{"id":58,"date":"2014-06-19T22:06:19","date_gmt":"2014-06-19T22:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.dminlgp.com\/?p=58"},"modified":"2014-08-11T21:21:09","modified_gmt":"2014-08-11T21:21:09","slug":"why-are-you-leading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/why-are-you-leading\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Are You Leading?"},"content":{"rendered":"
As a young pastor in my first full time pastoral position, I began facing conflict from one of the families in the church. \u00a0It was a fairly small church averaging just under 100 in Sunday morning attendance. \u00a0There were about five families that had been in leadership in the church for over 30 years. \u00a0The gentleman of one of the families began to feel threatened as I trained and empowered prospective leaders. \u00a0He saw his power and influence eroding even though I offered to work with him along with the others. \u00a0My district superintendent was an older man who had many years of ministry experience. \u00a0He never played favorites but he always had your back! \u00a0On a regularly scheduled visit he asked how things were going and I told him about the conflict. \u00a0I will never forget his response. \u00a0He told me to keep my friends close and those who were giving me trouble even closer. \u00a0He encouraged me to \u201cup\u201d my prayer life and mention them in prayer more than ever. \u00a0He told me to pursue my relationship with this individual and his family with sincerity and genuineness. \u00a0I did. \u00a0Though he eventually resigned from board leadership and then the family stopped attending the church I always had a clear conscience and he realized he could not manipulate his power. \u00a0It did not end the best, but it did end without any serious fallout impacting the church. \u00a0Lincoln certainly had his share of rivals!<\/div>\n
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Though I did not read every word I really enjoyed Goodwin\u2019s book\u00a0Team of Rivals<\/span>. \u00a0I also looked through the study guide for her book entitled\u00a0Study Guide for Team of Rivals<\/span>\u00a0by Alex Mauldin. \u00a0Reading the book gave one insight into the life and leadership of Abraham Lincoln in the context of political intrigue and the chaotic domestic conflict of civil war. \u00a0My overarching take away from the book is that Lincoln was not a man set on establishing a legacy for himself. His ambition was clean. \u00a0In stark contrast, one of his rivals, Judge Edward Bates, once wrote, \u201cAmbition is a passion, at once strong and insidious, and is very apt to cheet a man out of his happiness and his true respectability of character.\u201d \u00a0Later, according to Goodwin, he changed, \u201cGradually, however, as letters and newspaper editorials advocating his candidacy crowded in upon him, a desire for the highest office in the land took command of his nature. (pg. 25). Lincoln had ambition but, Goodwin writes, \u201cLincoln\u2019s profound and elevated sense of ambition\u2014\u201can ambition,\u201d Fehrenbacher observes, [was] \u201cnotably free of pettiness , malice, and overindulgence.\u201d (pg. 265).<\/div>\n
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My heart was won for Lincoln when I read how he invoked the Declaration of Independence in a powerful speech that won widespread approval. \u00a0Goodwin notes that after this speech he realized he had found his path and that was to fight against slavery. \u00a0In the speech \u201cLincoln implored his audience to re-adopt the Declaration of Independence and \u2018return [slavery] to the position our fathers gave it; and there let it rest in peace.\u2019 This accomplishment, he pledged, would save the Union, and \u2018succeeding millions of free happy people, the world over, shall rise up, and call us blessed, to the latest generations.\u2019\u201d (pp. 168-9). This reminds me of a leadership principle that notes the importance of taking a stand on some issue that has broad impact and focusing on the issue as a way to guide one\u2019s path forward.<\/div>\n
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Lincoln\u2019s clean ambition was expressed with quips of wisdom. \u00a0One such comment that Goodwin reported I thought very valuable, \u201c\u201cIn great contests,\u201d he wrote in a fragment found among his pages, \u201ceach party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong. God can not be for, and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God\u2019s purpose is something different from the purpose of either party,\u201d (pg. 479).<\/div>\n
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Returning to my opening paragraph about conflict, I delighted to read Goodwin\u2019s account of the conflict with Chase and Seward. \u00a0Goodwin writes, \u201cWelles immediately fathomed Lincoln\u2019s insistence on keeping the two rivals close despite their animosity: \u201cSeward comforts him,\u2014 Chase he deems a necessity.\u201d By retaining both men, Lincoln kept the balance in his cabinet. When Senator Ira Harris called on him shortly after he had received Chase\u2019s resignation, Lincoln was in a buoyant mood. \u201cYes, Judge,\u201d he said, employing a metaphor shaped by his rural childhood, \u201cI can ride on now, I\u2019ve got a pumpkin in each end of my bag!\u201d (pg.. 494). \u00a0At a time when the political factions could have broken any opportunity to hold the union together, Lincoln was just the man who could pull this off. \u00a0And he was able only because he was not out to build his name but to build a great nation. \u00a0I am severely stressed at how differently the present administration in America is handing conflict. \u00a0Even as I write this I am sure that opponents will ask me why those on the other side do not pursue the president. \u00a0Good point. \u00a0But not an excuse! \u00a0The executive must reach out and pursue.<\/div>\n
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The last word about this conflict is as follows, \u201cFor Lincoln, the most serious governmental crisis of his presidency had ended in victory. He had treated the senators with dignity and respect and, in the process, had protected the integrity and autonomy of his cabinet.\u201d (pg 496). \u00a0Lincoln had treated his rivals with dignity and respect. \u00a0That is a powerful and wonderful epitaph to the political battle. \u00a0He was not in campaign mode nor was he building a legacy. \u00a0He was holding a nation together that would continue to rise to greatness. \u00a0Lincoln deserves great credit for his leadership and those who take his lead would benefit.<\/div>\n
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How do we keep our rivals close? \u00a0How does ones ambition impact our relationships with rivals?<\/div>\n
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Doris Kearns Goodwin.\u00a0Team of Rivals<\/em>. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 2005.<\/div>\n
Alex L. Mauldin.\u00a0Study Guide for Team of Rivals<\/em>, Alex L. Mauldin, 2013.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a young pastor in my first full time pastoral position, I began facing conflict from one of the families in the church. \u00a0It was a fairly small church averaging just under 100 in Sunday morning attendance. \u00a0There were about five families that had been in leadership in the church for over 30 years. \u00a0The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,27],"class_list":["post-58","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp","tag-goodwin","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1372,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58\/revisions\/1372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}