What makes a leader? That' might be a fairly important question. There's tons and tons of books written about it, books by former presidents and football coaches and businessmen and preachers and everyone else. To be a leader, you need to fit a certain blueprint. You have to be motivating, organized, visionary, influential, eloquent, and on and on. Some people are leaders, and some people aren't. If you're not a leader, you're a follower. If you're a follower, your job is to follow that leader. If you're a leader, your job is to lead the followers. We look at some people and think, "Now there's a natural leader," and so we admire and respect that person and generally try to do what we think they want us to do, because as followers, we need to follow them.
What makes a Christian leader? Does a Christian leader need the same qualities as a leader in general? Should the church fit in with the whole leader/follower model? I've been thinking a little bit lately about how leadership pans out in Christianity. The first thing that needs to be considered is what qualities a leader should have, because they're not all the same as what we think to be "leadership-material" in the secular world. Leaders in the world need to be ambitious and confident with a fair amount of charisma. But I think the most important things for a Christian leader are obedience, service, and humility.
The leaders we see in the Bible aren't always that special. Half the time, they don't even have much of a desire to be leaders (Moses, Gideon). But then God tells them to do something, and they do it. They at times put up a fuss I guess, but they're obedient nontheless. God uses them because of it. He doesn't use them because of their awesome leadership skills. He just uses them because they're available and they do what he says. And I think that's what Christian leadership is about. It's not always about being a good speaker or singer or delegator or video tech or whatever. It's about doing what God tells us to do, like loving people and loving him and telling people about him and not being jerks.
Over and over again in the gospels, the disciples argue about which one of them is the greatest (which of them is the best leader). So what does Jesus say? He doesn't say, "Duh, Peter is the best leader because he's outspoken and people do what he says." He doesn't say, "Matthew is the best leader because he can handle money really well." He says, "If you want to be a leader, you have to put yourself last and serve people" (Mk. 9:35). Leadership isn't directing people in what to do. It's buying food for people, picking them up when they're car breaks down, giving them an ear when they need someone to listen.
And then there's humility. Way too often in Christianity, we equate leadership with a formal position. If I'm a minister or a deacon or a small group leader or an RA, I'm a leader. If I'm not one of these things, I'm not. And what it seems like is that we've taken the business model from the secular world and transposed it onto the church. Businesses have a manager, with people under him, with people under them. It's the whole leader/follower thing. (Granted, there is a level of authority given to some in the church, like elders.) So if I'm in a position of leadership, I think it's my duty to lead the followers, and if I'm a follower, I just follow and don't think I have any responsibility to lead.
So what we've done is based whether or not someone is a leader by what title they have. And I don't know that God is much into titles. I don't think God wants a select few to be leaders while everyone else is a mindless follower. I think we're all supposed to lead, to a point. Can we really believe that God doesn't not want everyone in the church to be spiritually mature; that he wants some people to keep taking in but not giving anything out spiritually? The Bible says we're a chosen people, a royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9) We're all called upon to minister to others. To serve. To lead.
So if you're in a position of leadership, don't get too high on yourself. Don't think that everyone needs to come listen to you on your microphone as you tell them how to act. But use the position to serve and love. Don't look on everyone else as your peons. And if you're not in a position of leadership, still look for ways to lead and minister. Don't use it as a cop-out to keep on in immaturity. Look for how you can help others with their walks and guide them close to Christ, to build them up. I'm not so sure that our visual should be a "leader" building up the spiritual lives of everyone else, but all of use building one another up. None of us are really all that much better than anyone else, I think.
If you're a leader, lead. Obey, serve, and be humble. If you're not a leader, lead anyway. Obey, serve, and be humble. I can't imagine that God wants any of us to act too differently.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
There's No "I" in God, Church, Jesus.....or Team
I'm not feeling any kind of clever introduction today. So I'll just go into what I feel like saying. If you haven't read my last post, do that, because I think this might relate somehow. Earlier I wrote about how in relationships between people, we tend to make them all about us, seeking to gain the other person's approval of our existance and putting all the attention on ourselves. Thinking through all that some got me to thinking about something else. I wonder if we treat our relationship with God in much the same way.
