So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “You are old and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” But when they said give us a king to lead us, this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.”
1 Samuel 8:6-7 (NIV)
It is not the X’s and O’s; it is the Jims and the Joes. This is a phrase used by football coaches at coaching clinics. The idea goes, “I don’t care what formation and plays that you have - your future is going to be set by the superstars on your team.” Is that really true or is that just another pop culture view of life that causes more harm than good? Perhaps it undermines teamwork, the most powerful force in winning athletics. I say that because there is a view of life that is spread by Inside Edition, MTV, and most of western culture that tells us that some people are just “great”. They should walk the red carpet, be devoured by paparazzi, and fill our history books to describe what is really taking place on this planet. Will Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt ever end senseless war and poverty in this world? Or will Princess Diana? This view of life even comes into the church and the view of religion. It is called the Great Man Theory and it is time for this theory to die. A great man builds a church, a ministry, a business or a nation, right? That is what the people of Israel tried to talk Samuel into and he knew the imperfections of humanity, without reading Inside Edition.
Oxford Professor Isaiah Berlin used a line from Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason to write a very insightful essay proposing that perhaps the Enlightenment did not give us the ultimate picture of science or philosophy. The line he borrowed from the giant of rationalism (who many postmoderns forget was writing in critique of rationalism alone without faith) was, “a crooked timber called humanity”. In this essay, Berlin points out that after the Enlightenment, two great forces were unleashed on the world: science, which has transformed the world, and universal philosophies such as Marxism or Nazism, etc. Each set of universal ideas promises to create an earthly utopia masterminded by a great man. Any means can be justified in achieving such an idealistic end. As a child, Berlin experienced two revolutions in Russia that deeply influenced his perspective and planted seeds of skepticism concerning the Great Man Theory. Whether you agree with him or not, his writings are fertile with thought-provoking ideas.
I have had the privilege of meeting some great people, many of whom left me feeling somewhat disappointed. I met Paul Hornung, the great Green Bay Packer running back at a party. He was one of the most versatile athletes of all time. And he was a notorious playboy. He once said, “Never get married in the morning, you never know who you might meet by night.” He was suspended from the NFL for gambling on games. There he was sitting in the corner all by himself at a party. So I went over to talk to him. I said, “You are Paul Hornung, aren’t you?” He said, “Yeah, who are you?” I said, “I’m nobody famous; I am just a pastor of a local church who had a friend who invited me to this party.” And then I said, “How are you doing?” He said, “Terrible” with the most painful groan I have ever heard. I asked compassionately, “What is the matter?” He said, “I am at fancy party with lots of booze which my liver can’t take, beautiful women in dazzling dresses and my knees hurt so bad that I am stuck in a corner talking to a pastor!” I was a bit disappointed after meeting that great man. But I also met Bart Starr, the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, and he signed a football for my dad and even personalized it with Best Wishes Dale White. You never know where you are going to find great people. The fact that we are all “crooked timber” is not an excuse to miss the high calling that God has for us. But it is an opportunity to see life as it really exists. I have met some great preachers and came away thinking, “Wow, I know a half dozen Sunday school teachers, farmers, single moms and janitors who leave me with an impression of greatness that far exceeds this celebrity!”
The Great Man Theory always breaks down at some point. I did not build Washington Cathedral alone. Jackie has played a more crucial role than I have. When I hear my daughters pray, I am so humbled; I learn more from them than I will ever teach them. Many times I have been paranoid, afraid, insecure… and people like Ray and Joanne Vath, or John and Greg Hanna have bolstered my confidence. Elling and Barbara Halvorson are the ones that stuck their necks out to get our Re-Creation Center started. I could tell the stories of Jane Bishop, Marcy Marquez, Emily Boyce, Wayne Meyers, Bill Holmes, Bill Biggs, and so many more. The specialness of Washington Cathedral is the team God creates to create it. This has considerable implications for building a meta church; a church that can only exist as the leadership team yields to the leadership of God. Think about the implications! We have a lot to learn together about what this means for Washington Cathedral. God is working among us.
Oxford Professor Isaiah Berlin used a line from Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason to write a very insightful essay proposing that perhaps the Enlightenment did not give us the ultimate picture of science or philosophy. The line he borrowed from the giant of rationalism (who many postmoderns forget was writing in critique of rationalism alone without faith) was, “a crooked timber called humanity”. In this essay, Berlin points out that after the Enlightenment, two great forces were unleashed on the world: science, which has transformed the world, and universal philosophies such as Marxism or Nazism, etc. Each set of universal ideas promises to create an earthly utopia masterminded by a great man. Any means can be justified in achieving such an idealistic end. As a child, Berlin experienced two revolutions in Russia that deeply influenced his perspective and planted seeds of skepticism concerning the Great Man Theory. Whether you agree with him or not, his writings are fertile with thought-provoking ideas.
I have had the privilege of meeting some great people, many of whom left me feeling somewhat disappointed. I met Paul Hornung, the great Green Bay Packer running back at a party. He was one of the most versatile athletes of all time. And he was a notorious playboy. He once said, “Never get married in the morning, you never know who you might meet by night.” He was suspended from the NFL for gambling on games. There he was sitting in the corner all by himself at a party. So I went over to talk to him. I said, “You are Paul Hornung, aren’t you?” He said, “Yeah, who are you?” I said, “I’m nobody famous; I am just a pastor of a local church who had a friend who invited me to this party.” And then I said, “How are you doing?” He said, “Terrible” with the most painful groan I have ever heard. I asked compassionately, “What is the matter?” He said, “I am at fancy party with lots of booze which my liver can’t take, beautiful women in dazzling dresses and my knees hurt so bad that I am stuck in a corner talking to a pastor!” I was a bit disappointed after meeting that great man. But I also met Bart Starr, the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, and he signed a football for my dad and even personalized it with Best Wishes Dale White. You never know where you are going to find great people. The fact that we are all “crooked timber” is not an excuse to miss the high calling that God has for us. But it is an opportunity to see life as it really exists. I have met some great preachers and came away thinking, “Wow, I know a half dozen Sunday school teachers, farmers, single moms and janitors who leave me with an impression of greatness that far exceeds this celebrity!”
The Great Man Theory always breaks down at some point. I did not build Washington Cathedral alone. Jackie has played a more crucial role than I have. When I hear my daughters pray, I am so humbled; I learn more from them than I will ever teach them. Many times I have been paranoid, afraid, insecure… and people like Ray and Joanne Vath, or John and Greg Hanna have bolstered my confidence. Elling and Barbara Halvorson are the ones that stuck their necks out to get our Re-Creation Center started. I could tell the stories of Jane Bishop, Marcy Marquez, Emily Boyce, Wayne Meyers, Bill Holmes, Bill Biggs, and so many more. The specialness of Washington Cathedral is the team God creates to create it. This has considerable implications for building a meta church; a church that can only exist as the leadership team yields to the leadership of God. Think about the implications! We have a lot to learn together about what this means for Washington Cathedral. God is working among us.
Tim White
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