Sandbox Leadership Principles
A Monthly Inspirational Viewpoint of Life’s Journeys with Sonia Wignall.
Episode Fourty Seven
The Parable of the Good Samaritan is in the Bible book of Luke 10:25-37
It tells the story of a man who asked a question to Jesus, Rabbi and teacher.
“Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”. A most loaded question.
Jesus replies, “What is written in the Law?” … “How do you read it?”
The man answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
Wanting more justification for himself, the man continued his pursuit. He then asked, “And who is my neighbor?” To answer this question, Jesus went for the parable. He told the man a story,
“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
At first glance the answer, like many that Jesus gave, seemed initially out of line with the question asked. However, Jesus, as a good teacher, was using a parable to unpack the answer for the man.
The answer Jesus gave goes back to the age-old question. “am I my brother’s keeper”. Although any other Biblical characters could have been used, Jesus chose three specific prototypes of men. Two were in ministry, Levite (a man subordinate to a Priest), and a Priest, (a teacher of the word of God). The third man was a Samaritan, symbolic of an outlier.
The inference here is these two men, representing the ministry of Jesus, were not willing to stop and help someone that was not “one of them”. It was the Samaritan, the outcast, not part of the traditional Jewish culture that understood the assignment.
The use of these specific types of men was a lesson in Biblical Leadership. A leader is a unifier, who models the core principles of stewardship and servanthood. Jesus’ Leadership model was that of a “Servant”. The greatest among you is the servant. Not the Priest, not the Levite, but in this parable the outlier, the Samaritan, the man who led from the heart not from a place of altitude.
Now lessons from the field.
As we celebrate the winner of the FIFA 2026 World Cup, Spain, we can also see that the power of the win, on and off the field, was in the unity, the love, the support, the teams, the spirit and the lessons that emerged out of the process.
What did the FIFA World Cup games bring us, showed us, teach us?
There were many lessons and revelations in the games. In every country, team, game and players we could see the hand of God. His image, likeness, love and blessings. His grace, his humility his unifying force.
The power in the games was in the unifying force. The mixtures of heritages from all over the globe. All of them, the true representation of God’s image. Look at all the beautiful countries the players came from and represented. The FIFA games was a global love fest on steroids, on and off the field.
A visual reminder that we are all “Global Citizens”. We are all God’s children. God is Global. His Spirit and image is Global. His blessings belong to no one country. Regardless of our heritage, lineage, color, wealth, educational status, title, resources, etc. God does not “color code us.
God loves us all. He may have a few choice words for some of our behavior “in his name”.
Our capacity to join as one, play as one and win as one is a powerful reminder of God’s will for humanity. It is our giveback to him in gratitude for all he has given and done for us.
We outside looking in at the games can also win, in the life of unity, inclusion and love for humanity. We can think globally, process and respond through the lens and power of love.
“Unity is strength, division is weakness.” (African Proverb)
Let the weak say I am strong. Let the poor say I am rich, let us all bow to the king of kings, Lord over us all.
Let us not be wise in our own eyes.
“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” 1st Corinthians 1:27
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9
If we remain unaligned with God’s will and continue to see ourselves “better than”, different than, higher than, or afraid of them, or believe we are superior, we will continue to drink from the fountain of division, and eat from the bread basket of ignorance and manifest the fruit thereof. We will forget the same sun rises and sine on them too. The same rain falls on them too. The blood we share is that of God, no greater or lesser.
As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. If foolishness is your thought so shall it be fed to you and you and foolishness will become one. Proverb 23:7
God has called us higher. HIs word is a lamp unto our feet. Every day, we have been given the “free agency” to choose. Choose love over hate, righteousness over injustice, service and grace over fear. Choose this day, he says. “Who will you serve”? he asks us all. Let us become more like the FIFA World Cup Teams, giving heed to the “Spirit of Ubuntu” in gratitude. We are all one!
Sonia Wignall
Sonia M. Wignall is Co-Founder//Board Chair, Diaspora Global Foundation. A STEM Education Organization. www.leanintostem.org. She is also a Freelance Cultural and Lifestyle Writer. Her articles and monthly column “Perspective”, and “Perspective on the Arts” can be found here. She is the Author and Developer of “Leadership Begins in the Sandbox”..Sandbox Leadership.