Whither Leadership

 On the weekend, I watched a documentary on CBC, #BLESSED, which explored the C3 church movement which has now been expanded to Toronto from its beginnings in Australia.  The C3, which stands for Christian, City, Church, is an international evangelical church which has had great success attracting millennials.

The documentary, which rightly has been criticized for not being an in-depth critical look at the church, presented a church which seems to have many things I am in agreement theologically.  However, I was left feeling uneasy about what was not explored in the documentary.  It presented C3 as what could be described as not untypical evangelical church with praise leaders, a charismatic pastor who connected with his flock, and little in the way of liturgy.  There can be no arguing with its success, if success is measured by growth in the number of people who attend services and in the number of congregations and the ability to plant new church congregations. 

As was noted in one critical article, the documentary did not explore what the church does to make the church so attractive to the millennial aged people they are apparently so successful in attracting.  It also doesn’t explore the potential danger that a charismatic leader, who almost becomes an object of worship, can cause for those who follow his or her – especially if there are few, if any, constraints in place in the organization itself.

We have currently many examples of what can happen when leaders do not live up to the expectations which are placed on them.  We have all the politicians and civil servants who have demanded that citizens do not travel in this time of the COVID shut down and have turned around and done just that because “they deserve it” implying that they are special and, therefore, the rules - which they impose - do not apply to them.  We have the much more serious example of bad leadership in the United States which has incited insurrection to attempt to over turn a legitimate election. 

The question that is being begged to explore (but not begging the question) is what makes a good leader?  As I have mentioned, at the end of 2020 (that seems a long time ago), I took a course on Benedictine Spirituality.  I have continued to read one of the books recommended for the course, The Rule of Benedict by Joan Chittister.   The Rule of Benedict includes much information of what is required of leadership and leaders.  Over the next few week, I will explore aspects of leadership which are outlined in the Rule.  I find it particularly interesting that the Rule of Benedict was written over fourteen hundred years ago but it has stood the test of time and is just as applicable in today’s circumstances as it was when it was written despite the times being very different.

I will begin by looking at one aspect which is a good foundation for good leadership.  It states in the Prologue to the Rule that the leaders of the monastic community, “are to lead the community by a two- fold teaching: they must point out to the monastics all that is good and holy more by example than by words.”  Chittister’s commentary on this expands on its relevance today:

Autocrats and militarists and spiritual charlatans and abusive parents and corporate moguls want the people under them to obey laws from which their exalted positions hold them exempt.  Benedict says that the only authentic call for obedience comes from those who themselves demonstrate the value of the law.

This is a good application of the Golden Rule which Jesus and others taught, ‘do unto other what you would have them do unto you’.  If leaders do not have this as a guiding principle, he or she will be in danger of leading themselves down a wrong and potentially dangerous path.

Blessings on your journey and may you have God as your guide. 

Confronting and Affirming

Lorna and I are currently enrolled in a course in Benedictine Spirituality which is being offered by The Sisterhood of St. John the Divine (SSJD) in Toronto.  It is being offered via ZOOM which enables us to participate in the course.  The current COVID Pandemic has opened up many possibilities for distance learning.  So, this very dark cloud does have at least one silver lining. 

 We have attended the first of six classes, so it is early days.  However, my assessment is that it will be a very positive experience.  I did not have much information about St. Benedict or Benedictine Spirituality prior to this and am impressed by the strict nature of the rule and Benedictine life of those who dedicate themselves to it.  It is not for the faint of spiritual heart.

We are using two books as the primary reading, The Way of St. Benedict by Rowan Williams (the former Archbishop of Canterbury) and The Rule of Benedict by Joan Chittister, a renowned, prolific theologian and author.  They are both very good introductions to Benedictine life and how it can apply to life today.

Reading Williams yesterday, there was a passage which struck me as very much on point with the situation facing us with the current pandemic.  The sentence is from his chapter Benedict and the Future if Europe:

We need to recover Benedict as that kind of patron for our presently confusing continent; there is still much to do to spell out further the ways in which, both confronting and affirming (my emphasis), his Rule may open some windows in a rather airless political room and create a true workshop for the spirit (chapter 4). Page 83

This applies of course as much or more to this continent as to Europe.  I was particularly struck with the phrase “confronting and affirming” as it applies to the current resistance which people are demonstrating to rules for how to operate in the pandemic; including wearing masks and restriction on activities and businesses.   I must confess that my initial reaction to the protests has been a desire to confront rather than affirm.  I find the people who demonstrate for freedom to put their own health and lives and the health and lives of others at risk to be short sighted and selfish.  However, on reflection I don’t believe that attitude is very helpful or Christian.

So, to follow the Benedictine Rule, how can I be affirming of this approach to the position?  I think that there are likely many reasons for people objecting to the restrictions placed on them.  Perhaps part of it is due to fear of the unknown; some may be due to the lack of control people find in this situation which seems to be unending.  There may also be a reflection of the lack of trust in institutions and in government which has developed in the recent decades.  People don’t seem to know who to trust these days with the spread of “fake news” on social media – there does seem to be a significant number of people that just don’t believe that the pandemic is as bad as reported or even that it is actually real.

This is, of course, is supposition on my part.  However, it does enable me to appreciate those actions with an attitude that is more affirming and less confronting.  I believe that the Rule which can be applied for everyone today is the Golden Rule i.e. do unto others as you want them to do to you.  For Christians, this is can be understood as the great commandment of Jesus – to love your neighbour as yourself.  We can love one another and prayer that this pandemic will be brought under control and intimately defeated so that there will be no more need for masks and social distancing and people being hospitalized and dying because of it. 

Blessing on you journey and please care for one another.