Many early leaders of this country had strong religious views and convictions that drove them in their daily lives. Men like George Washington were described as deeply pious. And they had to be. They were creating a new country from scratch and they needed to stand firm in their views to gain support for the cause. Had they been wavering in their opinions, they would not have been able to build this country we are fortunate enough to live in.
I witnessed this for the first time in politics yesterday at the Charleston Leadership Prayer Breakfast. This was a gathering of community leaders organized to pray for the city of Charleston and the Mayor of Charleston, Joseph P. Riley was there in full support. He spoke at the breakfast and although I’m sure he rubbed some elbows while he was there, his presence showed that he has taken his stance and showed the world what his views are. Although this is the bible belt, I am sure that there were people who told Mayor Riley he should not go “in case he offended someone.”
I was overwhelmingly proud to be a citizen of Charleston when I was able to wrap my mind around this idea. The mayor of the city I live in has enough conviction to show up to Christian Prayer Breakfast with pastors, religious leaders, and a keynote speaker that is openly Christian man named Phil Cooke (excellent speaker as well). Mayor Joe Riley is a man of conviction and is not afraid to take a stand for what he believes in. He was not afraid that he might have alienated some people who didn’t share his viewpoint, he was unapologetic about being present.
How many leaders do you know that are willing to stand up for their beliefs? How many of them have beliefs strong enough to stand up for? How many of them waver in the face of adversity and change their opinion to please everyone? If we cannot answer those questions in an instant, we’re following the wrong people.
More importantly, what about our own convictions. What are we willing to stand up for? What cause are we willing to put our names on the line for? Can we say that we’re willing to be scrutinized for? What are we willing to defend? Are we attempting to please everyone? If we cannot answer these questions we need to work on ourselves before guiding others.
Wavering leaders do not know where to go and don’t take their tribe anywhere. A leader with strength and strong stances knows their direction and will not falter when the going gets tough, just as our forefathers did.