Meaning Out of Chaos

If you think you live a rather ordinary life in an ordinary time, watch this clip. It's the best way to catch up with the massive changes that are happening in front our nose in a global scale. All that in just under five minutes. Then you can contemplate what it means to live your live in these volatile times before the God of history who once said through His apostle: "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is" (Ephesians 5:15-16).

Or of course, we can just ignore all that and go back to the same old, same old pattern. May God help us to find some meaning out of these global changes, some of which end up in chaos, organized or not.

Helping Our Leaders Not to Become Destructive

In my line of research, I have been fascinated with the topic of destructive or toxic leadership for quite some time now. What is interesting in the myriad of findings in extant literature is the fact that destructive leadership happens not only because of the leader, but also because of the followers (and the environment). In other words, the role of followers in turning good leaders into bad is pivotal, particularly those with unmet basic needs, negative self-evaluations, and psychological immaturity (Padilla, Hogan, & Kaiser, 2007).

I am intrigue by that last characteristic: Followers' psychological immaturity.

Padilla et al. (2007) in their Leadership Quarterly article highlighted that psychologically immature individuals are susceptible to collude in destructive acts their leaders initiate. They drew on famous works of Freud, Milgram, and Kohlberg in suggesting that between 60 and 75% of Western adults conform to their leaders and respect rules; this tendency to conform can be easily manipulated in such a way by the leaders that the followers then engage in immoral behaviors just because their bosses say so. Further, Padilla et al (1997:184) wrote:

"Persons lacking a firm sense of self tend to identify with cultural heroes and to internalize their values. Weierter's (1997) model of charismatic relationships also proposes that followers who lack a clear sense of self will adopt the values of charismatic leaders, which then enhances their self-esteem. Although these vulnerabilities might apply to any immature adult, they apply well to the young (Popper, 2001)—for instance, the Hitler Youth, the Manson family, or Mao's Red Guard. When impressionable followers internalize a destructive leader's vision, they can become committed to a destructive enterprise-conformers can become colluders (Hoffer, 1951; Kets de Vries, 1989; Weierter, 1997)."

The implication is loud and clear for churches and other organizations. We need to ensure that the body of Christ is developed into maturity not only spiritually but psychologically, which really means they need to have a healthy self-concept rooted in what Christ has done on the cross, a Christ-centered set of core values, and a Christ-exalting life vision which will give their lives anchor, meaning, and direction.

"Don't waste two lives": Reel Lesson from Iron Man

When the main character in this movie, Tony Stark, a multibillionaire hi-tech weapon genius, was captured by the bad guys, he was befriended by a scientist called Yinsen who saved Stark not once but twice. After taking a bullet for Stark when they were trying to escape the cave prison, Yinsen was badly wounded. Their last encounter were marked with these deep words:

Tony Stark: We gotta go. Come on, move with me. We got a plan, and we're going to stick to it.
Yinsen: This was always the plan, Stark.
Tony Stark: Come on, you're going to go see your family again.
Yinsen: My family's dead. I'm going to see them now, Stark. It's okay. I want this.
Yinsen: [to Stark after Stark thanks him for saving his life] Don't waste two lives.

After that last line, Yinsen had his last breath. But the message "don't waste two lives" forever changed Stark. He became a new person, radically changed his life orientation. And so should we, those of us who have been saved by our redeemer, Christ Jesus, who died on the cross so that we can be dead to our old sinful nature, and live the life he lived. When we live our lives the same way with no conscious, continuous struggles to model it after Jesus', we live as if we have wasted Jesus' sacrificial death for us.