Obedience -

O-Be-dience

About fifteen years ago, I was attending our company’s annual leadership gatherings along with 300 corporate managers. The keynote speaker was the new CEO. The company had just experience the effects of being bought by another corporations and its effects: cultural shifts, departmental outsourcing and reduction of employee benefits, etc. He was speaking of his “new” vision for the company. Toward the end of his talk he voiced how valuable the employees are to him, the corporate leadership, and to the success of the company. After his speech, he opens the floor inviting questions and comments.

I am sitting all the way in the back of the auditorium and after a few typical inquiries about the stock price, and what were his thoughts about the future of the industry, I raise my hand and offer my comment, “ I believe you when I hear you say that the well-being of the employees are of great concern from corporate leadership but to be honest I have not heard any of my coworkers say that they feel that corporate headquarters cares much about them. In fact it feels quite the opposite.” I was simply being open and honest. He could have responded to my comment as a personal challenge but to his credit, he acknowledged the value of my comment and said that it is something that he knows that he will have to prove. He did not respond with indignation and seemed to appreciate an honest comment from a subordinate. That day he earned my respect.

After a few more questions, the session ended. I headed to the restroom and was followed by two vice presidents who I knew very well. They said to me, “I can’t believe you had the courage to say what you said.”

What they said surprised me. The CEO opened the floor and asked for questions and comments. All I did was take him at his word and respond. Nothing more, nothing less. The comment by those two VP’s revealed their own fears and astonishment of someone speaking honestly to authority. Granted, I was only speaking for myself, but these two VP’s were responsible for a thousand employees under them. They had a much higher obligation to speak openly and honestly to authority at whatever consequence, not only for themselves, but for many others.

I am not suggesting it is always good to say everything and anything on our minds. There is prudence involved especially when there is potential to harm someone. But to fail to challenge our fears when we hide our “true” selves from others is seldom healthy.

For me, it boils down to a fundamental question, Do I prefer knowing (or not knowing) what someone else thinks? Knowing truth is not always easy, but it is easier than living in falsity and fantasy. I do not prefer living life with my head in the sand thinking I can avoid being hurt. Someone else’s words can only endanger my well being, if I allow it. I would rather know the reality of a person, than not knowing. I would rather people know the reality of who I am, than not. Otherwise, there cannot exist an honest and respectful relationship between two people.

Harm due to a lack of personal honesty between people is magnified within organizations of people. Failure to be open and honest between people(s) forms a culture of division and fear, dysfunction, and ultimately corruption that leads to forms of abuse.

Whatever a secular corporate organization may say about how it values its employees, its actions will betray the truth. They exist to make a dollar, and the dollar is above any employee’s worth. The culture is beholden to the dollar and its systemic systems of controlling and forcing obedience will serve its ends even at the expense of its employees.

When our employer fail us – we can just leave. This is not so much the case to our Christian faith. If we claim to be an authentic Christian, the Body of Christ, our mission, leadership, and obligation to holding each other accountable is clear.

Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matt 28:18-20 (ESV)

The Church’s mission is clear. I’ll share a related experience in regards to our obligation to obedience:

A couple of years into ministerial formation, our mentors communicated their frustration by what they called our “grumblings.” Instead of a soulful inquiry to identify the source of our “grumblings” we were asked to write a reflection on the following questions:

Does obedience come easily for you, or is it a struggle?
To whom would you say you are obedient, and how?

After everyone turned in their assignments, they selected one candidate’s reflection to be read back to the whole group. It spoke of his struggle with (human) authority.

Below is an excerpt from my reflection:

[Coincidently, I am reading a book titled, A New Friendship, The Spirituality and Ministry of the Deacon, by Msgr. Edward Buelt. It offers clarity regarding obedience in diaconate service. He states, with his “Present” the deacon-candidate affirms three things.

First he professes that he willingly offers his heart in love for the One speaking.
Second, he promises to offer willingly his obedience, his careful hearing, to the Logos and to the Word that has redeemed and sanctified him and now calls him to the diaconate.
Third, he testifies that he is willing to give his life so that Christ, the Suffering Servant, whose icon he will become, may conform him to himself.

St. John Paul II’s wrote,“When a person is touched by the Word, …obedience is born, that is listening, which changes life” (Orientale lumen 10).]

