The search for significance

David Weidner who covers Wall Street for MarketWatch posted this article about the recent Davos gathering, and it reveals an important truth about men, purpose, and frailty.  Weidner laments the fact that 70 of the richest people in the world gathered for a lauded purpose, but what they accomplish remains fairly invisible.  He points out that business deals are made and the networking environment is phenomenal, but the marketed purpose for the gathering is pretty much abandoned.  Sure, lots of talking takes place, but that leads only to poverty (of thought) when untethered to action.  So why do these men keep returning and participating in similar gathering?  Or, what is the true value business leaders find in such gatherings?  Weidner writes,

“There are very few truly exclusive clubs that make you feel special. Davos remains one of those clubs.” 

The answer is in self-worth and personal significance.  When men will not glorify God they must glorify something else (including their selves).  We are creatures created to praise, and we will praise Him or something in His place.  Some men are surely finding temporary pleasure in this self-worship, enjoying the event like an enthronement festival celebrating their financial godhood. 

And, Weidner explains why the intense media bias results in any news about the gathering being relatively worthless.  He comments:

All of the financial media love Davos. We’re underpaid and insecure. A junket to Switzerland, even with the grueling work of regurgitating financial baloney, most of us would take the assignment. And why not? We may not be important, but we feel important for a few days. Davos looks beautiful. Sometimes Bono shows up. It beats working. 

So, though Weidner has never heard anyone report back in private that the gathering was worth its salt, he has always heard glowing public reviews.  With finality, he writes a sarcastic response to this rhetorical question of why these egos meet:  

But if attendees really cared about any of that, they’d have done something about it.

No, Davos is a place to be seen, to feel special, to cut a deal. It’s the global system’s way of telling the citizens of the globe that everything’s working.

Obviously, the servant leader has a much different approach to life, leadership, networking, deal-making, etc.  While he needs encouragement, it cannot ultimately come from those things that are insufficient in themselves.  Because God alone is self-sufficient and inexhaustible in the overflow of his attributes that amaze/humble, sustain, and grow us, He alone is the One who can offer us the purpose we need to motivate and charge us for selfless living and effective, servant-work.  Practically speaking, such gatherings often cause the unbelieving leader more anxiety and stress, because he’s comparing his godhood to that of another.  He’s thinking about his net worth, his influence, his looks, his future, his legacy, his experience, his accolades, his education, etc.  These things direct a man’s attention to things that he feels make his worthy of praise.  The believing leader is subject to the same temptations, but he can use these for his sanctification, self-identifying with the frailty of his barns, the brevity of his days, the extent of his kingdom and the judgment for how he stewards his influence, the imminent death of his aging and failing body, his inexperience and arrogance, etc.  The godly leader can turn to the Rock “higher than I.”   He is where mental, spiritual, and emotional stability come from.  Thus, the believing leader should find his purpose in God, not stuff or people or activities, and so he can do things without that pretense of serving (when in fact the temptation is to appear with the flowing robe and benevolent blessing but inwardly rejoice in others’ perception of your apparent greatness).  He can truly serve – God and the people made in His image.

Alternatively, there is also the caution the godly leader needs:  to not disdain the position of authority he’s been given, as if it didn’t have significant purpose in God’s plans.  It does, and to pretend that the position he holds is not important can be just as dangerous as self-worship because of the position.