The Cross, lessons for the Leader
Often, leadership is not accompanied by success. “But we preach Christ crucified: a scandal to the Jews, foolishness to the Gentiles” (1 Cor 1:23).
Through their professional activity, Christian businessmen are also called to preach a crucified Christ who, even today, continues to be scandal and foolish. Scandal because the cross does not seem to have a place in a world full of hedonistic messages. It seems foolishness because, especially in the world of economics and business, failure is usually understood either as the result of an error, of making wrong decisions, or as that step that sometimes one must step on to reach success. We are inundated with messages, born from the post-truth culture, that do not help us look at Christ crucified, they do not invite us to discover the face of the cross.
On the cross, Jesus experienced betrayal, mockery, loneliness, misunderstanding, abandonment, failure… Without a doubt, these experiences are familiar to people with managerial responsibilities.
The experience of the cross in life are three calls for Christian businessmen and managers:
– A call to look at the face of the crucified Christ: His face is reflected in that of every person who is humiliated and offended, sick or suffering, alone, abandoned and despised. Looking at the face of the Crucified moves us to transcend our suffering to that of others.
– A call to identify ourselves with Christ crucified: «The Christian has the face of Jesus engraved indelibly on his heart. He is not only “alter Christus", but “ipse Christus" (not another Christ, but Christ himself). Therefore, the ultimate goal of every man consists essentially in a full and total identification with Christ.
– A call to hope in Christ crucified: “And Jesus, crying out with a powerful voice, said: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” And, having said this, he expired." The last words from the cross were uttered looking at Father God. Because pain and death are not the last word. Christians do not worship a God of the dead, but of the living. Our projects, our companies, must also be illuminated by hope, a hope founded on the conviction of the possibility of a resurrected life.
The cross is a call to fight for, and with, the crucified. As entrepreneurs and managers, we have the opportunity to put our projects at the service of this task. But have confidence: He promised to accompany us “to the end of the world.” His Mother, our mother, is also there. Do not hesitate to invoke the Holy Spirit to guide your choices. The Church needs your testimony.
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