Yes, what is the biggest problem we face in the world today??

Some would create a narrative that many are familiar with ---as it is a picture which is constantly being presented ---as a condition that is also responsible for horrific acts of violence throughout the world.  If only we could get it under control, the world would settle down, and people would live peaceably. 

This seems to be the impact that people are saying 'climate change' has upon our world.  As if it causes all those other bad things.  But, what would you say to me if I said I don't think it's the problem??

Upon reading further, you may conclude my answer to the problem is full of ship. (But, let's not focus on any controlled substance, or lack of it ...and we are not talking about a poop deck. Though for your information, the stern in French is la poupe, and in Latin, puppis.)

No, not to mention a seaworthy ship ...and not 'ship' as in preceding a word, as in 'shipshape': neat, tidy, organized, and in good condition.

Though there is much good in that, what I'm talking about is not entirely different than that, but a suffix ...-ship, at the end of a word.

It means, the quality or condition of something ---as a dealership, selling cars of good quality and in good condition ---hopefully.

We who are privileged to be able to stay in one place ---may have citizen-ship.

There is also friend-ship, court-ship, and companion-ship.

We judge for ourselves and others ...not necessarily in a judgmental way, but a selective way on how and what we value.

And it does affect us ...not saying what is good for one is good for another, nor what is bad for us is bad for another.  But, if we are not judgmental, yet still honest ...most of us have experienced what we would call ---good friendships & bad friendships.

Good friendships ...we may stay close.

Mutual friendships ...we may directly or indirectly keep in touch, sort of.

Bad friendships ...may not be all bad, but perhaps we both need some temporary space, as we both have some growing up to do. Or it could be an unhealthy situation if one is being an enabler ...of unhealthy things. But, with friend-ships it also applies that, "Loose lips sink -ships."

Okay, we can name any number of reasons why relationships are good ...and sadly, probably even more reasons why they tend to be not so good.

But, that is a topic for another day ...though you may say, "Haven't you already delved too deep into this one?"

These may all contribute to the world's problems, but the biggest problem is 'leader-ship'.

Leadership: How do we define it???

Leadership is dependent upon the quality or condition of the leader.

What is a leader??

A leader can be random, or change quickly.  'Follow the leader' is a game that changes leaders throughout the game ...though it should be noted that the next in line to be a leader is the one who wins, by nature of being able to follow.

A leader of a horse race can change many times before the race is finished ...and the most advantageous is to be leading near the finish.  This involves knowing your horse's potential, pacing yourself and your horse ...and understanding the field of competition.

A leader is also a person who directs, guides, or commands as head of a group or activity.

A leader can be defined as a pipe carrying fluid, especially a downspout for rain water.  And yes, a leader can be one who pipes up or spouts off the most ...while trying to reign in on any number of subjects. And if not carrying water ...it can be a hot-air duct.  Now, that is even more descriptive of some leaders.

A leader can also be a short piece of catgut ...whatever it takes to hook or lure, in fishing.

Okay, enough of that ...it merely shows that leadership is as diverse as leaders.

And our impressions of what makes a good leader ...is so diverse, it is what makes it perhaps our world's biggest problem.

Let me tell a story first ...to help illustrate my point, before I really drive home my point of the even bigger problem. Okay, I'll make my point first ...then tell the story. The biggest of these leadership problems is not that leaders often make mistakes, it is that they don't often care that they do ...and we sadly, too often don't care either. We can't solve a problem if we are more concerned that we preserve the benefit that we may temporarily gain from the problem. Or that we can more readily trust that our problem will remain hidden if the consensus is that we don't view it as a problem.

Okay, here's my story ...and let me make it clear, that this story is an example of an unintended result from well-meaning people.  Point being, that good intentions also can go astray if knowledge is lacking in an area, or if better intentions are somehow put aside while good intentions are experimenting with what is good.

It is not a common thing for a pirate to confess ...as there is so much to confess, and in confessing, it leaves one at a disadvantage.  Honestly, or dishonestly ---one must keep up one's image ---or might as well give up one's occupation as a pirate.

Pirates don't usually have honest friends ...only partially loyal ones.  But, most everyone, pirates included, do usually know of at least one person who is honest.  And if that is the case, it is best not to associate with that person ...as one can never guarantee that someone else is not observing that association.

