Who is a Leader?

Faced with unbearable suffering at the hands of cruel Roman rulers, the Jewish people at the time of Jesus looked for someone who could help. They looked for a leader.

Jesus was not the person they wanted.

The Jewish people were under terrible military, political, and economic oppression from the Roman Empire. What could they do? The empire was about the same size as the United States; from Maine to California and from Washington State to Florida. How could a small band of Jews in a small part of the empire hope to change Rome? Still, they looked to the promise in the Old Testament for a leader who would reverse their condition.

But Jesus was not the person they were looking for.

He arrives in Bethlehem as a little child, helpless and vulnerable. He grows up in an obscure Galilean village of Nazareth that was overshadowed by the massive nearby Greco-Roman metropolis of Sepphoris. Jesus has a mundane job as a craftsman in the building trades, a low rung on the socio-economic ladder of that time. Everything about Jesus was counter-intuitive to the job description of a powerful leader the people longed for. How could a carpenter help?

When Jesus began His mission He had no followers at all. Soon, he had thousands. How did that happen? He made a compelling case through words and actions that inspired people to follow Him. That is the very definition of a leader: someone who creates followers.

Let’s look at His leadership style. First, Jesus had a clear and compelling vision of a better world that He wanted everyone to enjoy, Second, He presented this new world in vivid emotional images with parables and stories that captured people’s imagination, Third, he had a clear plan to actually get there, and Fourth, He had a clear part or role for each person to actually make it happen.

No one ever saw a leader like this before. Now, they would follow Him anywhere because His plan worked. Just a few hundred years later, the entire Roman Empire became Christian!

Jesus defines what it means to be a leader. A real leader creates followers where there were none before.

If there had been public opinion polls then He would not have paid attention. Public opinion believed Rome was forever. Jesus did not follow public opinion; He formed it into something new, something the people themselves would never have thought possible. That is what real leaders do. They create followers.

In 1776, Americans suffered colonial domination under Great Britain, the most powerful country in the world. It was counter-intuitive to think that we could ever defeat a British army. Most Americans were actually loyal to England. However, George Washington persuaded enough American soldiers to stay the course, and ultimately triumphed. He created followers where there were none.

In the 1980’s we were in the coldest era of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. The arms race grew dangerous with thousands of nuclear weapons on both sides. It was counter-intuitive to think this situation would ever change. The Soviet Union was here to stay. Yet Pope John Paul II thought otherwise. He inspired workers in Poland in the Solidarity movement and joined President Reagan in efforts that eventually led to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989. They both created followers where there were none before.

In late 1990, Saddam Hussein of Iraq invaded nearby Kuwait. Most Americans at that time would have had a hard time finding either country on a map. And yet, in short order, Americans, and a coalition of many countries, including several Arab countries, rallied around President George Bush’s call to liberate Kuwait, which happened quickly a few months later. He created followers where there were none before.

The advance of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) today is compelling and extremely dangerous. The brutality of this extremist Islamic fundamentalist movement is unimaginably cruel, with beheadings, public crucifixions of Christians, and executions on a massive scale. Even Al Qaeda has disowned them for excessive violence!

Americans are understandably reluctant to enter this battle. The last decade has produced an understandable “war-weariness” among Americans for involvement in that troubled part of the world. It is counter-intuitive to expect otherwise.

However, a real leader recognizes that this radical and extremely violent Islamic fundamentalist movement in Iraq has the USA next on its list of targets. They have publicly said so many times, even hoping to “place their ISIS flag over the White House.” This group is a direct and mortal threat to Americans, and people everywhere. There is no possibility of negotiation as they believe their mission is from Allah, with which there can be no compromise. They demand that all Non-Muslims must “convert or die.”

Only America has the economic resources, global alliances, and military power to face this dangerous extremist Islamic movement. Even Pope Francis has urged the world to respond. American government officials must recognize this extremely violent and mortal threat to the USA and mobilize public opinion to end it. Then we can call them leaders.

I’d like to know what characteristics inspire you to follow someone?

Good Bless!

Fr. Dave