The future of pastoral leadership
discernment for top down leaders means being wise when someone needs your expert advice and giving them good answers.
discernment for the rest of us means being wise when it comes to if we answer at all.
giving an answer, making a call, setting a course, giving advice are often (mostly?) the role of the expert. Pastors, Youth Pastors, and church leaders want to be experts. In a culture that is infatuated with experts, not being an expert is hard. because it means we stop playing the expert. It means we stop giving answers. It means we stop giving advice. It means we stop receiving the responsibility that God has given others. The responsibility that they are often trying to hand us. To find an answer, to spiritually form a child, to give then "the answer" to their problem.
Most pastors feel it's their role to hold their hands out and take these burdens off of the shoulders of others. However, by doing so, we create and enable a barrier between who they are and who they are to be.
Instead of reaching out. The best leadership is discerning when to put your hands in your pockets and refuse to take the responsibilities that belong to others. Of course this can be done beautifully, it's something of an art.
The best leaders in the future will not be known by their will, advice, or problem solving. They will be known by the quality of their questions.
discernment for the rest of us means being wise when it comes to if we answer at all.
giving an answer, making a call, setting a course, giving advice are often (mostly?) the role of the expert. Pastors, Youth Pastors, and church leaders want to be experts. In a culture that is infatuated with experts, not being an expert is hard. because it means we stop playing the expert. It means we stop giving answers. It means we stop giving advice. It means we stop receiving the responsibility that God has given others. The responsibility that they are often trying to hand us. To find an answer, to spiritually form a child, to give then "the answer" to their problem.
Most pastors feel it's their role to hold their hands out and take these burdens off of the shoulders of others. However, by doing so, we create and enable a barrier between who they are and who they are to be.
Instead of reaching out. The best leadership is discerning when to put your hands in your pockets and refuse to take the responsibilities that belong to others. Of course this can be done beautifully, it's something of an art.
The best leaders in the future will not be known by their will, advice, or problem solving. They will be known by the quality of their questions.
Labels: leadership
posted by mark at
9:30 AM
2 Comments:
I think the american church has fostered an environment that only those on staff can be experts and only those approved by staff experts can be future experts. Education and seminary have now become the markers for expertise. I don't think it was that way in the new testament.
Saying "I don't know" is an important skill for a leader. you'll fail to lead well if you can't use it when you need to. If someone needs Mark, don't give them Travis. There's a lot of different people for a reason. [insert we are the body of Christ talk here]
I agree.
We ought to aim more at unifying the body by enabling and using the body. Pastors, right now, ought to equip so people can be a contributing part of the body.
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