Leadership in Uncertain Times 

by Peter Corney

We live in uncertain times ­ the future is not at all clear. Our conference last year was dramatically interrupted on the Tuesday night by the events of September 11. We all left the conference knowing we now faced a different world. The clash of civilisations and cultures in a shrinking world presents us with some disturbing scenarios. The great movements of political and economic refugees around the world are beginning to stretch to a dangerous tautness the principles of the liberal democratic state, and the dream of multiculturalism that we have been striving for. At the same time in these same liberal democracies the rising level of social dysfunction is beginning to exert a high toll - economically - socially - relationally and spiritually. Although overall we are richer, the financial inequalities of darker times in our history are re-appearing again.

* A.C.O.S.S. estimates that 30% of all households in Australia have an annual income of less than $20,000.

* 860,000 children in Australia have no working parent.

* The Prime Minister's Youth Task Force "Pathways to the Future" estimates that on any given night there are 37,000 homeless young people in our cities.

* Substance abuse is at alarming levels.

* 20% of all dependent children are in solo parent families.

* Treating depression is now a major social policy issue: 1 in 5 adolescents are affected by depression. I could go on with this depressing picture of relational dysfunction in our society but you are all too familiar with the story.

These are challenging times in which to be the bearers of hope. We are also living through a period when the way in which our culture has been shaped is being radically changed. For thousands of years three of the most powerful forces in the formation of culture have been: (1) The family, clan, tribe (2) Belief ­ religious belief (3) Commerce.

These were usually in some kind of balance, but what has now happened is that the third force ­ commerce ­ has joined forces with the new media and the new technology to completely overpower the influence of the other two forces. Commerce, marketing, advertising and the popular entertainment media have now joined forces and commodified everything ­ this force has become the creator of our culture's values. This is what builds the new values software of the popular mind. For example, in the last U.K. general election that returned Tony Blair's government, another vote was being taken at the same time. Who should stay or go in the "Big Brother" T.V. show? As you know, voting in the U.K. is not compulsory ­ more people voted in the "Big Brother" vote than in the general election. If you saw Peter Weir's film "The Truman Show", you saw expressed an anxiety about all this: the fear that T.V. and other media really control our world ­ they create our reality ­ like Christoff the producer does for Truman, the film's central character. "The Matrix" pushed it further ­ how do we know that the whole of our environment is not just an artificially induced technosphere? Is it possible to fight a guerilla values war with this media juggernaut? And in the midst of all this, the church is steadily shrinking in size and influence! During the American civil war and the battle to emancipate slaves, the US President, Abraham Lincoln said he often felt "like a man standing on a burning platform".

Christian leaders can sometimes feel much the same way today. What does the future hold for us? If only we could anticipate the future ­ imagine all the money we could make out of real estate! We are of course fascinated with the future and always have been. There is always a spate of books and films and articles about the future. Some come from social analysts and future gurus, othes from artists and novelists. Every age has its George Owells and its HG Wells and Aldous Huxleys. In our own times when filmhas become the literature of the people, the visions of the future appear in films like "Blade Runner", "Gattica", "The Matrix", "Minority Report". Interestingly these are mostly pessimistic visions! And that is because the future is usually seen through the emotional lensof the present. In confident and settled times we are more optimistic and hopeful and positively imaginative about the future. In anxious and troubled timeswe become pessimistic, even apocalyptic. Or we become nostalgic,looking back to the past ­ and out come the beautifully presented BBC historical dramas ­ Anthony Trollope and Jane Austin's world replayed. "Oh to be in 18thCentury England again" ­ well as long as you were not poor, a woman or "below stairs!"

There are three ways we can face the future: (1) With Pessimism ­ which leads to resignation, loss of hope, the suppression of creativity and the growth of self-interest. (2) With Nostalgia ­ nostalgia is a longing for the way things used to be. There's nothing wrong with a little bit of nostalgia: there are many good things to honour from the past. The past shapes our identities. But you cannot steer your vehicle into the future by looking mainly in the rear view mirror. That's a great way to run off the road. (3) With Creative Imagination­ creative imagination is that way of thinking that sees the future in a new way and by its vision creates the future. We cannot predict the future with any accuracy, nor do we discover the future ­ we create the future! The future is a decision, an intervention! But to create ityou must first imagine it. Creative imagination, coupled with passion, sees and feels and dreams new possibilities. We are most like God when we are using our creative imagination for good. God has given us an enormous responsibility and privilege to create after him, and part of that task in pessimistic and disordered times is to restore and re-build what others have destroyed. Some will say that the return of Christ and the final judgment of this world make temporal future creation a false priority ­ but we must not fall for that unbalanced eschatology. We ­ the people of God ­ are to be an anticipation of the future Kingdom. "We are to fight nowwhat is ultimately doomed ­ every evil and injustice. And we are to work now for anticipations of what is ultimately destined by God ­ justice, righteousness and peace." When we do this we become the creators of hope.And Christians, of all people, should be the creators and bearers of hope ­ because we have the confidence that the ultimate future is in God's sovereign control.

