Looking to Jesus as our model leader, we see that although He was the Son of God, although He had the right to boast, although He was in essence much greater than us, He came down to our level. He walked among us. He lived among us. In spanish there is a word that doesn’t translate all that well in english. The word is convivir, literally, it means “to live together” or “to live with”. Jesus was a master practitioner of this.
Jesus lived with His followers. He ate with them. He rejoiced with them. He cried with them. He breathed the same air.
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin.”
~ Hebrews 4:15
Relationship Comes First
In the Old Testament the Jews had trouble relating to God. They didn’t get Him. For this reason they so often turned their backs on Him for other more relatable gods. They preferred the golden calf, the baals, the idols and strange gods of the foreign lands through which the journeyed. Not because they were better than the one true God, but because they could see them, they could understand them, they could relate to them in their everyday experience.
For this reason Jesus had to come. God had to become man, to come to our level, in order to lead us back into relationship with Himself. He was able to show us who God is not in theory, but in person, live and in living color! This what effective leaders must do. The faithful leader must convivir with his followers. Not just to teach, but to lead. To evangelize, not just to catechize. Not just to tell people about God, but to show them through our very lives!
Pope Francis is a perfect example of this. You see don’t just see him in his office or at the altar, but more often than not you see him out among the people. This is convivir. He says “the shepherd must have the smell of his sheep”. As leaders, as pastors, as shepherds we have to walk with our people which adds not only authenticity, but credibility to who we are and what or who we are leading them to.