YOU SAW WHAT?

I watched the recent Trump speech in Detroit. Not very many people today are old enough to remember what the Motor City was like in the 1950s & early 60s. It was the envy of the country & the world. A whole host of factors contributed to its decline. For many years I have referred to it as the “former Auto Capitol of the World.” But I was reminded about a vital aspect of leadership from how the President talked about Detroit in his speech:

“We’re here not simply to honor the past, but to devote ourselves to a new future of American automotive leadership. We want to be the car capitol of the world again. We will be, & it won’t be long.”

One thing that I regularly remind spiritual leaders here, & those who aspire to spiritual leadership, is that the leader must be able to see beyond what others can see. If we are limited to the level of perception that is common to those around us, we will never have anywhere to go or to help them go. In a sense, leaders like this are the blind leading the blind.

I have done that with my view of Detroit. While remembering its former greatness, it never really occurred to me that it could rise up & be great again. Too much corruption, too much hatred, too much decline. But one of the characteristics of a great leader whether secular or spiritual, is the ability to open others’ eyes to what can’t be seen with the physical eye.

I thank God for leaders who can do that, & who can inspire me to see what I might not otherwise have seen.

PROJECTION

It can be dangerous to get too much into what some call “popular psychology.” But there are aspects of it that carry some important insights about what makes people tick.

I’d like to talk about something that I believe sheds light on what is behind what people sometimes say. It’s called “projection.”

I won’t give a definition of this term. Instead, I will just describe it as our tendency to ascribe something negative to another person while at the same time, consciously or unconsciously, being or doing the same negative thing ourselves.

If we do it unconsciously, it can reflect some kind of lack of self-knowledge.

If we do it consciously, we need to ask ourselves if we are being hypocritical.

Let me give you a few examples.

Can you remember cases in the past where well-known ministers would rail against sexual immorality & alcohol or drug abuse, & they were later discovered to be leading a double life?

In a press briefing early in the Trump administration, Press Secretary Spicer was asked if he planned to tell the truth.

Advocates for various religions & philosophies which compete for influence or control over the peoples of the world have regularly complained about what they call “American imperialism.”

Someone might accuse you of something without any objective basis for that claim. When this happens, there is usually another reason. It might just be that they are projecting their own sins on you.

One thing is sure – the Lord knows.