We know the end from the beginning. Someone has said that when it comes to the future, there are 3 kinds of people:

* Those who let it happen

* Those who make it happen

* Those who wonder what happened!

Christian leaders must be in the second category ­ those who make it happen!

Leadership is not just about managing the present or preserving the past; it's about creating the future. The runners here will all know the name of Roger Bannister. In 1954 he was the first person to run a mile in under 4 minutes. Since the days of the ancient Greek Games runners had tried to achieve that and many thought it was impossible The year after Bannister broke the 4-minute barrier, 37 other runners did the same. The year after 300 did. It is now commonplace.

We need Christian leaders who will keep breaking barriers and rising to the great challenges of our times. Now as Christian leaders face the barriers and challenges of these times they need a variety of skills and qualities - creative imagination - courage - build teams - know how to manage change constructively as we re-invent our instituions - good communicators - read the culture and connect the gospel with C. Culture, etc... But above all, they need the quality of integritybuilt on the concrete foundation of Grace ­ because they will be under great pressure. I want to conclude my remarks tonight with some thought about integrity. I say integrity built on the foundations of Grace because in Christian leadership there are always so many things that can divert us from keeping our self-worth, our sense of acceptance firmly and solely based on our place in Christ and God's grace to us in him. Paul said to the young leader Timothy: (2 Tim 2:1) "Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus". Don't be diverted from Grace by:

* Trying to fulfil others' expectations or

* Trying to please overly critical people or

* Constantly measuring your success by your approval rating. All these and more will seek to divert us from being strong in Grace. And when they do, our deep need for acceptance and affirmation will begin to subvert our integrityand we will begin to do things for the wrong reasons, as we seek acceptance and affirmation in sources other than God's Grace. In 1 Chronicles 29:17, David prays: "I know my God that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity." And in Psalm 78:72 there is a concise description of David as a godly leader: "And David shepherded them with integrity of heart, with skilful hands he led them."

Consistently when people are surveyed, the qualities they place at the top of the list that they desire in their leaders are honesty and integrity. The word integrity means wholeness or integration. Integrating what you say and what you do ­ belief and action. The more we narrow the gap between these, the greater our integrity. When popular discussion about integrity takes place today, two other related terms are often mentioned ­ Ethics and Morality.

So we need clarity here: - Ethics refers to a defined standard of right and wrong; what we believe and say is right. - Morality is a lived standard of right and wrong; what we actually do. 
 

Integrity or wholeness is the integration of these two things. To the extent that a person's ethics and morality are integrated, that person has integrity. One of the great enemies of integrity is our pre-occupation today with image and appearance, with style rather than substance. Corporate and individual behaviour is so often dependent on public reaction ­ what others will think, how they will react. This is, of course, the essence of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is quintessentially a lack of integrity. The opposite of integration is disintegration ­ that is what we are now seeing in our culture.

I think there are 2 keys to integrity:

1. Integrity requires more than a commitment to itself, to codes of conduct, to statements of company ethics. We must be determined to live our life not before the audience of other people but before the audience of one­ God. In Matthew 6, Jesus said, "Do not be like the hypocrites: give in secret, pray privately and your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you." We must live to please God.

2. To bring all parts of our life under the Lordship of Christ, to integrate every aspect in submission to his rule. We cannot afford to have parts of our life segregated out and untouched by Christ. During a recent affair, one writer in The Age, commenting on the private morality­/public integrity issue wrote: "Character is all of one piece: something that affects the whole person, both private and public.... Integrity still matters. Simply defined, integrity is the difference between what you say and what you do. A country can survive a current account deficit, but it cannot for long survive a value deficit." (A deficit of integrity.)

As some of you know, I am a bit of a dinghy sailor and I've been out in some pretty strong winds and rough water But when I watch those Sydney to Hobart maxis ploughing through huge seas and storms I am in awe. Imagine the pressures and stresses at work on a boat in those conditions and yet they hold together!

Well they do unless the integrity of the boat is breached in some way. It may only be in a small way: - a weakened shackle or fitting - a hull lamination develops a crack - a small bolt in a rudder mechanism shears - a stay snaps. And suddenly the whole balance of stresses and pressures is unbalanced, the rigging collapses, or the hull lamination begins to peel, and suddenly you're facing catastrophe ­ a once sleek racing machine is now a helpless, vulnerable pile of fibreglass at the complete mercy of the storm. There is a wholeness, a balance, an integrity that must be maintained for a boat to survive serious weather. And so it is with the moral and spiritual integrity of the Christian leader.

We are living in times when leaders with integrity will become signs of hope, and sought after guides in a confusing world. In Mark 12:14 it says some people "came to Jesus and said: "Teacher, we know you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth." As you imagine and create the future in a very uncertain and stormy world, may that description be true for each one of you.