Work Tirelessly to Fulfill God’s Plans

Why we should care about Christian leadership

I would like to open the discussion on the topic of leadership by asking the reader to reflect on two sets of questions.

• What is the most important issue facing humanity today? Is it the problem of poverty and underdevelopment? Is it the issue of conflict and political oppression? Or is it the HIV/Aids pandemic?
•  What is at the root of the problems of Iraq today?

You might say Iraq is too far for many of us to worry about, so let us come home to Southern Africa: why is it that so many countries emerging out of colonialism or conditions of oppression in the region and elsewhere have failed to develop as countries with strong economies and a vibrant democratic culture? And why is it that South Africa and Botswana are doing relatively well as stable countries that are characterised by strong economies and a reasonably democratic political culture that respects basic human rights?

There are indeed many challenging questions facing humanity today. What is often not realised, though, is that except for calamities like HIV/Aids the root cause of many problems facing humanity in general and southern Africa in particular, is the issue of leadership.

Progressive nations and organisations such as the United Nations are trying their best to find solutions to some of the problems of the world. There is, however, something lacking in some of the efforts that are being made to make the world a better place to live in. That missing element is an understanding and acknowledgement of the fact that the key to finding solutions to many of the woes that beset humanity today is the question of leadership.

Some authorities have argued that the most important issue in our world today is the issue of leadership. The reason for this is that there is not much that happens in our world today that is not influenced by the decisions and actions of people in positions of power or people in leadership positions.

For example, the success or failure of a country in tackling issues of economic development and democratic governance depends largely on the leadership of the country. Indeed our own lives as individuals are affected in very fundamental ways by the ideas, decisions and actions of people in positions of power.

What is even more disturbing is that some authorities on leadership are agreed that there is an alarming shortage of good leaders in both the developed and the developing worlds today.

So important is the issue of leadership that one writer has warned that the welfare of future generations depends on the steps we take or do not take today about it. What this means is that all of us today have a responsibility to do something about the problem of leadership so that we can bequeath a better world to our children and our children’s children.

You may say: Fair enough, but why raise this issue in a Catholic weekly?

In times such as these, the Church should be socially responsible and work tirelessly to further God’s plan in the affairs of humankind. You are the salt of the earth, Jesus told his followers. You are the light of the world. This means, among other things, that the Church has the responsibility to show the way when things go wrong. The Church has a prophetic role in society.

However, for the Church to play its role effectively in the promotion of good leadership in society, it must be able to demonstrate within its own ranks a vibrant culture of good leadership, a culture of leadership which reflects and projects the qualities and leadership style that Jesus taught, practised and lived for.

This is the first of Professor Emmanuel Ngara’s monthly columns.