When Leaders Disappoint

On a weekly grocery shopping trip to Alpha Beta with my mom back in the late 60's, I remember seeing my teacher there and being confused, wondering why she wasn't at school in my class room. She was my teacher, not a regular person! My little mind surmised that she lived in my school room and never came out except for lunch or recess. My concept of authority was being shaped since birth, and it goes something like this: leaders are important; they have a great responsibility to enforce the rules--therefore, they are purveyors of what is right and what is wrong; they are our models of decency and honor. What does that have to do with my teacher, Alpha Beta and my high standard of what a leader should be? It is a great disappointment when our leaders fail to live up to our expectations, the ones they taught us to aspire to.

I have been reading a book, Hellhound On His Trail, about the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.and the subsequent hunt for his killer. In it, Hampton Sides exposes the human failings of many leaders caught up in the surrounding drama, especially MLK. Not to sound naive, but I really was disappointed with the gaping character flaws that were evident in King. Of course he was imperfect. But he was a preacher, for goodness sake! He was married with kids at home--their pillar of strength. My notions of a perfect leader have been daily dashed, with disappointment littering the path, leading away from my moral training since birth. It all falls apart. Humans fail--miserably.

Even though I want to find a Jimmy Stewart, or a Frank Capra-like standard in my society to lead me, and to charge ahead into the uncertainty of the future, I am afraid that it doesn't exist and never has. It is therefore up to me, a husband, father, Christian, citizen and leader to make wise choices. I may fail, but I have a standard--and it's not just any man, it is Jesus Christ. Other than my Savior, there is no perfect person. Politics, religion, education and journalism are riddled with characters who have no other goal than to pad their own lifestyles with ill-gotten gain. My simple role is to just keep my head down, trusting that God is my agent, walking in faith and in the light of His Word, making wise choices and taking the heat from the inevitable criticism that will follow. My family is counting on me.