I don’t know what you think but I continue to be amazed at the people who make it into leadership roles in America. Is it any wonder that we are in such a mess?
All you have to do is turn on your TV and you will see what I mean. The tempo of our nation is no longer being set by leaders, but rather, by entertainers. Our children are taught to seek out celebrity. A recognizable face carries more influence than unknown person of character.
Let’s face it. We have become a nation of followers and as Jesus warned us…that will not end well.
“ Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” Jesus declared.
We are in a ditch alright, and we have gone off-road because of who we have chosen to follow. “Blind guides,” Jesus called them in another description of leadership
It is not that we want to end up shipwrecked, but that is the result of following “leaders” who can’t see beyond the bow of the boat.
Sight and vision are not the same thing and neither are knowledge and wisdom.
Sight is the outworking of the functioning of the eye. It is what happens when the eye perceives light and processes it into an image.
Vision is more important than sight. Vision is the process by which the brain is able to assimilate what they natural eye sees and convert it into an anticipation or prediction of what might occur as a result of what one sees.
Knowledge and wisdom are the twin sisters of sight and vision.
Knowledge is nothing more than accumulation of information gathered through one’s senses or through independent study. Wisdom is the application of the knowledge resulting from that study.
Even the most unlearned of men can look at a thing and know if it is functioning properly. Fixing a machine that is not working properly requires the APPLICATION of knowledge. Vision is figuring out how to prevent the instrument from malfunctioning again, rather than just fixing until it breaks again.
Because the teachings of our public schools and our mainstream churches have become so shallow the average American has the ability to see…but possesses very little ability to process the information with even a hint of wisdom.
The “ME” generation wants results and they want them NOW. Because they have no long-term vision they are unaware that temporary comfort is the enemy of long-term success. Our “leadership” has played upon this national weakness and we suddenly find ourselves careening into a ditch.
Look, I love watching LeBron James play basketball but I have no desire to find out who he is supporting in the presidential race. If he has some advice on how to shoot foul shots, then I am all ears. But his basketball talent does not transfer into wisdom in other areas. Why would anyone be influenced by his political views?
Can anyone tell me what makes Anderson Cooper or Rachel Maddow an expert on the news? Have you ever stopped to ask yourself how they even got to occupy those seats inside your TV screen? As an example, why would you take advice from anyone who doesn’t understand that the purpose of sex is procreation? If they can’t figure out basic science why would you care what they say about the more complicated issues of life?
The political world is no different. How in the world did we ever end up with the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Al Franken, John McCain, and Lindsay Graham passing as our “national leaders?” Other than knowledge of how politics work what wisdom is it that they bring to the American people?
We have a leadership crisis in America. Most of us cannot distinguish between leadership and celebrity. Celebrity alone does not qualify one for leadership. Whoopie Goldberg is famous but would any sane person want her offering advice to his/her child?
Have you noticed recently what is passing as education in America? Rather than teaching our children how to apply the knowledge that they have gained, we have programmed them how to “emote”…act only upon how they feel. You see the results of that nightly on your TV screen.
We live in a crazy would…and it is getting crazier by the moment. Our challenge is to restore wisdom to the educational process. We must teach our children the difference between celebrity and wisdom.
Tonight when you sit down for dinner, if you even do, ask your children whom they admire. Then ask them why they admire that person.
Their answer will demonstrate how we ended up in the ditch.
It is time for parents to re-engage with your children. It is imperative that we teach them WHAT to rather than WHO to admire.
“A wise man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.” We have done it to ourselves. It is time to stop teaching our children to follow the spiritually blind.
