After the Israelites were freed from Egyptian bondage, they journeyed toward Mt. Sinai, in accordance to the Group Word that they have received from Abraham, which was delivered by Moses. The Lord provided food, water, and protection in the wilderness (Weliever, 1998). After being numbered and organized, they were not ready to enter the Promised Land. Like any endeavor, there must be a collective intent to accomplish a goal. They co-initiated. There must also be planning and preparation.

The Israelites set out to survey the land (Deuteronomy 1:20-23). This was in line with co-sensing. They were set to observe what they were going into. They intended to open their minds and hearts to the task at hand. After 40 days, the 12 spies that were sent out returned and admitted that Canaan was a wonderful land. However, they expressed doubt that they could conquer these strong people. Only two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, said they were able to take the land (Numbers 13-14).

 

While the 10 other spies correctly saw the height and strength of the inhibitors of the land, they lacked in the sensing department. They only saw the obstacle. While they saw that the land was indeed bountiful, the 10 other spies could not see the most important thing. It was God who will enable them to claim this land. They took for granted the fact that they were not going to do this by their own power and might.

 

Scharmer (2007) said, “When sensing happens, the group as a whole can see the emerging opportunities and the key systemic forces at issue.” Joshua and Caleb were the ones who were able to successfully sense the issue at hand. They did not just sense the obstacles, they sensed the source and they sensed the rewards of the victory that was promised to their Nation (group), a promise that was passed on from the time of Abraham.

 

Weliever (1988) described Caleb and Joshua to be different. They had a different disposition and a different attitude toward God and his work. They saw themselves as co-creators with God for the promise that was given to the Israelites. They said it themselves: “We are well able to overcome” (Numbers 13:30, emphasis added). These were the attributes of that these two young men had:

 (1) Faith. They said, “We are well able to overcome” (13:30). They

believed in themselves, in their fellow Israelites and most

importantly in their God.

(2) Confidence. Concerning the Canaanites Joshua said, “The

people are bread for us: their defense is departed from them, and

the Lord is with us” (14:9). They had the confidence in the outcome

of this undertaking, because they knew they were doing the will of

God.

(3) Courage. Joshua said, “fear them not” (14:9). He was not afraid

of the giants, the walled cities or the strength of the people.

(4) Action. Caleb said, “Let us go up at once, and possess it”

(13:30). Positive people say, “Let’s go and do it now!”

(5) Thankfulness. They understood the land was a gift from God, a

blessing due to his delight in them (14:7-8). True appreciation for

one’s blessings will lead to action and obedience. (Weliever, 1988)

 

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What can you learn from the behavior of the spies?

Leaders who have actually made a difference in the world exhibited some form of custodian or stewardship. These are the leaders who sought to serve rather than protect or gain self-interest. People have looked to them for guidance and direction even in times of indecision, turmoil, or trouble.

 

There was this man named Cincinnatus who lived in the 5th century B.C. in the Roman republic. He was a farmer. When the Roman army was surrounded, they called upon this man to lead them into victory. McKinney (2009) said, he came, he saw, he conquered, and then he went home and went back to plowing his field. He gave up the reins of power and went back to his plow when the task was done and the crisis was over.  True leadership is about selfless action. It involves taking yourself out of the picture and considering the needs of the group as a whole. It is a mindset that involves thinking about what other people need into account when even your own needs are pressing. Now we ask, does this kind of leadership still exist in the world today? The answer is yes. How, you ask? The answer is simple: It’s everyone’s business to create this kind of leadership in this world. This means, it’s your business too.

 

Wherever you are, whether you are involved in the government or business, guiding young minds, leading a family, a sports team, or a committee, a class project, or a carpool, everyone has a leadership role to play. We are thrust into many different leadership roles again and again, throughout our lives. We are all responsible and accountable for the groups we belong to. We are all leaders.  (McKinney, 2009)

 

The term “custodian” is the same as the word “steward” as it is used in the Bible. The steward watches over whatever is placed under his or her trust by the one who owns it or for those who will benefit from it.

 

Stewardship is a service performed for others. It is not about ownership or control. It is not a technique. It is who and what the leader is. It is an attitude—a state of being—a way of looking at the world. But it is not the passive, hands-off leadership that some have attributed to this way of thinking. It is a component of leadership without which leaders cannot fully function. (McKinney, 2009)

When we talked about leadership that follows a stewardship approach, this means that leaders do not take away the freedom, choice, accountability or responsibility of the followers. Just as the leaders should serve and protect the welfare of those they lead, the followers must be enabled to do the same thing. The followers must also operate in the mindset that they must act in service and selflessness. This creates a kind of self-leadership at all levels of the group. Moreover, McKinney (2009) noted how this promotes an environment where each member of the group is empowered and motivated towards the good of the whole group, because it is in the best interest of all.

