by Anna Aven Howard
After much thought and consideration on the subject, it seems that the best philosophy of Christian leadership is this: Christian leadership should be two things (1) Christian and (2) leadership. As utterly inane as that may sound, there is a profound lack of Christian leadership in the church today that is either Christian or leadership in its substance. In Henri Nouwen’s book, In the Name of Jesus, he says that there are three specific temptations that plague all Christian leaders, the temptations to be (1) relevant, (2) spectacular, and (3) powerful. For the remainder of this paper I wish to discuss what Christian leadership is in the church today—and what it should be—in response to these temptations.Nouwen points out in his discussion on relevance that “Knowing God’s heart means consistently, radically and very concretely to announce and reveal that God is love and only love, and that every time fear, isolation, or despair begin to invade the human soul this is not something that comes from God.”[1] This is the key, through prayer, to overcome the temptation to be relevant. It is so incredibly easy to fall into this trap; after all, everyone likes to be liked. Regardless of the fact that those in positions of leadership in the church today would undoubtedly agree to the idea that “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you,”[2] it is likely that few would extend that concept to the people inside the church, regardless of how identified with the world those people are. While it is true that alienating everyone within the realm of the ministry[3] that you have been entrusted with is not the greatest way to impact the world for Christ, attempting to please the people inside that ministry for the purpose of pleasing them will not get you any further.
Nouwen said that when you know God’s heart, you will understand that God is love. God’s love is a one-way street in that it is freely given whether or not it is returned. Here is where the basis of Christian leadership must lie—in loving all those within the realm of the ministry without expecting or—more importantly—needing to be loved in return. Here is where the battle with the temptation to be relevant is won. When the leader can arrive at this stage, he or she is then free to follow God’s standard without worrying about the effects that may or may not have on his or her appearance to the people in the realm of the ministry. This is what it means to be a Christian leader with regards to relevance: first chasing after God’s heart wholeheartedly, and second, leading people to chase after God’s heart wholeheartedly.
Paul urges the Corinthian church to imitate him.[4] This is no call to imitate him in being popular, in being “successful,” or in being relevant for he has just said that “We [the apostles] have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.”[5] Actually, this one sentence covers all three of Nouwen’s temptations. The “offscouring of all things” can be neither relevant, spectacular, nor powerful. This word “offscouring” brings to mind images of the burnt up bit of food being scraped off a pan after the cooking is done to be thrown away. What glamour or acceptance is there in this picture? There is no room to prove yourself here—no room to be spectacular.
There is a profound temptation in Christian leadership to be indispensable—the one that the ministry cannot do without.[6] There is the temptation to build numerically, by whatever means possible for after all, everyone knows that it is the youth ministry with a thousand kids that is really doing the work of God. This is not to say that youth ministries with a thousand kids must necessarily be using the wrong methodology (i.e. being concerned with building numerically), however, the likelihood of having enough workers to go around in such a ministry is doubtful, and hence, the kids, while they may be being exposed to solid teaching, are not being discipled. Nouwen points out that Jesus refused to prove Himself.[7] Rather He came to lay down His life. Nouwen then goes on to ask, “But how can anyone lay down his life for those with whom he is not even allowed to enter into deep personal relationship?” To Nouwen then, “Laying down your life means making your own faith and doubt, hope and despair, joy and sadness, courage and fear available to others as ways of getting in touch with the Lord of life.”[8]
Paul seems to note two different kinds of leaders in his letter to the Corinthians. He notes that “…though you may have then thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.”[9] He seems to be saying that there are countless numbers of people who can teach. He makes no disparaging comment here regarding their doctrine, their speaking abilities, or even their relevant, crowd-warming humor that is impeccably placed in the message after investing many hours in Christian leadership materials and videos (not that any of that is bad in and of itself for there are many valuable resources out there). However, there are not many fathers. In our culture today, the father, or by extension, the mother is not seen as spectacular. The father is not the hero that is portrayed on the screen, in our music, in our imaginations. The manly man or independent woman is measured by their accomplishments in their careers, their success in winning the day, being the hero, making the most of their sexual conquests, but rarely do we see glorified the tough, painful and truly heroic work of being a father or a mother.
