Teaching
FREEDOM a series of speeches and lectures honoring the virtues of a free and democratic society
Faith, Hope and Service By 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.
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.
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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
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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.
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 halfdead. 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.
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.”
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
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3 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.
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4 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
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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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You can make the world a better place through service, but you cannot make it a perfect place.”
(l.-r.) Kate Lenkowsky, TFAS Executive Vice President Steve Slattery, Leslie Lenkowsky and TFAS President Roger Ream enjoy a reception honoring Dr. Lenkowsky.
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.
from in the first place. The phrase sounded Biblical to me, and so I did some research.
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
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
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6 “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.
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.
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“Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait in hope for
2011 LEADERSHIP NETWORK October 14 - 15, 2011 Dallas, Texas 2012 LEADERSHIP NETWORK April 20 - 21, 2012 Sonoma, California 2012 ANNUAL CONFERENCE November 15 - 16, 2012 Washington, D.C. Visit www.TFAS.org for up-to-date information on all TFAS events.
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.
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