I have been asking myself a question for years that I’d like to ask you.
How much do you have to believe in something before you talk to someone about it?
Seriously. That question is a great grid for determining how deeply you believe in an idea or a principle or a person. Continue Reading
The world has witnessed a revolution in Egypt. President Hosni Mubarak has stepped down and turned his authority over to the Egyptian army. Egyptians now hope for a fair and just election to determine their next president.
In the midst of the protests in Tahrir Square, some stories never made it on CNN news. Many of them will restore your faith in young people. Let me share one with you. I was told this story by a friend who lives in Cairo.
Mubarak was known for injustice, corrupt elections and persecuting people for their faith. On one particular day, Muslim young people had become particularly loud in their demonstration — and began to receive retaliation from the police. Then, those Muslim students knelt and prayed. They were in a vulnerable position. In that moment, young Christian protestors gathered around the Muslim protestors and formed a human shield to protect them.
You read that right. Although these students embraced a different faith, they knew they were standing together against injustice. And as a witness to both the police and their Muslim colleagues — they put their lives in harm’s way on behalf of them.
Then on Sunday, it was the other way around! Christians held an event with worship songs that talk about blessing their nation and God hearing their prayers. Muslims joined in. A friend of mine, who happens to be a Christian said, “It was an amazing, miraculous event that I never ever thought I’d see in a Middle Eastern country! People were singing, chanting together as one in the main square in front of the museum and church! We were there, not with or against any group of people, but as a great chance to share with the people there.”
No doubt we all recognize the difference between Islamic and Christian faiths. But in this moment, these young people took a united stand against injustice and discovered how powerful it can be. Hmmm. It kind of restores my faith in youth.
Tim
I realize I have lots of different people who read my blog posts — some of whom faith is very important to them and others who would say faith is not an important part of their life. However, I think anyone will benefit from the issue I want to tackle here: Should being a person of faith (or should being a Christ-follower) eliminate the pursuit of leadership roles?
Recently, I read a blog post from a leader in a faith-based school suggest that it isn’t right to teach students to be leaders. The writer said the word “lead” is in the Bible far less than the word “serve.” He felt like there was far too much emphasis on getting kids to think like leaders; that we should spend more time helping them to seek anonymity. We live in a world, he wrote, that swells kids’ self-worth and tells them they will be more important if they are a leader. He went on to say that being a leader means being “superior” to someone else. The article begged the question.
May I respond here?
I do not see leadership as a goal or an end in itself. It is a means to an end. We believe the aim must be to serve; to discover our God-given gifts and serve them up to the world. When we do, we naturally gain influence. However, I believe if we can teach young people to think and act like life-giving leaders, they will be ready for such growing influence.
Jesus taught that when we follow him, one of the natural outgrowths of maturation is influence: Follow Me, He said, and I will make you fishers of men. Sure we can call ourselves servants. No doubt that word is found in the Bible more than “leader.” I am OK with either, but both have trappings that need to be explained. When I use the word leader, I am NOT connoting power, fame or superiority. Again, to me, leadership is the pursuit of service. Everyone will have their own trappings to work though. The author of the blog I mention above has his own stuff to work through. I don’t think he believes that when people call him a “leader” it means he is superior. After all, his title is “Head of Bible Department” at his school. Does that mean he is “superior” to the other Bible teachers?
The reason we teach leadership is because good, healthy, authentic, life-giving leadership is the cry of the world and the need of the hour. I would think no one would argue with that. After working on the Maxwell Leadership Bible for 13 solid months, I also believe leadership is in every book of the Bible. The capacity to lead is part of what makes us in the image of our Creator. We want to help students rethink their definition of leadership, and help them leverage their influence for a worthwhile cause. I think history will end up better if we do this. Servant-leadership is certainly what we believe in, but even that term has accumulated some trappings over the years. So, at Growing Leaders, we use the term: Life-giving leaders. I would hope that paints a picture not of superiority but of service.
For me, good leadership is about leveraging the influence I have in a beneficial way to others. All of us have influence. We will either be ready to leverage it in a healthy way or we will not. Past generations of young people have not been ready, and have demonstrated far too much corruption as adults because they grew into positions of leadership without understanding what healthy leadership really is. We want to help resolve this issue.
Tim
Well, the latest Pew Research Center report is in on the Millennial Generation. Some of the report was a yawn. It confirmed our knowledge that these young Americans are confident, self-expressive, upbeat, open to change, and addicted to technology. That’s old news.