There's a couple of different ways that I see this happen with Christians, including myself. One is that we constantly look for what we can get out of our relationship with God, much in the same way that we look to see what we can get out of relationships with one another. And there's a lot to be gotten, I suppose, and that's a very good thing. Obviously we're forgiven of sin, and we receive joy and purpose and everything else that makes life on this sphere worthwhile. If there was no benefit to following Jesus, I can't imagine that I would be doing so. But way, way too often, we leave it at that, and only approach God (and by extension, the church) for what we can reap from it. And so we go to church on Sunday and as we head to Wendy's for lunch, we complain that the music didn't suit us, or the preaching wasn't up to par, or the old people are too cranky, or not enough people greeted us during the "Holy Handshake" time, or whatever. In essence, we ask, "What did I get out of church today?" All the while, what I think is maybe the more important question goes unasked: "What did I give to God today?"
I don't remember many sermons. Maybe because I hear so many these days. But there is one that is a little more vividly implanted in my mind. My old youth minister preached it a couple times while I was in high school, and it was about how we approach worship. The most noticable thing about it was when he shouted at the congregation, "IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!" That caught a few of the pew-snoozers a little off guard. Probably because he yelled it really loud, but maybe because it's true and we need to be unremittingly reminded of it. We need to stop approaching the church with a "gimme-gimme!" attitude of what we can get out of it. There's got to be more to it than that. Instead, perhaps we should ask: Am I using this time to honor and worship God? Am I connecting with and drawing close to God and with my Christian family? How am I ministering to those around me and encouraging them? What am I doing to let unbelievers know that Jesus loves them?"
There's another way that the attention-grabbing mentality works itself into our spiritual lives. Basically, we like ourselves. And we want other people to like us, so we do all these things so that they'll think we're worth their notice. Not only that, but we understandably want God to like us, so we end up doing all kinds of other things in hopes that he'll do so. And because of this, even the good, righteous things we do are done in an effort of self-exaltation and ego-enhancement. We think, "Hey, I'm a pretty good chap! Look at all these great things I've done! Surely God doesn't have any complaint against me! He's probably likely to name me MVP of the kingdom!"
And as per usual, we don't think the right things in the right ways. It's great to do all these things that God calls us to do. But we think that by doing all these good things, we can get God to like us. But the truth is, you can't do anything to cause him to like you more than he already does. He thinks you're phenomonal. He died for you, even when you hadn't done one good thing in your entire life. Do you really think that doing the right things and saying the right words is what causes God to notice you? To think you're worth loving? He does all that already! So maybe instead of asking, "What can I do to make God happy with me?", you should just ask, "What can I do to make God happy?" Remove the emphasis from yourself.
I apologize for not having written for a while. Things are getting busy, but I will try to write more often. Tomorrow (Sept. 22) is National Elephant Appreciation Day. Go crazy.
There's a couple of different ways that I see this happen with Christians, including myself. One is that we constantly look for what we can get out of our relationship with God, much in the same way that we look to see what we can get out of relationships with one another. And there's a lot to be gotten, I suppose, and that's a very good thing. Obviously we're forgiven of sin, and we receive joy and purpose and everything else that makes life on this sphere worthwhile. If there was no benefit to following Jesus, I can't imagine that I would be doing so. But way, way too often, we leave it at that, and only approach God (and by extension, the church) for what we can reap from it. And so we go to church on Sunday and as we head to Wendy's for lunch, we complain that the music didn't suit us, or the preaching wasn't up to par, or the old people are too cranky, or not enough people greeted us during the "Holy Handshake" time, or whatever. In essence, we ask, "What did I get out of church today?" All the while, what I think is maybe the more important question goes unasked: "What did I give to God today?"
