The Meaning of the Parade

Giving advice about life and work is a tricky business.  What has life taught me that is really worth repeating to someone 30 or 40 years behind me on the journey?  What won’t sound like the gripes of a man who didn’t get his way? What won’t sound like the boastings of a man who is claiming success which was really earned by others?  What have I learned in life that is really adaptable to someone else’s life, to someone who is going to walk with different people, in different places, in a different time?

That was some of my thinking as I prepared to be interviewed by a seminary student for a class assignment on pastoring a church.  Her last question asked me to summarize in a few points what is most important to remember.  I came up with a few things, like, when you are conversing with people, listen much more than you speak.  Say just enough to let the person you are with tell their story.  I wish I was better at that, frankly.  Listening well is such a lost art on people who aspire to leadership.  And then I said it was important to be willing to fail, and when you do fail, to admit it, learn from it, and move on.  If you are going to lead people in some worthwhile new venture you need to be willing to fail.  If you insist on guaranteed success in your every task you cannot lead boldly.  And I suggested that in all aspects of work, leave room for the Holy Spirit to act. Have a plan of what you want to do or say, but remember that someone else is in control.  The people you work with might be the messengers of a better way.

The most important lesson I tried to pass along was this: remember you are a servant.  The people you serve are more important than you are. Their “success” is more important than your own.  I woke up today thinking about that, and the famous line from Patton.  He says that when a Roman conqueror rode his chariot in glory through the streets of Rome, showered with praise for his success, a servant stood at his ear whispering, “All glory is fleeting.”  Don’t seek glory. Seek the success of the people you are called to serve.  One of the most well-known parades happened on a dusty road near Jerusalem 2100 or so years ago.   The people shouted praise to the man who rode on a donkey.  That praise lasted all of 5 days. Then they killed him.  Had he only rode on the donkey his fame would have been short-lived. 

What God ultimately rewards is work which brings glory to God, not to ourselves.  Only one man was born to die.  For the rest of us, work is one big “thank you.” Work well.