When The Leaders Fall
There seems to be a ‘thing’ (for want of a better term) in many of us (maybe all of us…I don’t have the data to be sure), where we are influenced by those who lead us (in whatever ways it is that they lead us… and by ‘leaders’ I mean they are leading because others are metaphorically walking behind them, watching them, following them and imitating them at some level or other). It seems to be linked to a human need to judge the perceived successes of the one who is leading (in whatever way) as something (or someone) worth following. Is that so we might share in some of their success in some remote way by being linked to them? I don’t know. Is it with a distant hope that we might create such perceived successes in our own lives and their example has inspired us? Maybe. In part, maybe.
Whatever the drivers within it, there is something internal that seems to draw us to look at (from afar or as close as we can get) to those we admire for whatever reason, isn’t there? It doesn’t seem to matter if these individuals are leaders in their chosen fields of expertise, or whether they can effectively evidence their success by the level of popularity. It doesn’t seem to matter how these people have become leaders. It doesn’t matter if they are leading as a consequence of aiming for that status or if it just sort of happened to them. It doesn’t seem to matter if it is rooted in others wishing for similar levels of monetary wealth to them or if it is because of their perceived beauty that the follower wishes they could emulate. It might even be (amongst many other reasons) elevated by the accolades that they receive from others who are considered to have opinions that matter and so are given the power to judge and effectively promote these ‘success stories’ whilst creating even more celebrity status of the individual by so doing.
We seem to live in a world where we judge ourselves in relation to how we judge others. It seems to be competitive at so many conceivable levels and we can get disillusioned by feeling we ourselves have failed due to our lack (as we see it) compared to others around us, don’t we? Many of us seem to do that and (unless it is simply more about my own awareness of it happening) it seems to be increasingly the case that we operate in this way as we navigate life. Is it rooted (ultimately) in our own insecurity or sense of lack about who and how we are? Is it fed by low self-worth or impacted by our responses to events in our lives? I am sure there are many contributing factors. I am also sure that for those who are currently (in this part of their lives) busy ‘doing life’, as they are achieving in work or role of whatever kind, or as they are thriving in any way, all of this will seem unimportant and largely irrelevant. That is fully fair, of course. Sometimes we are only drawn to such considerations when faced with life shifts that cause us to look differently and experience life in new ways to those we have previously known.
What about people who lead in relation to matters of faith and within churches? The backdrop to this musing is based on headlines and stories I have recently read and seen. Whatever the ‘rights’ or ‘wrongs’, there are many reports where faith leaders have been accused of abusing their power in one way or another and causing harm to other humans. There are many examples (across history but also in the now of now) where those who have been trusted to lead churches or faith-based organisations have been (to refer to scripture loosely) ‘weighed in the balance and found wanting’ (from the book of Daniel, Chapter 5).
Let’s take one step back first, before we proceed. It is my belief that we would all be ‘weighed in the balance and found wanting’ if it were left to human effort or skill to be ‘good’ or ‘righteous’ or ‘holy’ (continue list as you see fit). We all fail. We all make mistakes. We have all caused harm and hurt to others (whether intentional or fully unintentional). Even if we are unaware of the impact we have had on another human, there will be some way each of us has brought about or caused damage. That is (in my thinking and view) a ‘given’ fact.
But Dawn, surely those with authority within the church or within faith-based organisations have additional responsibility and power that they must be aware of and must be wise as they wield it. Yes. That’s scriptural, isn’t it? They do. Ezekiel chapter 34 (if you choose to read it) doesn’t really hold back about the responsibility of those who are called to lead in churches.
The responsibility of faith leaders is immense. My wonderings are more around the fact that people of faith may seem to be so often shocked and horrified when the latest scandal about whoever (whoever they are and whatever they have done). We seem to forget that these leaders (within faith-based organisations) are no less human than we are. We can (I have been known to do this) sit in a pool of confusion and mortification that we have followed or been influenced by the teachings of some of these leaders. We can then doubt some of what they taught because we have been shocked by their human failings (I am not excusing them those, but I am placing those alongside the failings we all make as humans even though they may be judged more harshly by the God who Is, Was and Will be).
