THE ROLE OF THE CHURCH IN THE COMTEMPORARY SOCIETY

By Mr Joshua T. Abu

“Just as it is in the world’s interest to acknowledge the Church as a historical reality, and to recognise her good influence, so the Church herself knows how richly she has profited by the history and development of humanity.”

- His Holiness, Pope Paul VI, December 7, 1965 -

(Pastoral Constitution: On the Church in Modern World, art. 44)                                   

Introduction:

The Church is the body of baptised people of God which is created by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel to proclaim and follow God’s crucified Messiah our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is the gathering of children, youth, women, and men who hear, believe and receive the living Christ in Word and Sacrament and who witnesses in word and deed to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

The witness of the Church in society therefore, naturally, flows from its identity as a community that lives from and for the Gospel. Faith as we all know is active in love; with love calling for justice in relationships and structures of society. Through preaching, teaching, the Sacraments, and the Scriptures, the Church is gathered and shaped by the Holy Spirit to be a serving and liberating presence in the world. In praying for peace of the whole world and in interceding for those who suffer and for those in authority for example, the Church serves the world. As Christians we believe that we belong to the “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic” Church (Church universal) irrespective of the denominations we belong to. The Church has a duty and responsibility therefore, to continuously give thanks to God for His blessings of creation and to pray for empowerment to do God’s will in society.

The Church within the Context of the Society:

The Gospel does not take the Church out of the world but rather it calls it to affirm and enter more deeply into the world. In doing so however, the Gospel does not allow the Church to accommodate to the ways of the world. Hence, even though the Church is “in” the world, it is not “from” or “of” the world. We must acknowledge that although in bondage to sin and death, the world is God’s good creation, for which and because of love, God in Jesus Christ became flesh and died for our sins and in that way guarantees us salvation. As a result, the Church and the world have a common destiny in the reign of God and in that way, Christians have double citizenship – that of the earthly kingdom (world) and that of the heavenly kingdom.

It is pertinent to point out here that the Church acts for the sake of the world in hope and prayer as we proclaim: “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.” The presence and promise of God’s reign, here on earth makes the Church/Christians restless and discontented with the world’s brokenness and violence. In reality, acting for the sake of God’s world requires and implies resisting and struggling against the evils of the world. We must similarly appreciate the fact that although the Church is ideally “a new creation …from God” (2Cor. 5:17-18), it is still part of a fallen humanity (world), sharing fully its brokenness as well its evils and wickedness. This is the context and reality in which the Church and Christians operate and are expected to make a difference.

The Church’s Responsibility in the Contemporary Society:

As can be seen from the opening quotation, the Church has been constituted and structured as a society (organization)  in this world and has gained from the experiences of past and present ages in terms of progress in science and technology as well as in ideas. The development of printing press, television, radio and other information technology inventions have for example, generally enhanced the spread of the Gospel. In essence the Church has been enriched by the development of human social life. On the other hand, the Church has responsibilities to this world and has in its own way influenced the world in so many ways. In playing its role however, the Church must be guided by one fact which is that the kingdom of God may come, and that the salvation of the whole human race may come to pass i.e. for the fulfilment of the will of God on earth.

1. Evangelism:

Perhaps the best take off point for our discussion is to reflect on our Lord’s command when he instructed his disciples to go into the world and make disciples of all nations by baptising and teaching all that He commanded (Matt. 28: 19-20). Beginning with the story told in the book of Acts and continuing to the present day, the history of the Church is one of carrying out our Lord’s Great Commission. In spite of all efforts over the years unfortunately, the battle is not yet won as there are still billions of people who do not know Christ, meaning that they do not have a share in the life that He has won for them (and his kingdom).

This sad reality should naturally grieve and fill us (Christians) with the same compassion that our Lord Jesus Christ had as He looked out over the harassed and helpless crowd as sheep without shepherd (Matt. 9: 36). The people were distressed, troubled with many cares, doubts, fears, and sicknesses. They were like sheep without a shepherd. No one seemed to care for them. No one was helping them. The Jewish leaders were indifferent (so are many of us today). They were more concerned with keeping their rules and conducting proper religious services than with helping people in their needs. Jesus told his followers that a large crop was ready to harvest, but that there were few labourers available to work at the task. He asked his followers to pray that the Lord would find workers to send into his harvest field. Isn’t this the picture of the world today? Multitudes of people who don’t know the Lord are wandering around in the world. They are confused and lost in sin, searching for help in the wrong places and are like sheep without a shepherd. We need to pray for workers (and also make ourselves available) to enter this large harvest field before it is too late, before people around us die without Christ and salvation.

Our first task as a Church and as Christians is therefore to intensify our evangelical role in the society as commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ. Sadly however, instead of evangelizing to the un-reached we tend to be moving in circles looking for converts from within the Christian folk into our various denominations instead of winning souls to Christ and His kingdom (just as Christians keep on moving from one denomination to another looking for the “right” denomination/Church). Many open churches today not because they are necessary and needed but simply because of minor disagreements with the leadership of their parent churches while some do so as if they are business empires and limited liability companies, which pass from one family member to another as if they are personal properties or companies.

