The following is a transcript of a Raised Catholic podcast episode. To listen to the episode, click here.

Today is episode 194: Grown-Up Catholicism: The Leadership Episode

Hi friends. A couple of weeks back, I described our new series which is all about learning to own our faith for ourselves. We are discerning with the help of the Holy Spirit just what it is that we believe and how our beliefs and actions line up with the teachings of Jesus. Now, just a reminder here that this series is meant to be descriptive, not prescriptive, as I will model my process of discernment in these practical areas using scripture, contemplation and prayer, but I will never tell you how to live out your grown-up Catholic Christianity as that is between you and God. 

Last week, we covered voting and political engagement from a grown-up Catholic Christian perspective, and this week we are talking all about leadership. As we discern the attributes of a Christian leader, let’s remember that we individual people of faith are leaders, too in each and every circle in which we find ourselves. At work, at home, in our social groups, people just may be looking to us to represent and to lead in the faith that we profess, so honing in on what our own leadership looks like will be an important exercise for us, too.

When we look to the attributes of what a Catholic Christian leader or Christian leader from a Protestant denomination should look like, thankfully we have lots of examples, and these examples start, of course, with Jesus. But today we will look at some other Christian leaders too, from Mother Teresa to Fr. Greg Boyle, as models of some particular leadership attributes that we could work toward and embody.

The Christian leadership attributes that I’ll be talking about today include: 

character, integrity and ethics

self-sacrificial servant leadership

empathy and compassion

vision (as in, they know their goals and where they’re headed)

humility

prayer life (as in, they take time away to listen to God in order to be guided and healthy in their ministry), and

putting the flock first, before themselves

Let’s take just a moment to think about a Christian leader that we admire. What is it about them that we notice? What makes us want to trust them and follow them? Were some of these attributes that I named on the list? I hope so, because there are a quite lot of leaders out there today professing Jesus and Christianity but the way in which they are leading might tell a very different story.

Let’s start with character and integrity. A grown-up Christian leader should have a moral code at the center, and their words and actions should flow from that code in a way that the people they lead can see and identify. The ten commandments or the sermon on the mount, the beatitudes – all of these provide a good scaffolding for a grown-up Christian leader to draw from. Now, does this mean a leader must be perfect? Well, no, none of us are, but a grown-up Christian leader should be always be learning and growing – and admitting and owning their mistakes as they work to shift for the better. 

Also, a grown-up Catholic Christian leader should be self-sacrificial. Jesus, of course, epitomizes the servant leader in that He came to be with us, to teach and heal us, and then, ultimately to suffer and die for us. Jesus warned against leaders who put themselves first, giving themselves seats of honor and leaving the sheep to fend for themselves. In Matthew chapter 7, He says,

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” These are good words for us all to remember.

Next, a grown-up Christian leader should be humble. And this is kind of a hard one, isn’t it, friend? Anyone who leads in any way can begin to believe that any good work we do is ours, rather than the product of our good God working through us, and the lack of humility has been the downfall of many a Christian leader. Pride goeth before a fall, as they say. But Jesus is God who chose to lower Himself, first being born in a stable, living on little means, being dependent on others for food and lodging, and washing the feet of His own disciples, an act that made Peter recoil in horror. But in the Book of John, chapter 13, Jesus makes it clear that this is the kind of leader that we ought to be. It says, 

“When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

Next, a grown-up Christian leader should have empathy and compassion. She should see the practical and spiritual needs of the people that she is leading and try to provide for them. Jesus did this so often, healing and restoring the people in His path, feeding them, forgiving them, and the best Christian leaders in history have done the same. Mother Teresa went out into the streets of India, serving the poorest of the poor, the orphaned, the sick and the disabled, and as she did so, she found the Face of Jesus in them. Fr. Greg Boyle does this in his work with Homeboy Industries, offering a path of restoration for former gang members in Los Angeles through a lens of love. In each of these cases, these leaders see the people they serve, and have empathy and compassion for them as beloved children of God, and that can seem like kind of an obvious thing, I know, but let’s think about the Catholic Christian leaders that we know, either in person or online: do these people serve with empathy and compassion that are reflected in their words and actions?

