Thursday, August 02, 2007
Vulnerability in Ministry
Back in June, Jollyblogger sang the praises of being vulnerable in ministry. Not unlike the sermon he discusses in the beginning of his post, this is one of David's best ever.
You know, by those standards, Jesus was a pretty lousy leader. I mean imagine, the humiliation he so publicly suffered, the scourging and so forth - He let Himself die instead of exercise the power that was all His. Who's gonna follow a guy like that?
Oh, just about half the world....
But when we lead from strength instead of weakness, where do we lead people? We lead them to strength, which as I understand how this whole faith thing is supposed to work is precisely the wrong direction.
Whatever strength we may exhibit is not ours, and that other strength we do find we find by admitting our own weakness. Sounds weird, but that sure seems to be how it works.
Speaking from a personal perspective, the guy I will follow is the guy that knows how to say "I'm wrong." I do not seek perfection in my leaders because I know that such people are covering something up. I look for honesty and integrity first and foremost, and that means someone that is as straightforward about their limitations as they are about their strengths.
Related Tags: Christian leadership, weakness, vulnerability, honesty, integrity
Christianity teaches that Jesus is perfect, not us. When leaders share their imperfections they communicate that God is the God of imperfect people. The reformed doctrine of total depravity teaches that sin permeates all parts of our being, so sin and failure are the norm for our lives, which gives us the opportunity to demonstrate that our ongoing need for the moment by moment redemption that is ours in Christ."Perfect" leaders is a worldly thing. The urge that so many pastors feel to put up a good front is, I think, once again about preserving the institution, not the mission and community for which the institution was founded. I've had the leadership classes too where they tell you "people need somebody to look up to," yada, yada, yada. But I always wonder what kind of people and where are they being lead.
You know, by those standards, Jesus was a pretty lousy leader. I mean imagine, the humiliation he so publicly suffered, the scourging and so forth - He let Himself die instead of exercise the power that was all His. Who's gonna follow a guy like that?
Oh, just about half the world....
But when we lead from strength instead of weakness, where do we lead people? We lead them to strength, which as I understand how this whole faith thing is supposed to work is precisely the wrong direction.
Whatever strength we may exhibit is not ours, and that other strength we do find we find by admitting our own weakness. Sounds weird, but that sure seems to be how it works.
Speaking from a personal perspective, the guy I will follow is the guy that knows how to say "I'm wrong." I do not seek perfection in my leaders because I know that such people are covering something up. I look for honesty and integrity first and foremost, and that means someone that is as straightforward about their limitations as they are about their strengths.
Related Tags: Christian leadership, weakness, vulnerability, honesty, integrity
