Guest preacher - President John Salmon
Wisdom and Power
President John Salmon, Wesley, Tauranga, 24 September 2006
Psalm 1
James 3:13-14,17
Mark 9:30-37
‘Leadership’ is under scrutiny at the moment…
Don Brash and Helen Clark
George Bush and Tony Blair
New royal leaders for Maori and for Tonga
The shape of Presidency in the Methodist Church
Possibilities of Local Shared Ministry for Methodist parishes
In today’s world, we all exercise leadership in same way or other. And the nature and style of leadership – in whatever aspect of life – is a focus of much discussion. For Christians, that goes back to our origins, so that ‘being Christian’ includes a way of living shaped by an understanding of what we today call ‘leadership’.
ONE
One idea used to express Christian life and responsibility or leadership is ‘servanthood’. The reading from Mark this morning has Jesus saying, “Whoever wants to be first must be servant of all”.
We are familiar with this way of looking at Christian life. It is the attitude and actions of ‘serving’ that best express the ‘Jesus-way’. We are called as Christians, as followers of Jesus, to ‘put others first’, to consider their needs and to see how we can serve those needs.
It’s there in our emphasis on pastoral care.
It’s expressed through our prayers of intercession – and through the servant approach, we are called to act out those prayers, rather than leaving them as words alone.
Our concern for others is shown in giving to help people suffering in Dafor or Tauranga or wherever.
This ‘service for others’ approach has shaped the Christian view of leadership and of the ‘good life’. But… recently there has been objection to ‘servanthood’. Some of this has come from women, as part of the feminist movement, and it has come also from other groups that feel they have long been put in the position of ‘serving others’. ‘Servant’ language and ideas provide a counterbalance to leadership and lifestyles that wield power over others, yet they are seen to carry the sense of ‘servility’ with them – which only makes it easier for others to use dominating power.
When people in leadership say, “I’m just your servant”, it’s wise to be suspicious. When people with power say, “servanthood is the style of the Christ-follower”, it’s wise to be suspicious, too. We might just be being encouraged to subservience…
The Christian tradition calls us to look to the needs and interests of other people, and at its best ‘servanthood’ has been a way of expressing this.
TWO
‘Wisdom’ represents another approach to leadership – as shown in the stories about the kings of Israel, especially in Solomon’s desire to be wise above all else. Wisdom appears also in the passage from James, pointing to a way of life – not just for kings but for all who seek to live God’s life.
The contrast between the wise person and the foolish one is spelt out in much of what we call the ‘wisdom literature’ – Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes. ‘Foolishness’ is almost the same as ‘wickedness’ in this context, so to be ‘wise’ is to live the good life. That’s reflected in this morning’s Psalm, for example.
Wisdom points to ‘the way we are’ rather than to ‘what we know’ – and so we have the link in Mark’s gospel with being ‘childlike’. Again, a pointer both to leadership style and to an appropriate lifestyle for followers of Jesus. (It’s ‘childlike’ – open, trusting, confident yet humble – not ‘childish’…)
I think it’s fascinating the way pointers towards good leadership in the Biblical material can also be seen as laying out how each of us should live so we express God’s way. And wisdom is one of the strongest themes in relation to both. It does not contain the subservience of ‘servant’ – but it does caution against the automatic exercise of power, or reliance on ‘what I know’ or ‘what I can do’ or ‘what I’ve got’.
In many ways wisdom is an attitude – an attitude build on careful reflection on life experiences. That seems to be an older person’s place, and we often think that way about wisdom... “The wisdom of age…” Yet increasingly today thinkers talk about a ‘second naivety’. As older people, we can move past the cleverness and skill and self-reliance we build up, to be more open and trusting and humble and thoughtful of others – childlike, perhaps.
The humility and care of wisdom presents us with insights for leadership and point to a way of living as God’s people.
THREE
Wisdom and servanthood can come together. Together they would outline a responsible form of leadership and a caring style of Christian life. I want to suggest we think, then, about the ‘wise servant’.
Jesus apparently tells a parable that points this way, about the different ways servants can act. I’d like us to focus on the picture in Isaiah as well. Much of this material is familiar to us, because it has been used as a way of identifying the significance of Jesus – the servant who suffers for the sake of the people.
Close examination of the servant passages in Isaiah shows links with Wisdom material. In Isaiah 42, creation ideas are used (important in Wisdom literature – eg Job), with God identified as the one who “created the heavens” and “stretched out the earth”, for example. There is an emphasis on how a person should live – a common wisdom theme – and there is a gentleness, as well, as in “a dimly burning wick he will not quench”.
This, I believe, is a wise servant.
As servant, this person does not lord it over other people, but nor is he or she at the beck and call of other people – no ‘doormat’ servant! In fact, I think it’s really important to note that this person is servant of God – not of any other person, or of the congregation, or whatever. Further, the wise servant in Isaiah is God’s servant for the purposes of ensuring justice in the world.
The wise servant exhibits…
- A style of gentleness;
- an attitude of concern for others;
- a commitment to God;
- and an active engagement in seeking justice for all who otherwise would be excluded or ill-treated.
As we think about leadership, and as we keep on examining our own ways of life, the image of the ‘wise servant’, God’s servant for justice, works well.
CONCLUSION
How helpful ‘wise servant’ ideas are in assessing various leaders, we will all have to test out.
I think the ‘wise servant’ image helps us recognise as positive leadership characteristics such things as...
- humility rather than arrogance
- concern for others rather than serving one’s own needs
- actions of justice rather than of dominating power
- and wise reflection rather than knowledge and skill alone.
I think these also point to ways of living that express God’s life among us,
that pick up Jesus’ approach,
and that have positive things to say in today’s world.
I’d like to think we could work, together, at being ‘wise servants’…
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