By: Obed Pineda
“Words of the wise, spoken quietly, should be heard rather than the shout of a ruler of fools.” (Ecclesiastes 9:17)
I remember sitting in my political science class (during the short stint I was blessed to attend the University of Houston) listening to the professor begin his course with the following question: Who makes a good leader? One aspect of his inquiry that stood out to me was that he asked “who” and not “what.” I began to ponder as to his purpose for phrasing it like that, and it began to dawn on me that he was not asking about characteristics of leadership, but rather about the character traits of the leader himself. His question was aimed at revealing the personality traits that are commonly shared among good leaders. True, boldness, foresight, charisma, and others such as these were quickly brought up in class and, indeed, these are all found in efficient leaders, but none of them were the particular characteristic the professor was searching for. After hearing all the responses from the class, he concurred that good leaders do share these qualities but the one characteristic that separated the great and outstandingleaders from the rest was humility. The professor would go on to explain that the ancient Greek philosophers believed that the true essence of a natural born leader, is a man who does not want to lead at all. What they meant by this observation is that a person who covets power and control, is unfit to lead. On the other hand, a person who does not actively pursue the office of leadership, but has the ability to do so proficiently when necessary, is the best candidate to wield that power. This piece of information arrested my inquisitive mind and at once Moses, Gideon, David, Solomon, John the Baptizer, and Paul sprung forth from the bowels of my memory bank (cf. Exodus 3:10-11, Judges 6:14-15, 1st Samuel 18:12-18, 1st Kings 3:4-10, John 2:19-27, 1st Corinthians 15:8-9). I, too, was reminded of the Master’s declaration to His twelve, “for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Humility is undoubtedly what sets apart a good leader from an outstanding one because it exhibits the primary target for that leader; others before himself. Those who govern with a spirit of haughtiness by demanding their voice be obeyed, soon learn that the only thing this accomplishes is to isolate the loyalty of the people they seek to guide (cf. 1st Kings 12:1-24). Irrefutably, those who govern with an iron fist serve themselves often times at the expense of their own followers. This professor’s lesson (after many years) reappeared in my brain when I met the brother chosen to wear the mantle of director for our mission trip in Arequipa, Peru. In my previous entry, I stated that the inconceivable odds between the population of Arequipa and the Christians present to evangelize the community reminded me of Gideon and his three hundred (cf. Judges 7:1ff). Cary (our director) was a major reason why Gideon appeared in my mind’s eye. Had it not been for his name tag or those who already knew him, I would not have imagined he was the man in charge. A quiet man, who preferred to have the spotlight of attention off of him, and on someone else. Whenever I would hear him introduce himself to someone for the first time, he would simply state his name and not mention his position of authority, unless absolutely necessary. Although quiet, he was keenly observant of every member of the campaign (foreign and domestic), alert of everything happening around him. He made time to converse and familiarize himself with every member of his team, but also to allow us to become familiarized with him. This revealed to me that Cary understood very well the objective of his mission in Peru, and in order to be successful in spreading the Gospel to the lost, trust needed to be built up through fellowship between the saved. His initiative of personally breaking the ice with those who had never met him before, created a safe, friendly environment that reminded us all that instead of being strangers, “we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another” (Romans 12:5). Furthermore, his purpose of personally knowing every member of his team was to learn how to assemble the teams that would go preach the Gospel to Arequipa, in the wisest way possible. The brother understood the great worth of finding the right combination of personalities, experience, level of spiritual maturity, and types of spiritual talents in one team. Ergo, his focal point was in organizing and distributing us in the way he concluded would best increase our odds of gaining entry into peoples’ homes for a Bible study. Cary comprehended well that this also meant that those of us who had arrived together from our homes, needed to trust his judgment when he separated us from one another, and partnered us with Christians we were meeting for the first time. It is beneficial to keep in mind that in addition to the sixty of us that arrived from the US, he was also responsible for the local members of Arequipa, brethren who traveled from other cities of Peru and brethren who traveled from other countries, all to take part in this evangelistic campaign. Overall, the total number of Christians who had arrived, ready to labor in the vineyard of the Lord, were about eighty. Cary had the assignment to bring the news of glad tidings to a city of 1.2 million people, with only eighty diligent Christians. It is said that it is not the size of the army before you that counts, but the brilliance of the strategy one uses in battle. Cary’s approach began by reminding all of us that “If God is for us, who can be against us…yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:31, 37). His confidence in the power of God’s Word in the hands of His faithful servants served as a spark that ignited in us a fervent spirit, zealous for the Lord God Almighty. He brought to our memory that the power is in the Truth, not in us, and thus we were nothing more than couriers of His truth tasked with delivering it to those who were willing to accept it (cf. 1st Corinthians 9:16-27, Ephesians 3:8-12). As I look back, in writing this piece, it becomes clear once more why God commands that the fearful be removed from the camps of His spiritual soldiers (cf. Deuteronomy 20:8). Having assembled twelve teams, the importance of being of one mind with our fellow teammates became crucial if we were to be triumphant in shining the blessed light of Christ’s news of salvation. To be continued…