Peelu (Salvadora persica) ~ Leadership

            Not long ago there was a terrible storm in England.  Ancient living towers lay strewn about the ground.  How can something light as air fell in a moment the mighty tree?!

The roots of the trees in England are often small because water is always right at the surface (if you have lived in England you know what I am talking about… the water is never far away since it’s constantly falling out of the sky!)  The roots of those stately oaks had never grown deep in search of nutrients; and thus the root system was quite limited.  A tree that experiences drought or times of great stress will send its roots down further, and thus it will survive a storm. Not so the Peelu tree, scientific name Salvadora persica. This tree has drawn the attention of environmentalists around the globe. It's a persistent organism and stands well against windstorms and even tsunamis. Some environmentalists are hoping to have this tree planted along beaches in lower eastern Africa where cyclones often threaten coastal towns. The trunk might not be much to look at, but it gets the job done!

There is so much value in having a strong sentinel to stand against the storms for us. Sometimes the Lord raises up someone to willingly brace themselves against a storm in order to protect those behind them.  

This really hit home for me when I was traveling through Greece.  I had gone alone with nothing but a backpack, some basic supplies, and a Greek new testament.  I was tracing the path that Paul took when he traveled through Greece and Macedonia, and I was reading the letters he wrote to each church as I passed through the ancient cities.  In Athens I had the good fortune of staying with a family.  My classmate at Oxford had family there, and he had suggested I stay with them (never-mind that they barely spoke English and my Greek was atrocious!).  So when I arrived in Athens I caught a train to the station nearest their address and wandered about until I found the house.

They were very accommodating and fed me a huge Greek meal before I could even take off my backpack!  We spoke in small words and with many hand gestures.  As our conversation opened, I told them of my grandmother, who had been adopted, and who may have been partially Greek.  They became very excited and asked me all about my lineage.  There wasn’t much to say; I, like many European Americans, am a total mutt!  They took great interest in my name, Alexandra, and set about pulling books from shelves in their library to research what it meant.

Alexandra, or the feminine form of Alexander, originates from the time of Agamemnon.  It was an age before Greece was Greece.  This ancient name has a deep and multifaceted meaning.  Andros of course refers to ‘man’ or ‘mankind’.  And alexein means ‘to defend’.  Yet the type of defense is very particular.  This verb is often used to describe a lightning rod; thus the implication of the name can be roughly translated to: someone who stands tall to take the full force of the storm in order to protect people under them.  Friends, perhaps you have had a moment of deep conviction.  This was one of those moments for me; because I realized I was not living up to my name!

I want to be more like the humble Peelu tree who stands firm through any storm so that the smaller and weaker trees behind it do not fall. How might this translate into my own leadership?

I see this happening in three main ways regarding godly leadership.

#1. PROTECTION. A leader stands firm not only to protect himself, but to preserve those behind him. Philippians 2v3&4 says: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interest of the others.”

            #2. PRODUCTION.  When a leader stands firm, putting his roots down into Christ, he will bear fruit for the kingdom.  Galatians 6v9 declares, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

#3. PROGRESSION. When a leader stands firm, it gives those behind him a chance to grow up and progress in their own faith.  Ephesians 4v11-16 says, “So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  Then we will not longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is Christ.  From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”

Therefore, let us stand firm!!! (Ephesians 6v14)

(A friend and I climbing a Peelu tree in the Ngorogoro crater)