the drum|rob fairbanks

Should we use the word "Leader?"

While perusing FB today, I came across the below quote from Lance Ford. http://www.facebook.com/lncford

“Both “servant-leader” and “servanthood” are watered-down terms that fall short of the necessary gumption to overcome the leader-centric mentality that saturates the church world. They are but twists on a vague notion of semi-humility. In many evangelical leadership cultures the idea of a servant-leader is in reality tantamount to a benevolent dictatorship.”

I wholeheartedly agree with Lance on the statement (As a matter of fact, I come out of a denomination that actually uses the term “benevolent dictator” as a common descriptor of good pastoral leadership – I am not joking – wait, I just threw up in my mouth as I recalled that fact), but some of the dialogue that followed in the FB thread seemed to be more of a reaction to what I would call an unrestrained American version of what leadership means, which seeks to somehow extricate the term from our vernacular like that will make the throbbing desire for attention or power go away.

I haven't read Lance’s book (so he may deal with this in it), but the question I might have from the FB thread is how does it fit with Paul, while talking about spiritual gifting saying, "the one who leads, do with zeal..." The word means to have charge over or rule. I'm certainly not contesting the servant/slave model or the need to live as a follower under the Kingship of Christ, but to dismiss the term leader seems like it may be an overstatement that misses the point.  Look, leadership happens regardless if we say the word or not.  It can be very good or very bad. Why is there a line to listen to authors (like Lance) or pastors or conference speakers?  An aside: it probably wouldn’t hurt the American church to have moratorium on conferences and guest speakers for a year – any kind of big shot stuff. Revival might actually break out.

BTW – this is not to in anyway dismiss Lance or his book.  I have heard nothing but good things about him from friends I have that know him well. I hope to take a look at the book in the future (as usual, there are many in my queue right now – here is the Amazon link), but I am speaking to a general reactivity to the term that I have been picking up.

What do you think? How should we view the term "leader?"

Is there a legit leadership function that God empowers and uses to help His work in the word?

Are You Apostolic?

There has been much talk recently (at least in the Missional conversation) about the apostolic.  It's function is a critical and needed piece to reforming the church into what it is supposed to be in the world, a beautiful and radiant bride. A community of followers who actually look and act like Jesus. Unfortunately, like much of what happens in the church (particularly with the American, commercialized, hyper-entrepreneurial version) it looks like it may soon be overdone.  Similar to how the term “missional” has grown to mean almost  everything and almost nothing, it appears that the term "apostolic" may quickly move from the arena of being overly stigmatized to over-used (which usually translates to misused). 

Why do I say this? One of the main reasons is seeing how many people now self-identify as “apostolic.”  It’s a veritable contagion.  It seems like any one who actually cares about the world and the gospel fancies him or herself as apostolic.  I am not persuaded.  Case in point: While consulting with a large-ish church recently I had their entire leadership team (staff and elders) take the APEST test (found here).  The APEST is a test constructed by Alan Hirsch, et al that attempts to identify a persons location within the 5-fold leadership functions of Ephsians 4 - Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Shepherd and Teacher. One of the key leaders from this church whose sole role is to teach tested out as apostolic.  When the rest of his team were asked what they saw as his primary calling, to a person, they all cast him as shepherd/teacher.  If this were an isolated example, I would have just chalked it up to a “fluke,” but it hasn’t been.  There are more apostolic folks running around then ever.  You can hardly go to the Grocery store these days without running into an apostle (note sacrasm). Can this really the be?  Has it become the sexy…wanted gifting?  I’m just gonna say it; the church is often simply crazy in it’s panting for the new (or old in this case).

A little advice: If you think you may be called to the apostolic keep in mind at least these two things.

1)   Apostles were and ought to be required to have the recognition of their peers.

Others should be able to attest to the fact that a person is operating in the apostolic.  Like the person cited above, if everyone you are ministering to say that you aren’t, you aren’t (the converse is only potentially true). It is more than a personality assessment. Testing of this function should be done by those who are affected, not by the person thinking he might of might not be. It is really an assessment of impact, not of personal perspective or passion.

2)   Apostles must have specific fruit.

It must be demonstrable. The “proof is in the pudding” (not sure where that saying comes from).  In other words, there should be observable fruit such as established churches (starting one might not be enough), spiritual children in mission and penetrating the gospel into targeted areas.

There are more of these caveats, but these two alone will allow us to begin to parse out the throngs a bit and help us test all things.  We are supposed to be the… “one holy, catholic, and apostolic church.” Again, the "function" of the apostolic is pivotal to the church being who it is supposed to be. We desparately need the church to carry with it an apostolic impluse, but not necessarily a church full of apostles.

