During a time of prayer and reflection this morning I was struck by a "new" definition of leadership in the Kingdom of God. Now this might not seem super profound to anyone else, but I felt like it was a major lightbulb moment for me this morning. Maybe that's just because I had to have the lights on because it was still dark, but nevertheless, it was significant to me.
Leadership in the kingdom of God is not a matter of who is following you, but is instead completely dependent on who you are following.
Some of this came out of my reflecting on John 15 and Jesus' words on our remaining in Him. Our ability to bear fruit in that passage is completely dependent on our ability to stay connected to Him, to the vine, and in our willingness to be obedient to His leading.
I was talking with a teenager yesterday about what it means to be a leader and this concept came up. I didn't really give it much thought then, but in connection with this passage today, it sure seemed to hit home to me. As a leader in God's Church I can sometimes be so caught up in what others think about me, or if they are approving of my decisions. To me those are issues that totally hinge on whether or not they are "following" me. But if I am going to be a leader in the kingdom order of things, then I can't worry about that. I must only be concerned about whether or not I am following the voice of my Shepherd. I must be making decisions based on what He is telling me, what He is telling us (to put it in the communal sense), and then not worry about whether or not it's going to meet the approval of others or not.
In that context, the Lord also reminded me of the passage where Jesus had some of his followers turn away and leave him, and he asked his disciples, "Are you going to leave me to0?" Their response was telling to me in light of this new take on leadership. "Lord, where else are we going to go? You alone have the words of life." (Stephen's paraphrase)
As leaders in the kingdom, where else are we going to go to find the words of life and the direction we need? As we follow the shepherd's voice and listen to his words of life, we will become producers of much fruit. And doesn't that mean that people will ultimately be following too? But not following us. No, we are simply trying to get them connected to the vine too, so they can follow the words of life as well. In fact, if you think about it, in the kingdom it's never really about any of us following anyone else, but all of us learning and growing together in our followership of Him. (Hmm...Is that a word?)
3 comments:
Hmmm.... I like that. We lead not to gain followers after ourselves, but to lead people toward the One whom we are following. With that perspective, the followers aren't looking at us, but past us. If we're leading correctly, when others look to us for leadership, the One whom we are following will be so evident that the follower won't even notice us in the process (which doesn't sound very rewarding for the leader, but sounds very Gospel). I like that.
hey, so i don't know if this really relates or not, but whatev. so me and my buddies here have been having this debate about why we go to church, if it the church is even worth our time, has it strayed to much from christ, etc. (see blog for rants) and i think that one of the main frustrations about the church is the absence of this idea. church becomes a business, where the goal is to grow and get church followers. i think a lot of times christians tend to follow the church more than christ himself, like going to church is more important than living like christ. i like how josh puts it; we all should be looking past the leaders, and past the church, and see christ.
I don’t know if you guys are still on this week, but I wanted to post a shout-out since I’m finally on track with this blog... :)
Stephen, the idea of leadership is something that’s particularly interesting to me since I have never felt “called” to pastor or be a missionary in the way that makes me feel like a church leader. I see myself as someone who will be involved as a layperson in church in whatever redemptive ways are possible wherever I am, and will do my best to support the leadership as it is. But I find myself getting thrown into leadership positions a lot, nonetheless.
I just came back from a youthcamp in Northern Germany where I lead a seminar and was asked a couple of times to take over someone’s small group for debriefing after the evening services. What I loved about the camp was the leaders’ refusal to talk down to the campers. There was a sense of camaraderie and fellowship that made the campers unafraid to approach us, to hang out in the leaders’ room, to ask us to play or chat with them… And to me, it felt like such an honest way of leading. Rather than standing in front of a group of girls saying, “I have all the answers,” we were asked as leaders to participate in all the exercises and to model vulnerability to our groups by being open about our reactions to the sessions each evening. It opened so many doors.
I wonder how much of it is contextual (German teens are certainly similar to American teens, but are different in some significant ways, too), and whether this would work in America: being willing to model vulnerability and work on getting to know Christ together as opposed to the sort of top-down information-dissemination I’ve always expected from church.
Do we, as Americans, culturally value the “strong leader” (ie, unwavering confidence) more than we value honesty? Would we ever accept anyone as a leader who said, “I’m still learning this too”?
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