Monday, December 29, 2008
The Latest Cult
Kruse links to a CT piece on "Leadership":
Fascinatingly, I have met many true servant leaders in the political/governmental realm. To be sure, there are many self-aggrandizing, pompous, power-wielding jerks in that arena, but I do find it easier to encounter servant leaders there than I do in the church - at least among elected officials. One is forced to ask why.
I do have one suggestion for an answer - ENTRY BARRIERS. The entry barrier to elected office is extremely high. To seek such, one must be extraordinarily motivated, either to serve or with ego on levels most of us simply cannot contemplate. (Hence when politicians turn sour, they really turn sour.) If one is just seeking some sort of personal validation, the path is too hard the the resistance is too strong, there are easier ways to go.
Contrast that with the church. The mainlines used to have fairly high entry barriers to ministry themselves but they have been eroding for any number of reasons, some valid, some not so valid. And of course, outside the mainlines, education may not even be necessary, people can just hang up a shingle and declare themselves a minister and start a church.
See, the bottom line is this - it is not leadership v service, it is leading as service - leading not for the sake of self or even the organization, but leading for the sake of those in and around the organization. It is a synthesis of both principles and viewpoints. Entry barriers are designed to produce and reinforce that synthesis, both by weeding out those in capable of making it and by encouraging it in those that do.
So how do we fix what is obviously a broken system? Well, I will say this, it is not something that can be left up to the organizations. It is up to the people in the pews. The organization is just responding to demand, which, if you think about it is a genuine lack of leadership - but alternately it means that the true leadership lies in the pews where the demand is. SO, we in the pews needs to demand more and better. Simple as that.
How are you exercising your leadership from the pew today?
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In our culture, leadership has become a "cult" — in the sense of an obsessive or faddish devotion. And Christians have been initiated into it. Besides the books that sit before me, there are many others authored by big-name pastors — or former pastors, since some pastors have managed to parlay their leadership insights into whole careers. Christian colleges are all about "developing future leaders." And there's the famous Leadership Network. And Leadership journal. And on it goes.OK, I agree with this, but there is a flip side. I have watched far too many Christian organizations wither becasue people were too busy "serving" and not busy "leading." But then if you really break it down it has more to do with leadership style than leading or serving. I have not seen servant leadership in the church done well. The church tends to attract passive/aggressive types in search control and validation.
When Leadership came on to the scene in 1980, not many Christians thought about what it meant to lead an organization. Managing was more the rage. And few people saw the pastor as a leader. Today, it is the rare pastor who does not think of himself first and foremost as a leader who must employ leadership skills to lead his people. Gone are the days when pastors thought of themselves as, well, ministers — those who "attend to the wants and needs of others" (American Heritage Dictionary).
[...]
Despite Jesus' strong and clear words, today you won't find many servanthood institutes — how many people would make inquiries of the Galli Institute for Sacrificial and Inconspicuous Service? Few are going to be able to make a career out of leading seminars and writing books that explain the seven principles for giving yourself away in humble acts of love. And you won't find many pastors who subscribe to Servanthood journal, or college presidents who say that they long to "raise up servants for the next generation."
Fascinatingly, I have met many true servant leaders in the political/governmental realm. To be sure, there are many self-aggrandizing, pompous, power-wielding jerks in that arena, but I do find it easier to encounter servant leaders there than I do in the church - at least among elected officials. One is forced to ask why.
I do have one suggestion for an answer - ENTRY BARRIERS. The entry barrier to elected office is extremely high. To seek such, one must be extraordinarily motivated, either to serve or with ego on levels most of us simply cannot contemplate. (Hence when politicians turn sour, they really turn sour.) If one is just seeking some sort of personal validation, the path is too hard the the resistance is too strong, there are easier ways to go.
Contrast that with the church. The mainlines used to have fairly high entry barriers to ministry themselves but they have been eroding for any number of reasons, some valid, some not so valid. And of course, outside the mainlines, education may not even be necessary, people can just hang up a shingle and declare themselves a minister and start a church.
See, the bottom line is this - it is not leadership v service, it is leading as service - leading not for the sake of self or even the organization, but leading for the sake of those in and around the organization. It is a synthesis of both principles and viewpoints. Entry barriers are designed to produce and reinforce that synthesis, both by weeding out those in capable of making it and by encouraging it in those that do.
So how do we fix what is obviously a broken system? Well, I will say this, it is not something that can be left up to the organizations. It is up to the people in the pews. The organization is just responding to demand, which, if you think about it is a genuine lack of leadership - but alternately it means that the true leadership lies in the pews where the demand is. SO, we in the pews needs to demand more and better. Simple as that.
How are you exercising your leadership from the pew today?
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