Saturday mornings are the BEST if you’re a kid. Well, they used to be before youth sports became serious big business and we started recruiting coaches from what I can only assume was the former U.S.S.R., with parents who apparently believe their child’s success at t-ball directly correlates to admission into an Ivy League school.
Back in the good old days (70s & 80s) my Saturday mornings looked something like this:
* Wake-Up whenever I felt like it
* Eat three bowls of Fruity Pebbles
* Watch cartoon classics like Tom & Jerry, Bugs Bunny, G.I. Joe, and He-Man
* Play something akin to soccer coached by an American who never played the game
* Eat as many orange slices as possible
* Ride home in back of station wagon with 9 teammates (no seat-belts)
That was the life. Times were simpler. Things made sense. Of course, nostalgia has a way of convincing us the past was pure & the present is putrid.”
Take the cartoon He-Man & the Masters of the Universe. On the surface it’s cartoon where good guy fights bad guy and good guy wins. Look closer, though. Everyone in this cartoon looks like they’re on the Mark McGuire & Sammy Sosa strength program [cough, steroids].
If that’s not enough, consider He-Man’s famous tag-line, the climactic moment of every episode – “By the power of Grayskull; I have the power!” Power in this context means STRENGTH & COMMAND.
Might makes right. The powerful lead the way. Only the strong survive. These are some of the lessons we learned growing up. It’s not subtle. The show is subtitled: The MASTERS of the Universe. We probably didn’t notice it because that message is embedded in our cultural D.N.A.
Everyone has some power, a kind of “self-sovereignty.” Some have more power than others. Some have authority over others. This is true in the Church as it is in the world. Power & authority come with great responsibility. The Church must constantly be on guard against abuse of power & authority.
Jesus addressed power & authority – REGULARLY correcting the disciples.
Matthew 20.20-21, 24-28:
20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him. 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”
24 When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. 26 It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant,27 and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
James and John already knew their request was out of line, so they used a proxy (mommy!) to make the request for them, hoping to soften Jesus & the other disciples up. There’s a leadership lesson in this detail:
When you refuse to address or correct things yourself but hide behind another person, a process, or your position – a little red flag should probably go up in your head signaling the danger of power abuse is at hand.”
Some think questioning & critiquing institutional power & authority is insubordination tantamount to rebellion. This view appears to ascribe to the same leadership philosophy that a 27 year old mom uses out of frustration with her 2 year old: “I am your mom and you will do what I say because I said so.” [Note: this rarely works with a 2 year old & works even less with 20, 40, 60 year old folk]. This doesn’t communicate a Kingdom of God servanthood-ethic.
We might as well be running around saying, “By the power of Grayskull, I have the power.”
Bad cultural narratives assume that “power & authority” are achieved through “command & conquer leadership.” Leadership guru Simon Sinek illustrates the futility of this thinking by visualizing the difference between a leader & a boss:
Responding to questioning & critique, some say, “Leading big organizations is hard. Tough decisions need to be made. Trust the elected leader to do the job.” I don’t disagree, but let’s not avoid responsibility by hiding behind complexity. Folks aren’t questioning whether someone has the power & authority, they’re questioning how it’s used.
Pope Francis is in his 70s. He leads a 1,500 year old hierarchical organization with 1.2 billion diverse members, yet manages to gain love & respect. In the “15 Diseases of Leadership” he says the first disease is:
“The disease of thinking we are immortal, immune, or downright indispensable, [and therefore] neglecting the need for regular check-ups.”
A leadership team which is not self-critical, which does not keep up with things, which does not seek to be more fit, is a sick body.
Francis goes on to say: “A simple visit to the cemetery might help us see the names of many people who thought they were immortal, immune, and indispensable! It is the disease of those who turn into lords and masters, who think of themselves as above others and not at their service. It is the pathology of power and comes from a superiority complex, from a narcissism which passionately gazes at its own image and does not see the face of others, especially the weakest and those most in need.”
The antidote to this plague is humility; to say heartily, “I am merely a servant. I have only done what was my duty.”
You can read the rest of his “15 Diseases” in the Harvard Business Review here: The 15 Diseases of Leadership according to Pope Francis. It’s no surprise Christians, non-believers, and people of other faiths consider Pope Francis the real deal. He does Jesus type stuff in a Jesus type manner with a Jesus type attitude.
Today’s complex & changing world might lead us to desire simpler times – tempting us to believe that powerful, “He-Man & the Masters of the Universe” authoritarian leadership is right & necessary.
I submit that nostalgia for simpler times isn’t that simple – or even that truthful.
Instead of longing for imaginary times past, perhaps we should simply follow the servant-leadership example of our Savior.