Recently a mission “expert” was giving advice to a pastor. “Your mission program is good,” he said, “but it is rather traditional. You are no longer at the cutting edge.” He went on to say that traditional churches support long-term missionaries while cutting-edge churches support short-term missionaries, nationals or form church-to-church partnerships.
The internationalization of modern missions is indeed one of the most exciting movements of our day. This movement, however, has a long history and it didn’t just happen in a vacuum. It is the fulfillment of the goals and prayers of long-term missionaries who have consciously fostered the formation of national church leadership and missionary societies in the non-western world. Since the earliest days of cross-cultural ministry, missionaries who have given their whole lives to planting churches that are equipped to fulfill Christ’s commission.
God has used the efforts of “traditional” missions in such an outstanding way that today the numbers (and perhaps the spiritual vitality) of the non-western church outstrip that of the West. Because of God’s blessings, “traditional” missionaries have been effective beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. Possibly the main reason they have been so effective is because they have taken the time to learn the culture, cultivate trust with nationals and learn the language well. The patient endurance of long-term missionaries is a critical factor in their success. I would like to suggest that the cutting edge of missionary strategy is still long-term missionaries working together with national churches to win the rest of the world. As we work in joyful partnership, we model the unity that God intended for His church and we become more effective in the task of world-wide evangelism.
God’s call to “go” must continue to be answered in every culture and era. If we ever dilute that call to simply “send money,” or merely travel during our vacation time, we will lose our sense of God’s heart for the world. Our missionary vision will be reduced to fund raising and mission tours. Of course we must help national churches to fund their ministries. But we need to help responsibly without creating an unhealthy dependence that robs churches of initiative and ownership in their missionary outreach.
Sent ones from every culture working together in loving fellowship worldwide form the most powerful strategy in missions. The cutting edge of world evangelism hasn’t changed in the last 2000 years!
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Thoughts on Theology of Leadership
Many people think that the world is divided into two groups – leaders and followers. Strong leaders are thought to be visionaries with powerful personalities and super management skills. They are extraverts who now how to make good decisions and know how to get other people to follow the their vision. Good followers are thought to be people who recognize strong leaders and follow them with enthusiasm.
Older research in leadership shows that among most animal species there is a “pecking order.” The corollary, they say, is that since animals dominate animals, people should dominate people. In the human species leaders get work done through followers. The old philosophy argues that “leaders know the art of inducing compliance.” Leaders are the kings, chiefs, rulers, generals or heads of state. With the “ruler” concept of leadership, a distinction between leaders and followers is crucial. This is a common but dangerous understanding of leadership.
Rethinking Leadership
Secular researchers are beginning to rethink leadership.
"Leadership is an interaction between two or more members of a group that often involves a structuring or restructuring of the situation and the perceptions and expectations of the members. . . It should be clear that with this broad definition, any member of the group can exhibit some amount of leadership. "(Benard M. Bass. Bass & Stogdill’s Handbook of Leadership 1990, p 20)
Leaders are people who influence people and circumstances. In an important sense every Christian should be a leader. Every Christian has been given spiritual gifts for the sake of influencing the Body! We all have a sacred obligation to take initiative to use our gifts to help change the world.
We are called a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9).We often talk of the priesthood of all believers. We also need to talk of the royalty of all believers. We are all queens and kings! The dichotomy between commoners and royalty is not a biblical ideal. The status dichotomy between leaders and followers is unhealthy.
Leadership in the sense of “inducing compliance” is not a spiritual gift. The gift of administration in 1 Corinthisns 12:28 (kybernesis) is an important gift for guiding people, but it is not a gift for controling people. Administrators have been given special abilities by the Holy Spirit to coordinate maximize and encourage the gifts of influence in the rest of the Body. The gift of leading (prostatis) in Romans 12:8 is better translated the gift of giving practical aid to people in need. The doctrine of spiritual gifts undercuts the idea that a few people are born to give orders and the rest are born to obey orders. The doctrine challenges each Christian is to take initiative to use her or his God-given gifts to influence the body.
But human beings tend to either want to control people or to be passive and let others use their gifts. Some people have the tendency to rebel against all external influence and seek to do what is right in our own eyes. The Bible does not allow believers to be dictators, doormats or lone rangers. The Holy Spirit gives some believers the gift of coordinating, maximizing and encouraging the giftedness of others. Often organizations give formal authority to people who evidence the gift of coordinating maximizing and encouraging the gifts for the good of the body. We are called to submit to people who are given formal authority to coordinate and maximize the leadership gifts of others in the body (1 Peter 5:5).
Here are some possible implications for Christian leadership:
1. All Christians are called to take inituative to influence the body, thus in an important sense all Christians are leaders. It is not appropriate for a Christian to merely sit back and wait to be told what to do because he or she is merely a follower.
2. People who have the gifts of helping the body to work together toward a God-given goal need to be respected. The primary quality of for both people who have maximizing leadership gifts and those who have direct ministry leadership gifts is humility (1 Peter 5: 5b).
3. No believer has all the spiritual gifts, so all Christians in most areas of life must also be be influenced by the leadership gifts of others. Thus at times we are all followers as we submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21.)
4. Hierarchical structures might be helpful organizational tools in some cultures to coordinate people and tasks, but organization charts seldom reflect true influence, and they never reflect a person’s significance or insignificance.
5. A primary task of all believers is to fan into flame the leadership gifts of each person ( Timothy 1:6). The idea of superiority or inferiority of Christians is goes against the clear teaching of 1 Corinthians 12.