This cultural imagery pervades our church as well. We have too many leaders interested in job security, climbing the corporate ladder inside the church, and making conquests in the ever-important popularity contest. But there are few fathers and there are few mothers.[10] In class, Dr. Clark discussed the temptation to be spectacular in terms of the leader seeing him/herself as defined by what others say about him/her. We rarely see people being praised for being a good parent, literally or figuratively.
This lack of praise for parenthood is a result of the fact that the fruits of parenting are seen many years down the line. It is hard to measure as you go along, and often hard to see growth, for long-lasting growth is measured in years and decades, and few observers stay around that long to see the end result. The true Christian leader, though, is concerned with being a parent to their spiritual children—pouring their life into those following him/her and not being concerned with proving him/herself. Nouwen says:
We are not the healers, we are not the reconcilers, we are not the givers of life. We are sinful, broken, vulnerable people who need as much care as anyone we care for. The mystery of ministry as that we have been chosen to make our own limited and very conditional love the gateway for the unlimited and unconditional love of God.[11]
The Christian leader must stay in touch with who he/she is and in touch with the nature of this calling else he/she will fall prey to the temptation to be spectacular. It is so incredibly easy to do. Everyone likes praise, and praise ought to be given where praise is deserved. However, if praise ever becomes the motivating factor, or even a motivating factor, then the leader has succumbed to this temptation.
Last, Nouwen discussed the temptation to be powerful. He notes, “One of the greatest ironies in the history of Christianity is that its leaders constantly gave in to the temptation of power… even though they continued to speak the name of Jesus, who did not cling to his divine power, but emptied himself and became as we are.”[12] Leaders in the church, though they do not start out like this, tend to eventually be treated differently than the people they lead. Again, it is easy to have this happen, and oh, so very subtle. There is a tendency among the congregants to put the leader up on a pedestal. If the leader ever consents to being up there, he/she has succumbed to the temptation to be powerful. After all, as Nouwen goes on to point out, the greatest temptation of all is to consider a position of power as a means to further the gospel. The only problem is, that when this theory is put into practice, the furthering of the gospel then depends on the position of power and the person in it. If and when that position crumbles, the furthering of the gospel in that ministry is hurt. Paul labels the apostles, who are in the position of spreading the gospel, as being “fools for Christ’s sake” and “dishonored.”[13] What position of power is this? He is warning the Corinthians to remember from whence they came, for they appear to be in danger of being prideful because of their apparent success. But the roots of this church, with the leaders who founded it, are nothing remotely glamorous by the standards of the world. Hence, by Dr. Clark’s definition then, the leader must reject the temptation to define him/herself by the success of the things under his/her authority.
Nouwen asks, “What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible? Maybe it is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love. It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life.”[14] But that is not the call of God upon the Christian leader. The Christian leader is called to love as Christ loved,[15] be called out from the world,[16] and to realize that without Him, the leader is nothing.[17] Realizing that loving as Christ loved is loving without obligation combats the temptation to be relevant. Realizing that being called out from the world means not bowing to the world’s standards combats the temptation to be spectacular. And, finally, realizing that—without Christ—we are nothing combats the temptation to be powerful. The leader must realize who he/she is in relationship to God, and have everything else flow out from there to be properly grounded and not swayed by the prevailing winds of these temptations. And who is the leader in relation to God? He says, “You are my son” and, by extension to leaders, my daughter, “with you I am well-pleased.”[18]
[1] Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus, (New York: Crossroad, 2001), p. 25.
[3] by “realm of ministry” I mean anyone who would be considered under the leader in questions whether a youth, a congregant, volunteer or staff.
[10] I am approaching these terms figuratively in the spiritual sense, the way Paul used it.
[18] Concept taken from Dr. Clark’s lecture, January 6, 2003.
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