An imaginary conversation with Jesus about leadership
Me: Jesus, I want to be a church leader.
Jesus: That’s good.
Me: Thanks. I’ve been talking to other people about it, and I’ve gotten some good advice.
Jesus: Such as?
Me: Well, I’ve been told that I should find a leadership position, like a Sunday School teacher, or a ministry director, or something like that, and start getting experience being a leader. Then, I should consider going to seminary, because that’s where I’ll really learn what it means to be a leader. After seminary, I can find a position in a church somewhere and really start leading.
Jesus: Oh? And what do you think about that?
Me: Well, it sounds good. I mean, everyone I talked to did it that way, and it seems to have worked for them. But, I was wondering what you thought.
Jesus: Interesting. I don’t usually get asked this question until after the plan is in motion.
Me: What do you mean?
Jesus: Well, I often get requests from people who are already considered leaders, but I’m not often asked what it means to be a leader in the first place.
Me: Oh. Well, what do you think I should do to be a leader in the church?
Jesus: Serve.
Me: I don’t know much about tennis.
Jesus: No, not tennis. Serve people.
Me: Oh, you mean like “servant leadership”?
Jesus: No, I mean serve people. If I give you an opportunity to serve someone, then do it.
Me: Oh. You’re talking about actually serving people.
Jesus: Yes.
Me: I’m asking you about leadership, though. You know, teaching, making decisions, presenting a vision – your vision, of course – that kind of thing.
Jesus: If that’s what you want, then fine. But, you asked me what I wanted. And, I want you to serve.
Me: What about seminary? Shouldn’t church leaders go to seminary?
Jesus: Seminary – or any other type of education – is fine. It can be very helpful. But, I want you to serve people, whether you go to seminary or not.
Me: But, will people appoint me to a leadership position without a seminary degree?
Jesus: I don’t know. Maybe not. Do you want a leadership position, or do you want to know what I expect of leaders?
Me: Well, I guess I want to know what you expect of leaders.
Jesus: Then, I want you to serve. When I bring someone into your life, I want you to give up your own wants, desires, hopes, even needs in order to take care of them. If they need food, then feed them. If they need something to drink, then give it to them. If they’re sick, then take care of them. I want you to serve.
Me: But, that’s not really leading, is it?
Jesus: That’s exactly what I call leading. In fact, the more you serve, the greater the leader you will be.
Me: But, how is that leadership?
Jesus: I want you to serve, and I want others to serve as well. As people see you serve, they will serve. You will lead them in how to serve as you all serve together.
Me: You know, that’s not really what I was talking about.
Jesus: Yes, I know.
Me: The advice that the other people gave me sounds better.
Jesus: Yes, I know.
Me: If I become the other type of leader, people will follow me then too.
Jesus: Yes, I know.
Me: But, you want me – and others – to serve people?
Jesus: Yes.
Me: Are there any good books that will help me understand what you’re talking about?
Jesus: I’ve always been partial to Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts,… well, you get the picture.
Me: Yeah, I think I do.
Jesus: Paul is a great example of service. Do you know how much he gave up in order to serve people?
Me: Well, I haven’t really read it that way.
Jesus: Maybe you should try…
Me: I’ll think about it.
Jesus: I hope you do.
Sending and Re-Sending
Last Saturday, I published my translation of Philippians 2:25-30. In this paragraph, Paul tells the Philippians why he chose to send this letter via Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus had originally come to Paul both bearing a financial gift from the church in Philippi (see Philippians 4:18) and for the purpose of helping Paul (see Philippians 2:30).
In this short passage, there is a very interesting use of various terms that mean “sent”.
For example, Paul begins by saying that he is sending Epaphroditus and also calling him the Philippians’ own apostle (“one who is sent”) (see Philippians 2:25). Next, Paul once again says that he is “sendin” Epaphroditus (see Philippians 2:28).
Thus, Paul describes Epaphroditus as a double-apostle. First, he was sent by the Philippians, and now he is being sent by Paul. (Remember, both the term “apostle” comes from one of the Greek verbs for “send”. Similarly, the word “mission” or “missionary” comes from the Latin verb for “send”.)
But, I think there is something else that we can learn from this passage. This related to the perspective of the church (and Paul) on the purpose of apostles.
At the end of this passage, we see Paul’s understanding of why the Philippians sent Epaphroditus in the first place: “so that he might take the place of your own service for me” (see Philippians 2:30). So, the Philippians themselves could not all leave their homes and places of business in order to help Paul, so they “sent” someone (an “apostle”) in order to serve Paul in ways that they could not. Similarly, Paul is now sending Epaphroditus back to the Philippians because he cannot go himself. So, Epaphroditus can now serve the Philippians in Paul’s absence.
Thus, one reason that a church would send someone (“an apostle”) to another location is because of their desire to serve the people in that location. But, they are not all able to travel to that location to perform that service. So, they send someone as their representative (“apostle”).
So, seeing how Paul views Epaphroditus as “sent” by the church in Philippi and now doubly-sent by him can help us understand the relationship between the church, their apostle, and the person/people in the area where the apostle goes.