 

Block (2013) described stewardship as, “an umbrella idea that promises the means of achieving fundamental change in the way we govern our institutions” (p. xxiv). In the old days, a steward was someone who protected the kingdom while those rightfully in charge were away. A steward was usually placed in position to govern for the sake of an underage king. Looking at this historical concept of leadership, the “underage king” in our present context is the next generation. We choose service over self-interest because we intend to build the capacity of the next generation to govern themselves (Block, 2013). Stewardship is about the willingness to be accountable for the well-being of the larger organization by operating in service, rather than in control, of the people around us.

 

We must ask ourselves: Is our leadership fueled by self-interest or shared success? Self-interest promotes the leader, while shared success promotes the team (Hudson, 2013). Self-interest pushes itself into the spotlight, while shared success pushes others into it. Self-interest passes the blame for failure, while shared success takes the responsibility for it.

 

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Success in reaching the goals set is achieved through relationships with others. The future is constantly created through conversations with others – asking and creating commitments, making requests and promises through actions. The successful coordination of relationships is the coordination of commitments expressed in the acts of language (Selman, 2007).

Language and communication play an important role in our relationships while relationships also play part in our success as a community. When we set and try to meet a goal as an individual, it is just normal to have other people help us meet that goal. How much more if we, as a community, set a goal and try to meet it? It should give us better results than us as individuals.

As a community, we should make sure that we develop a culture that forms relationships that will be a strong foundation. When we develop that kind of culture, it brings us halfway to success because it puts us in a position where, we can stay strong despite adversity and trials.

As we often say, and we will not be tired of saying, two heads are better than one. We should see each other through. It must be instilled among us that our success is also our community’s success; and our failures are also our community’s failures. As it was written, if one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it (1 Corinthians 12:26).

 

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Take part in your church community today.

As an individual, we see little. However, as we begin to see our relationships, and how our individual selves affect our groups and organizations – Thus, we affect our society. Then, our world.

 

Trust is not always a good thing. Trust can be foolish, naïve, gullible, and blind. And trust ought never to be taken for granted. That is why we insist that the issue is building trust – that is creating trust, maintaining trust, restoring trust once it has been lost or betrayed (Solomon & Flores, 2001).

Trusting people has never been easy with most people, especially nowadays, when a lot of broken promises and betrayals come into people’s lives. There are a lot of husbands and wives being unfaithful to their lifetime partners. Stories of betrayal and broken promises that are widespread nowadays affect how people trust. Different people react to loss of trust differently. Some close up and find it hard to trust again. Some do not give their trust at all while there are others who are brave enough to trust again.

However, it is undeniable that communities are built on trust. In a community, we acknowledge that we cannot do everything at the same time – we acknowledge that we need other people to accomplish things that we can’t. In view of this idea, it is essential that we nurture trust in our relationships with the members of our community.

As Solomon and Flores put it, also quoting Vaclav Havel; for all of us, in our roles as citizens and consumers, in our roles as leaders and as members of the world community, “we have to learn to trust one another” (Solomon & Flores, 2001).

 

People in organizations who trust one another in a richer, more flexible, and more innovative environment flourish accordingly (Solomon & Flores, 2001). Upon achieving a trusting attitude among your community, we begin to work together as one. However, as we work together, there would come a time when we would fail each other.

In the event of failing, we tend to lose our trust on people. However, this should not go on for so long. Proper communication within the organization should be implemented to ensure understanding among the members. As Flaherty put it, experience is what shapes our understanding so that we can know at a glance what the appropriate action is (Flaherty, 2010). When we nurture understanding first before we react, we respond. When we respond, we open our minds and hearts to receive the reason why things had happened against our plans or expectations.

We should not be afraid to confront. What makes us afraid to confront is misunderstanding. But, we should see to it that we understand things first before we wage a war or say our opinions out loud. It will lessen tendencies of clashes inside the organization. It will nurture an environment of understanding and care for each other rather than putting our egos first.

A corporation (or any institution) is not a mob. Every institution is also an organization, which means that it has some procedure (whether democratic, authoritarian, or by way of a small board officers) for making decisions (Solomon & Flores, 2001). Our levels of self, if not organized, will not be able to work together as one.

Our levels of self are all organizations. Even as an individual, we are an organized body of systems physically. When one part is not functioning well, everything is affected. Everyone does not have the same function as well. As it is written, if the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts of the body, every one of them, just as He intended them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? (1 Corinthians 12:17-19).

 

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How are you being disorganized?