Good and Perfect Gifts

It is difficult for me to read the Bible without hearing the voices of leadership crying out for attention. Most of the verses of the Bible are not aimed directly at leadership and yet the exhortations to the followers of Jesus seem to be amplified when the reader puts them in the context of leadership. For example, listen to the powerful words of James 1:16-18, “Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.”

Don't be deceived! Deceived about what? These verses seem to indicate that the deception rests in the role of God in our lives. Notice the incredible description that James provides of the nature and activity of God. God is the giver of good/perfect gifts (no mistakes, no tricks, no manipulation); God is the Father of light (no darkness, no sin, no deception); God is changeless (no shadows, no moods, no contradictions). God possesses a sovereign will (he chose to give us birth). He provides spiritual creation (he chose to give us birth). He is the agent of truth (he chose to give us birth through the word of truth) and he acts with a divine purpose (he chose to give us birth through the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits).

So how does this relate so much to leadership? There are several ways, but let me share one in this blog. It involves the deception that often accompanies the good and perfect gifts that come down from the Father of lights. The good things of life are sometimes the objects of huge temptations. The good and the fun often take on the faces of perversion. The genuine gift can be displaced with counterfeit currency. When you evaluate the ineffectiveness of men and women in leadership, you can often trace the crash to one of the following five areas.

First: taking the good and perfect gift of art and creation and perverting it into pornography. This deception ruins leadership by taking the beauty of God's craftsmanship and majesty and warping it into objects of lust and sensuality. How many leaders have fallen into the trap of pornography allowing the addiction to destroy their effectiveness, steal away the cultivation of loving relationships, and rob them of hours of productivity.

Second: taking the good gift of competition, athletics, and hard work and perverting them into cheating, winning at all costs, and revenge. How fun is a race, a contest, or a board game. But some leaders have fallen into destruction because winning the game became the all-consuming goal of life. Winning was worth more than ethics. Being on top was more desirable that reputation, honesty, or integrity.

Third: taking the good gifts of relationships of life and twisting them into immorality. I have become so disheartened in recent years with the immorality of leadership in our country. From the presidency to athletes to teachers to priests to coaches to Christian leaders, immorality screams from the headlines on a weekly basis. The exchange of sexual intimacy within the bonds of marriage for the alternatives of adultery and homosexuality brings havoc on the legacy of leadership. Clinton, Tiger, Haggard, Sandusky, etc. etc. etc. My, how the powerful can crash and burn when the good gift is abused.

Fourth: communication is an incredible gift. Being able to share with someone else your thoughts, your dreams, and your insights is a marvelous gift. I cannot imagine how awful it would be to forfeit such a gift. And yet man has managed to so pervert the art of verbal communication that profanity fills the mouths of singers, actors, writers, neighbors, parents, role models, and even children. God's name is used extensively across our country but how often it is associated with a curse or an expression of frustration. OMG is such a common phrase that has so cheapened the holiness of the Creator that many conversations are literally painful to my ears.

Finally: even the good gift of food can be abused. According the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States and rates remain high. More than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) and approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years are obese. Do we live to eat or do we eat to live? I am not saying that you cannot be a good leader if you are overweight. But I do believe that being physically fit can help an individual be more effective in their leadership role. More energy, better stamina, greater focus can all be impacted by proper diet and weight. Even the great tastes of God's good food can be shifted into a temptation of deception.

“Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above.” Choose wisely and lead effectively.