A pirate may feel it is safe to see a priest ...only if a light is taken to the confessional booth, to make sure no one is there waiting for you.  And if you are seen coming out, you can always say you followed a rich lady there ...and heard her say she lost a jewel.

Yes, that would mean that you'd have to risk seeing the priest again soon ...to confess that additional lie.

But, here I go again ...tellin' me pirate stories.  

This next story is a based on a true story, but not about a priest. It involves a pastor.  Yes, I often laugh myself when I hear 'based on a true story', as we never know what percent of the story is true and how much is just storytelling.

I am not claiming this to be all accurate, but I will do the best I can do, and of course we always have to fill in with our best guesses where we fill in the blanks of what we don't precisely know.

Okay, here goes:

A friend of mine was struggling with some things ...and it is not important what those things were, yet what is important is what took place and was shared with me.

I said it involves a pastor, but really it has more to do with a very busy pastor who was grateful that he didn't have to get so involved.  He was happy to have a counselor join him on staff, to share some of the load ...and minimize his long hours. Working too much is something that is not good, especially for longevity of service.

The pastor's involvement was mostly with encouraging the congregation ...and telling them that most of today's ministries fall way short of the intensity of the lives the apostles lived, during and immediately following Jesus' time. He didn't say much more than that.

Other pastors I've heard of claim to have tapped into the power that was available to the apostles, and is still available today. But, this was not the high claim in this case ...it began, as many things do, with sincere searching.

My friend went for counseling one evening ...and he was told they wouldn't be able to have a personal session with him that evening, but he was welcome to stay, and he could participate in something really big.  They were going to attempt to cast out demons from a very troubled lady.

This lady had many years ago attended a local church ...and felt led to go into the mission field.  She went to Central America, and worked with children ...for many years.  I believe she was in her thirties, when suddenly things began happening very quickly.

While she was working with the children, they noticed that when the children finished with play time, she continued to play ...with no children around.  It did not seem that when they talked to her that she was the same woman in her thirties, but now a young child.  They were alarmed, and sent her back to the United States ...somehow getting unwise counsel, because fearing they did not know how to handle her, they seemed ready to listen to anyone.

That anyone, was a hypnotist in California.

Of course, the problem seemed to get worse, and someone hearing that they'd tried hypnotism ...cautioned them to stop it immediately.  They felt it best that they return her to familiar surroundings ...around family, friends, and her home church.

They wondered what had gone on ...what was the cause of this sudden onset of behavior.  And while talking with her, one of the counselors felt he was making progress when she began opening up and finally sharing some things.

The things she began to share ...were of very delicate information, but seemingly providing insight into many of the questions they had. 

They felt  they were beginning to understand what had led to her sudden breakdown.  It seemed for years she had retreated and escaped into her missionary work.  What she shared with the counselor came as a shock ...as she shared how she had been sexually abused during her youth. She had apparently been unable to deal with it ...and had shoved it into her subconscious. It wasn't until years later, with her safely being out of the country and away from these people, that she began retreating, as a child, safely reliving the years that had been too difficult for her to face ...and replacing the memories with ones she would have liked to have.

When it came to the point of asking who the people were who had done these horrific things to her ...she said it was church people.  

This alarming news drew cause for discussions of a very awkward nature.  And it led to the counselor leaving the church, and other church members with him.  They did not leave the church because they were asked to (they were not the accused) ...rather, they left because they didn't want to be among people who they felt could be guilty of such a thing. 

So, what was at one time, two very close-knit churches, became two very divided churches.  This one discovery was quite instrumental in putting strain on many friendships, including those of the pastors.

So, in the new church, where the counselor then decided to attend, they continued to give this woman counseling.  The counselor felt the seriousness of this situation required intense action.  And he felt he was able to draw on power that had seldom been used since the time of Jesus' apostles.  

They were going to cast out the demons from this poor woman ...and my friend was invited to participate.  He had come for counseling himself, but in their excitement, they somehow felt he was stable enough to participate.  Everything else at this point seemed secondary to the grand feat they were about to partake in.

It was after midnight when my friend came to my door.  I was about to call it a night, when I was about to soon call it a much later night ...or early morning.  My friend's eyes were filled with urgency ...not wanting to wait til the next day to tell me of the happenings. His eyes were wide ...and filled with a story to tell.  And I admit, I was a bit curious to hear it.

