There are two comments from yesterday, which apply to us and to the person who we are supposed to follow, that is Christ.
“Suppose God wants to teach you to say, “I know how to be abased”–are you ready to be offered up like that? Are you ready to be not so much as a drop in a bucket–to be so hopelessly insignificant that you are never thought of again in connection with the life you served? Are you willing to spend and be spent; not seeking to be ministered unto, but to minister?” ~Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest
The way of the true king is as a sacrifice for his people, just as the king of kings did. To be a leader, one must serve his people, and the better he serves, the greater he is. Others make one great, else anyone could claim it for themselves.
The way the world judges is not the way Christ Judges, and the way the world acts is not the way that Christ acted. Consider both passages: and consider that only Christ can allow one’s eyes to be opened.
And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.
(Matthew 20:29-34 ESV)
Death in Adam, Life in Christ
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(Romans 5:12-21 ESV)
What Christ did was better than anything a surgeon or physician can do. We can restore sight in certain conditions, such as cataracts or severe distortion of the cornea: of which I know too much as I have had to be under the care of such surgeons and ophthalmologists since I was six. But we cannot save souls. Only Christ could do that, and for Christ to do that he had to be emptied completely.
Christ is our leader, but he stopped because two blind men yelled for healing. Christ was heading for Jerusalem, to his death by the same people whom he healed: he healed anyway. Some days you just get up and do your duty.
But your life, your achievements, are made up more of dealing with what you have to do when you are disappointed than the peak experiences. It is not a wedding that makes a marriage, but living with the man or woman through sickness and health, sleep deprivation and worry, and building a life over time.
We used to know these things, and honour those who “also stand and wait”. In our celebration of winners, we tend to forget these things, and we need to remember them: for alone we can do little but together we can do much.
If we stop trying to all lead. Sometimes, and in some circumstances, you follow. Most men move from leadership to helping on the competence rule: the person who knows the job leads. This needs to be discovered.
Overnight the GDP figures came out. NZ is growing: the USA is shrinking. After having suffered through Helun and her feminist minions, the country has been run by a banker for about seven years. The USA, however, seems to not be run, but be continually pushing responsibility around. They have pissed their wealth against a wall: a 2.9% drop in GDP is a depression by anyone’s measures. And when times get tough, the more resilient systems take over, such as traditional marriage, and the work squad.
But leadership? First up, last home. Your job is to ensure that others can do what they need to, and then get out of their way.