LEADERSHIP IN THE SERVICE OF MANKIND
Leadership has many faces. It runs the gamut from the street corner bully to the most exalted religious leader. From Genghis Khan to Washington, from the Apostle Paul to Hitler, from Lao-tse to Mao-tse Tung. These people were all leaders because they had developed within themselves those qualities and capacities that make humans take the lead in the circumstances in which they find themselves at any given time. Yet what a difference there was among them! We have the Apostle Paul who led a young religious community into a new age; Hitler who led a nation into a millennium of his own design, thereby unleashing a world catastrophe costing millions of lives; Lao-tse who patiently guided his people into a better understanding of the Laws of God; and Mao-tse Tung who wilfully abrogated the Laws of God and substituted them with his own. Even the street corner bully in his reckless disregard for the laws of society, and Genghis Khan who ruthlessly conquered other peoples and made them subject to his will are leaders of sorts.
As always, the gifts of God to man can be used for good or for evil, to serve a useful purpose or to satisfy selfish desires. As such, they are neutral, neither good nor bad. Simply gifts offered to mankind by a living Creator. It is man himself who makes either good or bad use of them. So when considering leadership, the first question that we must ask ourselves is: ‘Why do we want to lead?’ In other words, ‘What are our deepest motives?’ ‘Do we want to become a Paul or a
