Dare Great Things For Christ

Choosing to lead is choosing a kind of solitude, a way of life that few people understand.  Leadership has its own crosses and its own blessings, and its own rewards.  St. Thomas Aquinas in his book, De Regno, in chapter 10, lays out for us the uncommon rewards for the uncommon sacrifices that a leader has to endure for the sake of God. 

For all the effort that goes into leadership what shall be our reward?  Afterall considering all the things that we sacrifice and do in order to make great things happen, what does God have laid up for us who have labored so hard for Him?  Is it earthly glory?  Is it power and prestige?  What should it be?  St. Thomas Aquinas offers us an amazing insight in his letter, De Regno.

In Chapter 9 of De Regno, Thomas Aquinas makes a startling discovery.  He speaks about the reward that God is offering for the leader.  And he ends by saying that the reward of the leader is to have God himself.  This strikes me as important for us to understand the true nature of happiness – the true reason of why we are doing what we are doing.

Without a doubt our life as leaders can propose challenges.  And yet, what is its reward?  What are we in this for after all?  And as a Christian leader, what is it proper to be in it for?  What is the proper reward for a follower of Christ who takes upon himself or herself the mantle of leadership?  Is it right to look for anything at all?  What does our Lord teach us about leadership and its rewards?

Everybody is tempted sometimes to question the value of leading by virtue.  Afterall, wouldn’t we make more money, be more profitable, find power quicker by mitigating our leadership into a life of power seeking or pleasure seeking?  Sometimes it seems like people who don’t follow God’s law even flourish the quicker.  Thomas Aquinas gives us a different perspective and underlines the essential importance that virtue plays in leadership.

When I first began these leadership lessons on De Regno by Aquinas, I never anticipated finding some of the greatest jewels about leadership in the chapter on tyranny.  But in fact, that is just what happened.  Sometimes you see most clearly what a thing is by looking at it’s opposite.  And Aquinas shows us most clearly what good Christian leadership looks like by looking at it’s opposition - tyranny.

In today’s world it can be very confusing to figure out exactly what it is we’re supposed to do as leaders.  Many people will have many opinions.  Leaders bringing concord, leaders charging from the front, leaders supporting all with compassion.  St. Thomas Aquinas actually has a very clear vision for leaders.  He calls it unity.  But what exactly does he mean?

We all know that leaders have authority and that that authority has an impact on those that they lead.  But the question is, “How does that leader make that authority felt with strength while at the same time effectively build up the people that are under him with gentleness?”  In his work, De Regno, written to the King of Cyprus, St. Thomas Aquinas offers a valuable lesson on this subject.

The work of St. Thomas Aquinas remains at the center of Catholic tradition.  In his many writings Thomas treats of leadership in many different ways.  But nowhere is his treatment as concise or condensed as in his letter to the King of Cyprus in his book De Regno.  I’d like to continue lessons that I’ve given on this book about leadership.  This is lesson number two on Leaders of the Common Good.

St. Thomas Aquinas is one of the greatest minds in the history of the world.  He wrote about authority and leadership in many different ways and in many places.  Today, I’d like to begin a series studying his thoughts on leadership and the impact that that can make directly on our modern-day leaders.  Join me on this exciting adventure as we begin a ten part series on the leadership lessons of Aquinas.