The actions of those fallen leaders can impact others who share belief in God in far-reaching and very negative ways. Their actions (real or reported as real) can bring into question all we think we believe or have held onto as part of our own faith walk, can’t they?
And yet, we (as a collective) partly caused this, didn’t we? By giving too much power or too high a status to individuals, did we not play a part in setting them up for a fall? By following their teaching and examples (before their fall), did we not kind of make of them a demi-god? We saw them seemingly move in power, for good, in ways we wished we had access to or moved in and by so doing, we made them (in our own minds’ eyes, even if we didn’t realise we were doing it) a little lower than God but higher than us.
Who am I to give advice to those who lead churches or faith organisations? I am no one. However, I will offer some thoughts for your consideration if you choose to consider them.
Yes, you might feed more (than you are fully aware) on the praise you get following a sermon that was considered by others to be wise or important or of value. Yes, you might enjoy the trust others place in you as they share things that matter most to them that they might not feel safe sharing with others. Yes, you might hold the (seriously weighty) position of having access to the more vulnerable part of people as they seek counsel or advice and you might take this role very seriously, offering what you can and listening as best as you can. You might revel in your ability to advise, or you may proceed with extreme caution giving room for the one you’re there for to come to their own decisions and conclusions about what might be next for them. Yes, you might be aware these aspects of your role boost you in many ways as you are affirmed by things said to you or trust demonstrated towards you, or you might tell me none of it impacts you in that way (and I dare to suggest we will never fully know the full extent of any of that).
I am 100% sure that the majority of those who then have later ‘fallen’ felt they were doing the best they could to be the person they felt God had made them, serving others in the Matthew 20:25-28 way Jesus suggested (that being as servant leaders). What increasingly amazes me is how we think humans are capable of being pure and blameless and able to receive affirmation and perceived success and it not affect them in any way? We are all impacted and affected by affirmation and power we are given in whatever way. And the more of that there is, the more it can influence us and the more (she dares to write) we might seek it.
Many of us want to ‘do better’, ‘achieve more’, and gain more recognition or be affirmed by those whose opinion matters to us, don’t we? As we seek that, and as others give that, we push ourselves more to find more of that sense of accomplishment, don’t we? We enjoy the effect on us internally, don’t we (on all kinds of levels)? And by so doing, maybe we can sometimes slip into manipulating others so that they have reason to affirm us. For those in authority, maybe it is a small step to (possibly not always consciously even though that is no excuse) abuse the trust placed in them as they seek the feeding of ego, maybe. And maybe it is just a few more steps from that ‘position’ to the point where some kind of fall occurs, and the life failure impacts negatively and massively on the life of another/others.
For those whose faith in God has been shattered (or in any way brought into question) by the failings of a faith leader, please pause (if you can and choose to). That person was never God. Only God is God. Us humans will fail and fall, and we will all need to face the consequences of our failings (in this world or beyond it maybe), but the actions of another human cannot and (I suggest) must not be aligned with the ways of God.
How is my learning developing as I navigate the headlines around faith leaders who I have been influenced by (in whatever ways) over many years? I guess that it would be wiser to not ever place my belief or hope in a person. It cannot ever safely reside there.
And whatever people may do to one another, however awful the situations and abuses of power may be, they are not inflicted on people by God. It wasn’t God. I come back to my growing sense that when we think we understand more about how God works through people we simply are (maybe) becoming more misguided.
What does remain however, is that God is and because He is, I am. I must be careful who and what become gods to me and make sure they are simply not a somehow more tangible imitation of the actual God. And maybe I need to be less shocked when Christians fail and fall knowing that they are human just as I am and will inevitably fall and fail. They are not God, though. And they maybe have moved from representing God in the (maybe) less complicated ways that they started out doing. Maybe. It’s all a bit of a mystery, but I am thinking I am in no position to judge.