Leadership, strong and ethical, is necessary to an effective free society. God wants mankind to be free so to account for self and from there to society and God. Redemption turns on free choice to be God’s child, or to turn away for whatever other option or options may be available. Can a person lead himself or herself? Can that person lead in the nuclear or extended family? Can that person lead in society? Everyone leads in some ways, and follows in some ways. In the context of any time and event, the person may be a leader, or in that context/event may be a follower. There are those who approach being ciphers in that they neither want to lead or follow, so seem independent of preferred society. That is not entirely possible, for their disinterest is, in itself, a fraction of leadership that others may follow to also be independent of community – or, in irritation, join it. God holds both leaders and followers accountable.
When leadership is the topic of discussion the assumption is standard that the leader stands out in some way. This is usually apparent without feelings of superiority or inferiority in the society. The society often imbues the leader with some privileges, in the knowledge that the leader is paying a price for the duty. So there is obvious clarity about the difference from followers or hangers on. Leaders, in this sense, stand out. They are recognized either openly or tacitly. King David was a leader before he was fully aware of it, and developed, sometimes through grievous experience, to improve as a leader. His best friend, Jonathan, recognized that gift in David, and backed away from any inherited kingship in support of his closest friend. Jonathan appears to have been the most honorable of the characters in the piece.
In recent eras, George Washington was a leader. He looked the part; was brave; held an agenda for freedom, some creativity of which continues to our day; was able to bring conflicting persons together to support the cause – so the story may be extended. He was effective to a degree that he could nearly dictate the future for himself and the country. The people would have made him a king, if he had desired such a post. Americans in the 21st Century only partially recognize the leader of leaders that Washington was. He was, in my view, the greatest American President, perhaps the greatest leader related to government, that the United States has ever known. The tendency to raise Lincoln above Washington in ordering the Presidents is largely an emotional matter for Americans who attach themselves to the common man. Even some historians seem sometimes to miss the larger context. Lincoln rose from peasantry. Washington came from gentry. A number of the early leaders of America came from the gentry. They risked everything for the purpose of American freedom, and national government instead of colonial. They made the way for others. The story is special, perhaps unique in history. Founding Fathers had much at risk.
In my view, Americans are not well educated for freedom. In my generation we may have been better educated for it than is currently available in the context of public education. In high school we had a civics course which accented the ideals of duty and freedom. In my conversations with youth today they are unclear what a civics course might be. My teacher, Mr. Tucker, sent me to hear a court case, and report back to the class. I did it. I will never forget what it did for me, perhaps for the class, to learn, first hand, what the freedoms of our laws were supposed to guarantee to us. In making my point, I am arguing for a gift of God to mankind – freedom. Only in the context of freedom do I grasp private relationship to God and to duty. Though more difficult, those who are not free may find their inner freedom under God. Part of the leadership of the Apostle Paul addressed that issue. Even in a dungeon, the Apostle knew he was free – freedom the world can’t give. That freedom eludes us, when values are rejected or lost for human limitation. Freedom then turns to permissiveness, so that some issues are not decided on the basis of what is good for society, for our children, for meaning, but what is best for the self. This last can’t be determined because the self is an island, alone to the continents. Objectivity begs for place in the stew of life. That objectivity leading to resolution comes with seeking and prayer. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020