Worse of all, many churches and congregations are multiplying their memberships by going light on (watering down) theology and offering their worshipers diet of sermons and support groups that emphasize personal fulfilment (or prosperity). In doing so they depict to their members what one could call “user friendly” God who smiles at their lifestyles as they continue to live as they like, while dutifully attending these churches and dolling out lots of resources to them in form of tithes and offerings. But of course we know that Christianity is not like that. It is about commitment, servant hood and sometimes even sacrifice. Unfortunately, instead of turning the world upside down with the power of the Gospel, the Church has allowed the world to turn it upside down and to squeeze it into its mould (see Romans 12:2).

Consequently but unfortunately though, in our desire to make our churches more “seeker-sensitive” and “user friendly”, we have watered down the messages delivered from the pulpits and in doing so we have taken the “teeth” out of the Gospel to use the words of Greg Laurie (in his book: The Great Compromise, 1994). As long as we continue in this way, so long will there be many un-reached, since instead of going to the un-reached we prefer to go to the reached and by so doing recycle the reached within our churches and congregations. We must therefore return to the original concept evangelism aimed at winning new converts to the Kingdom of God.

2. Interacting with Constituted Authorities:

In witnessing to Jesus Christ, the Church announces that the God who justifies expects all people to do justice. Consequently, God’s good and just demands addresses people in the obligations of their relationships and the challenges of the world. As we very much know, through divine activity of law, God preserves creation, orders society, and promotes justice in a broken world and works through the family, education, the economy, the state, and other structures necessary for life in the present age. That is why the Church has a critical role to play in all of these sectors. Similarly, God institutes governing authorities and other worldly structures and expects that His children should be active participants in them, while holding them accountable to God (Romans 13:1).

As a Church and Christians we must interact with and be part of such authorities and structures to make a difference. To be effective, we must be in government and politics, in business and commerce, in education and health, manufacturing, banking, etc. with the hope that while there we will serve as Christ’s ambassadors. It is obvious then, that as Christians if we fail to be good citizens, we would have also failed to be good Christians. This is because both the state (society) and man belong to God.

The Church must however participate in such social structures critically, knowing fully well that not only God but also the devil and sin are at work in the world. Consequently, the Church must unite realism and vision, wisdom and courage in its social responsibilities Otherwise, it shall be found wanting in its involvement in these social structures as quite a number of Christians often are. The Church must constantly discern when to support and when to confront society’s cultural patterns, values and powers so as not to be maligned (messed up) with the world.

3. Rendering Humanitarian Service:

Humanitarian work has been and continuous to be a major role of the Church and Christians for which they must be commended even though much still needs to be done. This it has done through rendering services to members and non-members alike especially to the needy and destitute, widows and orphans; by establishing hospitals and clinics; orphanages and old peoples homes; schools and skill acquisition centres as well as universities among others.

The services that such institutions rendered in the past and continue to render are enormous and as such they need to be encouraged. Our Lord Jesus Christ in fact taught us this culture as he ministered to the needs of His followers, either by feeding them when he realised they were hungry, or healing them when they were sick (Mathew 25: 31-46). In so doing he combined spiritual needs with physical needs of his followers.

As a reconciling and healing body therefore, the Church is called upon to minister to human needs with compassion and imagination. It must strive to pioneer new ways of addressing emerging social problems like crime, corruption, violence and political thuggery, the scourge of poverty, hunger and disease especially HIV/AIDS as well as environmental degradation among others. The Church has also a responsibility to mediate in conflicts whenever and wherever they occur and to advocate for just and peaceful resolution of such conflicts and divisions as well as provide succour for those who become victims of these conflicts. The Church is equally expected to support institutions and policies that serve the common good and work with and learn from others in caring for and changing the global society. But how much of humanitarian services do we render this days? We must equally revive our humanitarian spirit of rendering service to humanity with our substances so that as we minister to the spiritual needs of men we also minister to their physical needs.

4. Exposing Evil:

The Church has equally the obligation to denounce the idols before which people bow (whether power or money, principalities or secret cults); identify the power of sin present in social structures; and to advocate in hope with the poor and powerless; the oppressed and the discriminated. The Church must similarly condemn arbitrary use and abuse of power; oppression and discrimination, violation of human rights and denials of fundamental rights of the individual. In essence the Church has the social responsibility for fighting against injustice, arbitrary rule, oppression, exploitation and the like and should set the standard for the society to follow and not the other way round.

In all circumstances however, when faced with challenges to our faith as Christians, “We must obey God rather than men” (or human authority) as we are admonished to do in Acts 5: 29. This may be easier said than done but all the same it is a divine injunction. The point is that while we should try to live at peace with everyone (Romans 12: 18), conflict with the world and its authorities is sometimes inevitable for a Christian (John 15: 18) as there could be situations where one cannot obey both God and man.

