Holy Leadership
This is from Dan Kimball’s book, The Emerging Church –
In his book Dining with the Devil, Os Guinness writes of an alarming observation made by a Japanese businessman: “Whenever I meet a Buddhist leader, I meet a holy man. Whenever I meet a Christian leader, I meet a manager.”
It is my prayer that as I grow into my position(s) of leadership within the Church, I will be known more as a holy man than as a manager of events and tasks. May my priority be people and drawing them to God, not just fitting them into a perpetual machine that we call many modern churches.
God calls us to submit to our leaders within the church. What are you supposed to do if you cannot trust the leaders in your church? Do you still submit to them, or do you find another church?
Not that we’re going through this at Sonlife. I know other people in other churches who are experiencing this conflict, though. I wonder what I should tell them when I attempt to provide godly counsel. Where do you draw the line and say enough is enough? How do I encourage someone to leave without encouraging a church-hopping, consumeristic attitude?
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Holy Leadership
As you know, I’ve got quite a bit of unfortunate experience in this area. Submitting to our leaders is an appropriate admonition, but not at the expense of every other biblical principle. I think, really, it comes down to following God’s written word in other ways…if a church leader is acting unholy -then the best way to deal with it is NOT to immediately leave the church – goodness, can you imagine the continual exodus that would occur in the nation if that were the case?!? One should attempt to understand and negotiate the waters of the relationship in order to see if a common, holy center can be found, and that includes approaching the individual, then possibly involving older, wiser leaders in problem solving.
As for you in your desire to be a godly leader, the only thing that really stands out in my mind is BE YOU – the creature that God made you to be. I know it may sound trite to say this, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve really been able to grow and see how important it is to be REAL. And by REAL I’m not trying to approach it in that “post-modern” way – I’m not saying this to be “philosophical,” – but I have seen sooo many pastors PUT ON AIRS and it absolutely drives me crazy! They are so busy administering, leading, managing, and evaluating that they have lost the CENTER OF THE MARK – loving God and loving people. I know you Love God, and people, too, Matt – so I KNOW that you’ll end up being a GREAT minister. The most valuable attribute I’ve found in the years I’ve been doing ministry is humility. Believe me, this is an area that I’ve learned about at great cost to me and my family. Many, many tears have been shed as I’ve learned just how UNhumble I have been – and what an amazing process it has been to learn, and grow, and change to become more like Jesus! “So we fix our eyes on HIM – the author and perfector of our faith…” Obviously, this is all not to say that I’ve made it, humility is such a lifelong journey – – – but I have come to truly appreciate the rare beauty of a pastor willing to humble himself and admit he can’t do it all – is not talented enough to do it all – and empowers others to be there to help and encourage and succeed WITH him in the “business” of ministry.
Congrats on finishing your first year of seminary! May the summer to come be refreshing and inspiring for you! Sara M.