It is important to note that the Latin etymology for “obedience” means “to hear or listen towards.” This is not typically what most people believe obedience to mean. We also find this aspect early in the Hebrew Old Testament for our act of obedience to God in the “Shema.” (Det 6:4)

Certainly, there is a necessary obedience to hierarchy. Without it there is chaos in the Church but our first and highest obedience is to the Word. Many of us have lost sight of this and more so, the clergy. It is to the “Word” that we have to hold each other accountable. Church leaders do not get a free pass. If there be any doubt, just consider the religious leaders of Jesus time and how they treated him, and how he responded to their corruption.

Romans 1:5 speaks of “obedience of faith.” As Christians, this obligation transcends authority of any man. It is this obedience that exercises our true goodness and fullness in this life – allowing each of us a foretaste in divine life.

To live this form of obedience is to honor God, oneself and others. If it takes courage to be open and honest so be it. But it is such a simple thing. If we truly believe in the gospel we will recognize our own self worth and live with the conviction of our Savior “and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

I have come across both clergy and laity who acted as though they had the responsibility to protect Jesus and His Church. By their arrogance they have it backwards. Jesus does not need me, or anyone else, to protect Him. I need him to protect me and that is exactly why He was sent and why I am Christian.

The featured image is a simple image created while experimenting with alcohol inks.

The Courage to Be – Part 2

I typically do not memorize quotes but one that has stuck with me is “No Man is an Island,” which is a book title by Trappist Monk Thomas Merton. My ego likes to convince me that I am independent and can stand alone but this is a lie. Merton’s quote continues to check my ego. Truth is that I need others not only to survive, but thrive.

In a broader sense that is true for all of us, if it were not for societies and organizations we would live a very limited existence. We observe others and we learn by living with others and by living like them. We ought not discount the value of secular society with its own government and leaders nor in the spiritual realm of church, as the People of God, which is also constituted as a society governed by church leaders.

Our instinctual desire and need to belong has its blessings as well as disadvantages. Fortunately, we do not gain eternal damnation due to the sins of others and less so, do we gain eternal life because of another. Each individual needs to work out his own personal identity and salvation. So what are we to do as individuals within a society or corporate body when the actions of its leadership or membership goes against the gospel?

To illustrate, …you are a mid-level manager and long time employee of a company. In a few more years you will be eligible for a retirement pension. You find out that for years your beloved company has been dumping toxic chemicals in a river that supplies drinking water for a community. When this becomes public it also exposes a corporate cover up. The criminal act and corporate deception violates your own ethos. What do you do? You yourself have done no wrong but since you are a member of the corporate body, you are complicit in its sickness. What is your course of action, …where does your subservience or obedience to corporate leadership lay?

Now, whether in the secular or spiritual realm, it is hardly a moot issue for St Paul in 1 Cor 12:25-26 states, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. To act as though we are clean members and others are dirty members changes nothing. Corporate sickness, committed by a few, covers all its members.

Have you ever wondered why an organization or institutional culture is the way it is, even though everyone acknowledges that it needs to change? It is simple, it is the way it is because the people who have the authority to change it – do not want to change it. It is foolish to think that the leadership which created the culture and chooses to maintain the status quo has any will or ability to change it. The primary act of an institution is to protect itself, even those who profess to exist only to do good works.

Authentic leadership is about, “walking the talk,” and not “talking the walk.” I am quite convinced that “Everything rises or falls on leadership. When leadership fails it first tries shift blame or focus elsewhere. And until the culture holds leadership accountable to walk the walk, before talking – nothing changes.

Regarding obedience, I was once asked two questions, the first, “Does obedience come easy for you, or is it a struggle?” My response was that my obedience is a constant struggle.

To the second question, “To whom would you say you are obedient, and how? I responded in the following:

In an autocratic hierarchy, obedience is viewed as a top down expectation from superior to subordinate as though it is a one way street. In truth and justice, obedience is a two way street which holds equal responsibility regardless of position held in hierarchy. Obedience to authority has it place but it also has its limit and can be evidenced by Jesus’ challenge to the secular and religious authorities of his day.

