M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

Leadership for Saints, Part 8:
Being Part of God’s Miracle
by Rodger Dean Duncan and Ed J. Pinegar

In every sense, great leaders in the Church are Christ-centered Saints. While their personalities, styles and skills may vary widely, the common thread of their character is faithfulness, devotion, love unfeigned, sacrifice and consecration. They live as though their lives depend on their character, because they do.

This great statement by George D. Boardman really puts into perspective the process of building character: “Sow a thought, and you reap an act; sow an act, and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character, and you reap a destiny.” It is a process that takes time and effort. It takes a value system based on moral principles. It takes self-discipline.

The leader who aspires to be better works to know himself better. He makes an effort to explore his spiritual roots.

The scriptures tell us we are children of God. This knowledge gives us precious perspective about our own worth.

In the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son (see Luke 15), the Savior taught how much our Father loves each of us. In each parable, Jesus compared that which was lost to the soul of man, and pointedly declared that there is rejoicing among the angels over one repentant sinner.

Lethargy and despondency have no place in us. Instead, knowing what we know about our spiritual genealogy, we should be motivated to change.

Consider this perspective from C. S. Lewis:

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on. You knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here or an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage, but He is building a palace.

Our loving Father, who is the greatest Architect and the greatest Builder, has a plan for us that’s bigger and bolder than anything we can imagine.

As part of our climb to be better and to do better as leaders, we can expect some adversity. When we choose to follow the Savior, we should expect some suffering, some loneliness and even some occasional injustice. But in such times, it’s good to recall the words of Orson F. Whitney, an apostle in the early 1900’s:

No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, purifies our hearts, expands our soul and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God. It is through [this] that we gain the education that we came here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father in heaven.

We live in a time when the world has more distractions and temptations, more rapid change than ever before in the history of the human family. Sometimes fighting off worldly distractions feels a bit like trying to push water uphill with a rake. And yet we can make the journey safely. We can return home with our spirits intact. But the trip is fraught with many blind spots, and we must travel with great care. Part of that great care is being sure that our character is strong and constantly growing stronger.

One of the great blessings of leadership is that we often draw strength and insight from the very people we’re trying to serve.

We love the story told by our dear friend Ardeth Kapp, former General Young Women president in the Church. She received a letter from a participant of a Young Women’s conference attended by several hundred mothers and daughters: “Dear Sister Kapp. I waited in line after the meeting and you gave me a hug and said some wonderful things to me. I was the girl in the green jumper on the second row. Could you please write and tell me what you said. I forgot and I want to write it in my journal so I can read it when I’m feeling down.”

Now that’s the tenderness of youth because this young girl didn’t fully understand what happened to her. What happened to her is she felt the Spirit distill upon the occasion and she wanted somehow to reach back to that spiritual moment. She wanted to recognize and enjoy—again and again—the tenderness of her brief time with a great leader.

Isn’t that really what leadership is all about? Oh, they may say, “Do you remember me? I was the one in the green dress.” But what they really mean is, “Help me feel again what I felt when we were together. Help me feel good about myself. Help me know that I matter. Help me know that Heavenly Father knows who I am and that He loves me”

When we allow ourselves to serve as instruments for righteousness in the Lord’s hands, others among Father’s children are comforted and strengthened. Their loyalties are not to us. Their loyalties are to the source that allows us to be part of the miracle. A great leader will always clarify that God is the true source of the love and light the people feel lest he (the leader) be guilty of holding himself up as the light.

We are part of God’s miracle—as recipients and as conduits. We’re also part of the wave talked about in the seventh chapter of Moses: “And righteousness will I send down out of heaven [the Lord says]; and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth” (Moses 7:62).

It is our charge to be the beacons of righteousness spoken of in the Book of Mormon and echoed in the Doctrine and Covenants: “Hold up your light that it may shine unto the world” (see 3 Nephi 18:24). “Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations” (see D&C 115:5).

As Christ-centered servants, we cannot walk or talk or do as people of the world. We have an obligation to bless and lift those without gospel truths unto fulfilling God’s great purposes and destinies for them. Ours is a covenant requiring great character. Only then can we be great leaders.

Quotes to Remember

Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life (see Matthew 10:39). – Ezra Taft Benson

'Every apostle, prophet, and legal administrator whom I have commissioned to offer the fruit of eternal life to men shall be cut off by my Father unless he carries forward my work; and every minister who is faithful in my service shall be pruned of dead foliage (divested of worldly distractions) and given power to bring forth more fruit.' – Bruce R. McConkie

Bless them with love. Let them know that you love them. It's so important. You are not generals running an army. You are servants of God, ministering to His people. Bless them with love.
– Gordon B. Hinckley

As mothers and future mothers, you will influence the course of the Church in this great country, and the destiny of its coming leaders. If you are to provide the training for these future generations, you must stand firm in the faith, unwavering in the face of evil… – Ezra Taft Benson

Some people use religion like a bus. They ride on it only when it’s going their way. If what they’re asked to do isn’t quite convenient, they procrastinate, they postpone, they rationalize, they refuse. Or, perhaps, even worse, they accept a duty and then fail to fulfill it. – Rodger Dean Duncan

Note: The excerpts of Leadership for Saints posted on Meridian are only a fraction of the contents of this 349-page book. To learn more about this ground-breaking book and to order copies, click here.

© 2002 by Rodger Dean Duncan & Ed J. Pinegar