In such situations we are enjoined to obey God and trust his Word. We are encouraged in doing so, by Jesus himself as stated in Luke 6: 22: “Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.” Martin Luther also opined that, the Church in contemporary world must understand that it has responsibility “to rebuke” those in authority “through God’s word spoken publicly, boldly and honestly” and that to so do is “not seditious” but “a praiseworthy, noble, and ….particularly great service to God” (Commentary on Ps. 82, Edited by Jaroslav Pelikan, Luther’s Works, Vol. 13: Selected Psalms II (St. Louis: Concordia, 1956).

5. Responsibilities as Individual Christians to the Society:

As individual Christians, we are expected to play our baptismal responsibilities in our daily lives as family members, friends, citizens, workers, and participants in public and private sectors as well as voluntary associations. This is because daily life is the primary setting in which we exercise our Christian calling. As we all know, the gift of God transforms the people of God for discipleship in daily life and in the body of Christ. The character, outlook, and moral convictions of Christians are however, shaped in distinctive ways. As a result, Jesus frees us to serve others and to walk with people, who are hungry, forgotten, oppressed, and despised. The example of Jesus Christ invites Christians to see people near and far away, people of all races/tribes, classes and cultures, friends and strangers, allies and enemies as their “neighbours.”

In these callings Christians experience both joy and brokenness and discover the sustaining power of faith. That power enables them to heal relationships, to challenge what dehumanises, to confront the structural obstacles to justice, and to seek more humane arrangements in their places of responsibility. We should recall the Beatitudes where we are reminded that: “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world…let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matt. 5: 13-16). The difference must always be clear!

The question however is whether as individuals and as a Church we are really the salt and light of the world. We wish the answer is in the affirmative, but sadly, the answer seems more likely to be in the negative going by daily reports of crimes, fraud, social violence, and other anti-social behaviours we hear every day involving Christians. The purpose of being light is clearly stated in the last portion of the above quoted passage (that men may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven). The fact of the matter is that if we live for Christ, we will glow like lights, showing others what Christ is like (exemplary Christians).

On the contrary if we hide our light as individuals and as a Church by: (a) being quite when we should speak, (b) going along with the crowd, (c) denying the light, (d) letting sin dim our light, (e) not explaining our light to others, or (f) ignoring the needs of others, then we shall not shine. The expectation is that we should be the beacons of truth – we shouldn’t shut our light off from the rest of the world. It therefore matters a lot, how we live and interact with the world around us because it is through such interactions that we truly witness Christ to the world.

6. Promoting Good Governance:

Christians can also exercise their calling by being wise and active citizens. This may include service in public office. Along with other citizens Christians have the responsibility to defend human rights and work for freedom, justice, peace, environmental well-being, public order, and good governance. Christians should equally be concerned and critical of all forms of discrimination and under-representation in the political process and discussions that affect their lives. An important way through which Christians can carry out their civic responsibilities is through participation in civil society organisations and movements, both religious and secular, and through membership of political parties.

We also need Christians in politics if politics has to be clean. As citizens in the world, we can not abandon our political and civic responsibilities of voting and being voted for as we can not talk of changing the system from without. Instead we need to be in it to make a difference. The excuse often given that those who have been in politics have failed the Christian folk is not enough. Those who are convinced that they can make a difference in politics should have the courage to go into it to make a difference and they should be given the necessary support and encouragement. This is one major way through which Christians could play their role in the society and deal with some of the challenges they face.

Conclusion:

One could go on and on as the list of responsibilities of the church and of individual Christians in the contemporary society is endless. The few highlighted above are meant to stimulate further discussions. What needs to be emphasized is that we are in this world to do the will of God. In doing so however, we must be conscious of the temporary nature of our stay in this world and as such we should make the best use of our short stay in it.

We should endeavour to make a difference to humanity and set standards for the rest of the world to follow and demonstrate our faith through words and deeds and be role models. Let the society see the serving and liberating power of Christ as well as His compassion in us through the way we touch their lives, defend their rights, heal their wounds and minister to their needs. This is the only way we can be relevant and be true ambassadors of Christ in a world for which He shed His blood to redeem from sin.

