a democratic election or, in the worst scenario, through a
revolution when there is oppression. Corporate leaders are removed when
they cannot move the company forward because this is what they were hired for.
Religious leaders are removed from office not because of ineptness in
administration but because of lack of moral integrity, dishonesty and impropriety.
Where they are found to be lacking in administrative skills, they could be
moved to those ministries that allow them to focus on ministering rather
administrative work. In truth, it is better that religious leaders
focus on the ministry and spreading of the gospel rather than on administration
of the Church, leaving the latter to the laity, whilst exercising oversight
instead of doing the work themselves.
But before we
seek to remove leaders, we must learn from David’s respect for the office. Though King Saul did
him wrong, he continued to render respect for the office. He called Saul,
“My lord king! I will not raise my hand against my Lord for he is the anointed
of the Lord. O my father, see, look at the border of your cloak in my hand.”
When a person confuses the office with the person in charge of it, he has
failed in charity and credibility. David was wise. If he had shown
disrespect for the office and killed Saul, then he would have set an example
for others to follow when they did not agree with him.
Secondly, we
must be sincere in wanting to help the leader to grow in understanding through
clarification and assurance. David showed himself to be a supporter of King Saul.
He did not seek the crown but was happy to serve Saul. He demonstrated
his sincerity by refraining from taking his life and spoke to him with respect
and love. He did it without malice, anger or resentment, unlike many of
us when we attack a religious leader. He showed goodwill instead of
uttering threats and issuing ultimatums. As a consequence, Saul was moved
by the words of David. “Saul wept aloud. ‘You are a more upright man than
I, for you have repaid me with good while I have repaid you with evil.
Today you have crowned your goodness towards me since the man comes on his
enemy, does he let him go unmolested? May the Lord reward you for the
goodness you have shown me today. Now I know you will indeed reign and
that the sovereignty in Israel will be secure in your hands.” Indeed,
when we are respectful and sincere in wanting to help the leader to do the
right things for the good of all, giving him the benefit of the doubt, chances
are that the leader will listen as Saul did and change accordingly.
Thirdly, we
must leave justice to God who writes straight in crooked lines. We should
not take things into our own hands. We should not impose our
will on them. At the end of the day, Saul was not killed by David but by
his enemies when he was under the attack of the Amalekites (cf 2 Sm 1:18-20),
or by a Philistine (cf 2 Sm 21:12), or he could have taken his own life to spare him
from the shame of being captured by his enemies. (cf 1 Sm 31:4)
So let us be patient for God knows when to remove His Anointed Ones, just as He
knows when to appoint them. For bad and evil leaders, God will have them
removed directly or indirectly through the people or the situation. God
writes straight in crooked lines. God has His ways and we must trust Him.
As leaders,
we need to consult and hear the cries of our people. The primary task of a
leader is to help the organization to grow but it is not possible to gather all
on board without first promoting unity among the members. So leaders must
seek to foster unity above all. Building a spirituality of communion is
of utmost importance before any programs can be implemented, because without
the support of the community, nothing will succeed. Most of all, leaders
must spend time in prayerful discernment with their community so that they can
make wise decisions for the good of all and not for themselves. Once we
have brought our decisions to prayer, then we can implement them. This
calls for further explanation and justification for our decisions so that all
might understand the rationale behind such decisions. Once that is
done, we must respectfully agree to disagree because no decision can please
everyone.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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