I gave a talk today for the junior class retreat on leadership. I thought it was received well and decided to post the written version. Before I gave this talk I played a drum solo and had a little call and response of the phrases "Be renewed by love" and "Be not afraid" while I played a beat.
Ever heard the phrase: “Leaders aren’t born, they’re made”? Vince Lombardi said it and I think it’s dead on and reveals part of the mystery of leadership. If it’s true that they’re made and not born, the next question should be: how are they made? Since the theme of this retreat is leadership, I want to give a little reflection on how you can go about making yourself a leader.
Personally, I don’t really consider myself to be a natural born leader, yet I keep finding myself in positions of leadership. I keep telling God I’m fine with just following and being part of a team, but for some reason he keeps shoving me into places where I end up in a leadership position…I would say today is a prime example. Even me being your theology teacher, I didn’t ask for the job, and I don’t have a theology degree, (honestly, I didn’t apply for the job or even know I’d be teaching theology when I took the job, I thought I’d be in the dorm the whole time) yet for some reason God gave ME the responsibility of teaching YOU about HIM...sometimes I think God is crazy. Maybe an even more shocking example of someone becoming a leader that didn’t expect it is our current pope: Benedict XVI.
Did you know our current pope did not want to be elected a bishop, a cardinal, his former position as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, or even become pope? He didn’t. Before he was ordained a bishop he was perfectly content teaching university level theology in Germany and writing books. Before the Holy Spirit chose him, our pope was planning on retiring from his very important position in the Church to go back to his homeland to read and play the piano all day. Yet 3 days after his 78th birthday he was ordained the leader of the universal Church of 1.8 billion members. Maybe what’s most significant, is not that he personally didn’t want to take on these leadership positions, but that the leadership positions he’s been given are during what’s perhaps the most difficult time the Church has ever faced. But, he leads the Church with great care, effectiveness, and love.
How does he do it? How do I do it? How can you do it?
Leaders aren’t born, they’re made. The statement definitely seems true based on the Pope’s experience and my experience. But maybe something even more difficult to understand is that leaders are asked to lead when they least expect it or when they least want to.
So now we have TWO very difficult questions to answer:
How are leaders made?
How can you be best prepared to lead when you least expect it?
If you want to be made a leader: be renewed by love and be not afraid.
If you want to be ready to lead when you least expect it: be renewed by love and be not afraid.
What does this mean?
God makes us strong through our weaknesses, when this happens we are renewed by love.
When it comes down to it, everybody is imperfect and weak. If someone tries to convince you that they have no faults, they’re lying which means they have a fault. Leaders are strong. Leaders need courage. Leaders must be basically everything that a weak person is not. But we’re all weak! The amazing thing about God is that he loves every part of us, even the parts of us that are weak. In fact, it is through the very parts of us that are weak that we will be made strong. God makes us strong through our weaknesses, when this happens we are: RENEWED BY LOVE!
In order to be renewed by love we must be willing to let God work through our weaknesses which means we must be not afraid.
Now, being renewed by love can be difficult. When the parts of us that are weak are challenged we get scared. It feels safer and more comfortable to just ignore those weak areas and go about living mediocre lives of complacency. To me, it’d be so much easier if I could just lay in bed, watch Conan, and eat Klondike bars all day. But that’s not what you’re made for, and that’s not what I’m made for. What you’re made for is GREATNESS! So in order to be renewed by love we must be willing to let God work through our weaknesses which means we must: BE NOT AFRAID!
But there’s one more question: How can you best be prepared to lead when you least expect it? I already gave the answer and you might already know what I’m going to say, but I’ll hack it out one more time.
God enables us to lead. If we are constantly being renewed by love we unite ourselves to God. We have nothing to fear as a leader if we are united to God. What could we possibly be afraid of? We are united to the creator of the universe, the person who is responsible for our very lives; the person that gives us meaning in our lives; the person whose life we participate in when we love. We are united to the ultimate and perfect leader. If we are united to God at all times we’ll always be prepared to lead because we’ll always be united to the one that enables us to lead. So how can you be prepared to lead when you least expect it: BE RENEWED BY LOVE AND BE NOT AFRAID!
There you have it:
1) Leaders aren’t born, leaders are made
2) How can you be made a leader? Be renewed by love and be not afraid.
3) How can you be best prepared to lead when you least expect it? Be renewed by love and be not afraid.
