Transformational Leadership

This past week marked the 43rd anniversary of the untimely death of Martin Luther King, Jr., at the age of 39. On April 4, 1968, King's remarkable life was cut short by an assassin's bullet as he left his second floor room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. If MLK was alive today, he would be 82 years old.

I don't have many "heroes" at this stage in my life, but Dr. King is definitely one of them. He was far from perfect, of course. His human frailties have been well-documented. But King's life represents an extraordinary example of what it looks like to pursue the call of God with uncompromising passion and relentless tenacity ... just two characteristics of MLK's transformational life and leadership that have left an indelible mark upon our world.

Transformational leaders like MLK don't just magically appear out of thin air. As Leonard Sweet asserts in his book, Summoned to Lead (Zondervan, 2004), "Leaders are neither born nor made. They are summoned. They are called into existence by circumstances, and those who rise to the occasion are leaders.”

Transformational leaders are shaped through their contact with transformational models, like Rosa Parks. They are shaped through their exposure to transformational moments, like the March on Washington. They are shaped through their participation in transformational movements, like the civil rights movement. And when ordinary men and women, like King, give God permission to shape and transform their lives, they in turn become agents of extraordinary transformation in the lives of other people ... people like me.

Nearly 43 years ago, just seven months after MLK was assassinated in Memphis, a little boy was born in Youngstown, Ohio. His birth father was black and his birth mother was white. They were unmarried. In 1968, a bi-racial baby like this one was considered "hard to place" by some, "unadoptable" by others.

Eight months later, in August of 1969, due in large part to the transformational life and leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his unflappable commitment to racial equality, I found myself riding home from an airport in Sioux City, Iowa, with a new little brother on my lap. He was a beautiful, brown-skinned, bouncing baby boy. My parents named him Andy. He will be 43 years old in November. Andy is not only my brother. He is one of my dearest friends.

Now fast forward to January, 1996. Two twin girls are born in Cleveland, Ohio. Their birth father is African American and their birth mother is Puerto Rican. They are unmarried. Even in 1996, with all of the progress made over the years in the areas of civil rights and racial equality, these babies are still considered "hard to place" by some, "unadoptable" by others.

Three short months later, in April of 1996, due in large part to the transformational life and leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr., two beautiful, brown-skinned, bouncing baby girls arrived at our doorstep. What began as "emergency" foster care eventually developed into permanency when Jessie and Jasmine were legally adopted as our daughters in September of 2000.

I share these two examples to underscore the fact that our public leadership has very profound, personal ramifications. That's why the call to Christian leadership, in particular, is such a high and holy calling. Who we are and what we do matters greatly to God, of course, but it also matters greatly to people we may never meet in places we may never visit. Everyone and everything matters in the kingdom of God.

That's why we pay close attention to the lives of people like Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership (MATL) at Barclay College. It's why we offer classes like "Spirituality and the Transformational Journey" and "Spirituality and Social Justice." It's why we invite men and women from every race, ethnicity, and nationality to join us on this journey. And it's why we seek to devote supreme attention to the transformational life and leadership of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One who "shows no favoritism, but accepts from every nation [Gk, ethnos or "ethnic group"] the one who fears him and does what is right" (Acts 10:34-35).

To learn more about the Master of Arts in Transformational Leadership, visit the MATL website (http://barclaycollege.edu/Academics/graduate.asp) or contact Dave Williams, MATL Director (david.williams@barclaycollege.edu) Enrollment is limited in order to ensure small, close-knit cohorts, so interested students are encouraged to apply as soon as possible to maximize their opportunities for acceptance.

May the Lord bless you and make you a great blessing as you follow hard after Him … and may you experience great joy on your journey!

*For more on this topic, see the final installment of "Joy in the Journey," a message delivered at Barclay College on March 31 2011, available on the chapel webpage: http://www.barclaycollege.edu/Students/chapel.asp.