Servant Leadership: The Basin & the Towel Ministry

The Great Famine in Ireland

'In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Christ himself said: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." ' Acts 20:35

A Singapore Straits Times article (ST 22 June 2012), quoted Chen Show Mao, then a Singapore Member of Parliament, "The substance of servant leadership is about putting people at the centre of policies. The style is persuading people to come along. You no longer can say, look I am the leader, follow me. You are the leader but you’re also a servant."

Similarly, Singapore's Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong reminded MPs of their responsibility to uphold the spirit of service to the people and work hard on their behalf. (ST 28 May 2011)

These days, politicians and bureaucrats tend to make decisions based on the hard and cold statistics of gross national products as measures of growth and success. Over time, such decision making processes can become models for what is considered good for the country without paying due consideration for the real needs of the citizens.

We should learn from history. One example of the callous righteousness of decision making was the handling of the Potato Blight and Great Famine in Ireland by the government of Great Britain in the mid-19th Century.

The British government of the day failed the Irish people miserably. Great Famine relief decisions were based on prevailing economic and governance theories without regard and consideration for humanitarian needs. Historians reported that in 1846 to 1852 the new administration headed by John Russell of the Whig party applied their “laissez-faire” theory of minimal government intervention.

At a time of an unprecedented national catastrophe, the political wisdom shifted from governmental relief intervention towards leaving the crisis to evolve naturally, to be influenced by 'market forces'. Saving the starving was not the government's job but that of local landlords and that of charities. The Whig government withheld food and relief works, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without any work, money or food.

Some people even justified their inactions by promoting the view that the famine was the result of divine judgment - an act of Providence. A leading exponent of this belief was Sir Charles Trevelyan, the British civil servant who was chiefly responsible for administering the Irish relief policy throughout the famine years. In his book, The Irish Crisis, published in 1848, Trevelyan implied the famine to be a sharp but effective remedy to the 'Irish problem' of Great Britain.

During the famine, approximately 1 million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland. The government could be more gracious and merciful in the making of crucial political and economic decisions. Perhaps, the scale and magnitude of the disaster and misery could have been averted.

On 1 June 1977, a different leader Prime Minister Tony Blair issued a statement that some have taken to be an apology 150 years later. He acknowledged the "deep scars left by the events of the Great Famine that began in 1845; that one million people should have died in what was then part of the richest, most powerful nation in the world is something that still causes pain as we reflect on it today. Those who governed in London at that time failed their people through standing by while a crop failure turned into a massive human tragedy."

Today, more than ever before, countries need leaders who will consider the dignity of the people when deciding what is good for the country.

Jesus Christ spoke of the need for humility in leaders towards followers. Masters should know how to respect servants rather than lord over them. Leaders should serve the followers. He taught and demonstrated this by the washing of His disciples’ feet.

“He poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” John 13:5, 12-16

These are the attributes of humility and servitude that characterise servant leadership. Instead of being a slogan to be used during times of election, servant leadership should become a guiding principle for current and future leaders - the leaders of countries, corporations and churches.

There is an example that all who are called to be leaders especially church leaders can follow, Jesus Christ, the 'Servant King.'

From Heaven, You came helpless babe

Entered our world, your glory veiled

Not to be served but to serve

And give Your life that we might live

This is our God, The Servant King

He calls us now to follow Him

To bring our lives as a daily offering

Of worship to The Servant King

There in the garden of tears

My heavy load he chose to bear

His heart with sorrow was torn

"Yet not My will but Yours", He said

Come see His hands and His feet

The scars that speak of sacrifice

Hands that flung stars into space

To cruel nails surrendered

So let us learn how to serve

And in our lives enthrone Him

Each other's needs to prefer

For it is Christ we're serving

This is our God, The Servant King

He calls us now to follow Him

To bring our lives as a daily offering

Of worship to The Servant King

Lionel

Updated 1st Published 27 June 2012

Too Much Sanity Is Madness

2001 Pat and Lionel at La Mancha

'If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them.' James 4:17 

In a 2009 article of the Singapore Straits Times, prominent neurologist Dr Lee Wei Ling wrote about her attempts to climb Ben Nevis in Scotland. It was done in bad weather. After accomplishing the feat and drenched many hours later, Wei Ling  herself sought an answer as to why she made the climb. She wrote if asked, her answer would be, 'For some people, it takes a streak of insanity to make life worth living.' 

