Philosophy of Christian Leadershipby Rev. Roger Smalling, D.Min Mt.20:20-28 In the scenario described in Matthew Chapter 20, the mother of James and John approached Jesus asking that her sons sit beside Jesus in His Kingdom. This episode provided the opportunity for Jesus to introduce three key attitudes in Christian leadership: Suffering, Parity and Service.
We can imagine them plotting, "You know, Jesus can be a little tough on us sometimes. He's really gentle with women, though. Let's see if we can get Mama to talk to Him and maybe work out a good deal for ourselves." This is politicking and manipulation, standard procedure in the world's leadership paradigm. Notice Jesus does not rebuke them for ambition, because ambition is a good thing if it is for God's glory. He admonishes against seeking their own honor. Jesus also makes it clear He is not in charge of promotions in the personnel department. The Father is. (V.23) They were asking the wrong person. From this, we see a hint of the first principle of Christian leadership in the New Testament: It is a gift from God. Nevertheless, these sons of Zebedee had two good qualities, although seriously mis-directed:
FIRST KEY ATTITUDE: Willingness To Embrace Suffering
The call to
Christian leadership is a call to suffering. The 'suffering' involved,
especially in the western world, usually takes the form of psychological
pressures and stresses other believers neither bear nor understand.
Frequently people have high expectations of a leader which he is unable to meet. They may be looking to a Pastor to meet their needs rather than to Christ. When the Pastor fails to meet their expectations, they may consider him incompetent. Some under his care may be insubmissive and will only submit when it is pressured into it. Sometimes the leader must hold the line on godly principles, risking the misunderstanding and criticism of others. Occasionally church leaders must apply biblical discipline when it may be unpopular to do so. When dealing with a disciplinary case, the leaders often cannot reveal the problem to the congregation. Members with incomplete knowledge of the case may draw wrong conclusions about the leaders' decisions. They may imagine the leaders are too harsh or too lax in discipline. The leaders may find themselves suffering in silence. God has wisely arranged it so. Titles and honors that accompany the office of leader are insufficient to compensate for the stress. Those who highly value titles or honors more than the service entailed, soon find themselves disappointed and disillusioned. Similarly, in his book, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, John Piper attacks the attitude of "professionalism" in pastoral ministry which puts aside the embracing of suffering as requisite:
SECOND KEY ATTITUDE: Parity
On a certain mission field, I worked with a newly ordained national who happened to be a medical doctor. He had some rough edges to his personality...a bit independent and opinionated. We became great friends and worked well together. Let's call him 'José'. Eventually, José moved to another city to work with a team. A missionary on the team called me and asked, "Roger, I'm having trouble getting along with José. I noticed you get along with him and work productively together. Can you give me some clues as to how to handle him?" This was my answer: "Brother, in the first place, quit trying to 'handle' him. Treat him as a colleague. Call him up once in a while and ask his advice. Ask him to help you. Think of him as your equal because after all, he has the same ordination as you. Do this and he will eat out of your hand." The missionary paused for about twenty seconds on the phone, thinking seriously. Then replied, "I don't think I can do that." To this I answered, "Then I cannot help you." This missionary could not consider any national, even a medical doctor, his equal. He saw himself on the rung of a hierarchy with all nationals on a lower rank. Treating José as an equal would have contradicted his entire leadership mindset, inherited from his North American corporate business culture. Ironically, I had used the term "equal" to avoid saying what I thought José was the better man! (It never occurred to me to think of a medical doctor of any nationality as inferior.) The relationship between the two lasted less than a year before José went elsewhere. Remember: If
you treat a man as an equal, assuming he is wise, he will defer to
you in areas he knows you are superior. Regardless, authoritarianism is a byproduct of arrogance. Authoritarian people often suppose their superior office proves they are inherently superior individuals. This is why they 'lord it over' others. They assume they have a natural right to do so. Complex hierarchies are inevitable in the world. Armies are hierarchies, with their generals at the top, followed by colonels, majors, captains, sergeants, down to privates. Likewise with corporations. The CEO is at the top, followed by vice presidents, department managers, all the way down to stock boys in the basement. Hierarchies
are necessary in such domains. Jesus is not teaching authoritarian
hierarchies are wrong. He is simply saying, "Not so with you." This excludes some "natural" leaders from Christian offices. Christian organizations often ignore this principle. Along comes a man with natural leadership traits. Sure, he is a bit arrogant. He likes to control. Maybe he's a bit overbearing at times, but so what? He has 'leadership'. So he gets authority in the organization. Result: Wounded people. Good people lost who refuse to be the brunt of his arrogance. Just because a man has leadership ability does not mean he should be a leader in a Christian organization. If he tends toward authoritarian and controlling attitudes, he is the last person to be qualified. In their ranks, he must never be allowed to rise above the last one. Controllers must be controlled. This may be what Jesus meant when he said, "whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant." Some scholars have interpreted this phrase to mean, 'servant leadership is the way to get promoted in the Kingdom of God.' This interpretation may be valid. Considering the context, however, it seems more likely a prohibition against appointing people with authoritarian attitudes. The point: Neither natural leadership ability nor experience in business or the military, nor profiles on a psychological test, are final indications a man should be a candidate for Christian leadership. If he holds autocratic attitudes, thinks hierarchically or tends to use or abuse people, he is disqualified as a candidate, regardless of other considerations. THIRD KEY ATTITUDE: Service
Many are attracted to Christian offices for the honors but wind up as negligent leaders, more concerned for their status than the welfare of the people. These do harm to themselves as well. Eccl. 8:9. There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt. The goal of a Christian leader is to make his followers the best they can be. In fact, if he can train someone to replace him, this is the best leadership of all. Servant leadership is essential in the Kingdom of God because of the end product. In the business world, people are a resource to produce material goods. People give time and energy to produce something for public consumption, such as automobiles, pencils or whatever. God's Kingdom uses material resources to produce sanctified people. The world considers this a non-issue. After all, sanctification is difficult to define, something only God can measure. Sanctified people is what the ministry is all about. Occasionally businessmen say, "If I ran my business like you run your church, I would go bankrupt." The answer could be, "If I ran my church like you run your business, I would have no more sanctified people than you do in your business." Notice the title of this lesson is, "The Christian Philosophy of Leadership", not "A Christian Philosophy..." This is deliberate. Christ taught one philosophy of leadership. He did not say, "Try my suggestions and if you don't like them, invent your own paradigm." ConclusionChristian leadership involves a set of attitudes different from worldly systems. Embracing the inevitable suffering, whether psychological or physical, helps a leader put his own motives into perspective. Serving others to help them reach their full potential and treating fellow ministers as equals is more than the mere duties of an office. It is a way of life. From this lesson we learn:
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