Trust that while I no longer hold all the power, I also no longer hold all the responsibility – And no longer the only source of creative vision. So I must be willing to let go of some of my brilliant ideas and consider someone else’s perhaps more brilliant idea – even better, we collaborate, come up with something we would never have come up with on our own.
Others will only have opportunity to participate in leadership when those who occupy that leadership space move aside, give up that space or share it outright. Shared leadership only happens when it is shared.
In 2Kings, we see the Faith of a young girl who knew true healing power when she saw it. The Faith, insight, of a young servant who saw the truth of the matter: Naaman thought he was special so he should get a dramatic healing. You might also say, wisdom of the child. Is it not when we have faith like a child that it is true faith? Authentic Boldness.
I am sensing a greater urgency to invest in our children in order to disciple them into that faith, to keep their eyes open to the Source of the healing power. Because we also need to learn from them. Prayer. Faith.
But we must consider alternatives to building those relationships because what we “have always done” or “the way they’re doing it in the next town over” is no longer working, or won’t work in our context – at least, not in the same way. And so much of how we do things is sociologically dictated, shaped by culture. (the king expected special treatment just because he is king, etc) In fact, comparison kills well-being. From a recent episode of the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepherd, the discussion surrounds the stereotypically Masculinist values of capitalism. And that Comparison is “baked into capitalism . . . advertising. Joe Ehrmann said, “Comparison is the thief of all happiness.” Because when you compare, there will always be someone wealthier, more attractive, more successful. Still, the reality of our economy is one of great economic disparity due to a continued fixation on happiness that is equated to dominance, success, notoriety.
