I've been reading a book for one of my classes, and it has been kicking my butt. Not only does it have about 5.3 billion pages in it, but the ideas presented in it are really tough to deal with. It's called Total Truth, and it's about finding and living with a Christian worldview. One of the chapters focused on leadership and fundraising. It basically asked the question "Why do we in the church take leadership and fundraising ideas from the business model (x number of support letters sent to y number of people will raise z amount of money) and applying it in the church.
The author claims that our dependence upon "secular" methods of leadership shows a lack of dependence upon God. Now, I believe that God rewards preparation and hard work. This is not to say that God cannot and does not intervene on a regular basis. I think that all of the above factor in to results. By the same token, we in America don't place enough emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
For my second rant, I would ask what has been done to create a truly "Christian" model of leadership? Or even, what Christian leadership model is on par with any secular model. For as long as I can remember, churches and Christians have been taking ideas from the business world in the area of leadership. Maybe I'm wrong. Please let me know if I am. As much as I wanted to argue with the author on this point (in my head of course), I have to agree. I'm in a course this semester called "Leadership in Ministry", and all of the books were "Christian" in their orientation. However, I felt that none of the assigned reading was truly revolutionary in the way that I thought about leadership. This summer, while I was on an internship at my home church, the entire staff read a secular leadership book. I felt that it was extremely well written, and while not groundbreaking, it was extremely practical and a better read than any of my books for the course.
So, what do you think? Should we rely upon outside fundraising and marketing techniques in the church, or should we pull back and let God do His thing?
Should we continue to adapt business leadership models for the church, or should we use a sub par Christian model only because it bears the label "Christian?" What can we do to construct a model of Christian leadership that exceeds the business model?
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TIME to Influence
9 years ago
1 comment:
Blake-
About what style of leadership model we should use in the church, I have to say that I have wrestled with the thought of not relying on God enough and relying more on what we know works. I truly think that it is ok to use models that we find successful elsewhere and adapt them to a church, and yet at the same token, I do believe the Bible spells out what leadership should look like (1 & 2 Timothy, Titus).
The only time I get uneasy about using secular models is when we start to think of the church as a business, rather that God's community of believers coming together to worship and serve him. If this is forgotten, than no matter what leadership model one chooses to use, is in vain.
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