Friday, February 12, 2010

The Benevolent Dictator


     The Benevolent Dictator is a person who calls himself as benevolent, while everyone thinks he is a dictator. Therefore he is the benevolent dictator, for everyone's ironical satisfaction.
     He is the perfect mascot for the maxim - "The boss is always right." This comes from having been always right for a thousand years or at least having thought so. He is like a man at the mountaintop, everybody looks small to him and he looks small to everybody else.
     During first century Palestine people took their leadership cues from a power-crazed Roman Empire. So it seemed a paradox for the disciples to watch Jesus. Today too, unfortunately, we emulate oppressive models prominent in our culture -  whether it be the CEO model of business tycoons, the Indian Guru-shishya mindset, the Tribal Chief of the North East, the Communist Dada in Bengal... and, of course the benevolent dictator, who knows what is best for the rest of the imbeciles. And who is incapable of any form of partnering in leadership.
     What a contrast then, a refreshing contrast, for Jesus to say -
"You've observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It's not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage." (Matthew 20: 25-28 The Message)
     So what kind of leader do you want to become? No point in talking about what kind of leaders you have. No point in washing dirty linen in public. No point in going on a fault-finding spree. No point in attempting to teach an old dog new tricks. It is better to become the one who can make a difference, and take on true Christ-likeness.

8 comments:

Elizabeth John said...

Strangely,in our Bible study time yesterday ,the kids and I focussed on this very theme- servant leadership. We were discussing about how Jesus emphasized that he who is to be great in God's kingdom must be a servant of all.

God bless you for your deep and thought provoking posts.

Ta'fxkz said...

i am quite convinced that the church as we know it today has been built on layers of weight thrown around - wonder what your ideas are, specially as a pastor- do checkout my Dissenting Evangelical blog

Noel Prabhuraj said...

Thanx Wisdom Seeker, is it possible to connect wth u -- since with the Blog I could connect to u.

Noel Prabhuraj said...

Yeah I checked the Dissenting Evanglical -- interesting responses too.

Elizabeth John said...

Sure Pastor Noel,
U can . I live in your city.

Noel Prabhuraj said...

In Kolkata! Well thats a surprise... so who is this Chupa Rustom then? Is there another name besides wisdom seeker? I would be delighted to share a meal with u at my place.

Elizabeth John said...

Pastor ji, we've had several meals together. Mere original post ko gaur se padhiye. Wahin par mere identity ka clue hai.
Happy guessing.
Wisdom Seeker

Noel Prabhuraj said...

Ok Wisdom Seeker behanji, ab mallum hua. (Unfortunately Howhua is closed, dat y we went to Flavours of India)