Sometimes in life, we admire some people who have become famous for what they have done or are doing. For instance, Nelson Mandela is an icon of leadership in the World admired by so many people. I ask myself what is so special about Nelson Mandela? Was he the most intelligent person in South Africa in his days? Or is he the best ruler Africa has had in a long time? The question goes on and on. But today I seem to have a simple answer to this “Nelson Mandela left the Crowd.” A crowd in simple terms is a group of people gathered together and most times may be linked by a common interest or activity.
Many times we find ourselves in the crowd. The crowd usually seems so comfortable. Sometimes it feels like the best place to stay. I am not insinuating that being in the crowd is bad but to be outstanding you have to leave the crowd. I have read of many successful people today and one thing I think is common to most of them is that they left their crowd. Leaving the crowd does not mean walking away from friends, family or people but it means “DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY THE RIGHT WAY.” When Nelson Mandela became president, he believed in the forgiveness and unity between the whites and blacks in South Africa. This was not probably what the black or white population around him at the time would have really wanted but he believed this was the different and right way to go. What did he do? He did not walk away from the blacks or whites who opposed his ideas but he used sports to unite the racially divided South Africa. That is how he left the ideology of the crowd and did things differently the right way.
In Matthew 5:1-12, Jesus began His Sermon on the Mount. Jesus had a lot to teach the people and surely wanted everyone to listen. Verses 1-2 says “Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him and he began to teach them.” Jesus saw the crowds and when He went up to the mountain, His disciples followed Him and He began to teach them. What touches me most in this text is that there was a crowd but the disciples had to leave and follow Jesus to learn from Him and we can recount how the disciples spread the Gospel of Jesus after Jesus ascended to Heaven. They left the crowd, learned from Jesus and became outstanding teachers of the Gospel of Christ.
We have let the crowd around us define our success or failures in life. I am African and I live in a country where things seem so difficult and many youths after obtaining certificates from schools remain at home jobless because they say “The system of the country is not favorable.” At the same time in the same country, I know a few youths who have identified the problems of this same system, and in leaving the ideology of the crowd to solve the problem of this unfavorable system, are positively impacting the society; making a living from providing solutions and have become icons for those who remain in the crowd. Your crowd must not necessarily be a whole country, a village, more than 100 people etc. Your crowd may be your colleagues, your classmates, your peers in your neighborhood, etc. The question to ponder is “AM I OUTSTANDING IN THE POSITION I FIND MYSELF NOW?” For instance, in my Christian life am I outstanding? At my job side, am I outstanding? At my school, am I outstanding? In my relationship with my friends and family am I outstanding?
Doing this write-up was not easy because I also asked myself these questions and I see how long I too have been in the crowd. But the good news is I or You can leave the crowd and become outstanding. Remember in Matthew 5:1-2, Jesus left the crowd and His disciples followed Him, learned from Him and became outstanding teachers of the Gospel. Nelson Mandela, during his years in prison learned a lot and became an outstanding leader. It is not too late to be outstanding Christians, Employees, friends, Managers etc. We can start learning to be outstanding. Besides our activities to becoming successful in our lives, we need to learn to “LEAVE THE CROWD AND DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY THE RIGHT WAY.”
Vanessa