BE a Manger Leader

UV 2152/10000 Be A Manger Leader
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
Luke 2 v 16
Jesus, though the Lord of heaven, of angels and archangels did not deem it below Him to be born in a manger. He could have chosen the grandest of palaces and royal families to be born into. But, He chose to be born into the poorest of royal families, the lineage of King David, in the house of a carpenter. All that was available to usher in the Lord of the universe into the world was a cave in which cattle and sheep were kept. The reason He could do this was that He knew who He is- the Son of God who is the Bread of Life, the Light of the world, the True Vine, the Resurrection and the Life, The Good Shepherd, The Gate, The Way, The Truth and The Life. He made these seven claims and substantiated it by His life, works, words and miracles.

Jesus initiated a new type of leadership and management called “MANGER LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT”. All other leaders and managers are “danger leaders” or blind leaders and blind managers as they do not know who they truly are, they do not know where they came from and where they are heading, they do not know all aspects of the past, present or future, they do not have a vision for the world, for others or even for themselves. A manger leader or manager is a visionary as he knows where he comes from and where he is going. He knows his identity is derived from the ultimate and absolute reality- God Himself. When he refers to himself as “ I”, he implies that he eats of the Bread of Life, that he is guided by the eternal and unfading light of Jesus, the Morning or Day Star of his life. He recognizes that he is grafted onto the True Vine to experience the discipline of truth and the freedom of grace. He avails of the impossibility, miraculous, awesome Resurrection power made available by faith in the finished work of Jesus. He is guarded, guided and governed by the Good Shepherd to become a good shepherd himself and not a wolf or fox in sheep skin. A manger leader or manager is led by God Himself.

The manger leader or manager seeks opportunities to enter only by the narrow gate and not the broad gate of the world. The manger leader identifies with the poorest of the poor and the weakest of the weak. He is compassionate and not clever and calculating only what is in it for him. He is interested in the common good. A manger leader lends his eyes, ears, hands, resources and voice to the mute and defenceless, symbolised by the baying cattle and bleating sheep in the manger. A manger leader or manager is a risk taker, stays calm under pressure. He views everything from an eternal perspective and not merely from a temporal perspective. A manger leader or manager is neither ashamed of poverty nor proud about riches. He is willing to stoop to lend a hand to others to climb, to help others conquer. A manger leader or manager blends authority with humility. A manger manager or leader acts on the presumption that wealth, power, talent and ability are a trust, an opportunity to serve, a responsibility to fulfill, not resources to squander or flaunt. Manger management and manger leadership implies going to the bottom of the human pyramid and uplifting the oppressed, the down trodden, those who are at the bottom of the social ladder.

Prateep V Philip