You might know that deflating moment when you see behind the curtain into the reality of a dynamic teacher’s life and think, “This guy is a jerk.” All of the teacher’s teachings empty of power in the moment. Benedict, in chapter two of his rule, lists the qualities of an abbot. The abbot is the head of the monastery, and the word abbot comes from the word “abba” which means father, and Benedict is very clear what type of person should be a father to a monastic community. An abbot, Benedict says, leads with two types of leadership. The abbot leads with his words, but more powerful than words are the abbot’s actions. Benedict says, “ . . . he must point out to them all that is good and holy more by example than by words . . . demonstrating God’s instructions to the stubborn and the dull by a living example.” Benedict understood that it was the abbot’s life that would do more teaching than the words that came out of his mouth. There is no "Do as I say, not as I do," in the Rule; those who lead must lead first with what they do.

A professor of mine in college was a Dutch immigrant. I was lucky to take his class on his last semester before retiring. He didn’t talk about it, but most who knew him knew his story, that as a young man his family hid Jews from the Nazis. He was even arrested by the Nazis and jailed in a Nazi prison. He walked with a limp, usually using a cane, and this was the result of torture during his imprisonment where he was asked to divulge the location of Jews. He rarely talked publicly about this side of the story, but most quietly knew it. He was also an incredibly gentle and encouraging teacher. When he would return a graded test or paper it would be full of little remarks like “Good point!” and “Excellent answer!” His class was not an easy A; he just regularly pointed out in our work what was right as well as wrong.

When this professor taught, I listened. His character and his life story taught as much as anything he said, and because I knew who he was and the type of man he was I listened to what he would teach me. I forget this as a pastor. I obsess over a line or two in a sermon but forget that the people in my church are looking as much at my life as they are hearing my words. My life teaches a more significant lesson, for good or bad, than I realize. Isn’t this what Paul was getting at when he said, “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor 13:1, NRSV). This is what Benedict is trying to tell those who would be an Abbot, that their lives must be a living example to those whom they’ll lead. For any who would choose to lead, Benedict tell us to teach, first, with our lives.