Hope is Your Responsibility

As a leader, some things are not your responsibility. You're not responsible for the weather. You're not responsible for the downturn in the economy. You're not responsible to answer for everything that God does or doesn't do. But whether you're a Dad, a CEO, a daycare supervisor, a financial consultant, you are responsible for maintaining an hopeful attitude.

Hope is critical, especially in times of crisis and in times when we need to persevere. It's what keeps us going when we feel like quitting. It's what helps us endure the tragedy in a movie: "Just hold on. I know the ending."

Someone was responsible for a hopeful attitude when the Cardinals were 10 games out of first place in August. The manager, LaRussa had to inspire hope. The team had to embrace it. Why are leaders responsible for that?

Because there are hope drainers. It might be the discouraging business report. It might be the Eyores in your organization or family. It may be an unexpected crisis. We all have them--the 9/11's of life, when the wheels come off, when the sales report is abysmal, when the unexpected happens. And as Christians, there is also the problem of sin in all of us which can bend our attitude toward despair.

Hope can give way to hopelessness which means, “having no expectation of good or success.” They say, "Man can live about forty days without food, About three days without water, About eight minutes without air, But only one second without hope."

That's why you are responsible for hope. If you as a leader don't maintain and protect hope in an organization, you're sunk. John Ortberg says it well, "The church is in the hope business...you can’t delegate hope.1

How can we inspire hope? Paul the apostle says we are to rejoice in hope and be patient in crisis. (see Romans 12:12). As Christians, we can lead with hope because:

1. We believe crisis has the potential to grow us. "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces HOPE." (Romans 5.3,4, emphasis added) What produces hope? Hope is four steps away from suffering. You as a leader can help someone see,

• "This crisis in our marriage is difficult but I have hope that beyond this is a stronger, deeper relationship. 
• "This economic downturn is hard, but can make us learn how to be frugal yet strategic."

2. We believe that even in the bleakest of circumstance there is often the possibility of a good outcome. As leaders, we don't ignore the facts. That's stupid. But neither do we ignore the possibilities because "with God, all things are possible."

• "You failed the exam, but is it possible for you to take it again?"
• "You didn't get the job, but is there another option for you?"
• "The doctor's report is not good. But God is mighty."

Again, we don't ignore the facts. But neither should you ignore the possibilities.

3. As Christians, we believe Hope is a Person. Not a feeling. Not optimism. But our hope is rooted in the Person of Jesus, the One who triumphed over the ultimate weapon of hopelessness, Death, by rising from the dead!

• “What you’re clinging to is not the answer." (Meth, a loser, a job) Hope is found in Jesus. 
• "Even if we die, we have an eternal hope if we are in Christ, which cannot be destroyed." (see 1 Peter 1:23)

Leader, you're responsible for hope. Christian, you have a hope. This hope is Jesus Christ.

1. John Ortberg in LeadershipJournal.net, 2/11/2008. http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/currenttrendscolumns/leadershipweekly/cln80211.html (Accessed 2/11/2011).

Why I'm hopeful regarding our new President

We're into the first few weeks of a new administration. Those on the left are hoping he'll be the new man who will promote their agenda. Many on the right side of the spectrum are mostly dismal. While as a Christian, I can find several issues with which to disagree with our new President, I have been thinking about reasons to stay hopeful:

• I am hopeful because President Obama did not cancel his invitation to Pr. Rick Warren from his inauguration ceremony. This showed some courage on our President's part and I am hopeful that relationship will bear some fruit.
• I am hopeful because this President seems to be really in love with his wife. I see genuine affection between the two of them. What a different model for black America than rappers!
• I am hopeful because this President may inspire hope for those like himself who overcame being abandoned by his father, drug abuse as a teen, to become a law professor and eventually the President of the United States.
• I am hopeful because the majority of Americans did not allow color to be a deciding factor in this race. In my view, that is a good thing for a nation which 50 years ago still had different drinking fountains for blacks. Racism has been dealt a strong blow.

Our nation needs hope. I can see reasons for hope and although my trust is ultimately in God, I refuse to give in to fear.

Lastly, I am grateful for President Bush who has declared his faith in Christ, stayed true to one wife, and served our country for the last eight years.

By the way, I'm committed to pray for our president no matter what he does. That's not an option on the table. It's a commandment. (1 Timothy 2:1-4)