Blind Eye Leadership (Ordinary Time - Day 18)

1 Samuel 2:27-36

There was a guy who used to work at the job I'm currently employed at. One weekend, he decided to sneak out about 100 pounds of shrimp. He was caught on camera, and fired once it was proven that the shrimp were stolen.

My employers view their business as a ministry. They see the restaurant as a mission field, as a place where they can invest in the lives of the people they employ. They want it to be a training ground for life, a starting place for future jobs. My employers pray for us, care about us, and do everything they can to help us grow and stretch our faith. 

One of the hard parts about being an employer though is balancing the tension between grace and discipline. I would say it's the toughest part about being in any position of authority. When someone is obviously doing things that don't fall in line with the vision of the mission, do we use grace or discipline or both?

In today's passage, the high priest Eli is receiving word from a prophet. The prophet is conveying a message from God. He says that because of Eli's refusal to demote his sons - who are ripping off the people who bring sacrifices and sleeping with the women who come to work at the sanctuary - his family will not live to see the good things that God does in Israel. I think it's interesting that in this story, the prophet doesn't go directly to the errant sons, but to the father, the authority figure. Eli is held responsible not for his son's actions, but for his own inaction. 

I don't believe I'm responsible for anyone else's actions except my own. I can't control what other people choose to do. However, I can control what I do. Eli was probably full of fear of what his sons might do or say if he demoted them or kicked them out of their positions as servants to the sanctuary. He questioned what they were doing, and told them it was wrong, but they didn't listen. He turned them loose and kept them on board, even though they continued to take advantage of other people. It was Eli's inaction that brought consequences. 

I think the same is true for us. There is always tension between grace and discipline, but when they are byproducts of fear, both are insufficient. I would like to make a note that the passage doesn't say that Eli was taken advantage of by his sons. The people who were taken advantage of were the people who were doing what they were supposed to do. What did they receive for it? Corruption, theft, and rape. These guys were doing some pretty gnarly things. Eli saw what they were doing, slapped them on the wrist, and walked away, turning a blind eye. 

There's this phrase that I've heard commonly used, and I've even used it several times: "You have to fight your own battles, not other people's." I believe this is true to an extent. However, there are battles that we have signed up to step into. There are situations that we are responsible to step into when injustice is occurring. When my employers hire somebody, they are accepting the responsibility of having to one day fire them if needed, or promote them if necessary. This is what employers do. To turn a blind eye would severely affect the mission of the business, putting the whole staff in jeopardy. They had no control over whether the employee stole or not. They did have control over letting him go or keeping him. 

I cannot keep people from making bad decisions, and I can't make people make good decisions. Hell, I can hardly do it for myself. However, if I have stepped into a position of leadership, whether it be at work, school, church, or family, I've accepted the role of stepping in when people are hurting other people. I have responsibility there. I can't control the results but I can do something. I am responsible for doing something. 

I think this works for all of us. We've all stepped into forms of leadership in some form or another. If we're good at something, or have any talent at all, then we have something to share with the world. We have something to teach. We are leaders at giving away whatever talents we have. When injustice is happening around us, we have two choices: turn a blind eye or create a way to act. What are we going to do today?

Today's Action: At the first sign of injustice today, create one way to do something. Whether it be a homeless person standing on the street corner, or someone at work putting a coworker down, do something. Lets take turning a blind eye out of the playbook today.