I have been reflecting a lot recently on this Biblical
passage from Mark: “And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know
that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and
their great men exercise authority over them.
But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you
must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of
all.
For the Son of man also came not to
be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark
10:42-45 RSV)
How do we live in positions of responsibility (those who
rule in some capacity) and yet serve – or even more, be a slave to all? Who are those who are in such positions? Do those of us who believe that leaders
should serve have an obligation to challenge leaders who don’t serve?
Why am I thinking about these things so much recently? The world is full of exploding violence;
people who are acting out against others who are not like them; immigrants
facing incredible difficulties as they flee horrendous home situations; police
in the USA (and elsewhere, no doubt) shooting those they are to “protect and
serve.” Are the men who have taken over
the national park in Oregon terrorist or not?
Is the world worse that it was?
Or, are things just visible in a different way than they were 50 or 100
years ago?
I will say right up front that I don’t have answers. I guess that is another reason I continue to
think about these questions.
I believe that is it normal for cultures to create ways to
establish who is “in” the group and those who are the “other.” It is natural that people get comfortable
with what they have and want to maintain it.
It seems normal that when others want what we have, we feel threatened
and strike out. But, is “normal”
right?
Should immigrants be allowed into a country/state/town? A knee-jerk reaction, too often, is “NO! They will take our jobs/resources. They will lower property values. There will be terrorists among them.” I would like to think that reading history
would moderate this reaction. In the
USA, each new wave of immigrants was stigmatized and ostracized. In various places it happened to the
Italians, Irish, Jews, Eastern Europeans, Africans. It was worse for the latter group because
they couldn’t learn English, change their names and clothing in order to “blend
in.” The group in the USA that had the
biggest right to feel threatened was the Native Americans whose homes and land
were stolen as they were chased further west and then onto reservations.
Global climate change, I believe, is related to these same
questions. No one wants to give up the
level of comfort they currently have – in fact, most want to have more – even
if it means we are damning future generations.
It seems we can tell “developing” countries to limit their use of power (electric,
especially) and consummation of limited natural resources, but are we willing
to do the same? We say, “Yes, we cut
down the majority of our forests and have suburban sprawl eating up more and
more land. Learn from us! Don’t follow our example.” But, what right do we have to limit access to
modern technology, conveniences, and power-greedy appliances when we demand
more and more of them for ourselves?
Do the actions of objectifying women, raping them, demeaning
them, and passing laws limiting what they can do really make men more
important? More powerful? When people in any position of authority
demand a bribe to do their job, do they really feel better about themselves
because of what they can now buy or the fact that they could demand something
of others and get it? Aren’t fear and
insecurity about one’s identity really the root causes? It takes a strong leader to be a servant
(despite fear and personal insecurity).
Privilege exists.
Certainly White privilege exists.
Colonizers everywhere insisted on it.
Affluence and habit reinforce it.
Here, I can speak with clarity even greater than when I was living in
the USA. I have electricity (a lot of
the time) and running water (usually); I live in a large house – bigger than I
need. (And, before I came I lived in a
large house – bigger than I needed.) I
can buy what I need and most often what I want.
I have so much more than the vast majority of people here. Privilege.
OK, my salary comes from ELCA in dollars, but there are others who get
good salaries who would find it more difficult to get what I have. And, then, there are lots who live hand-to-mouth
with very little.
People in Cameroon and CAR defer to me – often,
everywhere. I was chatting with a
Central African who now sells telephone credit at a small stand here in
GB. It was complicated explaining why I
didn’t buy credit from him. (The answer is,
as often happens in the USA, I have an account, can make as many calls as I
want a month, and pay at the end of the month; few Cameroonians or Central
Africans have that privilege.) Toward
the end of the conversation, he asked that I stop by to talk to him more
often. He said that talking to a white
person would help him advance. I must
have looked doubtful (shocked?) because he said that those who get and follow
advice from white people can do better in business. I would like to help him discover that he has
all the intelligence he needs, but given differences in educational
opportunities, refugee status, and income levels, is intelligence alone
enough? What would you do in a situation
like this to counter the strong belief that white is better?
When you are asked to sit up front (near the altar) in a
church service just because you are white, what would you do? If you refuse, you insult the people. If you accept, you reinforce the
privilege.
I heard a church leader here say that he never walks
anywhere because it is below the dignity of his office. Well, here is a stand that is easy for
me. I walk most everywhere I go. Shopkeepers in town sometimes offer to pay
for me to go home on a motorcycle taxi, but I refuse explaining that walking is
good exercise. I am breaking one
stereotype about leaders (and white people) with this small action. (Maybe this is not a good example of me going
out of my way to change perceptions since I like walking and it is genuinely
what I prefer.)
If you hear that a church leader has raised his own salary
despite the fact that the budget has been in the red for years, is it your
(our) place to challenge that person? If
you (we) are living at the expense of others or living a privileged life
without paying attention (or realizing it), is it necessary/appropriate for
others to challenge us? If we are
challenged, can we listen and hear?
When fear, or its offspring hate, dominates conversations
about refugees, immigrants, shootings, etc., how do we open dialogue in ways
that calm fears instead of inflaming them?
When groups are so polarized (especially political parties) that they
react to a person of another group without listening to what is said, and,
react with inflammatory language, how do you (we) open doors. Too many have let belittling others so that
they can fell better about themselves become a habit – a knee-jerk
reaction. I believe that the message
from Jesus calls us to listen, to understand why someone else feels the way
s/he does, without trying to convert him/her.
We see the humanity in the “other.” We can even find common ground.
I am making some small decisions to try to be a servant
leader (besides walking to get where I am going).
·
When I see Facebook postings, I have decided not
to read those that demean the “other.”
My clues? Words filled with
negative connotations, like: “[politician] just slapped down attack on [another
politician]; Why the hell isn’t…;
Professors hated [politician]; __ sent brutal response to ___; ___ is a piece
of garbage. (People from “both sides”
use this kind of language – and who said there were only two sides anyway?!?) I
will certainly not share those and I will do my best to be respectful of
everyone when I write messages and/or share postings.
·
I am trying to listen more and talk less. I like the quote (from I can’t remember who)
that says when you listen you learn; when you talk you are sharing what you
already know, not gaining wisdom. This
is hard for me. (Look, I have been
“talking” for 2 ½ pages already!) But, I
think it is important. Good leaders know
what others think, feel, believe, and want/need.
·
Listening has to happen in meetings, too. I am making efforts to allow those I work
with to take responsibility for their actions and for the direction of the
project (or whatever). I believe I have
knowledge (and maybe some wisdom) to offer, but I hope to share it through
questions that the participants need to answer so that they can work out for themselves
what is best for the situation. (This is
hard, too, when people often want to be told, want to allow another to take
responsibility, and/or don’t know how to step up to the plate themselves.)
I am sure there is more I could do. What are your thoughts on this topic? I would be happy if this were more of a
dialogue than a monologue. What small
(and large) steps can we take to be the servant leaders that Jesus calls us to
be?
Here’s the basics of
what we decided. We have a copy of the
first four Sunday school manuals written by LUCSA; we will begin with Book 1
that has 54 lessons (one for each week of the year, more or less). It needs to be translated into French and
Sango, but there are not a lot of people qualified to do the work from English
to Sango. Christian Education of EELC
will be responsible for getting the work translated into French. Later, Christian Education of will get the
lessons translated from French to Sango.
In the meantime, the Central African director will supervise an
artist(s) who will draw pictures for each Bible story used in the lessons. 
