Teaching Freedom: Faith, Hope and Service By Leslie Lenkowsky
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Transcript of Teaching Freedom: Faith, Hope and Service By Leslie Lenkowsky
T
THE FUND FOR AMERICAN STUDIES • WWW.TFAS.ORG • 800-741-6964
Faith, Hope and ServiceBy Leslie Lenkowsky
Leslie Lenkowsky, Ph.D. is professor
of public affairs and philanthropic
studies at Indiana University.
Lenkowsky returned to the university
in January 2004 after stepping
down as chief executive officer of
the Corporation for National and
Community Service, a position
to which he was appointed by
President George W. Bush and
confirmed by the Senate in 2001.
Prior to joining the Indiana University
faculty in 1997, Lenkowsky had
served as president of the Hudson
Institute, an internationally renowned
public policy research institution
headquartered in Indianapolis. He
was also the founding director of The
Fund for American Studies’ Institute
on Philanthropy and Voluntary
Service.
A graduate of Franklin and Marshall
College, Lenkowsky received his
doctorate from Harvard University.
FREEDOMTeachingTeachinga series of speeches and lectures honoring the virtues of a free and democratic society
hank you very much for honoring
me with this year’s David R. Jones
Award for Leadership in Voluntary
Service. I had the great privilege of
knowing David personally, admiring his
efforts to build The Fund for American
Studies, and working with Roger Ream,
Neal Freeman, Bill Hybl and others to
establish the Institute on Philanthropy
and Voluntary Service in his memory.
His dedication to a free society and
skills in nurturing institutions
and programs that foster it were
unparalleled. What was said about the
great architect Sir Christopher Wren,
might be said about David as well: “Si
monumentum requiris circumspice,”
if you would see his monument, look
around, in this room and in the many
young people who have come through
The Fund’s programs. To be thought
worthy of an award named for him is a
humbling experience indeed, but it just
goes to show you that if you have been
around long enough and are willing to
come to Washington in the middle of a
long, hot summer, anything is possible.
Each of you has come to Washington as
a step on your own journey, one which,
both you and I hope, will give you
opportunities to be a leader in society
in the future. Since you are still just
at the beginning of the road, not, like
me, close enough to the end to receive
awards like this, I would like to share
with you a few thoughts to keep in
mind as you try to achieve your goals.
A road figures in one of the most
important stories about the importance
of serving others in our heritage: the
In 1998, The Fund for American Studies established the David R. Jones Center
for Leadership in Philanthropy to conduct programs to prepare people for
roles in philanthropy and the nonprofit sector. The Fund for American Studies
established the annual David R. Jones Award for Leadership in Voluntary Service
to recognize outstanding individuals who promote the American traditions of
philanthropy, volunteerism, free enterprise and individual responsibility. Les
Lenkowsky, Ph.D. is one such individual. He received this award in gratitude
for a lifetime of philanthropic service in 2010 at a ceremony attended by IPVS
students. Below are his acceptance remarks.
parable of the Good Samaritan. I am
sure you all remember it. A man is
journeying on the road when he is
attacked by thieves who rob him of
his belongings and leave him half-
dead. A Pharisee, one of the priestly
caste, passes by and does not stop.
A Levite, a religious leader, does the
same. Then comes a Samaritan, a
member of a breakaway sect that
is condemned by the leaders of
mainstream Judaism. The Samaritan
stops, pours oil and water in the
man’s wounds, binds them up,
and puts him on his donkey. The
Samaritan takes him to the next
town and deposits him at a local inn,
paying for the man’s care out of his
own pocket.
We have only the bare bones of
a story – all plot and no interior
dialogue – which has made the
parable of the Good Samaritan a
story that resonates throughout a
variety of cultures and ages. People
have interpreted it in different ways.