CHANGE: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
By Joshua T. Abu
The focus of this presentation: “Change: Challenges and Opportunities with the youths being the main target. In the modern world, change is endemic (regularly recurring) and is constantly picking up break neck speed - but what should concern us most is its causes and how it comes about, the understanding of which will help us cope with it.
We believe there are three things that shape and propel it (change) on. The first is People – the population of the earth is now well over 5 billion while that of Nigeria is over 140 million (2006 Census figures). The aspirations, needs, and desires of people will themselves demand changes in the way we live, work and play as well as changes in infrastructural facilities and so on often over stretched by population explosion. With growth in population and infrastructural development, most facilities are no longer adequate and pose some challenges to the people and government. Expansion then becomes imperative and necessary  and opportunities abound for job creation, contractors and so forth. Population is therefore a prime mover of change and in the process brings about challenges and opportunities.
Secondly, is Technology – one could say that the last two decades has witnessed more technological advances than the sixties and seventies in this country and globally. If we look at the telecommunications industry in the country for example, this becomes more manifest. Before 2003, telephone was only for a very few elites and the lines were equally very few such that it was easy to compile a directory of telephone owners in the state. Today with the coming of mobile cell phone, the story is different. Even one network provider can today boast of having more than thirty (30) million subscribers.
The cell phone has revolutionarised communication and has made business and life generally easier, even though it has also increased expenditure for individuals and families especially for a talking people like we are in Nigeria. The telecommunications network providers are raking huge resources in Nigeria comparable only to petroleum products - the major revenue earner for this country. With night call facilities, our youth unfortunately spend more time at talking in the night and of course at the expense of their studies and health as valuable sleeping times are lost in the process, a challenge that needs to be moderated. Internet facilities are equally gradually becoming more accessible such that students and teachers alike have access to information. This also comes along with its own challenges and opportunities (especially that parents cannot restrict what their children view on the Internet).
Thirdly Knowledge – information – the quantum of information almost doubles every five years. Our access to information and data is equally made easier with technological advances as mentioned earlier. The more information we have the more change it provokes. As is often said, knowledge is power. It is a great agent of change with its attendant challenges and opportunities.
For many people however, change poses a threat. It is seen as undermining stability and security and therefore a natural re-action is to oppose it and treat it negatively. But as Alan Cohen rightly observed, “It is a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new” but was quick to state however that there is “…no real security in what is no longer meaningful” rather, “there is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.”
 In the fast changing world in which we live today therefore, having negative thinking about change has no place. As a matter of fact if we are to succeed, then we must be prepared to embrace change and see in it, its opportunities and challenges through which we as individuals can progress our own careers and fortunes. A statement alluded to the former President of the USA; John F. Kennedy is instructive here when he said: “Change is the law of life. And those who look only on the past or present are certain to miss the future”.
How many people for example, have found jobs and made fortunes out of the telecommunication advances in this town and country at large? What a contrast there is today compared with the times of our fathers and particularly grandfathers. In times past things virtually stood still for decades on end. To pass information you either wrote letters and send by post or courier, sent telegraph, radio message etc. Today through text messages using your cell phone, you could send instant messages to even very many people at the same time. News now flies like birds in the air. Sometimes things will happen here in Jimeta and people abroad might hear of it before those in Yola. Even villages are gradually being linked to the rest of the world through telecommunications advances.
As mentioned earlier, change is endemic and is constantly picking up speedy technological advances that is driving forward and virtually eliminating certain types of jobs. It is at the same time creating a highly competitive world where the individual has got to be prepared to change and to meet the challenges or he/she will be left behind. We must however acknowledge as rightly observed by Bernice Johnson Reagan that: “Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you”; but rather, “they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.”
Computer literacy for example, is gradually becoming a necessity rather than a luxury and has pushed so many people out of job (or forced them to retrain) even as it has created jobs for others who are trained for it. No longer can you as young men and young women therefore, expect to find and settle in a job for life as some of us were lucky to have done. But there are many opportunities out there that you must grasp, even though some of might require re-training.
Getting admission into Nigerian universities has equally become challenging. In days past after finishing your examinations, you just waited at home and your admission letter would either reach you by post or you could see it on pages of newspapers, without any additional personal effort. Today the story is different, the competition is keener and tighter as there are far more candidates than the spaces available in our universities and other tertiary institutions due to the dearth of academic facilities in the existing universities. Out of the 1.5 million applications received by JAMB this year for example, only about 300, 000 (or 20%) may gain admission into the 96 universities across the country. This leaves 1.2 million applicants including thousands of qualified candidates without admission (Punch Newspaper, Monday, 6th July, 2009). This development therefore poses serious challenges to our youth, a challenge they must face with perseverance and determination.
But as Albert Einstein once said: “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity”. Arising from these developments for example, many state governments are now opening their own universities to absorb some of their qualified candidates. That was not necessary before now because some states could not even fill their quarto in existing federal universities. The Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and other open and distance learning programmes of some universities are similarly creating alternative and additional opportunities for university education. Furthermore, the falling standard of education in our public schools has equally created challenges and opportunities leading to the establishment of more private schools and colleges and even universities.
Similarly, mid-life career change would have been looked upon with horror a few years back, and even regarded as a foolish gamble, but now it is regarded as progressive, stimulating and ambitious. So many people are now changing their careers to other more challenging and profitable ones. It appears today as if it does not matter what subject one study in the university or any other level of education as you could easily switch to doing anything else at any opportune time. We have today for example, many very good actors and musicians, who neither studied theater arts nor music in school respectively; many who are bankers who never studied banking or finance and many more of such mid-life career changes.
One therefore has to be dynamic and sometimes as the situation demands, re-train to fit into new job opportunities and challenges. There is an old adage that says – some people “live to work” while others “work to live”, but the most important thing, is that you should enjoy your work, because if you resent what you are doing, and the same applies to your school work, you will never be a success.
You should therefore seek a career or course to which you can relate and which will give you both pleasure and satisfaction. You are going to spend the greater part of your life at work and to do so in a job that you dislike, can be demoralizing and depressing. Your choice of what you want to study or do must therefore be thoughtfully made because of its consequences for the rest of your life. In this case, the parents must be careful not to insist that their children must offer courses of their choice. Remember that it is the interest of the children that matters here and not that of parents as they are the ones to live with such choices for the rest of their life.
I must in rounding up this speech suggest that in everything you do, you should strive to do it well and accept every challenge that comes along. You should appreciate the fact that every challenge that you accept provides an opportunity – an opportunity to prove yourself. Never on the other hand, should you allow failure to divert you away from your focus and vision. If having set your objectives, you fail to achieve them as could often be the case, don’t despair, don’t give up, don’t quit. You should rather use the experience gained (because failure is itself a challenge and a great teacher), pick yourself up, dust yourself off, re-assess the situation and keep going. Remember that the real test of success is not in success itself but the ability to rise above your failures. The Americans have taught the world this principle – they have the ability to drive forward despite setbacks which many of us would otherwise consider to be disasters.
Arnold Palmer Golfer, who was a legend in his life time, had a framed plague on the wall of his office which is very inspiring and it reads:
 “If you think you are beaten, you are
 If you think you dare not, you don’t
 If you like to win, but think you can’t
 It’s almost certain that you won’t
 Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger woman or man,
 But sooner or later those who win are those who think they can”.
President Barack Obama also taught this to the world through his popular campaign slogan of “Yes you can!” and there he is today as the first black to be the President of USA in over 200 years of America’s independence.


