Have you ever had a run-in with a badger? If you have, you’ll know to avoid doing it again! Badgers can be snarly, vicious, and terribly aggressive, especially if you’ve come too close to their burrow or nest. If one passes on the road in front of you, give it a wide berth. Otherwise, you may be running for your life. With sharp teeth and a feisty attitude, the badger is a naturally aggressive animal with few natural enemies.
One horrifying report from Lancaster, UK reports a two-day rampage by a badger which attacked five people, causing a huge reign of terror. The animal began biting everyone in its path for no apparent reason.[1] A report from Ayrshire, Scotland reports a woman found dead after being mauled by a badger when her car broke down.[2] While these may be extreme instances, you may want to consider going the opposite way if you see a badger cross your path.
Badgers are relentlessly territorial. Their competitive, aggressive nature makes them one of nature’s least favorite critters to encounter.
Then again, humans can be pretty territorial too. I for one have difficulty tolerating any large spider or insect-like creature that dares step foot into my house. I don’t know about you, but sharing my home with rodents sounds equally as distasteful.
While these examples may not seem so very unreasonable, for humans, territorialism can extend far beyond visitations by unwanted critters. Unfortunately, the human animal can be territorial with each other too!
Human beings have both a “tribal” and a “social” nature. We value inclusiveness and openness. But with our focus on ourselves, those we deem family or friends and those with common interests or opinions feel far more welcome to us than those who differ. This is the root of all bias.
At base, human beings are instinctively territorial.
In our scripture for today, Jesus continues to teach his disciples what I like to call “Lessons in Leadership.” Last week, Jesus redefined the meaning of leading as being the servant of others, lifting others up instead of one’s self. This push back against our human penchant for individualism continues in today’s scripture in which Jesus challenges territorialism and competitiveness in his disciples’ concept of leadership.
Encouraging his disciples in practicing self-awareness, Jesus encourages them to tone down their competitive tailfeathers when someone in their periphery, who does not identify as one of Jesus’ own posse, begins casting out demons in Jesus’ name.
Jesus tells them, “Whoever is not against us is for us.”
Still holding the child on his lap whom he used as an example of humility in his last lesson, Jesus returns to that conversation saying, “If any of you cause one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea!”
That has to be one of the strongest statements we’ve ever heard from Jesus’ mouth! He goes on warning them to put aside their judgy attitudes, their competitive spirits, and their exclusionary treatment of others, and to “be at peace with one another!”
Jesus knows that continuing in such a territorial manner will harm and inhibit their ministry in ways that will kill his mission. To be part of the “Jesus Leadership Development Program” meant that you needed to widen your umbrella, broaden your view, put your territorial instincts aside, and become a collaborative leader, working together, even with those who may not be part of your inner circle, to share skills and build a kingdom of love, peace, and value for all.
Territorialism claims a deep-seated place in our psyches. Our instinct for defending and protecting our “territories,” no matter how we define them, comes from our human desire for safety, security, status, and identity. Our ancestors developed tribes to protect valuable and needed resources from raiders and to ensure survival of the group.
That instinct is hard to keep at bay, even though we humans today don’t face the challenges of survival and food that we did in our ancestors’ days. Today, we know that collaboration works better to further our communities and workplaces. Sharing skills, empowering others, risking relationships, generating ideas together foster innovation and a more “civilized” society.
Leadership gurus today encourage people in workplaces and institutions to develop better ways of trusting each other, of collaborating together on projects that will benefit a wider community and embracing a “global” identity.
Harvard Business Review in their January issue notes that moving from a territorial mindset to a collaborative mindset requires 1) building self-awareness 2) moving from a “me” attitude to a “we” attitude and 3) building trust and shared commitment.[3]
In the scriptures we are seeing this month in Mark, Jesus is doing exactly this with his disciples. He is trying to help them see differently about their neighbors, their biases, and those around them, so that they will be able not only to accept others as valued and worthy followers of Jesus but to accept those who may work beside them and join them in their mission, be open to expanding their disciple group to anyone who shares their mission and reverence for God. To do this, he must help them to understand themselves. But more importantly, they must understand him, God’s mission, and their role in carrying it out. They must learn that their stories are a small part of God’s Story, and that their role as leaders is not to entertain status, hierarchies, or stake territories but to expand their vision to include all of God’s people.
They must lower their opinions of themselves and learn to lift up others, see others as equals and as people in need of God’s blessings. And they must commit to Jesus’ mission of love and inclusion, having faith in him, trusting his vision, and not acting on their lesser inclinations.
This requires letting go of “control” and embracing faith in Jesus’ mission, letting go of self-interest and becoming interested in God’s people.[4]
Being a disciple of Jesus will feel “antithetical” at times to our human natural inclinations. But if we allow ourselves to fall into “territorialism” as a disciple of Jesus, we will begin to stifle all that is important and vital to Jesus’ mission. For the church this becomes all important!
The good news is that we humans, unlike badgers, have the opportunity to tap into other aspects of our nature, for human beings also have the potential to act in truly compassionate, loving, tolerant, and giving ways.
One of our closest relatable DNA ancestors is the bonobo. Unlike chimpanzees, bonobos are peace-loving, gentle animals. They are known to share their food with others, express empathy, invite others into their communities, and welcome cooperation between groups and families. While many species of the animal kingdom have struggled to maintain dominance, the bonobo curiously seems to be becoming more and more domesticated all on their own. Somehow, they have realized that they will thrive better and more abundantly through compassion and kindness rather than dominance and aggression.[5]
If only humans could follow suit.
Whether in our homes, our communities, our churches, or in our nation, the more we cultivate among ourselves Jesus’ vision of collaboration, compassion, empathy, and sharing rather than territorialism, competition, control, and tribalism, the more we will understand God’s kingdom vision.
For God so loved the world….that he gave his son. The least we can do is give Jesus’ lessons on leadership our humble attention.
[1] “Rampaging Badger,” Lancaster University News, https://www.lancaster.ac.uk
[2] “Motorist Found Dead in Field,” JOE, January 11, 2022, https://joe.co.uk/news
[3] “Moving from Territorial to Collaborative Leadership,” Harvard Business Review, January 29, 2024.
[4] See also “Why Territorial Managers Stifle Innovation,” MIT Sloan Management Review, May 6, 2024 and “Becoming a Collaborative Leader,” Human Capital Innovations Leadership Review, July 18, 2024.
[5] Brandon Keim, “Why Some Wild Animals Are Becoming Nicer,” Science (blog), WIRED, February 7, 2012, wired.com.