Leadership is Selfless - not Self Important

Let me be very clear right up front. Black lives do matter.

But, and there is usually a but, methods do matter too.

I remember my mother saying, “You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.” Growing up my mind tried reconciling why I wanted to catch flies in the first place. I viscerally despise flies. (Spend a day in Fallujah and you’ll hate flies too.) But when I grew older I realized she wasn’t talking about flies at all. She was translating scripture in a way that I could understand.

Romans chapter 14 talks about liberty and love. The first half eloquently explains that we are not our brother’s keeper and we should be more concerned with our own relationship with God than with someone else’s. Simply put, we have the liberty to relate with God in a personal manner, not one regimented by rules and opinions of society. Paul uses food as his example because it is common to all readers.

The second half introduces another aspect of love – selflessness and self-sacrifice. Paul writes:

“I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil;” (Rom 14:14-16, NKJV)

Digest that last line for just a minute.

Now consider everything we see and hear on the television and Internet about the Black Lives Matter movement. Is it Godly? Is it selfless? Is it in line with God’s word, or instead is it self important, bordering on vengeful?

Excepting the movement, black lives matter because all lives matter. The perception of systemic racism aside, most readers will agree that the black community can catch more flies with honey than they will with vinegar. It isn’t about bringing society down to share in pain – that’s not love at all. No, it’s about taking the narrative and using it to educate society and rise out of the shadows.

And it is going to take leaders from all walks of life, all cultures and skin colors, to make that change. But methods matter. I see it every day, even in rural communities. People agree change is required, but BLM is losing the audience because of tactics that are selfish and destructive. Leaders need to look inward, root out racism in all forms, and bring Americans of all cultures alongside for a better tomorrow. As the title of this blog says – hate divides.

Be better leaders. Be better, leaders. Because black lives do matter.

(Photo courtesy of Raising Men)