Arm Wrestling the Pastor

Some men make lousy leaders because they have a need to be liked. Some men make lousy leaders because they like being powerful. Some men make lousy leaders because their personalities are paper thin. We've all met these kind of people.

I arm wrestled a man in Tocancipa, Colombia who I think is perfect leadership material. His name is Pastor Aldo.

I only spent a few days with Pastor Aldo and several members of his fellowship, but I learned who Aldo was by observing four things about him:

1) The aforementioned arm wrestling contest. Our first afternoon in Tocancipa turned into (for the fellas anyway) a time of real mano-a-mano bonding. Somehow we all ended up arm wrestling each other, and as men typically do at such times, we became fast friends. My opponent was Pastor Aldo. I won. We laughed and hollered and shared a guy hug. Aldo had definitely earned, somewhere along the way, the respect and camaraderie of these young men from his congregation.

2) In the pulpit, Pastor Aldo was authoritative and respected. There was no doubt he was the pastor of that church. He prayed fervently, worshipped energetically and was moved by God's Word.

3) Walking to the city square one afternoon, Pastor Aldo and his wife held hands. Any man who holds hands with his wife like this without any pretense earns high marks in my book.

4) As we left Tocancipa, Aldo reached in the window of our vehicle, placed his hand on my arm and spoke a few words to us as his eyes became misty. The translation from our missionary was something along the lines of, "You will all be in my memory for a very long time." Strong man, sensitive soul.

It's always nice to find a man whose character and personality give me something to shoot for. I actually have a list of "heroes" and the longer I live, the longer that list becomes. I think Pastor Aldo has earned a spot.