so recent revelation.
lets define a term first.
the word is leadership. if you didnt know, this is the one of the new "hot" terms used in the church world. the way i understand it, is that you build these into your church, for growth, for being effective, etc. lots of books have been written on it and its pretty much stated that if you dont do this, then you may be doing it wrong.
yikes.
theory:
Leadership = the new 'sinners prayer.'
quick definition: sinners prayer. will always, from this point on be known as a huge mistake. apologies to all those who found Jesus through this mode of prayer...my bad. but really, this is were the preacher stands up, asks everyone to close their eyes and then if you would like to receive Jesus in your heart, then raise your hand. apparently in the few seconds you have your hand raised, Jesus zooms into your heart. good stuff. for me, this has always been viewed as a very very cheap way to make disciples. its just too easy, if you subscribe to this method, sorry, i just feel that its cheap.
leadership is the new sinners prayer. its a cheap easy way to get people "locked" into your church and in some ways, without really introducing them to the Jesus that will flip their world upside down.
one, who the heck cares about building a leader? unless a leader is defined as someone who reads their bible, prays, and has a relationship with Jesus. that i can buy into. thats what i want to be a part of building.
when our focus becomes so much about being this 21 irrefutable leader or building leaders in our church. i feel like we miss out. its a cheap and easy thing to focus on that has little to do with Jesus.
2 comments:
Hey man! Interesting post. First, let me go on the record as saying that I think the whole leadership thing has been way overblown in contemporary church culture, and I find it highly disturbing that many, many pastors read books on leadership almost exclusively, without reading books that interact on a deeper level with the Bible. Pastors, and people in general, need to know more about what the Bible says and how to interpret it and apply it than about leadership--and the assumption some pastors make that they already know what the Bible says is a false one, as obviously we should always be challenged anew by the biblical text.
At the same time, leadership has its place, and I wouldn't want to imply that it's not important at all. Your point about the kind of person you want to cultivate (reading the Bible, praying, relationship with Jesus) should always be the focus of the church--helping to turn people into fully devoted followers of Jesus. But as a pastor, I also want people who can help others to learn those things too--that's leadership, and sometimes it needs to be learned/taught.
trudat. thats why i love and value you man.
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