I don't remember many sermons. Maybe because I hear so many these days. But there is one that is a little more vividly implanted in my mind. My old youth minister preached it a couple times while I was in high school, and it was about how we approach worship. The most noticable thing about it was when he shouted at the congregation, "IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!" That caught a few of the pew-snoozers a little off guard. Probably because he yelled it really loud, but maybe because it's true and we need to be unremittingly reminded of it. We need to stop approaching the church with a "gimme-gimme!" attitude of what we can get out of it. There's got to be more to it than that. Instead, perhaps we should ask: Am I using this time to honor and worship God? Am I connecting with and drawing close to God and with my Christian family? How am I ministering to those around me and encouraging them? What am I doing to let unbelievers know that Jesus loves them?"
There's another way that the attention-grabbing mentality works itself into our spiritual lives. Basically, we like ourselves. And we want other people to like us, so we do all these things so that they'll think we're worth their notice. Not only that, but we understandably want God to like us, so we end up doing all kinds of other things in hopes that he'll do so. And because of this, even the good, righteous things we do are done in an effort of self-exaltation and ego-enhancement. We think, "Hey, I'm a pretty good chap! Look at all these great things I've done! Surely God doesn't have any complaint against me! He's probably likely to name me MVP of the kingdom!"
And as per usual, we don't think the right things in the right ways. It's great to do all these things that God calls us to do. But we think that by doing all these good things, we can get God to like us. But the truth is, you can't do anything to cause him to like you more than he already does. He thinks you're phenomonal. He died for you, even when you hadn't done one good thing in your entire life. Do you really think that doing the right things and saying the right words is what causes God to notice you? To think you're worth loving? He does all that already! So maybe instead of asking, "What can I do to make God happy with me?", you should just ask, "What can I do to make God happy?" Remove the emphasis from yourself.
I apologize for not having written for a while. Things are getting busy, but I will try to write more often. Tomorrow (Sept. 22) is National Elephant Appreciation Day. Go crazy.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Can I Have Your Attention Please:
Once again, a Mark Moore lecture has gotten me thinking. The other day, we were talking about Jesus healing a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. This woman sneaks up behind Jesus in the midst of a massive crowd and touches the edge of his clothing. He then turns around to find her, and tells her that she is healed because of her faith. Meanwhile, Jairus, whose daughter is at home dying, is likely getting impatient waiting for Jesus to finish his encounter with this woman. The point that Mark made was that Jesus was able to give intimate, individual attention to this woman, even while being swarmed by the multitudes and being on his way to heal a dying child. Mark went on to describe several people he knows who, when they talk with someone, give that person their full attention, as if there is no one else in the room.
I (and I think a great deal of humanity) suck at this. We're generally pretty focused on ourselves. And because of this, we approach interactions with others in a self-centered manner that hampers our relationships dramatically. We want to be liked, to be accepted. And so we approach others looking for how we can build ourselves up through them. Our focus is not them, but on ourselves. So many times when I am having a conversation with someone, they may be saying something, and I am not even hearing them because I am already thinking about what I am going to say next. What can I say to make this person like me? What story can I tell so that they'll think I'm funny? How can I appear smart or interesting? I don't say anything out of genuine interest in the other person. Instead, I want to bring all the attention to myself.
I see this a lot. Guys get loud and obnoxious to get the attention of girls. Girls get cutesy and flirtatious to get the attention of guys. Guys boast about how great they were in high school football to get the attention of other guys. I have no clue what girls do to get the attention of other girls, because I've never been involved in any such situation. But I'm sure there's something.
Something I've realized is that the times I am most satisfied and happy with my relationships are when I put all the attention on the other person instead of myself. When I write an encouraging note because they're having a hard day. When I go pick them up some food because they haven't gotten a chance to eat. When I look for ways to build them up instead of myself. And not doing these things so that they will be grateful and tell me how nice I am, but doing them genuinely for them. Conversely, the times that I am most frustrated with my relationships are when I have put the focus back on myself, looking for what I can get out of the relationship and how I can build up my own ego and sense of worth.
What if we started to genuinely care about those we interact with day-to-day? What if, instead of looking for how we can make ourselves look interesting/funny/smart/attractive, we placed on the emphasis on the other person and sought ways to encourage them? There's an idea that I'm sure I heard somewhere, but I don't remember where. I just imagine it's too good to come out of my own head. But I think every day when we get up, it may be helpful to make it a goal to make someone else's day. This means really sensing the needs of others and meeting those needs in a completely selfless fashion. Perhaps Paul said it best: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others" (Philippians 2:3-4).