       

CHOOSING A CARREER

CHOOSING A CAREER

By Joshua T. Abu

Introduction:

The essence of this presentation is to highlight effective ways of selecting a career in life. It is my hope that you find this brief helpful.

I wish to start this presentation with some quotations which I believe have some relevance to the topic under discussion and I hope you will ponder on their essence and meaning long after this session. These quotations are as follows:

“It is Choice – not chance – that determines your destiny.” – Jean Nidetch

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.” – Henry David Thoreau

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” – Les Brown

“Choose a job you’ll love and you’ll never have to work another day in your life.” – Confucius – Chinese Philosopher

Perhaps the best takeoff point is to state what career is. Simply put, career, is chosen pursuit, a profession or occupation. It is the general course or progression of one’s working life or one’s professional achievement and usually considered to pertain to remunerative work (and sometimes also formal education). It refers to an individual’s work and life roles over their lifespan.

Career choices have become more difficult today than at any other time in all of man’s history; and this can be attributed to a few obvious reasons. Firstly, there are countless more options to choose from; then, career descriptions are changing and becoming more flexible. Furthermore, the level of expectation in various careers is constantly rising. Many young people however, think they know the right way to go about choosing a career or occupation. Unfortunately, more often than not, they end up choosing one that is totally inappropriate and most unsatisfying. You must therefore be willing to know and to do what it takes to make the right choice.

Looking closely, it is highly probable that your interests, what you enjoy doing and the things you spend time on, would most probably have already influenced many of the choices made in your life. Perhaps the friends you have made as well as the personal skills you have developed, and the subjects you have taken in school among others might have had their influences as well. Thus, your interests may very well be a huge influence on your career choice. Similarly there are your values, the things in your life that you consider to be important. Values, often time referred to as one’s motivators, are what give purpose to a job in the eyes of the individual who does it.

Your values are therefore likely to be a major factor in deciding on a career or a career path within a particular field. For example, one whose values include strong leadership, team membership, security, prestige, promotion and risk taking may tend towards a career in the military; while helping others, making selfless sacrifices, non-priority to material benefits and being independent may be the values that drive another to choose a career as an aid worker. Consequently, you may ask, ‘what steps could I take to help ensure I choose a good and satisfying career? This is the main thrust of this presentation.

Deciding what career you want to pursue, is one of the decisions you'll be making as an adolescent. There is a wide range of careers to choose from - all of which are appealing - making the decision more difficult. Career planning is however not something that should be rushed into. You find many young people in universities today, changing from one course to another, because they can no longer cope with it, and end up spending more years than they would have spent in getting a university education, if only they had taken a little time to plan their career before getting into the university. Career planning and choice, is therefore very essential before one starts life as an adult. Here are some things you'll need to consider before deciding about a career:

Steps to Choosing a Career:

1.      Early Approach: Start early. Start way back from secondary school. Between choices of arts, sciences or commercials, choose subjects you are comfortable with, not those you can cope with. Do those you love not just those you like. An effective combination of them could shed light and reveal what you are to do in career and other walks of life in the future.

2. Find out what you love and would love doing (Know your values - Self Awareness): The first stage of Career Choice is Self Awareness. You must first get to know yourself. Ask yourself questions about what you would love to do. Find out whether you have to go to school to accomplish them or they are just by the side. What do people say about you? These should be a probable guide to helping you select your career. Self awareness involves looking at your SKILLS, VALUES, INTERESTS and PERSONALITY and analyzing where your strengths and weaknesses lie.

