Response to Ideation as a Leader

Scripture — Response to Ideation as a Leader

When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes and went through the city, wailing with a loud and bitter cry; he went up to the entrance of the king’s gate, for no one might enter the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. In every province, wherever the king’s command and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and most of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Devotion

When we have had it, sometimes we feel like the only option is to push through it. Sometimes, instead of moving, we need to pause and tear some garments and wear some ashes. I wonder what Mordecai felt about his part in the Persian persecution of the Jewish people. Hard decisions lead to rough consequences that can be overwhelming. It is very easy in a postmodern society to take a sterile approach to the circumstances around us. Mordecai could have concluded that he made the right decision, and that was all that mattered. He could have concluded that whatever happened next for the people of Israel just is what it is, so long as he had done the right thing.

One of the intrinsic skills of an active disciple of Jesus is the recognition of nuance. Anyone who speaks of a kingdom that is already and not yet knows nuance. Nuance makes it possible to deeply understand what someone is saying and also disagree with it without image-bearing loss. Crying is sometimes from grief and joy at the same time. And Mordecai demonstrates principles of lament in the nuance of doing the right things, but also recognizing the pain associated with this.

First, Mordecai tore his clothes, grabbed sackclothes, and picked up his ashes. Culture allows us to feel deeply, to lament—provided it does not infringe upon my privacy, choice, or opportunities. The sackcloth and ashes are more than an emotional disposition; they are going to affect his body. Grief in the workplace, the city, etc., should cause something about our disposition to change.

Next, he went into the city. His lament was not behind closed doors or in the recesses of his concerns away from the town. He called the city to consciousness and choice: to choose to understand why, to choose to ignore, or to engage.

Finally, he took the lament to the furthest place he could. He pushed truth up to the point where the ruling authority would have to decide how to address the issue of the lament.

Mordecai pressed up against a gate with a lament and asked the ruling authority to undo the edict of death. He could only take it to the gate. Jesus pressed against the cross with lament, but instead of undoing the edict, he transferred the consequences to himself. Neither Mordecai nor Christ stared at grief and walked away; they chose to embrace it, and there was a reward.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: An Honorable Leader.