“Especially in regard to young people it is said that they have a horror of the artificial or false and that they are searching above all for truth and honesty.” Pope Paul VI

Recently while housebound during a day of thunderstorms and flooding, I had the opportunity to watch the poignant and whimsical movie, Bogus, about an orphaned boy forced to live with his aunt, a woman who had no children and really had no clue about how to take care of her new charge.

While on the plane to meet his new guardian, the little boy colored a picture of a funny looking man who suddenly came to life and became the little boy’s best friend. The man’s name was Bogus and, as his name suggests, he was pretend - the wise and warm imaginary friend of a little boy trying to come to grips with the loss of his mother.

For Bogus, though obviously not real, his name implied none of the negativity inherent in the word when we use it to describe something counterfeit or pseudo, something not authentic in spite of appearances – bogus coin, bogus legislation, bogus remedy

Today, as a commonly used synonym, pseudo is applied in many fields: pseudo class and pseudo elements in web technology, pseudo science, pseudo math, even pseudo weddings.  But one term stands out in my mind – pseudo leadership.

In the course of a life-time we are faced with leaders on every level, beginning with the family and including schools, small businesses, major corporations, faith communities big and small and, of course, countries.

We are blessed when our leaders understand the value of transformation and strive to be those transformational leaders who leave a place better for their having served there.

When our leaders succumb to pseudo-leadership -- enchanted with power, putting strategy before relationships and embracing the adage that the ends justify the means even when the means conflict with the values of the organization – then everyone suffers.

Scripture is full of examples of leaders, who though flawed in many ways as all of us are, were powerful, effective, transformational leaders.

Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, at Aish.com, defines the essence of such leadership: “To be an agent of hope, to love the people you lead, and to widen their horizons to embrace humanity as a whole - that is the kind of leadership that gives people the ability to recover from crisis and move on. It is what made Moses, Isaiah and Jeremiah three of the greatest leaders of all time.”

What our biblical ancestors clearly embraced was the belief that they were called to stand with integrity and honor before God who sees all things, and, in spite of the reality that leadership in all circumstances is complex, laden with substantial tasks and equally substantial responsibilities, these graced leaders never lost site of the need for renewal.

In his leadership work with Project Kaleidoscope, John W. Gardner lists nine tasks which comprise the most significant, but not the only, functions of leadership: : envisioning goals, affirming values, motivating, managing, achieving a workable level of unity, explaining, serving as a symbol, representing the group externally, and renewing.

Of the last function, Gardner writes: “One of the great historical examples of the leader/renewer is John XXIII, who was elected Pope at the age of 76. In his long years of rising through the ranks of the Church hierarchy, the spark of imagination and creativity remained undimmed, and when he reached the top he became the greatest force for renewal the Church has known in this century.”

And then there is Jesus – the consummate leader of human history, who not only motivated his followers but inspired them, who established love as the firm foundation of all his endeavors and challenges us to do the same.

Jesus was genuine – and those who are called to Christian leadership need to be genuine, too; to follow in Jesus’ footsteps of faith, compassionate service, truth and keeping eyes focused on God, not on self.

Bogus may make a delightful imaginary friend, but there’s no place for such a person in the realm of Christian leadership.

Mary Morrell serves as managing editor of The Monitor.