Each morning at Rockbridge we gathered together the two leadership tracks (small group leader's training track and the Coordinating Team track--these are the core group of 4-8 leaders that sets vision and goals for each year) for teaching on Biblical leadership.
This year's "Leadership Summit" we walked through the Biblical identity of a leader: Leader as Child, Leader as Disciple, Leader as Servant.
The first morning, however, Joe Ho, IV Area Director for Shenandoah in western Virginia set up the week, exhorting us to consider seriously that understanding our identity is critical to genuine Biblical leadership. Here's a snippet of his excellent talk:
"In our culture we under-value the concept of identity and character because we vastly over-value decision-making. We think that leadership is all about decision-making. It's not. 99% of what we do every day is not about conscious decision making. We simply act. And we act out of who we are, out of character and identity. And so if we truly want to be women and men of impact who lead others with integrity, courage, and faithfulness, we have to be different types of people, not just better decision makers."
We got a little push-back from some folks in small groups who thought this was over-stated, but is it?
4 comments:
He's spot on, bro. Spot on. There's a reason why all the qualifications for "elder" and "deacon" in the Bible are character requirements. Our pro-grace, anti-sanctification subculture doesn't like it, but Joe hit the nail on the head.
Of course, that begs the question of what quality character looks like--an often mis-answered question that has helped create the anti-sanctification x-n subculture!`
This comment from a pastor at my church:
I've been thinking alot about spiritual authority lately. This quote resonates with some of my thinking. What is to be valued in the Christian life, as we meander along the way with Jesus of Nazareth, is character and maturity. That certainly seems to be what Christ was on about in his relationship with his disciples. Yet I think we often get distracted in an over-focus and emphasis on skills and performance. It seems we miss the point. If our Christianity is a consumer commodity, then yes, let's find the most skilled and talented people we can. If, however, we are trying to be disciples who make disciples then we'd better be on about what Jesus was on about and value what he valued/values.
It's interesting - Jesus had other models of leadership to follow in his time (Herod, Caiaphas, Pilate). But he chose a different way for a reason. What is that reason? It certainly seems he was intent on quality not quantity, on substance not shadow, on his kingdom not another.
Anyways...just my 2 cents.
Thanks for your blog.
Blessings,
David
I think that even if it were more about decision-making, our decisions and how we make them often depend on the kind of people we are.
And Alex, thanks for leading last week. I really appreciated the effort you guys put into prepping us to lead SGs next year - I thought it was incredibly well done.
-Nick
Great point, Nick, our decisions do come from our character, even the ones we make consciously.
And thanks for the Small Group Vision Camp love! I'm really excited about the group of small group leaders we have for next year, it's gonna be great for so many small-group-ees who don't even realize what's waiting for them inthe fall.
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