Bonhoeffer on a true leader

The following is an excerpt from twenty-six year old theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer's radio address, delivered on February 1, 1933, two days after Adolph Hitler had been elected Chancellor of Germany:

If he understands his function in any other way than as it is rooted in fact, if he does not continually tell his followers quite clearly of the nature of his task and of their own responsibility, if he allows himself to surrender to the wishes of his followers, who would always make him their idol--then the image of the Leader will pass over into the image of the mis-leader, and he will be acting in a criminal way not only towards those he leads, but also towards himself. The true Leader must always be able to disillusion. It is just this that is his responsibility and his real object. He must lead his following away from the authority of his person to the recognition of the real authority of orders and offices.... He must radically refuse to become the appeal, the idol, i.e. the ultimate authority of those whom he leads.... He serves the order of the state, of the community, and his service can be of incomparable value. But only so long as he keeps strictly in his place.... [H]e has to lead the individual into his own maturity.... Now a feature of man's maturity is responsibility towards other people, towards existing orders. He must let himself be controlled, ordered, restricted.

Of course, Adolph Hitler had no intention of allowing himself to be "controlled, ordered, restricted." Yet in reading this, I am reminded of a current leader, one who had allowed himself to become "the idol," and who seems to have little fascination with leading people away from his authority back to the authority of the Constitution [Bonhoeffer's orders] and the people. Thankfully, I do not fear for one second this current leader will kill millions. But his bald attempts to build a "thousand year reign" of entitlements and debt may end up with the nation impoverished and defeated. Again, from the same address:

Only when a man sees that office is a penultimate authority in the face of an ultimate, indescribable authority, in the face of the authority of God, has the real situation been reached.... And this solitude of man's position before God, this subjection to an ultimate authority, is destroyed when the the authority of the Leader or of the office is seen as ultimate authority.... Alone before God, man becomes what he is, free and committed to responsibility at the same time.

The current leader professes to be a follower of Christ, yet not in an orthodox, Biblical way. It is interesting that, the same day as Bonhoeffer's address, Chancellor Hitler also took to the airwaves, offering this appeal "to the God he did not believe in":

May God Almighty take our work into his grace, give true form to our will, bless our insight, and endow us with the trust of our Volk!

--Wayne S.

(All quotations are from the book Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas.)

Bill Clinton on learning from defeat

When I was young, I often lost school elections, in part because I was in the band and not a star athlete. Then, when I didn't come out on top in music contests, losing was even more painful. My mother taught me not to feel sorry for myself. She said I had good health, a good mind, and good friends, so I should just count my blessings and do more with them.

When I was defeated for reelection as governor in 1980, there didn't seem to be much future for me in politics. I was probably the youngest ex-governor in American history. But if I hadn't been defeated, I probably would never have become president. It was a near-death experience, but it forced me to be more sensitive and to understand that if people think you've stopped listening, you're sunk.

--Bill Clinton, quoted in Wired magazine, January 2010

A dangerous trend

Exaggerated self-criticism would be a harmless luxury of civilization if there were no enemy at the gate condemning democracy's very existence. But it becomes dangerous when it portrays its mortal enemy as always being in the right. Extravagant criticism is a good propaganda device in internal politics. But if it is repeated often enough, it is finally believed. And where will the citizens of democratic societies find reasons to resist the enemy outside if they are persuaded from childhood that their civilization is merely an accumulation of failures and a monstrous imposture? - Jean Francois Revel, How Democracies Perish

Goodbye, Mary

 

Mary Travers 1936-2009

We lost an amazing voice today. Mary Travers was the beautiful alto voice of Peter, Paul and Mary. She was my first crush as a singer (the second, Linda Ronstadt), and she has remained a favorite all my adult life. With long, bright blonde hair and bangs, she was modishly beautiful, yet sang decidedly un-modish folk music. She was not only a voice in music, but in social justice as well who, along with her bandmates, worked tirelessly for civil rights in the 1960s and beyond. She was also an accomplished and published poet. On her post-PPM solo album, entitled Mary, she read one of her poems:

Erika with the windy yellow hair

Dancing through the day or moping by the stair

My joy to know my Erika with the windy yellow hair



Yesterday I met her running home from school

Her face was tear stained, she didn't know I knew

But I do, I do



But today she had a song to sing and a poem she knew

And with a kiss and a hug she just dashed away, she had things to do

I do too, I do too



Lithesome child, I turn with care

When viewing you on step or stair

All my hope and love for you,

My Erika of the windy yellow hair 

 

 

You will be missed, Mary. All my hope and love for you, our Mary, with the windy yellow hair.--W.S.

Labels

It has long been my belief that "Christ plus anything cheapens Christ." Does that mean that the truest thing about me is Christ in me? I think it does. And if I carry the unsullied Christ in me, it seems to follow that He will be most useful to others through me when there is the least of me. 



I also believe that "Anything plus Christ redeems anything." That means me first, my family, my friends and neighbors, even my country. 



The trouble is, I am pressed, from within and without, to adopt other labels. People don't often understand what a Christian is, but are quick to define a conservative, or Republican. Many, usually unbelievers, conflate the two. Past actions by many (including me) make that easy. 



I have come to think over the years that these labels cheapen Christ in me, and I find myself sloughing them off, and speaking (when asked, mostly) about the issues, not the labels. I find myself more and more entering into conversations, situations, even confrontations that I would not have approached before, and having real dialogue, exhibiting real love. I come as a lover of Christ and His world, not a representative of any ideology. I want to hear a name that is not mentioned much in political discourse: Jesus.

Hold tightly to your freedoms

I will not willingly cede more power to anyone, not to the state, not to General Motors, not to the CIO. I will hoard my power like a miser, resisting every effort to drain it away from me. I will then use my power, as I see fit. I mean to live my life an obedient man, but obedient to God, subservient to the wisdom of my ancestors; never to the authority of political truths arrived at yestereday at the voting booth. — William F. Buckley, Jr. Up From Liberalism (1959)

On Christians as political activists

"If people who call themselves Christians want to see any influence in the culture, then they ought to start following the commands of Jesus and people will be so amazed that they will be attracted to Him. The problem isn't political. The problem is moral and spiritual.  

"You have the choice between a way that works and brings no credit or money or national attention, or a way that doesn't work that gets you lots of attention and has little influence on the culture." —Cal Thomas, Author and columnist