Sunday, October 19, 2014

Leadership With A Lion's Heart

*Note - From 2008-2010, I wrote an occasional blog for the Archdiocese of Baltimore's website. This is one of those posts!*




Title: Leadership With A Lion’s Heart


 


            One of my all-time favorite scenes from a movie is at the very end of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It’s that famous scene where the lion Aslan is walking along the beach away from the castle, and Lucy and Mr. Tumnas are watching him. The faun turns to the girl and says, “You know, he’s not a tame lion.”


            Lucy just looks sweetly at her beloved Aslan and replies, “No, but he is good.”


            And indeed he was. He was so good that he would lay down his life for the children, and he protected them and fought for them powerfully. But he was definitely not tame – just ask the White Witch, who found herself fighting against the good side.


            This, to me, is the essence of a good leader – good leaders fight for those who they’re responsible for, even to the point of laying down their lives for them.


            Probably the best leader I’ve ever met was the man who served as Scoutmaster when I was in my boy scout troop, Mr. Long. He was a very laid-back man, who loved all of the scouts in the troop as his sons. But what I remember most about him is that he would always fight for us – he would always be our advocate and the person we’d go to if we ever had problems. He would try everything in his power to fight for us and intercede for us in anything. If we ever thought we were being treated unfairly (which happened every now and then with those doggone merit badge counselors), we would be able to go to him and he would try to fix the problem. We always knew that he was on our side.


            Plus, he was a man who sacrificed so much for us. He often worked long hours at his job (he worked for the county and did things like plowing snow in the middle of the night) but would always be around at every Scout meeting, ready to offer his wisdom and his counseling to us.


            And this is the key to a good leader, I think: someone who’s willing to fight for and sacrifice for those under him. This is the kind of leader that people love to follow, because they know that these leaders are on their side and are truly interested only in their well-being.


            I think about the King of Kings, Jesus. While He deserves our allegiance simply because of who He is, He showed us ultimately what it means to be a good leader. He could have demanded our obedience without showing us His love. But He preferred to sacrifice everything to win over our love and obedience. We know that He is on our side! He is fighting for us! He lives forever to intercede for us! What an awesome leader He is!


            And this is what a priest must be for his people. I am excited to truly lay down my life for my flock, to sacrifice everything for them and to fight for them, so that they may go to Heaven.


            Archbishop O’Brien said something that I’ll always remember. He said that he learned in the army the principle for good leadership: “Officers eat last.” It’s that simple. If the officers eat last, after all of their subordinates have enough food, then they will have earned the respect of their men. And it’s the same with any leadership position: sacrifice for others, advocate for them, and you will be a good leader.


            It sometimes amazes me how different groups can clamor for “more leadership” in the Church, as if leadership just meant power, influence, and decision-making ability. Leadership is so much more than that – it’s a total life-sacrificing donation to ones’ constituents. We should tremble at the thought of more leadership, because those who lead others will be judged more severely!


            But it is precisely this laying-down of life for others that a priest must embody, following the leadership example of Jesus. A priest must be willing to fight for his people – to fight against sin, against the devil, against corrupt social systems which oppress them. This type of leadership is hard. This is leadership with a lion’s heart!

No comments:

Post a Comment