Your values will always come to play in whatever decisions you make. In choosing a career, you have to decide what means most to you, i.e.: Do you want a lot of responsibilities? Do you like teamwork? Do you want to work in a 'big' office? Do you like working with children, adults, and the poor or less privileged? What compensation do you want from this job - is it the money, security, adventure/excitement, personal fulfillment, etc. Your values will greatly affect your answers to these questions and ultimately the career you choose.

You can: Choose work that brings you alive, meet your financial needs, and create a fulfilling and inspiring vision. All it takes is discovering who you really are. As people grow up their essence gets buried beneath layers of fears, beliefs, and social expectations. Fulfilling – career - choices will help you put these aside and make decisions based on who you really are. Self-knowledge is critical. Most people limit themselves to a superficial survey of their strengths, skills and interests. This was sufficient for a satisfactory decision when there was a narrow range of career paths or choices. Today the world is overflowing with new opportunities just as it is uncertain and ever changing. In this ocean of possibilities, superficial self-knowledge of oneself is no longer enough for success. Something drastic is needed to navigate the inevitable storms and reach your career objectives – what is required is deep self-knowledge. This is not about your strengths or skills but the essence of your being.

The next necessary thing to do is to Identify your Skills. Everything you do involves one skill or the other. Things like fixing the fault in your cassette player, writing an article, drawing or planning an event, all require specific skills. Make a list of activities that you enjoy doing and list the skill(s) that each one requires. Look at this list it's likely that you'll have skills prevalent in one or more areas. Match the prevalent skills with jobs you think require these skills. For example, if your list shows you have penchant for building things or fixing faulty items, you may want to consider a career in Engineering; or if your skills relate to talking with people, you might want to consider being an Actor, a Counselor, or a Psychologist.

Having identified your skills you will necessarily need to get the right education. Without it, you'll be totally ill-equipped on how to make a success of your chosen career. What are your best subjects? What are your worst? Why? Make sure your reactions are to the subject and not to a teacher that you particularly dislike.

3. Examine your environment (Opportunity Awareness): Once you have done some preliminary self analysis, and identified your skills and have come up with possible career choices, the next step is to gather information about each choice. You will need to get facts such as: how much education is required (in terms of cost and time - do not start what you cannot finish); what activities are to be performed on the job; what are your prospects, i.e. chances of success; what are the career opportunities, i.e. does it involve things that you like to do, or chances for personal growth and development, etc.

Many jobs are open to graduates of any degree subject (we have seen that in the banking sector), and it's important not to only focus on the jobs related to your degree or subject of study. Early in your course/study, you should look at the Work Experience open to you as they will guide you into knowing the prospects and opportunities.

Find out what is suitable and what pertains to your present socio-cultural, economic and political environment. Some disciplines are just more suitable in some countries and choice locations of the world. Your career should be a response to your environment. Note though that if your career is not feasible in one location, it could however be feasible in another. 

4. Make Research (before making a decision): Just like you would do before making an investment and when choosing a wife or business partner, you need to research and find out about the career you want to venture into. Ask questions from those pursuing it as an academic field or those practicing it as professionals. Talk to those already working in your chosen career area. Find out whether it really fits into what you want to do or whether or not you can really cope with it. It is better to test the water before jumping into the pool. Work shadowing (spending a day with) a person in the career you are considering is the next best thing to actually doing a job, to find out what it is like. Of course, the other important part in making decisions is discussing it with other people. Friends, family and teachers/tutors can all play important parts here. The final process of career planning is Taking Action. It involves: Finding out about the EMPLOYERS that offer the types of jobs you are interested in, preparing APPLICATIONS and attending INTERVIEWS and perhaps even taking APTITUDE TESTS and attending SELECTION CENTRES. 

5.      Experiment: Try it out. Also try out other things. You want to be a lawyer? Fine. Try joining the debating society. Visit a court and see whether you can replicate those same approaches to defend your kid brother when he has just taken more than one piece of meat from a pot of stew.

6.      Focus on your advantages over others. Look at the things you can do quite easily that others cannot do with ease (where you comparative advantage). Those things that you can do effortlessly, and naturally flowing out of you and attracting a lot of commendation from others. Your natural gifts and talents could form a good foundation for your choosing a career.

7.      Know where you are going: Rome was not built in a day they say. It is better to make progress whilst also working to get what one wants than to be stagnant. Your career objectives could make you to do some things that are not what you originally intend but are foundational to where you are going in the long run, a kind of stepping stone. A candidate with his eyes on the presidential ticket might start at first being a councilor before climbing the ladder to get to where he ultimately wants to be. You can start small but just know what you want, where you are going and what you are doing.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, I wish to emphasize the fact that to be successful in whatever you do, you need to know the Three Ps of success - Preparation, Patience, and Perseverance. The first P (preparation) has already been outlined above. Patience they say is a virtue. Good success does not happen overnight. Things don't always happen when you want them to. You must be patient. Finally and most importantly, you must learn to persevere. There are bound to be roadblocks and obstacles; people may try to make you derail and give a thousand and one reasons why you won't be successful. A quitter they say never wins, and a winner, never quits. A song from an old movie says climb every mountain, cross every stream; follow every river, till you find your dream... If your mind can conceive it and your heart can believe it, you can achieve it. Armed with this knowledge and a faith in God, you can turn minuses into pluses and stumbling blocks into stepping stones.

