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10
reasons why your church sucks:
#2, It
has poor leadership
by
john o'keefe
I
am not very impressed with most of the books on
leadership today. they all center on an old paradigm
of "leader as boss" - or if not a "direct
boss" - leaders as "the one in
charge." the biggest people with all of them
is that the modern church bought into it hook, line and
sinker. the model used in theses books of either
one based on being a coach, or a general, or a captain
of industry - they all strive to connect their model to
that of the church, "the church is like a good
basketball team..." or "the church is like a
we developed military unit..." or "the church
is like a growing corporation..." and none of them
ever see the church for what it is - a living, breathing
organism of God.
Over
time, this idea of “church leadership” has
caused me great concern.
It is one that has caused me to drop to
my knees in prayer.
Now, I will admit I come to this with
personal baggage, and a “non-conformist”
approach to life.
But, no matter how one looks at the
concept of modern leadership it will not work
in a postmodern reality.
The modern/contemporary church requires
their “leaders” to be CEO’s or CFO’s,
Executives or Administrators – Bosses,
“Take-Charge-kinds-guys” who know all
layers of the organization – and recite the
corporate mantra without missing a beat.
They need to be trained to oversee
programs and staff, they need to manage money
and control the quality of the product; they
need to be accountable to the elected
leadership and be approved on a yearly basis
based on hard and fast numbers – but in a
postmodern reality this is way off line.
A postmodern servant needs to be a
poet, a prophet, and an artist.
They’re one who will walk with us as
we strive to share our faith; they are one who
sees people over program, mission over money
and discipleship over dictatorship. In a postmodern reality we are not looking for a
leader, we are striving to find a servant –
a servant we can model. I wonder…
So,
what are we to do?
Well, I hate the term
“servant-leader” because people still only
see the “leader” part of the concept.
Besides, generally speaking I believe
Jesus would have made a crummy modern church
leader. You
see, Jesus was a servant, and servants are
stepped on in the modern church – if you
have a servants heart and you are in a church,
most likely you are serving in a
“low-level” ministry position, you are
over used and under appraised, you are seen as
a person who cares for the hurting but could
never be a true leader, but you are exactly
who Jesus said would be the first among his
people – today, right now, on earth and not
in some next plane of reality.
Let’s look at a perfect example, no
matter how you cut it Jesus was a bad
CEO-type; he was unconcerned with money; he
was unconcerned with programs; he was
unconcerned with organization; he was
unconcerned with structure; he was unconcerned
with “competition;” in fact, he was
unconcerned with power at all.
Jesus never called anyone to
leadership; he called people to discipleship
and servanthood.
So, I think the church has a word, or
concept, to fit the postmodern reality,
servant-disciple.
The
Heart of a servant-disciple:
The
first thing I would like to suggest about the
concept of a “servant-disciple” is that
while both worlds are nouns and can be seen as
a proper title, that they are never
capitalized.
My reasoning is this, the second you
capitalize them you make them more important
then others – you also, change the meaning
and place upon idea the concepts of human
leadership, and that is a big no-no - you take
it from a description to a title, and that is
not the goal.
The second thing I would like to do,
and I will admit this is a work in progress,
is give what I think are qualities if a
servant-disciple.
All
people who are servant-disciples are people
who are willing to be last.
Jesus said that if you want to be
first, be last.
That does not mean tell people you are
last, while expecting them to make you first
– it means be dead last - give it up and
serve everyone.
Wash the feet of others; sit at the
lowest seat at the table, eat last, serve the
food, clean up the mess – and do all this
without telling people you are doing it; do it
all without expectation of reward.
It's like the guy who led a small
church and tells everyone he “is the most
humble man he knows.”
Here’s the kicker, servant-disciples
do not see themselves as humble, they just
are.
All
people who are servant-disciples are people
who are willing to follow.
This idea that if you are the pastor of
a church, God will only share with you the
vision of that church is long gone, and in
reality (scripture) never was.
God speaks to all his people, all his
people, not just those who place themselves in
positions of leadership.
I remember one pastor I knew in New
Jersey who use to tell me, “Make sure your
people take ownership of their ministry areas,
and that it follows the vision God has given
you for your church.”
