Creating a Better Future
Creating a Better Future
Leaders best serve people when we engage them in a great moral cause.
A hospitable leader creates environments of welcome where moral leadership can more effectively influence an ever-expanding diversity of people.
Who can say what is moral? What authority determines what is good? I am a Christian. My understanding of morality is premised on the Judeo-Christian worldview. Whether or not your worldview is the same as mine, I think we can agree that there is a difference between right and wrong, good and evil. And I hope you’ll keep reading. Whether you are a Christ follower or not, I hope we can agree that we can create a good future together.
Anyone who thinks one thing should be done rather than another has acknowledged a “moral ought.” Keep the law. Help the poor. Save the trees. This “ought to” is rooted in the idea that better, best, and preferred must be practiced in a moral context.
There has been a common understanding of morality throughout time, even though it has been expressed uniquely through various cultures at various times. I believe, as do other people of faith, that this implies the existence of a moral lawgiver: God—the Creator of conscience. He gave us the ability to discern right and wrong.
I believe that the future we are responsible to create must be pursued with the idea of what’s right and what’s good deeply impressed in our minds.
Doing this guarantees that our stories will be filled with moral conflict.
Good.
One of the greatest moral conflicts in American history was the struggle for the abolition of slavery. William Seward was a New York state senator (1831–34), a New York governor (1838–42), a US senator (1849–61), and the leading candidate in the Republican Party for the 1860 presidential nomination. The relatively unknown Abraham Lincoln defeated him. Seward, however, decided to continue serving his country during a time of tremendous moral crisis by accepting President Lincoln’s invitation to become secretary of state.
During his earlier years as a US senator, Seward set a moral momentum toward ending slavery by advocating an allegiance to “higher law.” He acknowledged that some believed that the US Constitution permitted, or perhaps ignored, slavery. In a famous speech to the Senate, Seward said, “But there is a higher law than the Constitution.” He then made a future-changing argument, based on moral law, against the inglorious institution of slavery.
President Lincoln was influenced mightily by Seward’s concept of a higher, moral law. He coupled that philosophy with his strong conviction that the basis of American independence—that all men are created equal—came directly from God Himself. The argument against slavery was essentially a moral argument for a better future for a nation and its people. This concept was anchored in God’s mandate for the equality of every human being, a partial motive for the Civil War, which won freedom for millions of formerly enslaved people and their progeny.
“Hospitable leaders must use power to engage people in the advance of good in this world. We must challenge people to dream big dreams that make sense in a larger moral framework.”
When Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America, fell to Union forces on April 3, 1865, Lincoln and his entourage showed up the next day. They walked dangerously through the streets of the city—now golden streets—echoing the voice of freedom as throngs of newly freed slaves flocked the vicinity of the defeated capital.
The emancipated surrounded the Great Emancipator with such force and determination that the soldiers guarding him were helpless in keeping them at a safe distance. With deep passion, this group sang the president’s praises, hailing him as their Messiah, shouting, “Glory, hallelujah!”
Lincoln knew better than to accept such acclamation. He responded, “Don’t kneel to me; that is not right. You must kneel to God only, and thank him for the liberty you will hereafter enjoy.” Although Lincoln was used as an instrument to unfold the preferred futures of people who had never tasted the fruits of freedom, he knew that this better future came from God, the highest law.
So, the future is in us.
And not just any future.
It is the future that God has planned for us and our world.
We are responsible to bring this future out of the realm of the unseen and into the world of the seen and lived.
And we can.
We can create a better future for ourselves and others.
If we really want to.
History is full of moral conflicts. What’s the biggest challenge to moral leadership today? Drop a comment and share your thoughts.
Adapted from Live Ten (Thomas Nelson) and The Hospitable Leader (Baker Publishing Group) by Terry A. Smith. All rights reserved.
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