EMASCULATION AND LEADERSHIP To emasculate is to deprive someone of power. The antithesis of endowment is emasculation. Emasculation makes leadership heavy for both the leaders and the followers. When Saul and Nebuchadnezzar ruled and they disobeyed God, they were emasculated of their powers. The emasculated leader, because his rod and staff have been taken away, no longer becomes a source of inspiration to the followers. Rather than respecting others and enabling them to pursue worthwhile dreams for themselves, the leader tends to think only of himself. It was said about King Saul in I Samuel 15:23 that “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he had also rejected thee from being king.” Saul did not utterly destroy the Amalekites as mandated. He kept Agag alive and retained some of the spoils of war. Emasculated leaders, because they have no vision, never write their vision out. Rather than follow the prescription in Habakkuk 2:26, which states, “And the Lord answered me, and said, write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it,” emasculated leaders lead in a slipshod manner. They have no capacity to explain and sell their visions and dreams to their followers, so their followers have no visions and dreams to rally behind. Shepherd leaders are usually engaged to interpret dreams and visions for emasculated leaders. For instance, this was the case with Joseph, who interpreted Pharaoh’s vision. Joseph was rewarded, as he became a prime minister in Egypt. Also, in Daniel 5:29, it was reported, “Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.” Daniel interpreted the vision of Nebuchadnezzar and became the third ruler of the Chaldeans. Emasculated leaders are notorious for one of the deadly sins: pride. For instance, in Daniel 5:20–21, it was reported of Nebuchadnezzar: But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. With the hearts of beasts, leaders become preoccupied with pride and focus on their powers and prestige. They no longer have time for visioning, strategizing, and planning. They forget their source and go after the sauce. Their opinion of themselves becomes bloated. When this happens, emasculation plays the masquerade. In a prophecy about the irresponsible shepherds in Zechariah 11:17, it was declared: Woe to the worthless shepherd, Who leaves the flock! A sword shall be against his arm And against his right eye; His arm shall completely wither, And his right eye shall be totally blind. Mike Murdock, televangelist and pastor of the Wisdom Center, explained in his pamphlet Leadership Secrets for Excellence and Increase that “a thought is not a plan. A wish is not a plan, and a possibility is not a plan.” Plans are consciously documented. This is why leaders should appropriate time and effort to strategically plan and develop clear-cut, written visions and goals for their spheres of leadership. When a leader has no plan, he or she is tempted to engage in vain glory and slip into error. Emasculated leaders who only solve their personal problems do not warm themselves to the heart of God and so do not receive His favor. Apostle Paul advised in Philippians 2:3–4, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” Emasculated leaders do not enjoy the emancipation Job enjoyed in the Holy Bible. Job, a godly man, was tempted and brought down from grace to grass, yet he prayed for his friends, and his captivity was turned into captivation. Emasculated leaders, rather than seeing rejection as a forerunner to change, fight their way to remain in power at all costs, and thus they become burden givers rather than burden bearers. They carry the mantra, “Inconvenience is permanent; comfort temporary. These are the rewards for putting us into power.” They become masters specializing in servitude instead of service, and hence, they do not respect the time, work, family, health, and spirituality of others. They become unpredictive. Emasculated Leadership The biblical Samson provides a case study of self-emasculation. The sixteenth chapter of Judges records thus: Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her. And it was told the Gazites, saying, Samson is come hither. And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron. And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them. Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber. And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire. So his strength was not known. And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber. And he brake them from off his arms like a thread. And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, if thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web. And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web. And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart. Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand. And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven. Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand. And when the people saw him, they praised their god: for they said, Our god hath delivered into our hands our enemy, and the destroyer of our country, which slew many of us. And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars. And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport. And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes. And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood, and on which it was borne up, of the one with his right hand, and of the other with his left. And Samson, said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life. Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down, and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the burying place of Manoah his father. And he judged Israel twenty years. Samson was a shepherd leader for God until he leaked out the secret of his God-given strength to Delilah, the Philistine. Certain issues emerged from this incident. First, it appeared that Samson was a mismatch to Delilah, based on the principle of faith. Second, Samson allowed the immediate pleasure of the relationship with Delilah to blind his reasoning power to the extent that he could not foresee the danger lurking around. Third, Samson’s power of resistance broke down when Delilah persistently pestered him. Though he killed more Philistines than he had ever killed before, he untimely ended his shepherdhood in that debacle. Leaders who think of what people will say about them and who unethically dispense favor have themselves to blame, for when the chips are down, they will suffer self-emasculation. Moses, on the other hand, emasculated himself through anger, another deadly sin. In Deuteronomy 32:48–52, Moses’s demise was recorded thus: And the Lord spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying, Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession: And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people: Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribahkadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel. Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel. Due to untamed anger, Moses could not reach the promised land of Canaan. His shepherdhood was transferred to Joshua, who took the children of Israel through. Joshua 1:1–9, records: Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and up to the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee; I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. A leader’s untoward behavior can emasculate him of leadership. Several leaders have been brought down from their exalted offices because of their personal misdemeanors. God-centered behavior does not bring glut; rather, it brings glory. Emasculated Followership The leader can emasculate his followers as well. When a leader sits tight, refuses to empower his or her followers, takes away their common resources from them, and disenfranchises, impoverishes, and denies them freedom of speech and certain privileges, he or she has emasculated them. The effect is that there will be no perceived justice and judgment in the leadership sphere. I suffered emasculated followership at one point in my career. I had an encounter with a certain leader of whom people say is very blunt. I went to his office to seek his support for time away from work, which would enable me to conclude a program I had begun three years before. I entered his exalted office, introduced myself, and broached the subject. After I had finished explaining my mission, he snapped: What do you need a PhD for? If you were not given study leave with pay, then you don’t take it. But if you take it, good luck! Don’t you know that if we are firing people, and we look at the payroll and see people who are not busy at work, those are the people we are going to fire? You have a job. Do it the way others have been doing it. If we need a PhD holder, we can go to the labor market and get one within two days. This corporation cannot spend money on you. This corporation is not a training ground. I wanted to explain further, but the leader retorted, “No arguments, no arguments!” I left his office downcast and discouraged, but I continued with the program. However, the approval came when I stubbornly and justifiably advanced the request to his boss, a boss he did not honor with his presence when he was invited to see the boss on the issue. The rest of the story is to the glory of God, enriched experience, and enhanced learning. Without intending to be judgmental, I think bluntness exercised egoistically is not a characteristic of shepherd leadership. I was indeed emasculated by the response I received from that leader who addressed me bluntly without considering my feelings. His “no” was ego-based and carried no empathy. Meanwhile, unknown to this leader, I was covering a job schedule that gave me the opportunity to see several approvals for time off that had been given to favored colleagues. Why the selective approval? Shepherd leaders treat their flocks equally and speak empathetically without showing brazen resentment. Effective communication on why leaders are saying no and how they say no is important. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander! Inconsiderate answers by leaders can result in one lost sheep out of a hundred. In the bid to locate this lost sheep, leaders can expose the other ninety-nine sheep to danger. Leaders who do not know how to convey no to their followers are perceived as suffering from leadership deficiency. Shepherd leaders are aware that when they cough, news is made; when they sneeze, the media becomes agog; and when they talk, the whole world pays attention.
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 06:00:00 +0000
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