WoW42: Be the Owner, not the Hired Hand

One of the best parts of 善德女王 is the dialogues. And the best among the dialogues are between the two female leads 德曼 (Deokman) and 美室 (Mishil). The former is the princess that was abandoned from birth and the story is largely about how she clawed her way back to eventually become king. The latter is a lady who holds all the political power but failed to become queen because of her lack of noble blood. The dialogues between these two are the best because they talked a lot about leadership and the way to govern a country. I find myself reflecting a lot about how they view a people should be led and governed; and hence how a church congregation should be led and governed.

One of the critical turning points of the serial centered around this particular dialogue.
德曼：我现在知道了，这就是新罗无法得到发展的原因。
美室：什么？
德曼：玺主，是因为你不是国家的主人，你如果是国家的主人，会一直希望它好，但是由于不是主人，总是欺骗，不是主人，才没有梦想。但是，怎么办？没有梦想的人，是不会发展的，没有梦想的人，连一步都不容易前进。
美室挺受刺激。

Let me translate this:
Deokman: I now know why Silla has not developed all these years.
Mishil: What?
Deokman: Sealkeeper, it is because you are not the owner of the country. If you were, you would always wish it well. But because you are not, you resort to lies. But you are not the owner, you have no dreams. Without dreams, there will not be development. Without dreams, there is not a step forward.
Mishil is shocked.

I keep reflecting on a recent conflict with a co-worker and I think it really boils down to this issue. I don't know when the transformation happened for me. Perhaps it is because I started owning the entire church. I make no apologies for this, because I don't mean this in a possesive or abusive way. I mean owning in the sense of sacrifice and love. So I started giving my dreams and my life to the church. I take responsibility. I began to think big and far. At the same time, I realize my attitude also changed. I began to have expectations and talking honestly became important for me. I started making demands in a gentle and form way. But I also started moving forward.

This is not the way with hired hand. They are calculative about the time and effort they have to give. They are concerned with their resources for their own ministries. They pander to the flock which they are supposed to lead. They barely move forward because they are only concerned about gaining power and authority. They fail to realize that they own the whole church all along. This btw is also how I see the parable of the lost son. The key of the transformation lies in the verse "'My son', the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.'"