| DEMISE OF DYNASTY |
|
|
|
| |||
|
ON 29 of May 2008 we watched on TV with great curiosity the proceeding of the Constituent Assembly and saw the foregone conclusion of the ouster of monarchy in Nepal. It was most astounding because the Shah dynasty had ruled Nepal for 240 years and a few years back it would have been preposterous to think that the dynasty will be consigned to ignoble history with the negative votes of the people of Nepal. Well, the unthinkable has happened. I am not a Nepali citizen and not a politician and so do not want to make any political statement on the present event. But as I saw some of the things on TV, I began to think of Christian leadership and how we can learn some lessons from this most unthinkable event in the history of Nepal. After all the fall of monarchy was mostly the failure of leadership of the present deposed king of Nepal. He was a king but obviously not a good leader of his people. The King and the institution of monarchy were thought to be unshakable and so the king took little notice of the voice of the people. In today’s world it seems what is irrelevant is tossed aside and there is no sense of regret. I am sure in the past the monarchy and Shah dynasty did a lot to bring the small and scattered kingdoms together and shaped modern Nepal and once upon a time monarchy had a valid relevance but today there seems to be no use of this archaic institution particularly when it is seen as burden rather than an asset. The church of Nepal today is basically a movement and relevant to our society. But as the years go by we need to keep watching that this movement does not become an institution just for the sake of institution. Let us remember the Word of God which teaches that the church is a living body and not a dead monument. We must be a pilgrim church always on the move and always moving towards the destination to which we are called by the Lord Jesus Christ. The king of Nepal was always surrounded by the wrong coterie of people and they perhaps never told the truth to him. Also it is possible that the King never listened to right advisors and this was the undoing of the king. Remember how the Nation of Israel was torn into two pieces just because the king Rehoboam did not listen to the right advice and was surrounded by the wrong advisors. The good Christian leaders are those people who are surrounded by leaders who are honest and do not hesitate to tell the truth and this becomes a way of safeguarding the person of great leadership capability. If you are a leader surround yourself with those who are honest to the core and watch over you. Also try to have leaders who are more capable than you because they will help and give you stronger leadership to you. The arrogance of the present king is well known. His idea was like a Hindi saying ‘Zamana hum se hai ham zamane se nahin’. Some of the stories going around may not all be true yet the tendency of the King was more of arrogance than anything else. He dismissed the elected govt. with impunity but could not solve the raging problem of Maoists insurgency. The leaders of the church need to be men and women of humility. The Bible clearly says “Pride goes before a fall” The reason any king or leader rose in history was to lead the people to victory, peace and prosperity. The main reason for the existence and function of leaders is to serve the people and when this is not fulfilled then the fall is sure to come. I know of some leaders who go around like peacocks as if the whole world owes them a living and all should bow and serve them. But a genuine leader is someone whose goal is not to seek service but to serve the people. The Lord Jesus was a radical paradigm of leader-servant who was willing to wash the feet of the disciples and thereby also teach them the importance of humility. The King of Nepal was not in touch with the nerve of the changing world politics and the political reality of his country. The fight for democracy came not all of a sudden but it was years of slow but steady struggle of the people of Nepal. Any wise leader would have seen that and sought remedy but it was not so in the case of the ousted king. He secluded in the palace, surrounded by discarded leaders did not know what was really happening outside the impregnable wall of the Narayahitty Palace. A Christian leader is someone who is able to not only be among the people but also be in tune with the people of his people. He should walk in the shoes of his people all the time. The king was discredited too because of his family and particularly his obviously rascal son. The King and the family should have been the role model to lead the people. We lead not by the strength of our position but by the strength of our character and this is at times forgotten by the leaders of the church. We think our position gives us the right to lead the people and this is partly true but our position will have to be bolstered by our character. We and our families are not expected to be perfect but at least should have lives worth emulating. The people of Nepal was being influenced by the world changes but the monarch of Nepal treated the people of Nepal as mere subjects whose job was to simply and without question obey the king and this was one of the reasons of the downfall of the monarchy. A good leader is someone who is able to see the progress of the people and deal with them accordingly. An adept leader is someone who knows what the people are thinking and how their energy can be channeled. Today we hear in the Western nations that great number of good Christians forsake so called mainline churches to join small churches and one of the reasons why this is happening is because the church has not learned to change or change too slow for the people. I will advocate here that there are some issues which can never change but equally there are things which can be and must be changed in order to move with time. Apart from the certain important matters mentioned you all must be thinking of many other reasons. I am just very concern that we as leaders must know the real meaning of leadership and particularly Biblical leadership so that we can truly lead the people of God to all the things that God desires for each of us. Let me end this devotion with this appeal that we continue to pray for the former king and ask God to be merciful to him. Let me also say that we need to pray for the present leaders so that they may govern Nepal with great deal of wisdom, honesty and sacrifice. The great and peaceful Nepali people no longer need uncertainty and confusion but are in acute need of peace, stability and prosperity. They have had enough of blood and violence and now they want roti, kapda ra ghar. If they are not able to fulfill the aspiration of the people then they will also have dismal end. Let us support and help our leaders to help the people of Nepal. Newer...
Older...
Set as favorite Bookmark
Email This
Hits: 607 Trackback(0)
Comments (0)
 Write comment
|
|||
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