UNDERSTANDING SERVANT- LEADERSHIP CONCEPT

By Joshua T. Abu

-          “The true leader serves. Serves people. Serves their best interest, and in doing so will not always be popular, may not always impress. But because true leaders are motivated by loving concern than a desire for personal glory, they are willing to pay the price.” – Eugene B. Habecker, in (The Other Side of Leadership) –

-          “Good leaders must first become good servants.” - Robert Greenleaf -

Introduction:

Upholding a leadership philosophy that sees leadership as service and public officers as servants of the people in a country like ours where politics and by extension public office seeking is often seen as do-or-die affair and where leaders often times cherish brandishing their power and status and using same as a means of self aggrandisement is certainly not an easy task. Servant leadership philosophy seems to be at odds with what we see happening around us today. In all too many arenas, we see many of our leaders holding nothing in trust for those they purport to serve but advancing only their own ideals and hopes. Ironically these same leaders it was who went in heat and rain, day and night to rural and urban centres begging people to vote them to power, but who quickly after getting the mandate of the people turn to load it on them.

Today, it is often difficult to tell if our leaders are serving themselves or the people. It is also all too common to find leaders simply helping themselves to privilege and power. Mismanagement, deceit, greed, and frying-pan-into-fire problem solving all beg the question: “Where are our leaders leading us to? To whom can we look to for the direction we need? (Michael McKinney, “The Focus of Leadership: Choosing Service over Self-Interest, from Leadership Now.com). We are gladdened however by the commitment of Mr. President to show us direction and to also be there to serve us and lead us to the desired destination.

In this piece an attempt is made to explain the concept of servant-leadership, its origin, characteristics, advantages/benefits, as well its limitations/disadvantages so as to further appreciate the import of this philosophy of leadership on governance and service delivery.

Origin and Description of the Servant Leadership Concept:

There seems to be a general agreement that leaders have two basic roles in public life and in business: one of vision and the other of implementation. In the visionary role, leaders are the definer of direction. They must however communicate the mission, values and beliefs the organisation aspires to for its people; what the organisation stands for and how organisational values encompass the individual values of its members.

Once people are clear on where they are going, an effective leader’s role switches to the task of implementation i.e. how will the dream be made to happen? This is where servant-leadership comes into play. The traditional way of managing people is to direct, control and supervise their activities and to play the role of judge, critic and evaluator of their efforts. In the traditional organisation, managers are thought of as responsible and their people are taught to be responsible to their bosses. This form of leadership isn’t today as effective as it once was. Today when people see you as a judge and critic, they spend most of their time trying to please you rather than to accomplish the organisation’s goals and move in the direction of the desired vision. In such a situation all people try to do is to protect themselves rather than to help move the organisation in its desired direction.

The servant-leader on the other hand, feels that once the direction is clear, his or her role is to help people achieve their goals. The servant-leader seeks to help people win through teaching and coaching individuals so that they can do their best. You need to listen to your people, praise them, support them and redirect them when they deviate from their goals. The servant-leader also constantly tries to find out what his or her people need to be successful. Rather than wanting them to please him or her, they are interested in making a difference in the lives of their people and, in the process, impacting on the organisation. The role of the servant-leader is thus to do anything that is necessary to help his or her people win and accomplish their goals.

From the premise, it is clear that servant-leadership is much easier for people with self esteem since such people have no problem giving credit to others. They have no problem listening to other people for ideas. Similarly, they have no problem building other people up since they don’t think that building other people up is going to be threatening in any way to them. Servant-leadership is thus a good way to describe the coaching role that managers are expected to play today to help their people win and develop.

While judging and evaluating people tend to erode their self esteem; servant-leadership builds self esteem and encourages individual growth while obtaining the organisation’s objectives. The servant-leader’s driving motivation is therefore to be of service. The very act of leading people means serving their needs according to the advocates of servant leadership. Consequently, if you want to become a leader, they argue, you need to learn how to serve your prospective followers.

Origin:

As a concept, servant-leadership has a long history and origin. It can be traced back to ancient times, where some kings were regarded as servants of their people. For example, in the East, Chanakaya or Kautiya, who was a strategic thinker from ancient India wrote as far back as 4^th Century in his book Arthashastra that: “The King (leader) shall consider as good, not what pleases himself but what pleases his subjects (followers).” Similarly, in the West, the concept of servant-leadership can be traced back to Jesus Christ, who taught his disciples: “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever, wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45).

The term servant-leader was however created and popularised in the early 1970s by Robert Greenleaf. Inspired by the vision of Greenleaf, other contemporary writers have produced appreciable body of literature embracing servant-leadership as a means for renewing institutions and creating a more caring and compassionate society. Servant-leadership focuses on the needs and growth of those being led, and not on the needs of those who are leading. As a concept, servant leadership is a practical selfless philosophy that supports people who choose to serve first, and then lead, as a way of expanding service to individuals and institutions.

