Steve Lyston | True leaders show grace and mercy

The incident that has been made popular by the media involving Assistant Commissioner Bishop Dr Gary Welsh, resulting in him being replaced as the head of the traffic department, leaves much to be desired. The outcry against him, the criticisms, the derogatory remarks about him simply reveals that our people are not discerning and that they need to get the meaning of the words ‘grace’ and ‘mercy’. We, as a nation, are in a downward spiral because our leaders are no longer leading with grace and mercy, neither are our people being taught about the power of grace and mercy.

The police should never bow to the pressure of replacing ACP Welsh. What he was doing was actually the right thing to do, extending grace and mercy until the people came to the knowledge of what the right thing is for them to do. His approach was a new way of doing things in our nation that would have brought benefit to the people of the country, and was a good example of what the judicial system, revenue department and other government agencies should follow. This move that the police have made in terms of replacing ACP Welsh may very well backfire. We cannot lead by following social media pressure.

Grace and mercy are key in leadership. Grace, means ‘unmerited (undeserved) favour of God’, so in essence, we are receiving benefits we don’t deserve. Mercy, however, is about not getting what we actually deserve. It means not getting the harsh treatment that we deserve to get. Mercy delivers us from judgement. Extending grace and mercy has nothing to do with class, race, colour or creed.

Something to think about

Here are some questions we need to ask ourselves. What if God decided to withhold grace and mercy from us on a daily basis because of some actions that we carry out? The things which are happening within our nation – murder, deception, corruption, traffic violations, bad attitudes, and injustice; anything we deem as a sinful act, including silly mistakes we make on a daily basis, including ignorance of the law – are you saying that Jamaica, our nation, should get the full brunt of an eight-or-nine magnitude earthquake or a category 5 hurricane or tornado, tidal wave or any other natural disaster because we deserve it? Or, when a policeman/woman, or government personnel or anyone within the Government makes a mistake, then the entire party should suffer at the next poll; or that the Opposition will stay in the proverbial wilderness for past mistakes? Think about it. Should there be no mercy or grace extended to anyone who makes a personal mistake on a daily basis.

When we make poor financial decisions on either the individual or corporate level, should there be no mercy and grace extended? Should there be no mercy and grace extended when we make poor personal decisions – abortion, witchcraft, mistreatment of children, mistreatment of the poor? While many nations believe that our people are lazy and do not want to work – whether private or public sector – are you saying our banks, hospitals, land, homes and other assets should be taken over fully by the Chinese, Cubans or the Russians You may very well see it one day. We must be careful as a people what we say. Any leader who does not lead with grace and mercy will not last.

Pass it on

Each time people cry for grace and mercy in the Bible, Jesus always extended them. Those cries for grace and mercy are what always got His attention.

In Matthew 18, a massive debt write-off took place, but the person to whom it was extended did not extend it to anyone else, and for that there were harsh results. There are many managers and leaders in society to whom much grace and mercy were extended over the years – political leaders and media personnel included – but they refuse to extend it further when they are in positions of authority. The main fact that we are having what is called climate change, is happening because of man’s failure to extend grace and mercy.

I would really like to meet a person who would say they have never received favour and mercy from God or man.

Steve Lyston is a biblical economics consultant and author of several books, including ‘End Time Finance’ and ‘The New Millionaire’.