BTW - You can even get a cool apostolic button HERE. Check it out.

Galatians 6:9

posted by allie

Is the Church too strong?

By Jeff

I cannot help but wonder if our churches have become too muscular?  Have our churches become immobilized due to overwhelming attendance and the resulting church politics? Is it possible to grow die hard disciples out of a large church? Special Forces soldiers and Rangers are rarely stacked with muscle and yet they are the most effective soldiers in the field. Should we strive to build congregations so full of Christians that they are impressive on the exterior due to mass but rendered ineffective by the very same characteristic that we find impressive?

 

Special Forces soldiers and Rangers are not stacked with muscle for a reason. Too much muscle hinders agility and speed, thus making them a slower target. It seems that we as the Church have placed too much value on well attended services (just as athletes can become obsessed with numbers numerically representing their performance) that we have created congregations that cannot run the race of missions. Unfortunately, since the church has supported the numbers game, the congregants have followed suit. We now have vast amounts of congregants who have overloaded their lives with things that seem to be positive (like muscle) but leave them unable to walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death unless they make some serious sacrifices before they begin their march through the Valley.  We as a church have packed on so much ‘muscle’ that we cannot quickly adapt to the changing currents in the ocean in which we swim.

 

We must become more like Special Forces soldiers or Rangers, we need to cut the excessive muscle and re-gain our agility to navigate through this rapidly changing world.

Marriage and Mission

By Caitlin

If you have ever been to a small Christian college, or know someone who has, then you have probably heard the term “ring before spring.” And it is unusual to find an unmarried seni or pastor at any church. I’ve found that the Christian Church in America definitely emphasizes the importance and sacredness of marriage. Considering that we live in a culture obsessed with sex, this emphasis is probably a good thing. After all, Paul does say in 1 Corinthians  7:9 that “it is better to marry than to burn with passion.”

However, I do wonder if the pressure to find a husband/wife can distract from living out God’s mission. I know many people who, when considering the potential of another for dating or marriage, really only consider whether or not they claim to be a Christian, and if they have chemistry. Both of those are important, but I don’t think it should stop there. Many of  my friends seem to look for that “special someone” first, and consider how they can live out God’s mission afterward. 

We had a group of really wonderful people come into class to talk about living missionally, and two of them were a young married couple who run an organization called Global Neighborhood, which helps refugees from other countries adjust to life in the United States. Both of them had given up everything to follow Christ’s call for their lives, and he blessed them with one another. But I started to think, what if one of them hadn’t listened to this call? Would that have stopped them both from living out Christ’s mission, or just changed the way they do that?

Like almost any other twenty-year-old woman, of course I want to get married at some point. But people look at me strangely when I say, “I’d be okay if I stay single my whole life. ” Especially in the last couple of years, I’ve felt God calling me to the dark places, to work with broken people. I do not really want the American Dream. However, I could see myself being easily swayed and pulled away from following this call if I started considering a significant other’s desires or needs foremost. I think that God plans for some people to serve him as singles, and some as married couples. Why is this such a unheard-of concept to so many Christian college students today?

Tim Tebow: Separation of Church and Life

By Peter

Well I figure that I might as well go ahead and write about the most provocative figures in the country today even though I know more than enough has been said about him already and much more is sure to come.  I just can’t get over how polarizing he is and how obsessed the media has been in creating and fueling the never-ending debates we see or hear about everywhere we go.  Everyone seems to have been sucked into it.  Last week at church the topic was prayer and images we associate with it.  Of course the picture of you-know-who was in there.  More than 42 million people watched Sunday’s game and there were over 9,000 tweets per second about it during and after the game ended.  People are now growing weary of the ridiculous attention he has been getting and wish that there could just be a separation of church and game. 

While I agree that all the commotion is getting a bit overwhelming, I can’t help but be amazed at how this simple act of public prayer and attributing everything he does to God has stirred up this attention.  There are plenty of athletes out there who pray and speak about their faith publicly but for some reason this guy is different.  I’m sure there are plenty of other reasons, namely the actual job he does and the exciting finishes that somehow keep happening. 

A lot of people might criticize him for praying ‘on the street corner’ and being too public about his faith but when Jesus criticized the Pharisees for this it was for being hypocritical and for doing it just to gain attention.  I can’t say for sure that all the attention isn’t perpetuating him further but I do know that he had this faith and prayer habits before getting all the national attention and that his behavior off the field backs up what he is preaching.  (If you are curious you should read Rick Reilly’s recent article about what happens after every game).  I also know that in our culture we really like to separate our work from our play and especially from our religion or faith.  Everything has its place.  Well here we have on the nation’s stage a guy who refuses to categorize his life but lets his faith form his identity, no matter how much criticism he gets for it.

