Dawn of a new era for spiritual leadership

 - a return to the old way of servant leader



No 247 of Living Life Series 1

Good leaders of spiritual organisations are usually adept at moving their congregation but this may at times lead to idolatry by the congregation and the idolised monk, priest or pastor may well end up being put on the pedestal.

One possible result is that there will be abundance of trust and lack of checks and balance. This may lead to less ideal governance and often fingers may be pointed at the monk, priest or pastor from dissidents. But the weakness, if any, cannot be seen to lie just with the leader but with the congregation as well. After all, charismatic or charming personalities are required to move the congregation but fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how we look at it, this can be either a boon or a bane or perhaps even both boon and bane.

Misuse of funds and lack of transparency, lack of checks and balance are at times unavoidable and even tolerated somewhat by the congregation much to the discomfort of the government of the day. Secular government would be hard pressed to do something and yet they do not want to be in the thick and thin of matters. The government would be caught in a double bind of sorts. This is regrettably and understandably so. The problem lies not in the leader alone or in the congregation or in the internal governance of the religious organisation but perhaps even deeper - possibly  in the system that sustains religion in society.

But having said that isn't it true that religion sets out to correct the ills of society but the same very ills of society do rear their ugly head in any religious institution. This, however, is a paradox for which the founding fathers of world religions were aware.  They thus did not appoint successors but at the same time, religions do need to continue as social institutions and institutions need leadership and succession. Such is the paradoxical reality and this does present as a problematic issue for religions from time to time.

So could religions have gone astray somewhat? To be correct, most religious organisations have done well, stayed in the proper mainstream and have steered clear of attracting the wrong limelight. But a few have fallen on the wayside. To minimise this or rather to prevent this, there is need to herald the dawn of a new era to ensure that leaders are not considered as perfect and infallible. Men should not worship man but only God and saints.

Man who leads men in religion should be servant of men and not  the leader of men. He should meet the needs of men in his congregation. Being servant of men, he should answer to a management body or board and not be part of that body or worst still be the chair person or director. He should not be part of the governance but be subjected to governance. 

A good spiritual leader stays in the background and moves others to come out to serve the needs of the congregation say by their being in the governance board or sub-committees. He is like a candle flame to light up the candle flames of those in the congregation. This was referred to by Lord Bo Tien but this is however not one of the main perspectives of the candle light doctrine.

Even for  the usual sermons for the congregation of his spiritual organisation, the servant of men should not be the only speaker but only one of the many. In fact, he should in time hardly speak at the weekly sermons and leave it to the others in the congregation. If he has served the congregation well and is a good servant of  God and congregation, there is no need for him to be in the fore but only to be the backbone and servant of the congregation. (This is in concordance with the point by Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu that the best leaders are those who walk beside their people and whose existence are not noticed. Lao Tzu is an avatar* or incarnate of one of the three Pure Ones)

Lord Bo Tien

Thus in the same vein, there is strictly speaking no need for spiritual leader in the Mission for the Inner Truth inspired by Lord Bo Tien but  we need only a good servant to serve men in the mission so that they, the men, will spread the word of God through whatever  religions or sects they may be in or even if they belong to none. Call this servant a leader and you run the risk of making a devil and a cult figure out of him.  You run the risk of inevitably making the congregation worship him (a man) instead of worshipping God and heavenly saints.

The concept of servant leader is inherent in various ways in all religions and accorded special mention by Lord Jesus. This has always been the emphasis since the inception of religions but we need to refocus on this. Let this refocus on servant leader be the dawn of a new era for renewal or for refreshing the mode of spiritual leadership based on the wisdom of the founding fathers. Better still, we should omit the term "leader" and just use the honorific of "servant of God, saints and men"

Man is fallible but God and saints are not. Man can be a good spiritual servant but not a worthwhile infallible spiritual leader. Man should never deputise and act for God. He can serve God and fellow men. God and the doctrine of truth should be the leader. This way man will be less likely to tarnish the image of God and saints. God bless.

Incidentally, the clear demarcation of administrative body and spiritual body in a spiritual organisation will go some way to ensure  that abuses and setbacks are less likely to occur. The balance of the two polarities or instruments of management of a religious organisation will steer the organisation in the right direction. This is as depicted by the balance of yin and yang of the pakua. The pakua has always been given prominence on the shrine floor in front of the altar of Bo Tien Temple for this very good reason.

 the Chinese pakua

The dire need for balance of administrative body and spiritual body in a spiritual organisation is also as reflected by the seated image of Lord Bo Tien with both feet atop and balancing the elements. Additionally, the left hand in salutation bids the organisation to maintain the course and be steady. The right hand holding the holy sceptre reminds the organisation to hold on to  the word or doctrine of God and to hold fast to the twin loyalties.

"The image is the doctrine and the doctrine is in the image"

There are the two loyalties or dedications - dedication to the state the organisation is in and the other is dedication to God. There must be the correct balance of these two and this is also symbolised by the pakua.

"Give to the state what is due to the state and to God what is due to God"  This statement is often quoted by followers of  Jesus and is the principle of the Tao as well.

In Buddhism, this perspective is to be found in the "Middle" Way ('middle' does not mean mid point or average though but for want of a better word in translation the word 'middle' is used).

In simple language, the twin loyalties can be surmised thus. "Obey the laws of God and obey also the laws of the land." This is the advice of Lord Bo Tien.

Thus it is  right that there is division of management in a religious organisation - the administrative body and the spiritual body. The monk, pastor, priest or lay clergy hails from the spiritual body but keeps clear of administrative body and authority. He is just a spiritual servant and has to be subservient to and beholden to the organisation and the state. He cannot hold on to instruments of authority and management. 

The pastor or priest  is only the effector of the spiritual body which sits to give him feedback and  moderate policy on spiritual matters. This will go long way to  cut down hero worshipping of sorts but yet give due importance to his standing as priest or pastor as well as preserve and sanctify his servant leader role. Remember that as servant leader,  he facilitates others to be the speakers of sermons and he takes on sermons only occasionally.

This servant of men emphasis will naturally herald the dawn of new era for spiritual leadership that brings back and thrusts the ancient wisdom of the founding fathers of religions to the fore. The approach will go some way to ensure that the ills of societal decadence for which religions set forth to eradicate will not creep back into the fold of the societal institution of religion.

But the solemn reality remains true that religions are only means to the end but not the end itself. Perfection in religion will always be an ideal just round the corner. This means there must be more of new sects and schools of thoughts to reach out to all and to plug the imperfections of the existing ones, only to create new ones. This is in line with the Inner Truth doctrine explained to us by Lord Bo Tien before 1974. Let this be food for further thought.....

*Avatar refers to a deliberate descent of a deity from heaven to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated loosely into English as "incarnation." Supreme being or deity do not need to incarnate to progress spiritually hence the word avartar instead of incarnate 

This article is inspired by and dedicated to SBV.