I am like James and John

Here is a perceptive, challenging poem for those of us who are in any sort of leadership.

I am like James and John
Lord, I size up other people
in terms of what they can do for me;
how they can further my program,
feed my ego,
satisfy my needs,
give me strategic advantage.
I exploit people,
ostensibly for your sake,
but really for my own sake.
Lord, I turn to you
to get the inside track
and obtain special favors,
your direction for my schemes,
your power for my projects,
your sanction for my ambitions,
your blank checks for whatever I want.
I am like James and John.

- Robert Raines, cited in Kent & Barbara Hughes, Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome