_PNG.png)
last night i was reading a book on church leadership. i do that often. i’m a church leader. i’ve actually been reading a lot lately. this morning i got up and read some more…
there’s a common theme in most of the church leadership books and journals i have read over the course of my life. it goes something like this:
god has anointed you the leader. follow the vision god has given you. god brought you to this church and planted inside of you the dream he wants you to lead people to follow. it’s god’s vision. in you. the leader. people may disagree with your vision. people may not like your decisions. some people will get mad. others will leave. many will talk behind your back. some will try to undermine your vision and circumvent your plan. don’t let those people get you down. don’t let them hinder you. stay the course. all great leaders had to face opposition. be faithful to your vision. god gave it to you. don’t get bogged down by the people who don’t agree with you. move on. they will, too. eventually. you are not in the people-pleasing business. god did not call you to make people happy. he called you to lead. people are simply sheep without a shepherd…in need of a strong leader to take them where god wants them to be. if they don’t like your leadership…your vision…your decisions…your style…your theology…well, they can leave and find another church. that’s not your business. following god’s leading in your life as a leader is your business.
although i see some truth in this, most of it really, really bothers me. there’s an arrogance…a theological superiority…that is simply dangerous. i know that god communicated clearly to the prophets of israel and to the apostles of the first century. he spoke boldly and audibly to those he called to the demanding roles of leadership in the jewish nation and the early church…and it has been recorded accurately in scripture.
but are we to assume that that every preacher, every church leader, every new church planter, every ministry executive, every president…has the same “hotline” to god? that every pastor has visionary carte blanche to pray, interpret god’s voice, and then follow that vision…and then run roughshod over people who don’t buy into the vision? this is uncomfortably heartless to me.
that just seems inconsistent with the character and “leadership” style of jesus. from a purely corporate perspective, jesus just wouldn’t have been much of a leader. he cared too much about people.
now, don’t get me wrong on this. leaders have to make decisions. sometimes we choose to do things (hopefully, in collaboration, dialogue, and relationship with others) that people will disagree with. there are tough things that leaders need to do…and we must do them. and sometimes people get hurt and discouraged and frustrated in the process.
it’s a very complicated issue. no easy answers.
this morning, i’m incredibly grateful to serve with a team of people at north point who recognize that difficult decisions need to be made…agonize deeply when those decisions hurt people…and would never dream of letting me get on some power trip because god gave me a vision and i’m the leader and the people just need to follow.
you’d love to be a fly on the wall if i tried to do that!
Comments