Can you pick out the bad things?
First, “ownership” – God owns
everything, we own nothing.
If we need to please a human emotion of
ownership to develop the ministry, then that
person is not a servant-disciple and was never
called by God to be in that service.
Second, “follow the vision God gave
you,” but we need to ask ourselves, "if
God placed them as servant-disciples in that
ministry why would you need to make sure that
happens?"
Would not God make sure for you?
Why are you assuming that the person
God placed into servant-discipleship is wrong
for the ministry?
That statement holds a ton of baggage
and could be unpacked forever.
Third, “your church,” – need I
say more?
All
people who are servant-disciples are people
who are willing to die for those in the
church. Are
you? Are
you willing to give your life for the people
you minister too?
Are you willing to do all it takes,
even to the extent of your health, to serve
the people God has placed with you?
If not, if you can see the need for
“you time” – then you are not a
servant-disciple.
I love pastors who say, “I need
me-time, I need to get more me-time.” Thinking that because Jesus went for prayer for a few hours,
they need to take six months off and get a
“paid rest.”
There
are tons more, and my prayer is that I (and
others) take this idea and run with it – run
as fast as possible with it.
Develop it, birth it and raise it –
but mostly live it.
I
have always said that truth can be found in the
narrative; that being the case, I believe the modern
idea of "leadership" is
found in the scriptures, but rather in the hearts and
minds of men.
a
new look
For years
i had been buying books on leadership –
But there was a problem, it seemed the advice
never quit fit. Not
matter what I read; it just never felt like the author
was speaking to me, they always seemed to miss the
target. In
fact, they weren’t even speaking about me at all.
That’s when it dawned on me, these authors were
not writing for me, they were writing for the modern
leader, with a modern view of the world, leading modern
people. I
remember when my wife bought me the “21 irrefutable
laws of leadership” by John Maxwell – my first
thoughts were, why 21?
Why not 22 or 20?
Does “irrefutable” mean they cannot be
questioned? Why
laws? Why
not “strongly held suggestions?”
The title alone suggested a strong tie to
modernism, the content assured me of a direct tie.
Today,
people are not looking for a CEO, CFO, COO CIO, or any
other 3-letter combinations you can think of that
starting with the big “C.”
Today, we are looking for the poet, the prophet,
and the storyteller – the narrator.
We don’t “lead” people as much as we listen to the needs of
the people and guide them along the
path of faith. Modern
leadership tends to be ridged, rule structured and
orderly. One
of the biggest complaints I have concerning modern
leadership is the idea that “people are assets.”
When we see people as “assets” we start to
determine if one person is a “better asset” then
another. We
find new ways of viewing people based on their
ability to be a “good asset.”
While servant-discipleship tends to be chaotic
and fluid. We
see people as people, limited, hurt, searching,
questioning, people.
We don’t “give directions,” we tell stories
– and modern people have a hard time seeing this –
so the question becomes, how does one serve in a chaotic,
fluid and structures story based reality?
Fluididic
Space:
I
love the idea of “fluiditic
space” – space that is fluid. I first heard of it on Star Trek, The Next Generation I just
thought the word was too cool – it brought forth
images that could hardly be put to words, and it just
fit. The
image of space in flux was truly so very powerful. I like the reality that you could not put your hands on it,
but it was real – that is how I see postmodern
servant-disciple; at some level it is hard to define, but you
can put your finger on it.
I know, many modern minds will have a hard time
getting a grip on the concept of a disciple-servant model, but it is the best way I can describe what in
truth is fluid and ever changing.
servant-discipleship to me is like looking at a
lava lamp, it keeps changing as it gets hotter and
hotter (closer and closer), and while it is simply a
stupid lava lamp, you just can’t keep your eyes off
it. To
serve one must keep that fluid nature in
mind. If
you try to make it too solid, you will lose the people
you are trying to bring alone in their walk of faith –
it will backfire on you.
Jesus understood this, and lived as a model for
those of us who seek to serve in a postmodern reality.
While I do not desire to give you a “list” of
does and don’ts, I do want to share with you some
cores I find in servant-discipleship.
Cores
in the servant-disciple:
I
think primarily, you don’t lead, you example.
