The Imperfect Leader
by Molly
When I was growing up, my mom used to take us to a different church every few years or so: Methodist, Presbyterian, Unitarian, Mormon, I visited ‘em all.
No, Mom wasn’t fickle about her faith. Quite the opposite. Born Catholic and baptized Baptist at age 13, my mom grew up with a strong sense of spirituality and morality. So strong, in fact, that it often dwarfed the examples of both she witnessed in houses organized religion.
As she matured, she continued to crave structure and community, and so she kept seeking a church or denomination that could contain and support our small family. But once we started to settle in a place, she’d soon become disillusioned. Maybe it was the Sunday School teacher telling a six-year-old me that if I was bad, I’d go to hell and have forks stuck in my eyes. Or maybe it was the church minister living against the principles of the gospel he spoke, a man like Neale Donald Walsch , whose 1995 book “Conversations with God” has just been made into a movie, and, according to an LA Times article, “readily admits he has been an adulterer and a bad father.”
Walsch claims that though his life and morals are flawed, his message is pure. In fact, it is part of his point that God would speak through someone as imperfect as he is. This, of course, has caused quite a stir amidst his critics, and brings up an interesting issue for me.
It is, I believe, a leader’s job to be an example for his followers – and a religious leader’s most of all. At the same time, I also believe humans are flawed, and that making mistakes shouldn’t disqualify us from love, success or even divine grace.
So how did my family deal with the eternal disillusionment of seeking a congregation? By each of us claiming our own version of spirituality, and creating a community of people around us with whom we can talk, debate and worship in our way. I, for one, have learned not to rely too much on the example of any one person, but to take what lessons I can from the people around me, in all their imperfection.
And so how do I feel about Walsch and his movie? Without having seen it, I can say I’m skeptical, but not completely disbelieving. If people perceive that Walsch’s work helps them, how is that a bad thing? Whether or not he really has “conversations with God”?
Of course, I wouldn’t blame his five ex-wives for calling him a hypocrite, or his kids for doubting his message of faith. But critics of flawed leaders, whether it’s Walsch or Bill Clinton or the pastor of the local youth group, fail to realize that the only real qualification a leader needs is to lead. And only those being led – in Walsch’s case, the 7 million people who bought his book - can truly judge whether a man (or woman) is doing that job. It's the message, the result and the intent of the leader, not the laundry list of his mistakes, that matters.
| 10/30/06
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