Wrestling with God

By Corey

As of late, my favorite story from Scripture is found in Genesis 32. Jacob is beginning to make his way back to Esau to ask for forgiveness. The story continues on when Jacob is left alone at night and “a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day” (Genesis 32:24 ESV). As morning arrives the man tells Jacob to stop wrestling but Jacob holds on and will not let go of the man. And as we know, Jacob is blessed, his name is changed to Israel and his life delivered.

            I love this passage because it demonstrates two aspects of faith. First, it shows that it is okay to wrestle with God. I think this is a crucial part of faith, which is often avoided as often as possible. However, I know from my own experience that I grow the most when I am struggling or confused with what God is doing in my life. I further see this in our class, Missional Church. Take for instance the four pastors that came in and talked with us. One of the things that I saw in common between the four was that they all got to where they are through trials and times of questioning. Colby had been stopped from going to China two times and the other three all had really discouraging experiences with the Church. Through these struggles, it became clear that each one was grateful for what they had gone through because it brought them closer to Jesus. 

            The second idea that is demonstrated in this passage is that in order to wrestle with certain ideas one needs to be determined to stay faithful and find the answer. For me, this idea resonates more firmly because anyone can struggle or doubt, but it takes faith and determination to work through that struggle. I am most amazed at how Jacob held onto the man fighting him and demand that he blessed. This is what I want to do; I want to hold on to God so that I can bless others through God’s blessing on me.

Enough Sitting Around, Do It

By Nathan

I have been listening my entire life. In classes, to other people, in Sunday school and church, I have always been a listener. I have received numerous blessings from this skill and have learned many things. Without listening I wouldn't be who I am today, but for really the first time in my life, I want to do more than listen.

 Listening to the speakers that have come into our class, all of them are making changes in their communities and slowly changing the way church has been practiced for decades, for the better. I see these people that are filled with the Holy Spirit both listening to the Lord and living out the way God intended us to. These pastors are living their faith and have shown the way of Jesus through their words AND their actions.

I have been thinking and praying about what God wants me to do vocationally with my life to honor him. One would think that I already have this planned out since I am going to college and getting my degree, and at one point I thought I knew what to do, but either I didn’t think I was listening to what God had in store for me to do or I wasn’t ready to do what he wanted me to do.

In class we got the opportunity to hear from Bryan Dormaier, a church planter in Portland. During the conversation we talked about the struggles of situations in which we communicate our faith and someone mentioned that they have grown the most in their faith through putting themselves in uncomfortable situations, such as talking with people that you might never talk with - something I would never do. That’s something I aim to change by LISTENING to God and ACTING on it.

You're Killing My Sheep

By Kirsten

I don’t really have a whole lot to say. This verse came to me as I was trying to think of something to post a blog about. It may seem lazy, but the Word of God speaks for itself. As this Missional Church class has been going on, a deep set conviction has been bothering me, namely, I have been called as a shepherd to God’s flock, yet what have I done to take care of the flock? This may be a passage we can all muse on a little while.

Ezekiel 34:1-10: “The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.”

 

To Hell and Back

By Jeff

It struck me recently that our generation may be devaluing a crucial leadership pre-req, we do not demand leaders who bear the scars of Hell.

It seems that our comfortable Christianity that nurtures itself is too afraid of failure. We do not seem to live radically driven lives full of the Holy Spirit. That is not to say that there are not leaders out there who are full of the Holy Spirit, but they seem to be far and few between! I don’t know about you, but I I want a leader who has experienced failure and pain and quite frankly HELL. I do not want to be led by anyone who has not walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

When did we as a culture forget that Christ did exactly this for us? And, that we are called to take up our cross and follow him! I doubt that means that we are called to be leaders who are so wrapped up in our achievement based culture that we are not willing to bet it all on Christ because let’s face it, that RISK may not promise us fulfillment if we view our lives through the lens of a culture enthralled with achievements. Since when have achievements become a part of our identity? Isn’t sharing in God’s restoration of the Earth enough for us? That should be mind-blowingly exciting, motivating and inspiring! So how have we ended up being leaders who are passive and content with the state of this world? 

If we as leaders do not fail to the point of understanding a new depth of humility at some point, I would challenge that we are not leading in a Kingdom manner. If we as leaders have not entirely laid out ourselves for others, I am not sure that we are worth being followed by those seeking to bring about the Kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit will guide and protect! My self-imposed stability does not guide and protect me.     

    

As leaders, we should walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death to bring God’s Kingdom or die trying.