Notice I did not say, “you lead by example”
– because that is somewhat impossible, and all the
time doubtful. To
“example” you simply are you.
Be you; be honest; be open; be transparent; be
wounded; be vulnerable; be accepting; be willing to
find; be willing to lose; be willing to seek answers;
just be. Being
“example” is not saying “look at my life, I have
all the answers.”
Being “example” is saying, “look at me, I
mess-up, I fall, I flounder, but what’s cool is people
around me support me, love me and help me find the way
– without judging me.
I don’t
have all the answers, but I am willing to look –
coming with me?”
Here are some “cores” to the “example.”
One
of the first things we need to do as a servant-disciple is to let
people function, and not just “give” them a
function. This
means you need to help people find their calling, their
gifts and let them develop that call and gift to best
serve God, themselves and the community.
Modern leadership strives to “fill needs” of
the organization, causing people to given a function.
When the “function” comes from with in, and
not from with out, people are happier, and the
organization benefits in many ways.
Another point, that is closely related to the
“function” aspect of servant-discipleship can be
found in you desire to truly serve the people in the
community. Modern
leadership desires that you serve them;
servant-discipleship is truly defined in your ability to serve
others in the community.
If you are truly helping people to “find their
function” you need to be willing to serve them, and
help them, in their walk.
It requires that you spend time with the people
of the community, and not just a select few.
People need access to you, and not to your
appointment book. I
remember at one church I served a woman came into my
office to speak with me about her being happy she found
our community of faith.
She came in, and started to cry – out and out
ball. Several
people came in and were with her as she started to calm
down. When
she was able to calm down, she told us, “This is the
first time I have been able to just walk into the senior
pastor’s office – I walked past two associate
pastors and three support staff and none of then ‘ran
interference’ for you – I could actually talk with
you.” The
funny thing about it was, we were a “large” (300
people on Sunday morning) and growing fast community of
faith. The
church she came from had 50 people, and she was never
allowed to speak with the pastor.
I believe that for a servant-disciple to
truly understand the community of faith they serve, they
must believe in them.
Modern leaders usually require that you believe
in them as leaders, servant-discipleship requires that
we, as servants, believe in the community we serve.
That means we need to invest in them; give them
what we have and be willing to openly discuss issues
with them. We
need not preach to them, use them or require that the
“take” what we desire to offer to them.
This means we, as servant-disciples, need to
trust the community we serve.
Trust comes in many forms, and one of the most
important is the ability to delegate authority. Modern leadership requires, at a core, the ability for a
person to “submit” to authority.
We find this in the modern saying, “to be a
great leader, you need to be a great follower.”
This is not true, to be a great leader you need
to care and serve - the modern view is one of
"promotion" - the idea is "if you follow
well, we will let you be a leader."
Another
way of developing a true and lasting trust is to openly
and honestly praise the efforts of the people in the
community you serve. To paraphrase scripture, without praise, God’s people
parish – and I have no desire to parish, or cause
others to parish.
Closing:
Modern leadership is relatively selfish; it
truly is. It
seems that the main goal of modern leadership is to make
the leader “look good.”
While the main purpose of servant-discipleship is centered on making the community look good.
servant-disciapleship
is founded in trust and
community. Our
willingness to help people find God’s plan for them
and to trust them today with the outlook of tomorrow.
One of the things we need to do as leaders is
work our way out of a job.
We need to be willing to go that extra mile, and
take that extra walk to be with those we are blessed to
serve. We
need to transfer God’s grace to the people, and not
demand that the people give us their grace.
servant-discipleship
is hard, and is ever
shaping. One
of the realities I face as a servant-disciple is the
understanding that what I do today, may not work
tomorrow – the fluid flux of servant-discipleship.
the
other "10
reasons why your church sucks"
articles
1.
It does not understand the community at large
2.
It has poor leadership
3.
It has no solid vision
4.
It is graying, quickly
5.
It’s inbred
6.
It’s concerned with look and not action
7.
It’s comfortable in its misery, and is looking for
company
8.
It’s out of touch
9.
It’s all about money
10.
It’s all politics
we,
are in the process of developing a bible study based on the 10 reasons -
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