In the Middle Ages, theologians
read the story allegorically, with
the inn symbolizing the church
and the man finding rest by
coming into relationship with the
community of believers. Many
modern thinkers read the story
almost exactly opposite – one man’s
individual virtue at work, outside
of the limiting bonds of organized
religion, as symbolized by the
cold-hearted religious figures who
pass by. Some have even put forth a
Marxist reading: only the oppressed
Samaritan proletarian has the
compassion to stop, whereas the
bourgeois Pharisee and Levite leave
the beaten worker in the ditch.
In truth, we don’t know anything
about why the Samaritan stopped.
The story is a blank screen on
which we can project our own ideas
about service to others. It is useful,
though, to consider some of the
things that the Good Samaritan
doesn’t do. He doesn’t petition the
local authorities to improve the
lighting along the road, advocate
for security cameras, or call on the
police to beef up patrols. He doesn’t
nominate himself for citizen of the
year. He doesn’t, when reaching out
to the beaten man, reflect on how
good this will look on his application
to grad school or for a promotion.
I’m being a little tongue-in-cheek
with you. There’s nothing wrong
with being an advocate for structural
improvements that alleviate the
need for charity. There’s even
THE FUND FOR AMERICAN STUDIES • WWW.TFAS.ORG • 800-741-6964
2
During the David R. Jones Award for Leadership in Philanthropy reception, IPVS students and TFAS staff grant a check for $3,200 to Capital Partners for Education. The students worked throughout the summer to raise money for the local D.C. charity as part of a class project.
“ It is useful,
though, to consider
some of the things that
the Good Samaritan
doesn’t do. He doesn’t
petition the local
authorities to improve
the lighting along
the road, advocate for
security cameras, or
call on the police to
beef up patrols.”
nothing wrong with getting a little
recognition for your good deeds.
But these things are not at the heart
of service to others. The Samaritan
gave of himself – that’s the singular
fact presented by the parable – and
he did so, spontaneously and freely,
out of love for another person and
respect for his dignity as a child of
God. I would submit that that is
the only thing necessary when it
comes to service – the gift of self.
Everything else is icing on the cake.
Ultimately, such gifts are motivated
by faith, not a particular faith, but
the widely held belief that we are in
this world to serve a purpose that
goes beyond this world. Studies
confirm what most of us know:
that for many people, faith is one
of the primary motivations behind
doing good. Research repeatedly
shows, for example, that giving and
volunteering – for both religious and
secular causes – are much greater
among people who attend worship
services regularly than those who
do not.
We only have to think about some of
the greatest volunteers in history to
recognize the connection between
faith and service to others. Mother
Teresa, of course, is the preeminent
modern example. But there are
others. Millard Fuller, the founder
of Habitat for Humanity, was driven
to build houses for the poor by his
evangelical beliefs. Chuck Colson
founded Prison Fellowship Ministries
after his religious experience in
prison in the 1970s. Most people
don’t know that Goodwill Industries,
one of the nation’s largest charities,
was founded by a Methodist minister,
Edgar Helms.
And of course we should remember
the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
We use a saying of his – “Everybody
can be great because everybody can
serve” – as the motto for the Martin
Luther King, Jr. Day of Service
that occurs each January. What we
don’t mention is that the saying
comes from a sermon Reverend
King gave at the Ebenezer Baptist
Church in Atlanta shortly before he
was assassinated. It takes as its text
the words of Jesus from the Gospel
of Mark: “Whosoever will be great
among you shall be your servant;
and whosoever of you will be the
chiefest shall be servant of all.’’ As
Reverend King explained: “You only
need a heart full of grace, a soul
generated by love, and you can be
that servant.’’
So, the connection between faith and
service seems obvious to many of us.
But when you think about it, things
did not have to be this way. All
major faiths have made a distinction
between this world and the next,
and this world has never come off
very well in the comparison. St. Paul
reminded the early Christians, “We
have here no enduring city, but seek
the city that is to come.” The early
Christian theologian Augustine took
the image further, dividing human
existence into two cities, the City of
God and the City of Man. Inhabitants
of the City of God merely sojourned
on Earth, looking forward to the day
when they would be called to their
eternal reward. As for this world,
Augustine believed – well, life is
tough, and not likely to improve.
