Leaders with a healing heart
“It is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in this broken world …” wrote poet Mary Oliver. As each day begins, these words challenge me as a person of faith to do what I can, with God’s help, to make a difference in the world, always looking for opportunities to be a healing presence amid the brokenness that permeates every level of our existence. Thankfully, Scripture contains numerous examples of what it looks like to live, serve and lead with a healing heart — a heart full of compassion for those we encounter along life’s way.
In the Hebrew Scriptures, we read of David, Jesse’s youngest son and a shepherd by vocation, chosen by God to serve as Israel’s king. Although an unlikely candidate for such a leadership position, and certainly a young man with his share of flaws, God chose David because God liked the looks of David’s heart. When his predecessor, Saul, and Saul’s son Jonathan, were killed in battle, David offered a heartfelt lament for them. He then led the nation in mourning their slain former leader, even though David could easily have chosen to celebrate because Saul, who had been quite an adversary to David, would no longer torment him.
David chose to demonstrate compassion, recognizing that while Saul had certainly made his life difficult and in many respects had failed as Israel’s leader, Saul had also done some good.
When Jesus, who was of the house and lineage of David, came into this world many years later, he perfectly embodied compassion and clearly led with a healing heart. When “the Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood,” in the words of Eugene Peterson, he came to fix our broken relationship with God, as well as to heal our broken world. Many refer to Jesus as the Great Physician, but I prefer to think of him as the Great Healer, because he did far more than fix broken bodies.
Yes, Jesus restored sight to those who were blind, enabled the lame to walk and opened the ears of those who were deaf, but just as often he healed people by listening to their stories, offering them forgiveness and reminding them of their God-given worth. While we may feel ill-equipped to physically heal people, each one of us has the power to listen to others, to speak words of encouragement or to offer a comforting, reassuring touch.
Leadership from the heart — the kind of leadership demonstrated by Jesus — is not defined by a technique or a process and cannot be learned by reading a book or following a few simple steps. Heartfelt leadership is a way of being in the world, and is characterized by compassion, a sincere desire to be in relationship with others and a mindfulness that enables us to truly see those around us and feel their pain.
Leadership from the heart is hard work, requiring a constant willingness to look inward for God’s guidance and then outward toward God’s people. May we each have the courage to embody such leadership, knowing that the survival of our world depends upon it!