Charisma - Character = Catastrophe

When I was in college during the late 1990's my college president, Don Meyer, had a saying that stuck with me. I've used in countless times as a principle of leadership, "Charisma without Character equals Catastrophe."

I first heard it during the impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton. He was dealing with questions of misconduct and it was becoming evident that his character had some sink holes that were becoming public. When a leader of that scale, no matter how charismatic, begins to have the integrity of his life falter it quickly becomes a catastrophic event.

In the church we deal with our own catastrophes of leadership. Not long ago it was Rev. Ted Haggard. Before that too many to count. And until Christ returns we'll see more leaders deal with the catastrophe of a lack of character.

Those of us who want to serve in the gift of leadership should work to build godly character. Character is the tensile strength of our integrity.

--Ben