Living A Life Of Moral Leadership

WARNING: This is a long one...

It has been a while, but a week ago Friday (9.02.05), the chapel speaker was Dr. Maggie Bailey, who is the director of the Graduate Program in the Business Department here at Point Loma. She's got a pretty impressive resume. Here's a link to the faculty page on PLNU's website. I don't know why I can't get a link on here, but the web address is below.

http://www.ptloma.edu/Graduate/MBA/FacultyBios/Bailey.htm

She spoke about moral leadership and was a very powerful speaker. After chapel, I left thinking about a whole lot of things that she talked about and decided to e-mail her. I asked for the text of her chapel talk, and she graciously e-mailed the attachment. I wanted to share some parts of what she had to say.

"Management philosopher, Denis Waitley, reminds us, “There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” We are entering a dangerous era and either we will become the embodiment of the loving Christ, or the American church will sink into irrelevancy. It was this pure love in the face of evil that guided great souls like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and Mother Teresa. Martin Luther King wrote, “Gandhi was probably the first person in history to lift the love ethic of Jesus above the mere interaction between individuals to a powerful and effective social force on a large scale. Love for Gandhi was a potent instrument for social and collective transformation.”

"Today it is only the love ethic of Christ that can bridge the gap between moral relativism and the teachings of Jesus. You see, it is not enough that you hone your academic and technical skills or that you rely on your analytical abilities or knowledge. For, it is not teachers, managers, scientist, or musicians that are needed. Excellent universities are turning out thousands of brilliant scholars and scientists every year. Rather, our nation and the world are in desperate need for moral leaders who will lay down their lives to light the path of truth, justice and righteousness. Moral leaders, whose lives will reflect the teachings of Christ in every aspect. Gandhi said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” We need leaders who will chart a course toward higher moral ground; men and women who will follow the narrow course of Christ regardless of the personal cost. If we as a University fail to equip you to lead this generation in the path of righteousness, then we have failed. Our mission must be “to shape” leaders: who will first withstand the pressure to conform and thereby light the pathway of Christ, who will then persevere even in the face of defeat or persecution, and finally who will encourage those along the way who stumble...Do not ignore the signs along the road, or become numbed by the revelations of schemes that have brought institution after institution into financial and moral bankruptcy. In these troubling times too many men and women of faith are cowering while evil is lurking in the shadows of deception. The mega church has become a cultural icon in our communities, but those who warm the pews too often do not mirror the teachings of Christ outside the secure walls of the sanctuary. Where were the Christians at WorldCom, Tyco, Enron, Fannie Mae, Arthur Anderson, Morgan Stanley, and the City of San Diego?"

"I fear the people of faith yielded their light to the demon of complacency, holding more tightly to their material possessions than their integrity? Today our institutions are straining under the pressure of moral relativism, collapsing under the weight of lies, deception, false accounting, and personal greed. When accounting rules plug a hole, deception carves an alternative path of destruction. Everyday managers imagine new ways to hide their scandalous acts. Too often these same managers are teaching in our Sunday school classes and serving on the church Board. But, rather than engage the battle for ethical transformation, churches have become corporate centers of self-help and personal glorification, drifting perilously away from the core teachings of radical integrity modeled by Christ. Ultimately you and I can only affect change in ourselves and thereby be a light that others may follow. Gandhi instructed, "As human beings, our greatness lies not in so much in remaking the world: as being able to remake ourselves. We must become the change we want to see in the world.” Pray that God will give you divine discontent to reverse course and create a holy discomfort for any moral failure in your life. God does not call us to be successful. He calls us to be Holy, formed in the image of Christ so that others might know Him. Ask yourself this day, “Will I force my voice to be heard above the swell of corruption, or remain silent in my complacency? Will I model Christ to a world desperate to know Him, or will I drift with the status quo? Will I care so deeply about the destructive nature of sin, that I am willing to suffer great indignity and persecution to change the balance of evil’s power? Will I rescue honesty and integrity when they are hovering near extinction? Will I bring institutional lies down through the light of truth, even when such truth comes at great personal sacrifice?”

"In closing let me share with you about one of greatest moral teachers I have met in my journeys. Through the suffering Christ she taught me what radical discipleship really means. Little 8 year-old Elmira’s home with her mother is an abandoned shipping container in the slums outside Gyumri, Armenia. The humble one-room box is without running water, heat or sanitation. Elmira is a strikingly beautiful little girl if you only look at the right side of her face. The left side is severely deformed by the ravages of the advanced stages of cancer. The pain that was eating her alive had become increasingly unbearable. Without modern medicines, Elmira could not function outside the small confines of her home. She could not feel the morning sun on her face, or delight in the innocence of youthful play. She had never seen the expansive ocean or the majestic snow capped mountains. Yet she was the grace of God, the compassion of Christ, and the love of Jesus. The day I visited Elmira in her home, her mother had just painted her delicate little fingernails. Elmira was delighted to show me her beautiful hands and soft pink nails. She told me how God had blessed her with such a caring mother. Sweet tears of compassion trickled down her mother’s cheeks. Elmira spoke excitedly about the little kindergarten she once attended where she learned about Jesus and His love for her. Through Elmira’s testimony I was brought to my knees, humbled by her pure faith and beautiful spirit. Elmira rejoiced as she taught me about heaven. You see in Heaven she explained, “I will run and play, and will be free from cancer. There will be no more suffering or tears.” She said God is preparing a beautiful white dress for her. A dress more elegant than anything she could imagine. She will look like a princess, God’s princess. Joy filled her eyes as she spoke of her impending life with Jesus, and she was carried beyond her pain. Since that day I have frequently inquired about God’s little princess. I was deeply moved when I learned that Sister Hanna, a retired Catholic nun, had taken funds from her meager savings and purchased Elmira a beautiful white dress for her approaching journey to heaven. This small gift from a humble nun was straight from the heart of God. Two years ago God’s little Princess made her final journey, and is now at last free from her pain. When Elmira died her little body was placed in the casket dressed in her beautiful white dress. People from all over the city attended her funeral. Her deep faith and moral example changed lives and brought us all closer to the heart of God. It was God’s love through her that transformed her village and gave a desperate people a spark of hope. I am deeply humbled by the radical faith of those who live so near to the heart of God."

"Right before his assassination, Martin Luther King Jr. prophesized his eulogy, “I’d like somebody to mention that day, that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. I’d like for somebody to say that day, that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day, that I tried to feed the hungry. And I want you to be able to say that day, that I did try, in my life to clothe those who were naked. If I can help somebody as I pass along, if I can cheer somebody with a word or song, if I can show somebody he’s traveling wrong, then my living will not be in vain. If I can do my duty as a Christian ought, if I can bring salvation to a world once wrought, if I can spread the message as the master taught, then my living will not be in vain.”