My take on... When our leaders are involved in scandals.
A leader is someone whose life should be exemplary enough that his followers can emulate. Whether at work, church, mosque or home, a leader should be able to say 'do as I say and do' and not only as I say. Talk is cheap as they say and indeed so is it, the bible also corroborates that when it says "... blessed are the doers."
What happens when these leaders do not measure up to their followers' expectations? What happen when their 'doings' are a far cry from their 'sayings'. What happen when their lives are not at par with what they preach, and they are caught, leaving the followers in distress and distrust.
Let it be established that these leaders are humans too and not robots and are susceptible to the same mistakes and errors as you. They have the same passion, struggles, temptations and hurdles to overcome as you and therefore should be given room to err the same way you ask others to give you room to make mistakes because you are human.
There has been a recent wave of scandal involving leaders especially the religious one. The most recent involving a reputable man of God. Most of these scandals revolve around sex and money. These scandals more often than not are career threatening. While we do not want to say whether they did it or not, we also have the duty to give them the benefit of doubt knowing fully well that they are human and just as much as anything (positive) is possible with God, anything(negative) is possible with man. While as a leader they have a higher stake at maintaining integrity and transparency, they should be forgiven when they do err and should be shown empathy when necessary. There are humans like I earlier said and they make mistakes as well.
I have come to a point in my life when whatever I do is as unto God. I do not see man as my rewarder or my validator. While I have mentors and those I admire I do not put my trust in their capabilities and abilities because like me they too are prone to disappoint. So, when I hear a leader did this or so and so person did this, I am not too quick to be disappointed because somewhere at the back of my mind I have already come to the term that he is a mere mortal and can fall at any time just as much as I can fall. Besides the fact that I am a follower today doesn’t mean I wouldn’t become a leader tomorrow. When I become one, I would want people to give me benefit of doubt and cap my flaw as part of my human nature instead of seeing me as a super human with no flaw. I am a follower of my leader, but I refuse to let their fall determine my belief and what I know is right. Man can never be my standard and so their performance can never determine the scale with which I measure myself.
My take on the matter of our leaders getting involved in scandals is thus, that while we are busy caring about gist and criticizing their actions, let us also create a room to forgive and let go because we put in their position could have done worse. It is easier to take out the speck in other person’s eyes than the log in our eyes. Let us try to put ourselves in their shoes and imagine what they will be going through during the pendency of the scandals. Nobody prays to be scandalized but who knows whether that little skeleton in your wardrobe might just be about to be brought to light and you will wish someone will see you for the ‘flaw-full’ human you are and will still forgive and stand by you.