Servant leaders however, may or may not necessarily hold formal leadership positions as servant leadership tends to encourage collaboration, trust, foresight, listening, and the ethical use of power and empowerment. Robert Greenleaf spoke a lasting vision when he defined servant-leadership with the following questions: “Do others around the servant-leader become wiser, freer, more autonomous, healthier, and better able themselves to become servants?

Robert K. Greenleaf developed the leadership concept based on his years of experience in management development at AT&T, and on his wide consultancy and teaching practice. Servant-leadership is a process, a way of being rather than an activity. It is about the field of “leadership”. It was Robert Greenleaf who perhaps gave us the clearest definition of the servant-leader when he wrote in a short essay titled: “The Servant as Leader” (1970), that:

“The servant-leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, and more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or at least, will they not be further deprived?    

In the same vein, Patterson (Patterson, K.A., 2003: Servant Leadership: A Theoretical Model, Doctoral Dissertation, Regent University (UMI No. 3082719), while presenting the theory of servant-leadership as a logical extension of transformational leadership theory, defined servant leaders as “those leaders who lead an organisation by focusing on their followers, such that the followers are the primary concern and the organisational concerns are peripheral” (Patterson, 2003 p. 5.) Patterson further suggests that servant-leaders are guided by seven (7) virtuous constructs which define servant-leaders and shape their attitudes, characteristics, and behaviour. These constructs include the fact that: “the servant leader (a) demonstrates agapao love, (b) acts with humility, (c) is altruistic (selfless), (d) is visionary for followers, (e) is trusting, (f) empowers followers, and (g) is serving” with the corner stone being agapao love.

Characteristics/Traits of Servant Leadership:

After a careful consideration of Greenleaf’s original writing, Larry Spares, CEO of the Greenleaf Centre has identified ten (10) characteristics that he views are critical to the development of servant-leaders even though they are not exhaustive (Greenleaf, R.K, The Servant-leader within: A Transformative Path, (2003), (H. Beazy, Julie Beggs, & Larry C. Spares, Eds). The ten characteristics are as follows:

1.       Listening: Such leaders have a deep commitment to listening intently to others. Listening, coupled with regular periods of reflections, is essential to the growth of the servant leader.

2.       Empathy: The servant leader consciously strives to understand and empathise with others. As we all know people need to be recognised for their special and unique spirits.

3.       Healing: One of the greatest strengths of servant-leadership is the potential for healing one’s self and others.

4.       Awareness: General awareness and especially self-awareness, strengthens the servant-leader.

5.       Persuasion: Servant-leader relies heavily on persuasion rather than positional authority in making decisions. They seek to convince others, rather than coerce compliance. This particular element offers one of the clearest distinctions between the traditional authoritarian model and that of servant-leadership. The servant-leader is effective at building consensus within groups.

6.       Conceptualisation: Servant-leader seeks to nurture his ability to “dream great dreams.” The ability to look at a problem (or an organisation) from a conceptualising perspective means that one must think beyond day-to-day realities. Servant-leader must seek a deliberate balance between conceptualisation and day-to-day focus.

7.       Foresight: Foresight is a characteristic that enables servant-leader to understand lessons from the past, the realities of the present, and the likely consequence of a decision in the future. It is deeply rooted in the intuitive mind.

8.       Stewardship: Holding something in trust for others. Robert Greenleaf’s view of all institutions was one in which CEOs, staff, directors, and trustees all pay significant roles in holding their institutions in trust for great good of society.

9.       Commitment to the Growth of People: Servant-leader believes that people have an intrinsic value beyond their tangible contributions as workers. As such, servant-leader is deeply committed to a personal, professional, and spiritual growth of each and every individual within the organisation.

10.   Building Community: Servant-leader is aware that the shift from   local communities to large institutions as the primary shaper of human lives has changed our perceptions and caused a sense of loss. Servant-leader seeks therefore to identify a means for building community among those who work within a given institution.

Strengths/Benefits of Servant-Leadership Concept:

Servant-leadership as mentioned earlier is a long term, transformational approach to life and work, in essence it is a way of being – that has the potential for creating positive change throughout society. Even though servant-leadership is often compared with transformational leadership approaches, both of which emphasise collaboration, and show concern for their followers, the overriding focus of the servant-leader is on service to their followers.

Limitations/Disadvantages of the Servant-Leadership Concept:

It should be noted however, that the servant-leadership concept is not a quick-fix approach, nor is it something that can be quickly instilled within an institution. Furthermore, servant-leadership can be perceived by some as rather “soft”. This is because listening and empathising too much with others may be construed to lead to indecisiveness or a lack of vision.

On the whole however, the servant-leadership philosophy is in line with the true meaning of democracy as defined by Abraham Lincoln as being “government of the people, by the people and for the people”. The servant-leader puts the interest of those being served above personal interest and listens to them and attempts to do what is in their best interest at all times and by so doing carry the people along. While this style may not always be the best especially in business setting where results are often times seen as more important than the means, it is all the same on the whole more satisfying and empowering in the long run than most others options of leadership.