The news from both the Middle East and the midwest has been interesting lately. On the one hand, government leaders in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Yemen, and now Libya are being challenged by their own people. On the other hand, here in the heartland of the United States and the home of the Green Bay Packers another challenge is being played out as thousands of demonstrators oppose the budget cuts of a conservative governor.

Before anyone starts siding with or against Scott Walker, the Republican governor of Wisconsin, let me issue this disclaimer: I am not interested in the politics of either Wisconsin or Libya for the purposes of this discussion. What I am interested in is what both of these events teach us about leadership, especially church leadership.

Here's my point: Egypt's struggle for relief from the oppression of the Mubarak regime could have ended very differently. But it didn't. Egypt's leaders realized that common, everyday people had legitimate grievances. And when an attempt ...