I recently watched an interview with a young man who had just graduated from college. He was complaining about how difficult it was to find employment. So the person interviewing the young man offered him an internship with a very generous starting salary. However the young man declined the offer stating that unless he was offered a job with at least $150,000 a year, a corner office with a view and four weeks payed vacation he would not accept the offer. Upon close examination of this new generation of leaders, we can see that their goal is to gain power, titles, fame and fortune. Their goal is to obtain positions of authority. Their goal is to tell others to do what they themselves are not willing to do.

Sadly, we’re seeing a generation of leaders seeking positional authority but who lack moral authority. Positional authority with no moral authority is like a car with little or no gas in the tank, the car may look good but it’s not going anywhere. The problem with today’s generation is that they grew up hearing an overwhelming amount of positive reinforcement. They grew up hearing that they could become anyone they wanted to be. Actually, that’s a good thing. But it’s only one side of the coin; positive reinforcement may get them positional authority but not moral authority.

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. – Proverbs ll:3 NIV

Hard work, sacrifice, uprightness, commitment and perseverance, these are a few of the elements necessary for building moral authority. Talents, abilities and knowledge alone are not enough. Just ask the young man in the news who through his exceptional talents achieved fortune and fame in the television industry only to watch it crumble because he lacked the integrity, commitment and perseverance necessary to gain moral authority. The same thing is happening in the business world, in government and worst of all in the Christian church. There are many people with positional authority but few who have moral authority, authority that can only be gained through, hard work, sacrifice and the building of character over a long a period of time.

Heavenly Father I know that it’s through hard work and making the sacrifices that are necessary that I will form character through time, because your will is for me to be a committed and persevering person so that I may gain moral authority. Thank you for teaching me through your word that upstanding men and women are guided by integrity and the greatest desire of my heart is to be one of them.