From time to time, I get the itch to do something a little
on the rebellious side. I find myself wanting to break the rules, take
shortcuts through the grass, and color outside the lines. My personality
doesn’t scream, “LAW BREAKER”, nor does it look for trouble. Yet, those who
break the rules for the right reasons inspire me.
Again, in another bathroom stall someone decided to do the
rebellious thing and leave his or her own version of a well-known quote:
“Be the troublemaker you wish to see in this world.”
When I first read this I thought to myself, “why yes, bathroom graffiti, I will go pass on the act of troublemaking by participating in bathroom vandalism.” Then, I realized I am way too much of a goody-too-shoes. My second thought was about leadership and the great leaders who break the status quo for positive change.
Great change comes when ordinary
people become dissatisfied and say, “NO MORE!” They begin to have a grander
vision for the way things could be,
and they take the risk to see that vision come to fruition.
I have a secret admiration for troublemakers because they do
the things that no one else is brave enough to do. Most people don’t pursue
change. Old ways require no effort. Yet, troublemakers don’t want to leave this
earth with a legacy of “playing it safe.”
When Jesus was on earth, he was seen as a troublemaker
because he was always doing things that took people off guard. He drove the
“goody-too-shoes” religious leaders crazy because he claimed to be the law
incarnate! Jesus was different and he never let anyone stop him from being what
God wanted him to be—radical love on earth.
Even today, I believe God wants us to lead out of radical
love. He doesn’t desire for us to be safe, but to love at all costs. So that’s
what I want my legacy as a leader to be. I want to love riskily. I want to dare
to dream bigger, act bigger. I want to go when I am called. I want to bend the
rules when necessary. I want to love when it hurts. I want to be living life
the way Jesus wants me to.
…even if it does make me a troublemaker.