And here's the thing: When we do this, when we actually put attention on others instead of on ourselves, the other person will typically begin to look to our interests. It works both ways. Instead of it becoming a battle in which each person is trying to build the castle of their own ego higher and higher, each person sincerely invests in the life of the other, giving of themselves to the other. Maybe that's what relationship is. Maybe that's what community and fellowship is. And I guess maybe that's what love is.
I (and I think a great deal of humanity) suck at this. We're generally pretty focused on ourselves. And because of this, we approach interactions with others in a self-centered manner that hampers our relationships dramatically. We want to be liked, to be accepted. And so we approach others looking for how we can build ourselves up through them. Our focus is not them, but on ourselves. So many times when I am having a conversation with someone, they may be saying something, and I am not even hearing them because I am already thinking about what I am going to say next. What can I say to make this person like me? What story can I tell so that they'll think I'm funny? How can I appear smart or interesting? I don't say anything out of genuine interest in the other person. Instead, I want to bring all the attention to myself.
I see this a lot. Guys get loud and obnoxious to get the attention of girls. Girls get cutesy and flirtatious to get the attention of guys. Guys boast about how great they were in high school football to get the attention of other guys. I have no clue what girls do to get the attention of other girls, because I've never been involved in any such situation. But I'm sure there's something.
Something I've realized is that the times I am most satisfied and happy with my relationships are when I put all the attention on the other person instead of myself. When I write an encouraging note because they're having a hard day. When I go pick them up some food because they haven't gotten a chance to eat. When I look for ways to build them up instead of myself. And not doing these things so that they will be grateful and tell me how nice I am, but doing them genuinely for them. Conversely, the times that I am most frustrated with my relationships are when I have put the focus back on myself, looking for what I can get out of the relationship and how I can build up my own ego and sense of worth.
What if we started to genuinely care about those we interact with day-to-day? What if, instead of looking for how we can make ourselves look interesting/funny/smart/attractive, we placed on the emphasis on the other person and sought ways to encourage them? There's an idea that I'm sure I heard somewhere, but I don't remember where. I just imagine it's too good to come out of my own head. But I think every day when we get up, it may be helpful to make it a goal to make someone else's day. This means really sensing the needs of others and meeting those needs in a completely selfless fashion. Perhaps Paul said it best: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others" (Philippians 2:3-4).
And here's the thing: When we do this, when we actually put attention on others instead of on ourselves, the other person will typically begin to look to our interests. It works both ways. Instead of it becoming a battle in which each person is trying to build the castle of their own ego higher and higher, each person sincerely invests in the life of the other, giving of themselves to the other. Maybe that's what relationship is. Maybe that's what community and fellowship is. And I guess maybe that's what love is.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Our Time is Flatlining
I feel like at the beginning of almost every post, I apologize for not having written for a while. That's probably because, every time, I haven't written for a while. However, to mix things up a bit, this time I am completely unapologetic for not having written. I'm sure you've all been on the edge of your seats, checking this blog every five minutes in desperate hope that there would be a new word, but you've been frustrated for the last week and a half. Get over it.
Anyhways. life has been going along. Classes are picking up a bit as far as work and stuff go. I had a seminar this weekend about ministry through small groups that was really good. I imagine I'll write more about that later. I'm poor and need a job. And the ladies are all up ons. But I digress...
Mark Moore said something in my Life of Christ class last week that I thought was really good, and it's been mulling around in my head for a while. We were talking about Jesus' interaction with the Sabbath laws. Mark was talking about the need for sabbath in the life of the Christian, and how resting actually prepares us to do the work we need the rest of the time. The line that I particularly liked was: "Every day, there's enough hours in that day to do what God has called you to do."
I feel busy a great deal of the time. And thus, I feel stressed out, especially when we get into the trenches of the semester when all the term papers and tests and book reports and everything else are due. And I think, "If only there were like, 30 hours in a day, that'd be great. Then I'd have no trouble getting everything done." But I don't have 30 hours a day. I have 24. And my job is to use that time to its maximum potential to accomplish what God has lined for me in that day.