As they verbally called for the spirit to leave her ...my friend said he had to physically help restrain her, as she was resisting quite violently.  He said she was talking in a voice that seemed not like her own ...and they were calling out for that spirit to leave her.  At one point she started to relax and talk more normal ...and they felt they were successful in casting out the demon.  At this point, she calmly began to reveal more things, and incriminate more people from the other church ...by name.

With the demon gone, they felt she would be free from the torment ...and be able to move on from her horrible past.

They continued session after session ...bringing a great divide with each new revelation ...and with the impressions they'd held with some of the people they had at one time called friends, from their previous church.

But, as ugly as these new revelations were, they felt they had accomplished something that had seldom been accomplished since witnessed by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit working through the apostles.

No one would really argue that this was an example of the ends justifying the means ...as few Christians would feel that something like this sort of abuse could be ignored, and the fact that it affected other Christian lives was not an issue because no Christian should behave like this, nor certainly expect to get away with it.  The ugliness had to be revealed, and the people confronted.

Then something unexpected happened ...

At the following session, she began to accuse people in the new church of the same kind of acts that she had accused people of in her home church.

At this point, the new church refused to help her ...stating she was lying.

To my knowledge, I personally do not know of anyone apologizing to anyone in the other church.  It seems to me that they could have also been as innocent as those in the new church.  And yes, I believe the hypnotism magnified the problem ...making things much worse.

Now, I do not claim at all to be an expert, let alone know much at all on the subject ...but, I do have emotions of my own, and compassion for those struggling.  I feel sorry for the woman ...as she was without a doubt, struggling with something major. 

And I feel there were several injustices done ...although not intentional.  Perhaps feeling they could rid her of the problematic spirit, they were duped into thinking they had succeeded, only to have themselves drawn into the disturbing divisiveness that paralyzes the growth of so many Christians. Sadly, I believe several innocent people were accused of some very terrible things ...and I feel that a very sick woman was abandoned.

Of course, there should be an effort to look seriously into the possibility that someone in the church could have done something to her ...and to never totally ignore this possibility, nor neglect to do what must be done.  But, hasty conclusions should also not be drawn.

I wonder where the sincerity to help her ended up ...and why did it appear to end up as being secondary to the thrill and desire to partake in something that seemed to be satisfying a personal thirst, instead of a genuine commitment to help a very disturbed lady.

And that is what happens with leadership ...if the desire to lead grows to an extent that it surpasses the desire to help.  And it also becomes a problem when we think our thirst for experience is more of a valuable tool than what others may potentially experience.  

I'm not saying this is the case for the counselor, as I don't know. I just know that many sincere beginnings travel beyond boundaries of truth.  I often wonder to what degree the Holy Spirit is guiding me, and how much of it is me.

Alexander Pope's poem speaks, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing ..."

And it seems that we came say much of that ...forming our own poetry, and drawing our own conclusions from our own knowledge. 

Much can be said on many levels ...and we all have ideas, and we all make mistakes.  The thing is, some of us learn from our mistakes, and don't believe history necessarily has to repeat itself.  

We should be able to learn from past mistakes, and from mistakes of others in the past.  A vast compilation of history, and of mistakes is readily available for us to learn from ...it records mistakes made, and provides ready solutions to avoid making them again.

This is how I define good leadership ---and the source of that history which I am referring to ---is the Bible.

Just like the game 'Follow the Leader' ...you must first be a good follower.  Yet, many follow very well ...the wrong leader.

When Jesus returns for the Thousand Year reign ...there will be the right kind of leadership, for a thousand years!  I don't know how many people will be good followers during that time ...but, what is surprising ---is, that after that thousand years, there will be a much shorter period where an alternate leadership will present itself as an option.

That option, it seems, will have some similarity to the option that one third of the angels took ...before the other two-thirds were led to celebrate the joyous introduction of our creation.

So, perhaps I was wrong after all ...

The biggest problem we have in the world is not leadership.

We have available the best leadership there is.

Yes, I was in error ...

The biggest problem we have in the world is not acknowledging that God should lead us ...

But, it doesn't have to be that way ...it doesn't have to be the ending story.

We need to be not foremost good leaders, but good followers.

We have the best leader ...and are provided the best Book, to assist us in being good followers. Will we be the best followers the earth has ever known? ---not likely. But, what we mess up today, will be remedied if we choose the right leader to follow into eternity.