Given this, one would think that
people of faith would be justified
in ignoring this lesser world and
its petty concerns. Feeding the
poor wouldn’t seem like much of
a priority if you’re waiting for the
heavenly kingdom to arrive. But
that has never been the case. No
major religion has ever taught its
adherents to shrink from meeting
the needs of the poor, the homeless,
the downtrodden and the oppressed.
In fact, just the opposite: the
concern for bettering the estate of
the poor runs in all major faiths.
1706 NEW HAMPSHIRE AVE. NW, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009
3
The Jewish religion, through the
principles of tzedakah (charity or
justice) and tikkun olam (healing
the world), teaches that social
action to improve the lot of the
less fortunate is perhaps the most
important obligation of Judaism.
Catholics have always presented
the seven corporal works of mercy
– with commandments to feed the
hungry, clothe the naked, care for
the sick and the like – as essential to
living a holy life. Zakat, the practice
of giving aid and comfort to the
poor, is one of the five “pillars of
Islam,” the dictates of the Muslim
faith. Protestant Christianity, while
emphasizing the importance of faith
over works as the means of salvation,
nonetheless calls believers to engage
in acts of compassion for the poor.
You might say, then, that service is
in the very DNA of religion. Service
is one way the faithful of almost
every religion demonstrate their love
of and obedience to God, by reaching
out to His children. For all of us,
service is a reminder that the most
precious gift we can give is our love
and concern for others.
Service is even a way of redeeming
the sinner. Last spring, I was invited
to keynote a dinner in Titusville,
Pennsylvania. For those of you – and
I suspect that is most of you – who
have never heard of Titusville, it
is where oil was discovered in the
United States. In an effort to recover
some of its past glory, the town
fathers have been sponsoring a year
of events to commemorate the 150th
anniversary of that discovery. The
final event was a conference on
“Oil and Philanthropy” at which I
was to speak.
Why “Oil and Philanthropy,” you
might ask? Titusville was also the
place where one of America’s most
important philanthropists, John D.
Rockefeller, began accumulating his
vast fortune. However, so hardnosed
were his business practices,
especially in Titusville (the home
of Ida Tarbell, the muckraker who
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Leaders FUTURE
assailed his Standard Oil trust), that
when he turned his attention away
from getting and toward giving, a
minister urged his denomination
to reject a donation Rockefeller
had offered on the grounds that
it was “tainted money.” Ironically,
Rockefeller himself was a very
religious man, whose records show
that he tithed as soon as he started
earning enough to do so.
My talk explored the continued debate that goes on in the nonprofit world about whether or not to accept contributions from sources that may be considered disreputable. (I began by describing a fundraiser that occurred earlier this year at a men’s entertainment club in Toledo, called “Lap Dances for Haiti.” Notwithstanding the dire situation the earthquake had created, the organizers had a difficult time finding a charity that would accept the nearly $1,000 they earned.) But I was also curious about where
the idea of “tainted money” came
from in the first place. The phrase
sounded Biblical to me, and so I did
some research.
I found it in chapter 16 of the Gospel of Luke. As translated by J. B. Phillips, the verse goes: “Now my advice to you is to use ‘money,’
tainted as it is, to make yourselves
friends, so that when it comes to an
end, they may welcome you into the
houses of eternity. The man who is
faithful in the little things will be
faithful in the big things. So that if you are not fit to be trusted to deal with the wicked wealth of this world, who will trust you with true riches?”
Rather than providing justification for turning back a gift, as Rockefeller’s critics and many since have thought, the fact that a fortune may have been made through dubious means is precisely why charities should take it. For in doing so, they will not only enable society to benefit, but also allow
even the unrighteous among us to
reveal their true worth, their love for
others.
Giving and volunteering thus serve valuable purposes – in fact, they are essential to a healthy civic life – but we should be honest that even the best intentions can go awry. Institutions, programs, social welfare professionals: these are important, maybe even necessary, but they can sometimes make us forget the value of spontaneously given service. All of us who teach students who aspire to careers in the nonprofit sector wrestle with this constantly.