What that means is that I can't afford to waste time the way that I do. Over the past week, I've been thinking about just how much of my day is like a vacuum, totally devoid of anything useful. I'll walk into my room after classes and sit on my bed. And just sit for a while. And I'll probably do the same thing sometime during the afternoon. And before I go to dinner. And when I get back from dinner. And then a couple times in the evening. And then before I go bed. Mixed in with all that bed-sitting are the 63 times that I check my facebook to read all the wall posts that I don't get. And every once in a while, I stare off into space whilst I digest the Cheez-Its I just ate.
What if we eliminated these pockets of wasted time that are strewn along our day? What if, once we got back to our rooms, we got cracking on our homework. Then when we get that done, we'll have time to do something actually significant, or at least enjoyable, whether it's spending time with others and investing in their lives, or partaking in some ministry in the community. The stress caused by backed-up school work is taken away, and we use our time in a way that honors Christ.
I suck at this. I'm on facebook way too much. I play way too many video games. I lay around like a paralyzed walrus way too much. So I can definitely improve, and I imagine we all can as well.
If you haven't noticed (and I imagine you haven't), there's a bloggolution sweeping the nation. Or at least me and a few other guys at Ozark. So check out the links to Jim, Charlie, Tom, and Connor's blogs. And tell your friends. And put it up on your facebook. Print T-shirts. Rent billboards. Stand on the street corner with a sign. Secretly add this site to all your friends' favorites. Whatever it takes.
Anyhways. life has been going along. Classes are picking up a bit as far as work and stuff go. I had a seminar this weekend about ministry through small groups that was really good. I imagine I'll write more about that later. I'm poor and need a job. And the ladies are all up ons. But I digress...
Mark Moore said something in my Life of Christ class last week that I thought was really good, and it's been mulling around in my head for a while. We were talking about Jesus' interaction with the Sabbath laws. Mark was talking about the need for sabbath in the life of the Christian, and how resting actually prepares us to do the work we need the rest of the time. The line that I particularly liked was: "Every day, there's enough hours in that day to do what God has called you to do."
I feel busy a great deal of the time. And thus, I feel stressed out, especially when we get into the trenches of the semester when all the term papers and tests and book reports and everything else are due. And I think, "If only there were like, 30 hours in a day, that'd be great. Then I'd have no trouble getting everything done." But I don't have 30 hours a day. I have 24. And my job is to use that time to its maximum potential to accomplish what God has lined for me in that day.
What that means is that I can't afford to waste time the way that I do. Over the past week, I've been thinking about just how much of my day is like a vacuum, totally devoid of anything useful. I'll walk into my room after classes and sit on my bed. And just sit for a while. And I'll probably do the same thing sometime during the afternoon. And before I go to dinner. And when I get back from dinner. And then a couple times in the evening. And then before I go bed. Mixed in with all that bed-sitting are the 63 times that I check my facebook to read all the wall posts that I don't get. And every once in a while, I stare off into space whilst I digest the Cheez-Its I just ate.
What if we eliminated these pockets of wasted time that are strewn along our day? What if, once we got back to our rooms, we got cracking on our homework. Then when we get that done, we'll have time to do something actually significant, or at least enjoyable, whether it's spending time with others and investing in their lives, or partaking in some ministry in the community. The stress caused by backed-up school work is taken away, and we use our time in a way that honors Christ.
I suck at this. I'm on facebook way too much. I play way too many video games. I lay around like a paralyzed walrus way too much. So I can definitely improve, and I imagine we all can as well.
If you haven't noticed (and I imagine you haven't), there's a bloggolution sweeping the nation. Or at least me and a few other guys at Ozark. So check out the links to Jim, Charlie, Tom, and Connor's blogs. And tell your friends. And put it up on your facebook. Print T-shirts. Rent billboards. Stand on the street corner with a sign. Secretly add this site to all your friends' favorites. Whatever it takes.
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