By Jeff
It struck me recently that our generation may be devaluing a crucial leadership pre-req, we do not demand leaders who bear the scars of Hell.
It seems that our comfortable Christianity that nurtures itself is too afraid of failure. We do not seem to live radically driven lives full of the Holy Spirit. That is not to say that there are not leaders out there who are full of the Holy Spirit, but they seem to be far and few between! I don’t know about you, but I I want a leader who has experienced failure and pain and quite frankly HELL. I do not want to be led by anyone who has not walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
When did we as a culture forget that Christ did exactly this for us? And, that we are called to take up our cross and follow him! I doubt that means that we are called to be leaders who are so wrapped up in our achievement based culture that we are not willing to bet it all on Christ because let’s face it, that RISK may not promise us fulfillment if we view our lives through the lens of a culture enthralled with achievements. Since when have achievements become a part of our identity? Isn’t sharing in God’s restoration of the Earth enough for us? That should be mind-blowingly exciting, motivating and inspiring! So how have we ended up being leaders who are passive and content with the state of this world?
If we as leaders do not fail to the point of understanding a new depth of humility at some point, I would challenge that we are not leading in a Kingdom manner. If we as leaders have not entirely laid out ourselves for others, I am not sure that we are worth being followed by those seeking to bring about the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit will guide and protect! My self-imposed stability does not guide and protect me.
As leaders, we should walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death to bring God’s Kingdom or die trying.
Josh that is true but Scripture also calls for elders, deacons, prophets, and priests who are meant to be spiritual leaders in the church. We see people all the time gifted with the ability to be a leader and that in itself is definitely a gift. Granted the Holy Spirit is in control, but the Spirit also equips men and women in the church to shepherd the flock.
And i think that Christians do need to worry about how to lead people. Because even though the Spirit decides who will lead it is important for the leaders themselves to provide the Spirit an equipped servant who can effectively further the Kingdom of God. “Christian Leader” does sound contradictory but in today’s world it is a necessary component of the body of Christ.
I always find it funny when people aspire to become “Christian Leaders”. Do we not have a leader already? Is Christ not the head of the body? Are we not the arms, legs, and organs of the body that do whatever the head tells us to??
Now I am not saying that there is not the need for administration in the church, but I think that to many Christians go into ministry with the idea of becoming a “leader”. There is only one leader in Christianity, and He has millions of followers. Therefore Christians do not need to be trying to figure out how to lead people, the Holy Spirit has that one under control. What Christians need to figure out is how to best follow Christ.
I think that this is really difficult because frankly we cannot force anything. The Holy Spirit works but we cannot control God. I have realized that and I have to rest in Christ’s grace which is sufficient. I do understand that this is not an excuse for us as Christians because we have to live into the tensions of faith and action, trust and risk. The most important thing, well one of the most important things is to step out and take a risk for Christ….which sometimes means we might be wrong. Christ works in failure. I hope I can learn that.
I love that you blogged about this because this is right along the lines of what my paper is about. I see what you are saying, there is a level of comfort that our culture has towards Christianity that we can’t seem to get away from. Maybe it is a lack of persecution? Or a different type of persecution that we don’t even recognize.
I see three main problems with our culture’s lack of following scripture and lack of willingness to go through hard things. First is individualism. We want to do everything by ourself and for ourself. Thus, we want to get everything done as easily and quickly as possible. Second is consumerism. Once again, we struggle or go through tough times when you could by your way out of it? And thirdly, our spiritual make up in America. I think we heavily side with doubting scripture and that makes us more prone to not follow the hard things that it says. Further, America has little to no concept of sin in my opinion. We see sin as a very nebulous and spiritual thing, rather than a physical one. Therefore, I don’t think that our sin affects us as is should and that makes us more comfortable to sinning.
I love it. But I can tell you this sort of desire is really difficult. I shared with you guys that my first attempt at church planting in Portland failed miserably. I’m quite thankful for that. But the months of depression and coming to terms with why it failed and wrestling with “why did you call me to this” was very painful. It was a good development for me, but it was painful.
I think you bringing up comfort is really good in this because I think that’s what frightens us. We so believe in the american ideal of achievement and so we don’t want to be confronted with the idea that part of the discipleship process is constantly experiencing dying to ourselves. Because dying is kind of uncomfortable.
Please follow this, just know it’s not easy (nor should it be!)