This week I attended a training event at Lutheran Camp Mush-a-Mush.  I met 16 young adult leaders getting ready to serve youth throughout the Atlantic Conference.  “The registration is up this year”, said assistant coordinator Catherine Polvi from Resurrection Lutheran Church, Halifax.  These young adults are ready to lead.

Risky Leaders in the Atlantic

The following address based on 1 Samuel 13-14, Mark 4:35-4:1 was presented to these leaders:

In a fanatastic address to the graduating class at Princeton this year, Michael Lewis offered this advice to the students: Don’t Eat Fortune’s Cookie. Michael Lewis is the author Moneyball, the book about baseball that was made into a Brad Pitt movie last year, and he also ended up, by chance, working on Wall Street, and after making a good chunk of change, he wrote a book about the financial industry’s darker side. He landed at Wall Street because one night at dinner he happened to sit next to the wife of CEO, and she liked him so much, she convinced her husband to give him a job. He shared this story with the class, because he wanted to make a point: some of us get lucky, but luck and real accomplishment are not the same thing.

He told this great story about an experiment conducted at Stanford University. Three people were brought into the room to participate in some social research. One was appointed, at random to be the leader. There was nothing special about this person. No skills that set them apart to lead the group. And what’s more, they had no special duties. They did nothing above what the rest of the group did. It was luck, and only luck, that they were chosen to be the leader.

While the three were sitting at the table, four cookies were placed in front of them and then they were left alone in the room. In almost every case this is what happened: each person ate a cookie. And then the leader, without being asked, without any discussion, grabbed the fourth one for himself and ate it. Clearly, despite having done absolutely nothing to merit it, he felt he deserved that cookie.

Today, our readings, give us to examples of leadership. We know from 1 Samuel, that David never aspired to be a leader, and certainly his family didn’t see him as one. He wasn’t even in the group when Jesse was asked by God to anoint one of his sons. But now, in battle for his people, against Goliath, the giant, young David steps up. He believes in his ability to prevail against insurmountable odds. Of course, we know the famous story: David, facing against all of Goliath’s weapons and armour, places a rock in his slingshot, takes aim, fires and kills Goliath with a stone that strikes his forehead.

In many ways, David epitomizes what we desire in a leader. First of all, he doesn’t aspire to be a leader. We rightly questions people who seem to hungry for power – it feels like the perks of leadership might mean more to them than leading. Ambition is important – but what is driving that ambition: do you want to be rich and famous, or do you want to do good for others; do you want applause or do you want to use your talents for making the world a better place. In other words: are you willing to share the fourth cookie with someone who needs it more, or do you simply want to enjoy it for yourself.

The other quality David demonstrates is faith; and faith walks hand in hand with optimism. We desire leaders who don’t give up, who keep trying, who look at whats not working and try, over and over and over again, to fix it. Whether we face a giant on a battlefield, that is also bravery. It means looking at the fourth cookie and figuring out how to put it to its best use.

In the Gospel of Mark, we also hear about Jesus’ leadership. A storm has come up while the disciples are out in a boat, and Jesus, their leader is sleeping below. The disciples are afraid: and who wouldn’t be. And they wake Jesus up, and cry for his help. Jesus responds by calming the seas. Why did you even doubt it would work out, he asks the disciples. Have faith. In this response, Jesus demonstrates a third quality that we value in leadership: calm in the face of panic. We want our leaders to be the reassurance in the storm, the ones who tell us, don’t worry, we’ll figure it out, the seas will calm. The ones who when the cookies run out, will distract us from our hungry stomach, and help us focus on finding more.

So three qualities of strong leadership: ambition based on leading, not glory; faith that things will work out; and a calm voice in the midst of the rough and tumble of life.

And these are also the same qualities, we want in ourselves and in the youth who attend camp this summer, who, let’s be honest, have been given their own fortune’s cookie. It’s easy to forget how good we have it, how straight, compared to most of the other people in the world, the path to success is for us. We live – and the YAYA’s you meet this summer live – in one of the most affluent countries in the world, and one of the most educated. In a democracy that respects our freedom. They go to good schools, and no one pulls them out at Grade 6 to work in a field or babysit their siblings. Most of them don’t worry about shootings in their neighborhood, and how to buy food. They get music lessons, and soccer practice, and tutors if they need it.

So what do we tell them? Too often, we make it about them: as if they have gotten where they are on merit alone. (And, let’s be honest, we often forget this same message for ourselves.) But that’s a mistake, and this is the point that Michael Lewis was making, because ultimately, they get lucky. They had it easy. And they shouldn’t forget that. Every day, all of us need to be grateful for that luck, relatively speaking, compared to the rest of the world. Because remembering this, forces us to push harder, to do better, to pay back. It required that we don’t eat that fourth cookie, when we are already stuffed. We share it. We relinquish it. We find that truly hungry person, and quietly, without hope of reward, we give it to them.

The gospel is, then, an inoculation, against stuffing down that fourth cookie. Are we considered special to God? Of course. But special in a way that doesn’t rank us above one another. God isn’t pinning a gold ribbon on me, and a silver one on you. We are special to God in that we are accepted, for our talents and our failings, in our individuality. And so loved and supported, we are meant to go out and do something with those gifts. The gospel teaches us to be humble, and yet to be confident and optimistic, to be calm when everything else is falling apart.

If we hear that message – really hear it – we don’t need that fourth cookie. In fact, we are fed more by the sharing of it. If we hear the gospel – and I hope this is the message our children hear – than we treat our good fortune as a foundation, a springboard to accomplish something great. And by great, let’s be clear: that doesn’t mean we cure cancer. It means we live life as an outward gesture to other people in thankfulness for what we have already received.

