On our recent trip to Ecuador, my wife Lili and I spent three nights at the exquisite Sacha Lodge, deep in the Amazon jungle. To get there, we rode a motorized canoe along the vast Rio Napo (a tributary of the Amazon River) from the town of Coca. Along the way, the captain skillfully zigzagged through hidden channels and obstacles, guided by a crew member stationed at the very front. With hand signals, that crew member advised the captain—left, right, slow down, speed up—helping us all reach our destination timely and safely. It was an exhilarating two-hour journey.
That image came back to me while listening to an inspiring podcast I recently subscribed to: Dare Great Things for Christ (DGT), hosted by Father Nathan Cromly. In episode 319, one in the excellent series on leadership lessons from St. Paul the Apostle, he said:
“When you’re a leader, you’re kind of like the prow of a boat. You’re the front part of the boat where all the waves … and every obstacle crashes into the boat. And your job is to keep pushing forward through the waves, through the storm, through the winds, through comes what may because every other person on that boat … is depending on you to make your way through the waves.”
My canoe ride reminded me that leadership isn’t meant to be done alone. The leadership journey is much more navigable (and enjoyable) when we do it with trusted colleagues and skillful team members. And for Christian leaders—who strive to be the instruments of God—Christ Himself must be our front guide, constantly reminding us that the way we lead is as important as the things we accomplish.
Of course, even with a good guide, the ride can get rough. At one point our canoe suddenly struck a hidden log (or a sandbar – who knows?) at high speed, and for a nerve-racking couple of seconds, it tilted precariously before the captain corrected it.
Christian leadership, too, can be bumpy—sometimes even dangerous. But if we remain faithful, Christ will always put us back on course. And for that, we can learn much from St. Paul. He faced countless challenges in bringing Christ to others: traveling thousands of miles by foot and boat across rough terrain – leaving behind family and friends, working and leading across cultures, races, and social classes, and starting communities from scratch—all while “working night and day in toil and drudgery” (1 Thessalonians 2:9) to support himself. He endured beatings and stonings (literally) and was jailed multiple times. Yet he never gave up. He stayed faithful to Christ until his death.
St. Paul offers lessons in Christian leadership as vast as the Amazon, and in Dare Great Things episodes 313–321, Fr. Nathan Cromly distills them in an engaging way. I encourage you to give them a listen—and I’d love to hear what you think.
And here are some more photos from our journey … 😊
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE, WORK, AND FAITH IN THE 21ST-CENTURY AMERICA 