Personally, I accept that obedience is necessary within institutional hierarchy and governance. Its absence usually means chaos. My father’s autocratic parenting as well as my military service was a good lesson and went far in keeping me safe and helping me to mature. Although, as I have grown, I’ve learned that Servant Leadership, rather than autocratic leadership is a higher form in which to aspire. It is (by far) more difficult to exercise but, by all accounts it is the form of service we see by Jesus in the gospels.

Whether one is a corporate superior or subordinate, the first step to understanding “healthy” obedience is to give primacy to the gospel allowing it to conform our life and actions to Christ. And yes, it will come with the cross.

I’ll close with a reference from St. John Paul II, “When a person is touched by the Word, …obedience is born, that is listening, … which changes life” (Orientale lumen 10).

Here the pope is not saying “Shut up and follow my Orders!” he is saying, “Listen to the Word of God, and you will fulfill your vow of obedience.”

My response; “Wow!”

There is a natural laziness that moves us to accept the easiest solutions in life. In the secular example above, it is easiest to be silent and subservient to institutional power and the cultural group think. On the other hand, it takes a great courage (that does not come easy) to live obedient to the gospel of Jesus Christ. But this is our baptism call.

The featured image is a collage representing my struggle to not become lost in any aspect of corporate culture that fails the gospel.

The Courage to Be – Part 1

It is good to have an ego but an exaggerated egoic mind constantly bombards us with a self-centered fantasy working to convince us with an image of we are in comparison to others – this “false” image maker never stops.

In addition, people around us will sometimes tell us who they think we are but mostly they keep their thoughts to themselves. It becomes their little secret to wage love and war. No matter who we are or what we do – some people will appreciate, some will dislike but most will just be indifferent.

The internal messages we tell ourselves and the self-projections that others put on us easily influence us and are powerful motivators for good and bad. We are all susceptible, but to allow one’s life to be dominated or driven by an exaggerated ego or the self-projection of others is to chase the wind.

Much, if not all of our internal and personal conflicts and conflicts within society and between societies can be traced to a loss of self-identity. It only takes open eyes to know that sin is real and evil is real. We are bombarded constantly with thoughts from within and from outside that we are less than who we were created to to “Be.” But sin is not who we are – sin is who we are NOT. When we lose sight of this, we become lost. And the challenge is to return to the pathway on our journey back to God.

We all live in dysfunction to one degree or another but all creation is “good” and “holy.” Our “origin” is “holy.” We were created in “Original Holiness.”

What I choose to believe is my core essence (and yours) is this:

I am holy.

I was holy.

I was always holy.

I know this to be true because Christ loved me into holiness and gave me the presence of the Holy Spirit.

I am called to holiness by Christ himself, who taught, in the words of St. Matthew, to be “perfect as God is perfect.” By transforming the activities and events of my everyday life into holy moments, I will grow in this perfection and the world will more and more resembles God’s Reign.

“Love God with all your heart,” the Scriptures tell me, “with all your soul, with all your understanding, with all your strength. Love one another as Christ loves you.” These commands in Scripture are really an invitation to be holy. By holy love, I nurture in the world a way of life that is more gentle, more beautiful, more human.

Over and over again, the Scriptures describe what this holiness will resemble: a heart of mercy, humility, meekness, patience, awareness of God’s mercy when I have sinned, and a spirit of forgiveness toward others.

There are many ways for me to live out this call to be holy. I should walk according to my own personal gifts and duties, in the pathway of a living faith. I am to model my life after the apostles, who worked tirelessly for the Gospel. In my sufferings of this life, I am to find holiness in my special relationship with Christ who suffered.

Love is the principal way to holiness. Beyond that and included within it are the sacraments, prayer, the Eucharist, self-sacrifice, service to others, and virtue lived every day. As a faithful imitator of Christ, I am invited to strive for holiness, even perfection.

I pray to hear deeply God’s call within me, observant and appreciative of life’s unique treasures. Let neither the use of things of this world nor attachment to riches hinder me in my quest for perfect love.

This post is the first of a series of short essays titled, The Courage to Be. The core of this particular essay comes from chapter 5 of “Christ is the Light of the Nations” (Lumen Gentium). The source text is rewritten in first person.

The butterfly is considered a Christian symbol for resurrection (new life).