One of the biggest tasks that could confront any leader is in leading an entity (be it an organization, a nation or a people) out of a systemic decadence. It could sometimes be easy to lead in an environment where everything seems to be working and structures are already in place that could help any leader succeed. However, when a leader is given the task of rescuing what appears to be fallen apart already, how can he or she succeed in such environment? Let us go straight into the Bible to see what Jesus did when He was faced with a similar situation.
“Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves and the money changers doing business.” Originally, the temple was not supposed to be a place where people buy and sell goods and services. The temple actually symbolizes a system or a structure where people can come and worship God. It was supposed to be a holy place where people come to commune with God. But because of the decadence in the society at the time, because of the rot and failure of past leadership, the original intention of the temple was turned into something else. It became a business center where people come to buy oxen, sheep, doves and a bureau de change, so to say.
Now Jesus had appeared in the scene and He was about to change the narrative of that entity called the temple, just like many of you have been made leaders of your nation or organization to do something significant about the current situation. Let us read further and see exactly what He did concerning the rot and decadence that He met on ground in the system.
15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. 16 And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” 17 Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”
John 2:13-17
The first thing Jesus did to correct the anomalies in the temple is that He made a whip of chords. What then is a whip meant to do in the hands of a leader? A whip is a tool of enforcement. When you examine most parliaments across the world, there is always a man or a woman known as the ‘Chief whip’. Their function is to see and ensure that party members in the parliament attend voting sessions and vote according to their party’s official policy. So, as a leader that wants to lead an entity out of a systemic decadence and failure, the first thing you need is a tool of enforcement. I remember about two decades ago, a particular former president of Nigeria took the initiative, after seeing the corruption in the system, to create an anti-graft agency that would fish out all the corrupt people in the country. So, in this context, the anti-graft agency became a whip in his hands and it was used against those that were perceived to have swindled or defrauded the nation at the time. As a leader, if you are going to bring your organization or your nation or wherever you have found yourself as a leader from that systemic decadence, you definitely need a whip in your hands, just as we saw in the case of Jesus.
The second thing Jesus did was that He drove out those who had made the situation of that temple to remain the way it is. As a leader, you must be able to recognize those who are not going to help you to succeed within the organization and immediately send them out. The reason you must send them out is because you have come to destroy their enterprise, their means of making illegitimate gains, and the more they remain in the organization while you are doing that, the more they would frustrate your efforts and the progress you need to make. So, Jesus singled these people out one after the other and he used the tool of enforcement He had in His hands to drive them out.
This account reminds me of a similar thing that Nehemiah did while he was trying to rebuild Jerusalem long before Jesus appeared on the scene. In Nehemiah 5, I would have love to read from verse one but because of time, I will read from 6. You can read from verse in your spare time. Certain people had come to report the injustice being met against them by their fellow Jewish leaders and this is Nehemia’s response to it:
“And I became very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. 7 After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and rulers, and said to them, “Each of you is exacting usury from his brother.” So, I called a great assembly against them. 8 And I said to them, “According to our ability we have redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations. Now indeed, will you even sell your brethren? Or should they be sold to us?” Then they were silenced and found nothing to say. 9 Then I said, “What you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? 10 I also, with my brethren and my servants, am lending them money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury! 11 Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also a hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil, that you have charged them.” 12 So they said, “We will restore it, and will require nothing from them; we will do as you say.” Then I called the priests, and required an oath from them that they would do according to this promise.”
As a leader, you must realize from the account of Jesus that we read and this Nehemiah’s account that you cannot join force or alliance with the same people that have destroyed the institution or the organization you are trying to help rebuild. Your task as a leader is to identify those who are profiting and benefitting from the decadence and eject them from the system. You cannot continue to tolerate or pamper them. As many of them that will not align themselves with your new reforms, or be reformed themselves (if they still want to be part of the system) must be shown the way out.
The third thing we can learn from the life of Jesus as we read in that passage is that of owning the process. What exactly does this mean? It means that for you to lead that entity out of decadence and failure, you must be a zealous leader. Zeal talks about enthusiasm, passion and everything around the meaning of the word. It means you have to be enthusiastic about the process you are introducing to bring about change and be passionate about it as well. It is also important that this zeal and passion about making a difference must be seen by those around you on the onlookers. The disciples remarked about Jesus in that place when they remembered what had been written about Him: “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.” Why did they say that? Because they saw in Jesus that He was not joking about His leadership task towards bringing about change.
So, in summary; if you have been given the task of leading an organization or a nation out of many years of decadence and failure, you don’t just jump into the task. You first need to arm yourself with the right knowledge about what to do. You need a whip, which talks about a tool to enforce change and compel obedience. Secondly, you need to identify those who have been responsible for the collapse of the systems and structures in the organization. Peradventure some of them are still around, you need to drive them out, they and the wrong seeds that they have sown in the organization. Finally, you also need to own the process of change, in other words, you must be zealous and passionate for you to be able to do this.
I believe you have learnt something!
This is where we will call it a day on today’s episode of Leaderview. Please don’t forget to share this podcast with your friends, drop your comments in the comments section and let me know your thoughts on what we have shared with ourselves today. Till next time on Leaderview, stay blessed and God bless you.