Next, a grown-up Christian leader has vision. He knows where He is going and where He is leading others to go. Again, Jesus is, of course, the ideal here. Jesus had an inner compass that was so fine-tuned that He knew not only on a global, large-scale what His mission was, but also how He wanted to operate one-on-one, with different groups of people, and how He wanted to get His messages across. As grown-up Christian leaders, we should have clear perspective about our goals and how we want to get there, and in doing this it is essential that we are prayerful.

If you’ve listened to this podcast before, you know the emphasis that I’ve placed on contemplation, on our own individual right and responsibility to draw close to God and to listen personally for His leading, in everything we do. After all, at the end of our lives, we won’t answer for someone else’s decisions or guidance or for the way they led us, but for our own. Jesus modeled taking time away to hear from His Father so often, so that He could determine His next steps, and every person who professes Christianity ought to be doing the same. Remember when Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” Well, how are we to know His will for us as individual people except through humble, contemplative prayer and study? We Christians don’t want to cede our leadership to anyone else without discernment, though many today do just that. Jesus said, “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers’” (Matthew 7:21-23).

Finally, a grown-up Catholic Christian leader puts the needs of the flock first. In John, chapter 10, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

So, as we think about all of this, and of the people who are leading us, and of the kind of leaders we want to be, let’s reflect a bit. Are these leaders:

Humble, self-sacrificial, empathetic, and compassionate? Do their words and actions reveal character, integrity and a code of ethics? Do they have a clear vision that comes from a life of prayer? Do they put the people that they lead before themselves? 

Because that, friend, is what a grown-up Christian leader should look and sound like. And that’s what we all should be aiming for. And any time that we’re unsure about how to discern grown-up Catholic Christian leadership, the example of the leadership of Jesus is a great place to return to and begin again.

Thanks so much for being with me today. If you need me, you can find me on Instagram @kerrycampbellwrites, at Substack at kerrycampbellwrites.substack.com, or on my website at kerrycampbell.org. Thanks so much for rating, reviewing, subscribing and most importantly, sharing this podcast with a friend.  That makes a real difference in growing our community, so thanks. If you would like to support this podcast financially, there are a couple of ways for you to do that in the show notes, along with some resources related to today’s episode, so do check all of that out, but before we go, let’s pray together.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Oh God, we thank you for the examples of self-sacrificial, clear-minded leaders that you’ve given us starting, of course, with Jesus, and in the lives of the saints and in our own communities, too. Help us to be good shepherds in the circles in which we find ourselves. For us and our dear ones too we pray in the name of Jesus and wrapped in the mantle of our Mother Mary, amen.

Thanks so much for listening today, friend. I hope to see you over on substack, but until then, I’ll see you next time. 

Show Notes

The Grown-Up Catholicism series continues with an episode on leadership. As in each episode in the series, this one is descriptive not prescriptive in that I’ll model my own discernment on these issues with scripture, contemplation and prayer but I’ll never direct your grown-up Catholic choice as that’s between you and the Lord! I hope this episode is a blessing to you, thanks for giving it a listen.

If you’d like to connect with me, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠find me on Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠at my website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. If you’d like to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠help support this podcast financially⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, there’s a way to do just that ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠on my page at buymeacoffee.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Thanks for sharing, subscribing, rating, and reviewing, as this helps our community to grow.

Thanks as always to my friend, Peter Vaughan-Vail, for providing the beautiful harp music you hear in this and every episode.

Here are some resources I hope will help you to engage with this week’s topic in a deeper way for yourself:

1. Book: ⁠Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion⁠, by Fr. Greg Boyle

2. Organization: ⁠Homeboy Industries⁠

3. Organization: ⁠Missionaries of Charity⁠ (Mother Teresa’s order of nuns)

4. Book: ⁠How to Human: Three Ways to Share Life Beyond What Distracts, Divides, and Disconnects Us⁠, by Carlos Whitaker

5. Video: ⁠Faithful Leadership⁠, with Beth Moore