Most dangerous of all is the
temptation to build utopias. You
can make the world a better place
through service, but you cannot
make it a perfect place. Sin and
suffering are the human lot; even Christ reminded His apostles, “The poor you shall always have with you.” Service, in the religious context, is not about building a utopia, a word that, after all, means
1706 NEW HAMPSHIRE AVE. NW, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009
4 5
THE FUND FOR AMERICAN STUDIES • WWW.TFAS.ORG • 800-741-6964
(l.-r.) Kate Lenkowsky, TFAS Executive Vice President Steve Slattery, Leslie Lenkowsky and TFAS President Roger Ream enjoy a reception honoring Dr. Lenkowsky.
“ You can make
the world a better place
through service, but
you cannot make it a
perfect place.”
6
1706 NEW HAMPSHIRE AVE. NW, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20009
Teaching Freedom is a series of remarks published by The Fund for American Studies, a nonprofit educational organization in Washington, D.C. The speakers featured in each issue of Teaching Freedom delivered their remarks at a TFAS institute or conference or serve as faculty members in an institute.
The speakers who participate in the educational programs contribute greatly to the purpose and mission of TFAS programs. The speeches are published in an effort to share the words and lessons of the speakers with friends, alumni, supporters and others throughout the country and world who are unable to attend the events.
Visit www.TFAS.org/TeachingFreedom to read past issues of Teaching Freedom.
2011 LEADERSHIP NETWORKOctober 14 - 15, 2011Dallas, Texas
2012 LEADERSHIP NETWORKApril 20 - 21, 2012Sonoma, California
2012 ANNUAL CONFERENCENovember 15 - 16, 2012Washington, D.C.
Visit www.TFAS.org for up-to-date information on all TFAS events.
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DATES
“no place” in Greek. We are not
meant to create heaven on earth.
Augustine is right: We presently
sojourn in the City of Man and look
forward to the City of God.
But we are also called to fix up the
City of Man while we’re here, easing
the lives of the most needy among
us. This is where faith and service
truly intersect: both of them give
hope to the hopeless. What is faith,
after all, if not the purveyor of hope?
Similarly, the service given by people
of faith inspires in the hearts of
others the hopefulness of loving and
being loved.
We’ve been through an awful lot of
trying times in the past few years.
We’ve watched as thousands of
people were murdered by fanatics
with a twisted view of a proud and
ancient faith. We’ve seen the world’s
economy go to the brink of collapse.
We’ve even heard doubts about
whether our democracy – what
Lincoln called “the last best hope of
mankind” – would indeed prevail.
This is the road you are traveling –
and you still have a long way to go.
“Lucky me!” I can hear you thinking.
Well, yes. Lucky you. Lucky you, that
you are in a position to be of service
now, when your country needs you.
Lucky you, that you will be equipped
with this summer’s experience, when
there is urgency in renewing our
proud traditions of philanthropy and
volunteering. Lucky you, that you
will have a greater understanding
of, and thus more ability to advance
such fundamental principles as love
of country, freedom and reverence
for the divine in all of us.
Clearly, not everything is at ease in
our world. There are frightening
forces at work, along with much
uncertainty. But in this troubled age
there is also the opportunity for you
to render service to the inhabitants
of the City of Man that will take root
and flourish beyond your wildest
imagination. It is not too optimistic
to say that, with courage and love,
the gift of self that you offer to your
nation, your community and your
fellow citizens might not change
the world, but it might make our
sojourn here in the City of Man a
little more comfortable.
“Be strong and let your heart take
courage, all you who wait in hope for
the Lord,” says the Biblical psalmist.
At the risk of offending the authors
of that passage, both human and
divine, I would make an addition:
while you’re waiting, get out there
and do some good.
Good luck to each of you and thanks
again to The Fund for American
Studies for honoring me with this
award and allowing me to share
these thoughts with you.