The core finding in the Pew’s findings was on “Religion Among the Millennials.” Young Americans are less likely to be affiliated with a church denomination. In fact, one in four do not affiliate themselves with any religious group. This is not a shock, since most young Americans over the last forty years were less likely to “belong” to such organizations. What is newsworthy, however, is that Generation Y is significantly more unaffiliated than Generation X at the same age.
The mistake some people make reviewing this research is to assume that those who are unaffiliated are secularists. Not true at all. To say a Generation Y student does not believe because they don’t “belong” is wrong. The vast majority believes strongly in God, and even among the unaffiliated, more than a third say they “believe in God with absolute certainty.” So, let me shed some light on the issue:
1. These young people long for authentic spirituality, but not religious affiliation. They see the hypocrisy and politics in church denominations just like they see it among Democrats and Republicans. They don’t want to affiliate with those parties either. What they want is a genuine relationship with God, not meaningless rituals or routines that have never been explained to them. They are spiritual, not religious.
2. These young people don’t want to be branded, period. One of the reasons the last three generations of young people (Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y) have rebelled against “the establishment” is because they want to be their own persons. They don’t want a label or to be pigeon-holed into some category that may not represent them as a whole. Sometimes these young people are liberal; sometimes they are conservative. We need to learn to stop stereotyping.
3. As Boomers yield power to Generation Y, the political and spiritual movements that succeed will look less like the Southern Baptist Convention and more like your local non-denominational church. They’ll be less like a current political party and more like a grassroots movement — probably a cyber-grassroots movement. They’ll be built on relationships, causes and values and very entrepreneurial.
I am from the Baby Boomer generation. As a kid, I remember the 7-Up soft drink company used a slogan to reach us as customers. It was: 7-Up — the Uncola. Perhaps, Generation Y will be looking for the “Un-Denomination” and the “Un-Political Party.” They are suspicious of large cookie-cutter organizations. I believe we’ll need to find ways to penetrate their minds and hearts that are personal and authentic.
Your thoughts?
Tim
Last month, I hiked up Kennesaw Mountain with my seventeen-year old son, Jonathan. Although it’s only 45 minutes away from our house, we had never climbed this mountain before. It was a blast. We did it as a sort of special father/son time before he takes off for Hollywood to pursue some acting possibilities during the episodic season of television this fall.
When we finished, I had him jot down some parallels between the mountain trek we just took and his upcoming adventure in Southern California. He surprised me with an insightful little paper. Here are some of the observations he noted, along with some notes I have added. It led to a good discussion. Pardon me if these come across a bit cliché or cheesy. Humor me—this was father and son time.
First, you don’t scale a mountain of any size on accident. No one makes it to the top by mishap or surprise. It requires deliberate preparation and steps. Water, proper shoes, light clothing, etc. all make the climb doable. You do it on purpose.
Second, we noticed lots of limbs and rocks along the way. The trip upward was a bit more challenging because it wasn’t a straight shot. It demanded we step over and around debris on our way up. Sticks and stones can harm or slow you down.
Third, at several points on the path up—we noticed options. We could go two or more ways. Because we were intent on reaching the top, we always took the harder one that went upward. Our goal, not our preferences, determined our path.
Fourth, signs appeared along the way up and down that read: No shortcuts. Stay on the path and do not run. The park official frowned on anyone making the trip easier or faster than it should be. In many ways, this is a sort of life-lesson as well.
Fifth, I noticed there were more people stopping halfway up and choosing to descend rather than work their way to the top. It was a hot and tiring hike. Many just decided seeing the top of the mountain wasn’t worth it.
Sixth, when we finally reached the top—the view was gorgeous. We could see the city like we never had before. Our vision was clear; our perspective was large. The feeling you have at this point is—I am so glad we pressed on until we made it.
Seventh—a bit of a sleeper for me—I was amazed at how easy the trek downward was when we returned. Why? In the ascent, gravity worked against us. Even in parts that weren’t steep, the constant tug of gravity pulled you down. Descending, we could simply flow with the gravity. It’s like the pull of our culture.
I am sure you can see the parallels to life. It’s a lot like scaling a mountain. My son, Jonathan, will be in L.A. from mid-September up until Christmas. He’ll be working on television sets, getting auditions, receiving coaching and hopefully landing some roles. It’ll be tough, but I believe he’s ready to climb the mountain.
What’s your mountain this fall?
