addison's walk

If you are reading this through an RSS reader, you can now find my blog at www.timmorrison.net . Please join me there, as I have moved to the Posterous blogging platform.

The Uncomfortable Nature of Leadership

Seth Godin on leadership:

Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead.

The scarcity makes leadership valuable. If everyone tries to lead all the time, not much happens. It’s discomfort that creates the leverage that makes leadership worthwhile.

In other words, if everyone could do it, they would, and it wouldn’t be worth much.

It’s uncomfortable to stand up in front of strangers.
It’s uncomfortable to propose an idea that might fail.
It’s uncomfortable to challenge the status quo.
It’s uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle.

When you identify the discomfort, you’ve found the place where a leader is needed.

If you’re not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it’s almost certain you’re not reaching your potential as a leader.

From his most recent book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us.

Around the Web (7/24)

Mohler on Carter
Dr. R. Albert Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, discusses Jimmy Carter's arguments which led to his decision to leave (again) the Southern Baptist Convention.

You Gotta Love Tim Tebow
Well, not really. I will never (that I can foresee anyway) pull for the Florida Gators in any sport at any time. Tim Tebow, on the other hand, is another matter. He's a classy guy and I can appreciate that in anyone.

Young Men: Learn Self-Control
From the CBMW blog: "Two sports events this weekend, one seen across the globe, the other far more mundane, provided me with an opportunity to teach my six-year-old son a crucial lesson in biblical manhood." (HT: Challies)

Shameful Parental Behavior
"After an 8-year-old Phoenix girl was sexually assaulted by four boys last week, police said her parents blamed their daughter for the attack."

Around the Web (7/21)

Sotomayor and Abortion: A Tutorial
Justin Taylor points to an article by Matthew Franck from the Witherspoon Institute concerning Supreme Court nominee Sotomayor and her understanding of Roe v. Wade.

Experience Apollo 11
In case you missed it, you can experience the landmark mission of Apollo 11 this website set up by NASA to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the historic occasion. As a side note, you can also explore the moon in Google Earth.

Making Silence Together
Mark Dever discusses the need for churches to incorporate times of silence into their corporate worship.

Moore videos on Adopted for Life
Dr. Russell Moore on video discussing his new book, Adopted for Life.

Jimmy Carter: Losing His Religion (Again)

Well, it is truly a sad day for Southern Baptists around the world. We have lost a supporter, encourager, and well-beloved defender of global Christianity. In case you have not heard, Jimmy Carter has (again) severed his ties to the Southern Baptist Convention.

Okay, enough of the joking around. Who is Jimmy Carter kidding? He severed his relationship in 2000 to the Southern Baptist Convention, bringing many Southern Baptists to be thankful to no longer be associated with him, either. It seemed good for both parties, at least those more conservative Southern Baptists thought so. In that light, today's "announcement" came both as a "I thought he had already done that?" and as a "Wow. Did he just say that?" moment.

In his position paper, Carter says the following concerning the treatment of women in various religious beliefs:

At its most repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities.

What is disturbing about this portion of his statement is that he is apparently drawing a distinction between the fact that Southern Baptists traditionally do not ordain women to the diaconate or pastorate to those heinous things done in the name of religion in other religious faiths. For example, Carter cites what occurs when women break Islamic law in various countries. He says,

In some Islamic nations, women are restricted in their movements, punished for permitting the exposure of an arm or ankle, deprived of education, prohibited from driving a car or competing with men for a job. If a woman is raped, she is often most severely punished as the guilty party in the crime.

Is Jimmy Carter really willing to compare the Biblical conviction of Southern Baptists that women should not hold positions of leadership such as the office of pastor within the local church with the fact that Muslims stone a woman to death if she is caught in an act of adultery? Punished if she is raped? Deprived of education? Forbidden from driving a vehicle as men do? Surely he does not mean to draw this parallel. I'm afraid, however, that is exactly what he intends to do, and it's abhorrent.

Nearing the end of his "position paper", Carter makes the following statement:

The truth is that male religious leaders have had - and still have - an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter. Their continuing choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world. This is in clear violation not just of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great religions - all of whom have called for proper and equitable treatment of all the children of God. It is time we had the courage to challenge these views.

At the core of this portion of his statement is both a misguided hermeneutic of the Christian Scriptures and a vast misrepresentation of the teachings of Muhammad and the "founders of other great religions".

In his statement today, Jimmy Carter has proven once again why it is not the Southern Baptists who left him, but it is very evidently he who left Southern Baptists. And, frankly, we couldn't be more grateful to see his exit. Too bad it took him to the age of 84 to accomplish this momentous occasion.

Clarification: Obviously, not all of us will agree on the interpretation of the various texts concerning women in ministry, roles and relationships of women in the home, etc. But, surely we can all agree that the comparison to the way in which women are treated in Islamic countries to those who hold a more conservative view of Scripture is simply ridiculous. Right? Please tell me I'm right about that? Surely our ability to converse about this hasn't degraded that far. Has it?