Leadership - part 2

Mission

         Monthly

Leading as service

Last month we looked at leaders who are doing too much – and they know it. But there is another kind of leader... the one who will, at the end of their career, need to be prised from the pulpit with a crowbar. These are the leaders whose primary identity is found in their leadership. If you ask them, 'Who are you?', you will not hear the answer 'I'm a child of God' or 'I'm a husband and father' or 'friend'.  Leadership is their raison d'etre. This kind of leadership tends to be authoritarian, and sometimes abusive.

And when these leaders find people who want to be led – those who would rather someone else took their decisions for them because then they cannot be held responsible if those decisions turn out to be wrong – they only feel secure when there is a strong leader giving directions and no questions are put their way. 

Does this mean that power is wrong and that leaders should not have any power, in case they abuse it? No. The Bible is full of positive references to power. Jesus had power. But that power must not come from a person's role – it must come from their relationship with Christ, as His came not from His role as Messiah, but from His relationship with the Father. An inner security in our relationship with God is the crux.

What do we do, as leaders, if we suspect that we are becoming authoritarian? We have to look to where our identity lies. Autocratic styles often result from insecurity, but many of us are insecure. Does that mean we have to resign? No, we have to find that security that we need in our relationship with Christ. It may, it will, take time – but it is vital. Last month I listed some of the checklist of issues that any pastor would be wise to consider. These would be a good place to start. We need to pay particular attention to consistency – whether we are the same person at home as we are in the pulpit or the church foyer. We will be concerned about our own inner spiritual life, and not so that we can impress the congregation with how long we spend on our knees every morning (believe me, that boast happens).

Ministry style

The first thing to note about ministry style is the power of example.  We shout at the people of God in what we do and only whisper in what we say.  That’s why all the factors we have been looking at in the minister’s personal life are so important.  We must model something of the Christian life, before people will follow us as we explain it and ask the church to respond to it.

Assuming our lives are characterised by integrity, what should our leadership style be like?  Simply put, it should be like Jesus’ style of ministry – servanthood.  Ted Engstrom puts the position clearly when he says, ‘Jesus is saying that leadership in its very essence is serving.  It cannot be otherwise.  To lead is to serve.  And to serve is to become the servant of those one is leading.’

Obviously, this is partly demonstrated in our willingness to share the privileges and responsibilities of leadership but it is seen even more fundamentally in our attitudes.  How we need a revolution in this area!  What a transformation our churches would undergo if they were led by leaders who were delighted with their function and not obsessed with their status!  We need leaders who steadfastly refuse to indulge in a leadership style which uses people and loves things rather than using things and loving people; leaders who humbly recognise their dependence on God and the people of God, if true ministry is to be exercised and sustained.  Mark Hatfield, a retired  American senator, has some challenging words for us:  ‘We should be asking ourselves constantly: are power and leadership things I’m using to promote self, career and prestige?   Or are they being used only as a way of serving Christ?’  All of these attitudes lie at the heart of genuine servant leadership.

(first published in the Baptist Times March 2010)