So, watch for the time, when you reach too quickly for Fortune’s Cookie, and stay your hand. I imagine that every time you do, you will look up, and see someone else who needs it more.  This is the kind of leadership you are called to this summer at camp.  This is the leadership we are all called to as Christians.

How often do we see the role our kids can play in social change. Here’s an amazing social experiment out of Thailand, developed by the health promotion foundation in the country, in which young children were used to “inspire” smokers to kick the habit. In the experiment, which is depicted in a pretty great commercial, the kids go up to smokers, holding their own cigarettes and ask for a light. All the adult refuse, and almost always go on to lecture the kids about the health danger of smoking. Afterward, the kids hand each of the smokers a brochure with a quitting-smoking helpline phone number. As the commercial notes, after the kids leave, none of the adult smokers tossed the brochure. (Although they did toss their cigarettes.) Calls to the helpline apparently increased by 40 per cent.

The commercial, I thought, made an interesting point about the power of children to spark behavioural change. We often think of our kids as inspiration, but how often do we encourage them to galvanize that ability in a real way?

If you want to watch the commercial, here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sabd1SbyLgQ

The larger church – and certainly the liberal church – has been getting crushed by media stories and critiques for years now. That’s not news. Every time, a right-wing fundamentalist church does something heinous (see previous blog), liberal Christians feel the beating just as much. Every time, an atheist cites some extremist point of view and treats it as representative, our reputation takes the tarnishing. It’s little remembered, that liberal ministers helped bolster the Occupy movement in New York, or that church, for all that their numbers are dwindling, still marshal the largest relief efforts when disaster strikes.

A news article from The Week cites these three reasons why young people are drifting away from God. First, the right-wing extremists are turning them off: if they want to do good, these days, young liberal-leaning North Americans can find plenty of institutions (without the stain of homophobia, for instance) to be a channel for their charity. Secondly, the article suggests, atheists such as Christopher Hitchens, with his eloquent writing voice and great talent for saying pithy things on demand, took the stage and did a fine job selling their point of view. And third, the article suggests, is Liberal attacks on religion, that Christianity is a religion against which people feel free to voice their criticisms, or direct their mocking jokes.  (Here’s the article if you would like a closer look: http://theweek.com/article/index/229276/3-reasons-young-americans-are-giving-up-on-god)

What’s the solution? Well, we have to change the message, and somehow remove that scary taint from our rep. Easier said than done. But for starters, it means being extremely clear about what we believe (and very vocal about what we don’t.) Perhaps that’s a question we should be taking to the youth in our church: ask them what draws them to the church, and what pushes them away? I have no doubt we’d learn from their answers.

Earlier this month, American writer Michael Lewis, the author of Moneyball, gave the graduation speech at Princeton University. He called it “Don’t Eat Fortune’s Cookie.” In it, he described an experiment that was held at the University of Califonia. Three people were brought into a room, and one was randomly designated the leader. There was no reason – just luck of the draw. And what’s more no obligations tied to the job. While the four were waiting in the room, researchers brought in four cookies. In nearly every case, when the three cookies had been taken, guess what happened: the participant designated “leader” snatched up the fourth cookie and claimed it for themselves. Keep in mind, the so-called “leader” had no special job, and had done nothing to earn the title. But nevertheless, he felt entitled to that extra cookie.

The point Michael Lewis was trying to make to those Princeton grads that day, was that they also got lucky. They had parents who could give them the childhood that made Princeton possible, and what’s more, in the majority of cases, could afford the tuition costs. They had the good fortune to be born in a wealthy western nation like the United States, to eat when they wanted, and sleep every night in shelter considered luxurious to most of the rest of the world (if not most of their fellow North Americans.)

We could say the same to our youth in Canada – who have been raised in prosperity, in the most educated country in the world. To most of the rest of the world, they are, in relative terms, millionaires.

They have won the lottery.

So what now? As Michael Lewis pointed out, their life’s work should not involve snatching the last cookie for themselves. They are to be thankful for that luck, and out of thankfulness try and make the world a better place. To share the fourth cookie with those who really need it, and who could turn it into fortune for themselves.

That’s a fitting message for our youth to hear.

A gospel message.

If you would like to hear the speech click the link in Michael Lewis link above.  If you would like to read a transcript of the entire speech, click here:http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S33/87/54K53/

As human beings, we love to sort things into this goes here, that goes there piles of life. We learn it from an early age, I suppose, when in kindergarten, we are asked to decide which of these things does not belong? We learn that the right answer is that red triangle in a row of blue squares. It’s not long before that philisophy becomes a way of assessing people who are also the red triangles among the blue squares – who speak or think differently, and most of all look a little different from the rest of us. Of course Jesus – and the disciples too – were red triangles. And so was Mary and many of the people who stand as examples of our faith. Because, as we soon learn, it’s the red triangles that make life better, that change society, that innovate and question. Without them, we would just be a boring old row of rule-following, group-adhering blue squares, and we all know the inherent danger in that.

Here’s a funny story that I read recently in Atlantic magazine: it’s a bit tongue and cheek, but ultimately, it’s about being put in a box, about being assumed to be one way when you really aren’t, and about how we should be careful not the underestimate those red triangle. The author of the piece, Mark Bowden, emerged from what he called “the dumb kid’s class” to write BlackHawk Down, a finalist for the U.S. National Book Award in 1999.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/06/dumb-kids-8217-class/8981/