Reading this article, I am reminded of the Broadway musical ‘The Man of La Mancha’, relating the story of Don Quixote by Miguel Cervantes. The novel, Don Quixote, is a satirical commentary of early 17th Century Spain which was under the yoke of the Spanish Inquisition. At that time, the tyranny of the ruling classes and the Church, severely put down the working classes and limited any freedom of expression. For years no one dared speak out against the brutalities, social oppression and injustices that occurred in that period. Cervantes bravely wrote this novel against the oppression of society.

Don Quixote relates the comical adventures of a schizophrenic old country gentleman from La Mancha, a district near Madrid. He donned a makeshift knight errand’s armour and went about the countryside correcting imaginary wrongs, fighting imaginary dragons and rescuing imaginary damsels in distress. The novel became an instant hit. It is arguably the best written novel for all times. 

Don Quixote and his squire Sancho Panza have become the icons of Spain. It gave rise to the word ‘quixotic’ which stands for behavior that is noble in an absurd way. Cervantes made a statement that individuals can be right while whole societies can be quite wrong and disenchanting. Such individuals should gather the courage to speak up for what is right even if it is sheer madness to do so. 

History relates many examples of individuals who, stricken by a new social conscience brought about revolutionary changes in society. One sterling example was the abolishment of slavery, through the strong social actions of men like William Wilberforce, Granville Sharp and Abraham Lincoln. 

As a Methodist, I am proud that many historians acknowledged the new social conscience, brought on by the growth of Methodism which corrected many injustices in 18th century England and America. John Wesley is popularly remembered as the itinerant evangelist and open air preacher and the gospel he preached inspired people to take up social causes in the name of Jesus Christ.

Nearer home, my sister in law Maureen Fung, realised that during the Covid-19 pandemic, the taxi drivers at the taxi stand near her flat waited for many hours without getting any passengers. So, Maureen went down from her high rise apartment gave to each driver a $50 bill from the relief package she received from government. An odd, quixotic thing to do?

The Book of James strongly argues that faith needs to give rise to social conscience, social concerns and social action. 

'Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. Anyone then who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins.'  James Chap 2:15-17 and 4:17

John Stott (Ref 1) narrated a story of a homeless woman who turns to a country vicar for help but he in turn, promised to pray for her. She later wrote this poem, 

'I was hungry, and you formed a humanities group to discuss my hunger.
I was imprisoned and you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release.

 I was naked, and in your mind you debated the morality of my appearance.

 I was sick, and you knelt and thanked God for your health.

I was homeless, and you preached to me of the spiritual shelter of the love of God.

I was lonely and you left me alone to pray for me. 

You seem so holy, so close to God but I am still very hungry – and lonely – and cold.

Sometimes, it may appear to be madness to try to effect any change. To make the rational decision for inaction and omission may appear to be a sane thing to do for many. Henry David Thoreau wrote, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation." We lead lives of quiet desperation when we resigned ourselves to the status quo. 

In the Man of La Mancha, there is stirring song, The Impossible Dream

To dream the impossible dream

To fight the unbeatable foe

To bear with unbearable sorrow

To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong

To love pure and chaste from afar

To try when your arms are too weary

To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest,

To follow that star

No matter how hopeless,

No matter how far.

To fight for the right

Without question or pause,

To be willing to march

Into hell for a heavenly cause.

And I know if I'll only be true

To this glorious quest

That my heart will lie peaceful and calm

When I'm laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this

And one man, sore and covered with scars

Still strove with his last ounce of courage

To fight the unbeatable foe

To reach the unreachable star

'Too much sanity is madness and the maddest thing of all is to view life as it is and not as it should be.' It pays to be mad sometimes. 

Lionel 

Ref 1: John Stott “Issues Facing Christians Today. Marshalls Paperback, 1984.

Updated. 1st published 26 June 2009