From the Pastor’s Study

In a few days George W. Bush will again take the oath of office and begin his second term as President of the United States.

This month at the State Capitol in Atlanta the legislators of our state will convene for another session of the Georgia General Assembly which will include many newly elected leaders.

In Jasper County, we have witnessed a new group of leaders assume the mantle of providing governance for our community.

These events bring to mind the importance of leadership. Good leadership is absolutely vital to the quality of life of a given community. There are many good programs and courses for the training of leaders to be sure, but probably the best leadership training manual to be found anywhere is the Bible.

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The Bible is filled with stories of great leaders. There is the story of Moses, who certainly qualifies as one of the world’s greatest leaders. There is the story of King David, who led a nation to its greatest glory. There is the story of Nehemiah who led the Hebrew people in a great construction program. All were leaders, not perfect folk, but leaders who sought to build a better life for the people they led.

This leads to the asking of an important question—what are the qualities of good leadership? Good leadership starts with an open mind and a willingness to listen. Moses was a reluctant leader. Yet, by listening to what God had to say he became one who led a whole nation to freedom.

It is certainly important to be confident when one is in a position of leadership. However, one must never be so convinced of the virtues of their own ideas that they fail to listen to the ideas and thoughts of others. It’s a simple fact, when one speaks one only hears what one already knows. When we listen we open ourselves to the possibility of learning. Learning can never be a bad thing.

Good leaders understand that they are representatives of all the people. Moses, David, and Nehemiah were leaders of a nation that consisted of 12 tribes. Yet, rather than be a leader of their tribe or their group they sought to be leaders of the whole nation.

One of the great tragedies of leadership takes place when leaders only represent their parochial interest or their own constituency. Leadership calls for one to be aware of the needs of all.

Too often leaders in our public life become beholden to the interests of a particular group and forget the health of the greater community. This leads to the alienation and exclusion of some from the process of making decisions that greatly impact their lives. Often times, this leads to decisions that benefit a few but harm many others.

Good leaders can never be so prideful they fail to admit to mistakes. One of the great lessons of both the stories of Moses, David and Nehemiah is their willingness to rectify their mistakes and to move forward. Good leaders aren’t always perfect; however, good leaders understand that the true test of one’s ability isn’t in whether or not they make mistakes, but rather how they recover when they make the inevitable errors of judgment.

Obviously, leaders must be persons of vision. The scriptures are fairly clear when they say, “Where there is no vision the people perish.” True leaders must be persons committed to building a better life, rather than merely tearing down what has taken place before.

The late Sam Rayburn, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives said it best when he said, “Any mule can kick down the barn door, but it takes a skilled craftsman to build a barn,” Criticizing those who have gone before is easy. Working to build a better community, state, nation and world is hard work. Yet, such is the hallmark of leadership.

Above all, leaders are accountable. Moses, David, and Nehe-miah understood that they had to answer to God for their exercise of leadership. As a Christian, I believe that our leaders too are accountable to God for how they exercise the power of leadership. Yet, on a less cosmic scale leaders must never forget that they are accountable to those who entrusted them with their positions of leadership. There are consequences that come with leadership.

The mantle of leadership is not easy. Needless to say, leaders need the support of those they lead. However, leaders must also understand that leadership is not a right but rather a solemn duty. Above all leadership is a matter of public trust.