6. The only ruler in the Body is the Head -- Christ alone. The doctrine of the one body and many parts does not specify a gift called the head. (1 Corinthians 12: 12-20.) People were not intended to dominate other people in the church.
7. Planning, leading, organizing, and evaluating need to be functions of the whole Body. Spiritual gifts need to be organized and coordinated by capable administrators. Egalitarian leadership must not promote confusion but community.
8. Everyone is a leader, but people cannot merely “do what is right in their own eyes.” We are all held accountable to the absolute standards of the Word of God. We are commanded to work in a community. We are all leaders in a community of kings and queens, and directly to the King of Kings.
If you are tempted to be an autocratic leader, you need to be reminded that you are coordinators of the leadership abilities of the Body, and all have a direct connection with the Head, Jesus Christ. On the other hand, are you fearful of taking initiative? Then you need to be reminded that the Lord calls you to take initiative and be a visionary, dynamic coordinator of the gifts of the Body.
“The body is a unit,
though it is made up of many parts;
and though all its parts are many, they form one body. . .
Now you are the body of Christ,
and each one of you is a part of it.”
1 Corinthians 12: 12, 27
Older research in leadership shows that among most animal species there is a “pecking order.” The corollary, they say, is that since animals dominate animals, people should dominate people. In the human species leaders get work done through followers. The old philosophy argues that “leaders know the art of inducing compliance.” Leaders are the kings, chiefs, rulers, generals or heads of state. With the “ruler” concept of leadership, a distinction between leaders and followers is crucial. This is a common but dangerous understanding of leadership.
Rethinking Leadership
Secular researchers are beginning to rethink leadership.
"Leadership is an interaction between two or more members of a group that often involves a structuring or restructuring of the situation and the perceptions and expectations of the members. . . It should be clear that with this broad definition, any member of the group can exhibit some amount of leadership. "(Benard M. Bass. Bass & Stogdill’s Handbook of Leadership 1990, p 20)
Leaders are people who influence people and circumstances. In an important sense every Christian should be a leader. Every Christian has been given spiritual gifts for the sake of influencing the Body! We all have a sacred obligation to take initiative to use our gifts to help change the world.
We are called a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9).We often talk of the priesthood of all believers. We also need to talk of the royalty of all believers. We are all queens and kings! The dichotomy between commoners and royalty is not a biblical ideal. The status dichotomy between leaders and followers is unhealthy.
Leadership in the sense of “inducing compliance” is not a spiritual gift. The gift of administration in 1 Corinthisns 12:28 (kybernesis) is an important gift for guiding people, but it is not a gift for controling people. Administrators have been given special abilities by the Holy Spirit to coordinate maximize and encourage the gifts of influence in the rest of the Body. The gift of leading (prostatis) in Romans 12:8 is better translated the gift of giving practical aid to people in need. The doctrine of spiritual gifts undercuts the idea that a few people are born to give orders and the rest are born to obey orders. The doctrine challenges each Christian is to take initiative to use her or his God-given gifts to influence the body.
But human beings tend to either want to control people or to be passive and let others use their gifts. Some people have the tendency to rebel against all external influence and seek to do what is right in our own eyes. The Bible does not allow believers to be dictators, doormats or lone rangers. The Holy Spirit gives some believers the gift of coordinating, maximizing and encouraging the giftedness of others. Often organizations give formal authority to people who evidence the gift of coordinating maximizing and encouraging the gifts for the good of the body. We are called to submit to people who are given formal authority to coordinate and maximize the leadership gifts of others in the body (1 Peter 5:5).
Here are some possible implications for Christian leadership:
1. All Christians are called to take inituative to influence the body, thus in an important sense all Christians are leaders. It is not appropriate for a Christian to merely sit back and wait to be told what to do because he or she is merely a follower.
2. People who have the gifts of helping the body to work together toward a God-given goal need to be respected. The primary quality of for both people who have maximizing leadership gifts and those who have direct ministry leadership gifts is humility (1 Peter 5: 5b).
3. No believer has all the spiritual gifts, so all Christians in most areas of life must also be be influenced by the leadership gifts of others. Thus at times we are all followers as we submit to one another (Ephesians 5:21.)
4. Hierarchical structures might be helpful organizational tools in some cultures to coordinate people and tasks, but organization charts seldom reflect true influence, and they never reflect a person’s significance or insignificance.
5. A primary task of all believers is to fan into flame the leadership gifts of each person ( Timothy 1:6). The idea of superiority or inferiority of Christians is goes against the clear teaching of 1 Corinthians 12.
6. The only ruler in the Body is the Head -- Christ alone. The doctrine of the one body and many parts does not specify a gift called the head. (1 Corinthians 12: 12-20.) People were not intended to dominate other people in the church.
7. Planning, leading, organizing, and evaluating need to be functions of the whole Body. Spiritual gifts need to be organized and coordinated by capable administrators. Egalitarian leadership must not promote confusion but community.
8. Everyone is a leader, but people cannot merely “do what is right in their own eyes.” We are all held accountable to the absolute standards of the Word of God. We are commanded to work in a community. We are all leaders in a community of kings and queens, and directly to the King of Kings.
If you are tempted to be an autocratic leader, you need to be reminded that you are coordinators of the leadership abilities of the Body, and all have a direct connection with the Head, Jesus Christ. On the other hand, are you fearful of taking initiative? Then you need to be reminded that the Lord calls you to take initiative and be a visionary, dynamic coordinator of the gifts of the Body.
“The body is a unit,
though it is made up of many parts;
and though all its parts are many, they form one body. . .
Now you are the body of Christ,
and each one of you is a part of it.”
1 Corinthians 12: 12, 27
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