The St. Louis Cardinals’ naming Mike Matheny as their new manager is an intriguing choice to say the least. Why would the Cardinals hire Matheny with no previous managerial experience to replace their Hall of Fame bound field boss Tony La Russa? There were at least three good reasons given at the Press Conference naming the new manager: 1) Leadership Abilities, 2) High Character and 3) Doing things the Cardinals Way.
Certainly leadership given as a reason is no surprise. It has been the buzz word in the hiring in top executives for decades. Matheny’s leadership as a catcher during his playing days trumps his having little or no managerial experience. Catchers have to take command on the field, as it is essential they always have their head in the game. We all need to have our head in the game of life at home, at work, and in our community and world.
Matheny is also known for being a strong Christian and a person of high character. There are persons of good character who aren’t Christians and there are Christians who lack character. Which person would you rather have running your company or your country for that matter: A Christian without character or a person with good character who may not be a believer? A deeper question for me is: How does following Christ not lead to the highest standards of character? The sobering news of alleged sexual misconduct rocking presidential politics and one of the top college football organizations–Penn State– this past week should cause us to insist that character matters.
Doing things the Cardinals way may need some interpretation. The Cardinals way means several things, including getting the uniform dirty, playing hard, giving it up for the team, and upholding the highest standards on and off the field.
Every organization has their way of doing things. What an organization does is important but even more important is how things are done. What is the Schweitzer way of doing things? I am particularly thinking about the Prescriptions we are currently discerning as a congregation. What do you think about them? Do you think they are on target? Will they impact this congregation in the direction we need to go?
I hope you are discussing these and other questions these days leading up to the Church Conference vote, Dec. 4. Feel free to bring your thoughts and questions to the remaining Town Hall meetings this Saturday, November 19, 10:00am or November 30, 6:30pm. All opinions matter but I trust that the Schweitzer way of decision making ultimately involves seeking the Mind of the Lord.
I was reminded of the importance of discernment this week by this interesting bible trivia. There are four times the word opinion is mentioned in the Bible with every incident leading to a bad result. There are over 30 times the word discernment is mentioned, always leading to positive results. Discernment moves beyond our opinions to seeking to know and understand God’s will and purposes. Certainly these are days of sharing opinions with each other. Most importantly, these are days of seeking God’s perspective and plans for Schweitzer’s future.
May God bless you today as you discern God’s purposes and will for your life and for this congregation. I want to close with one of my favorite verses of scripture: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” –Proverbs 3: 5, 6.
