All You Need Is Love

In my reading last night I came across a memorable quote by General Eric Shinseki. The quote was, "If you dislike change, you're going to dislike irrelevance even more." This was a fitting quote considering a conversation I had earlier in the evening with someone frustrated over the Church's failure to be relevant for today's generation.

Thanks to a 2:30 am phone call (a hang up, grrr) I have been wide awake and trying to find ways to amuse myself...namely surfing the web. My random queries soon focused in on General Eric Shinseki as I wondered who he was and what the story was behind that great quote. I learned that General Shinseki is from Hawaii, his family immigrating there from Hiroshima in 1901. He serves in the Army, was wounded in combat in Vietnam and he is the highest ranking Asian American in the history of the United States. He currently is serving as the US Secretary of Veteran Affairs.

My query did not, however, lead me to the circumstances behind the quote that had caught my attention earlier. Instead, I found myself captivated by another of his quotes.

"You must love those you lead before you can be an effective leader. 

You can certainly command without that sense of commitment, 

but you cannot lead without it."

I have no idea if General Shinseki is a man of faith but it would appear from this quote that he knows something about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Is this not the way of Christ? Was his ministry not based upon building relationships born out of and nurtured in love? My mind is flooded by images: Jesus calling Matthew from his tax collector's booth - Jesus allowing a sinful woman to wash his feet - Jesus at the well offering new life to a woman who had ruined her own - Jesus with the Centurion - Jesus writing in the sand to save a condemned woman - Jesus with the poor - Jesus with the mentally ill - Jesus with the sick - Jesus touching the "untouchables" - Jesus in love...with everyone.

Why do I follow Jesus? Why do I profess faith in a man who, 2000 years ago, proclaimed himself Messiah, savior of the world? I guess we could say, in part, due to his leadership. I am not drawn to Christ by commandments and laws - I am drawn to Christ out of love...a love only realized by understanding that first he loved me. he loved me before I deserved it - he loved me before I loved him back - he loved me when I rebelled - he loved me when I came home - he loved me when I celebrated and he loved me when I wept. It is due to his love that I want to follow where he leads. It is due to his love for me that I now find the desire for his commands and laws. Were it not for love, I would not have followed.

Through my calling to lead a local congregation, as well as my volunteering to mentor local pastor's and serve on Church Transition teams - I find the word "leadership" comes up a lot. We seem to talk endlessly about what leadership looks like in the church. Phrases like "cast a vision" - "create a team" - "establish a mission statement" - "set measurable goals"come up often. I've attended seminar after seminar in how to be a better leader, and don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for the training - I've learned so much. However, none of those things have made me a better follower of Christ.

I went to a conference once on preaching. Our goal was to learn how to be inspiring and relevant in the spoken word. I sat through terrific sermons and lectures on how to do so but I found myself captivated most by one speaker with a simple message...the only inspiration you need is found in loving your God and loving God's people. His premise being modeled after Christ who ate with folks, walked with folks, cried with folks, lived with folks...and listened to folks. This lecturer proclaimed that in hearing the stories of the people, we learn to love them and in loving them as Christ loved - we learn to lead them.

I believe this message translates to all of us as Christians - not just to ministers. General Shinseki's quote seems to be the proof. No matter whether our leadership role is as head of the family or head of a department or head of a corporation or head of a government agency - we can do none of it well without first loving.

1 Corinthians 13:13 And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

To Meekly Go Where Only the Bold Dare to Tread

"But the meek shall inherit the land, and delight themselves in abundant prosperity." 

 Psalm 37:11

"When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness."         Acts 4:31

The bible, it seems, is full of contradictions at times...one minute calling for faithful followers to be meek and then later proclaiming that God's presence upon His followers evokes boldness.  So which is it? Are we to be meek or bold?  The answer is "YES"


We tend to be a people of extremes, going through scripture and picking out the things that resonate most with us - either because they are easy for us to do or easy for us to stand against. Therefore, there is a tendency to read scripture with blinders on...only seeing the portions we wish to see.


In ministry I find myself running around putting out fires that I didn't start, watching others walk away to leave me standing in the smoldering ruins of a dream destroyed, praying I have enough resources to rebuild.  It occurs to me that most of those fires are caused when church leaders read scriptures with one eye closed...missing out on important guidelines of our faith.  For example, there are some leaders who proceed with much boldness, which, according to Acts, is a great thing to have.  And yet, they become more like a steamroller or a wrecking ball - moving so boldly that anyone in their way is knocked aside or  trampled.  There are other leaders who proceed with an attitude of meekness, much like the Psalm calls for. And yet, they move so timidly that they must be taken by the hand and led every step by someone else.  They don't dare to move on their own and so others get frustrated when progress is slow or so much assistance is needed to get the job done.


Does the Bible contradict itself? No, in this instance I do not believe it does. I believe the lesson of that Scripture brings to us is that we are called to be well-rounded individuals who are not extremists, but instead, are balanced and strive to be the best of every-thing we can be.  


What the church needs is more meek folk who will walk boldly and more bold folk who will walk meekly! If we could only accomplish that I believe most of our internal bickering and snipping would come to an end.  It really is simple...think about someone other than yourself and serve the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.  Hmmm, haven't we heard that somewhere before?


Imagine with me a church full of people who meekly go where only the bold dare to tread...a church where, with gentleness, kindness and compassion, folks walk boldly into the land proclaiming Christ to the lost.  Just imagine...