I’m not really here
I haven’t seen T. in several weeks. T. lives in “The Neighborhood.” We met here a couple of years ago when we started spending time there.
She’s been having problems with her teeth for a long time. Although she’s been to the dentist over and over again, they keep putting off doing anything about it. For instance, once she called the dentist, and he told her that everything was ready. When she got there, everything wasn’t ready. And, she’s still waiting.
Recently, things have gotten worse. And, she’s very self-conscious about it. She’s asked me not to come by to visit her until she gets some of her teeth fixed. So, we just talk on the phone.
Today, when I was taking her neighbor’s garbage out, I noticed that T.’s door was open. On the way back, I knocked on her door. When I heard her coming, I told her it was me, but that I wasn’t going to stay.
I said, “We don’t have to talk. I just wanted to say hello.”
By that time, she had opened the door, and I hugged her. I simply said, “I love you and miss you, and I just wanted to let you know.”
As I turned to leave, she said thank you and that she missed me, too.
Sometimes, when you can’t really be there, a hug says alot.
Opportunities for real ministry
Stephen, at “Beyond Outreach,” has written an excellent post called “Little Things.” His post is excellent for at least two reasons: 1) he shows how church programs are not ministry, but how they can lead to ministry and 2) he tells a beautiful story to illustrate his point.
Stephen says:
Our ministry forums (the preaching services, children’s church, crafts ministry, etc) are not where the real ministry happens in most cases. They are points of connection that make sharing Jesus possible.
Did you catch that? The programs themselves are NOT ministry (service), but they can be opportunities for connecting with and serving other people. Stephen tells the story of a woman who came to a church building for a program. The program was not available, but a believing woman who was at the church building for another program stopped what she was doing to get to know and serve this lady. Stephen concludes:
So, if your church has an AWANA ministry or angel food ministry or any other kind of “outreach,†remember that the ministry forum is not the real ministry, it is just an opportunity for real ministry to happen. The real ministry happens through people, not projects.
Excellent point, Stephen!
Serving despite how you feel
Jack at “Flight Level Musings” told a beautiful story of service in his post “Servanthood to a Child.” Here’s the story:
Here is a quick story that happened last night in my home. I have seven children ages five to twenty-two. My two oldest sons ages seventeen and twenty had just got home yesterday from a week in Haiti on a building project. Our house had been the drop off point for several of the team members cars.
No sooner had the team members said their goodbyes and my sons had brought in the gear from the trip, did my five year old daughter meet her seventeen year old brother in the hallway with a board game in her hands. Now picture this. My son is at least 6’3″ and weighs 210 pounds and his little sister stands just over knee-high to him.
She is looking up at him with her big blue eyes and says, “You want to play a game with me?” I looked at my son and could see the fatigue in his eyes. They had slept outdoors for seven days in the rain and mud. He hesitated a moment, but with a big grin on his face he said, “Sure!”
Which one was service: 1) the building project in Haiti or 2) playing a game with a five year old?
More Worship Service
Sunday evening worship service = Margaret and Miranda helping some friends paint their house. I “cooked” dinner for them: McDoubles and Fish Filet sandwiches.
Tuesday evening worship service = helping our friends hang a light fixture. Unfortunately, we were not able to complete the project. But, maybe we’ll be able to soon.
Holding a clipboard directing the servants
Recently, I saw an TV show that demonstrated the difference in leadership – that is, between the leaders of this world and the leaders in God’s kingdom. (see Matthew 20:25-28, Mark 10:42-45, Luke 22:25-27)
In this show, a lady was coming to a work site to help someone out. As she approached the site, there was a man with a clipboard directing other people as they hurried about doing their work. The lady walked up to the man with the clipboard, asking what she should do.
In this world’s way of looking at things, the man with the clipboard directing the others is the leader.
But, in God’s way of looking at things, the ones who were working the hardest serving others were the leaders.
In the world’s way of looking at things, the woman correctly picked the leader. She asked the leader what to do, and he directed her actions.
In God’s way of looking at things, the woman should have looked for the hardest workers and start following their example, serving as they serve.
In other words, for the church, the leader is not the one holding the clipboard directing the activities of others. Instead, the leaders are the ones working the hardest to serve other people.
Who are we following?
Working together to serve others
I haven’t written about our friends in “the Neighborhood” lately. We met Mrs. WÂ in the neighborhood almost two years ago. At first, we had a hard time talking to her. It wasn’t that she was mean or anything, but she just wasn’t very talkative. Eventually, though, after visiting with her week after week for over a year, she started talking to us. She tells us about her life growing up around Wake Forest and about her family.
But, in all the times that we’ve visited her, she would never let us do anything for her. Even when we raked leaves for other neighbors, she said that she wanted to rake her own leaves. And, that was cool, because she likes to be outdoors and that’s about the only exercise she gets.
Just before Christmas, she mentioned that she was having a hard time cleaning her apartment. Her family had been helping her, but they didn’t clean like she wanted. She never asked us to clean her apartment, but one afternoon Margaret (my wife), Miranda (my daughter), and another lady cleaned her apartment. (see my post “Wednesday Afternoon Worship Service“)
Last Saturday, when we were talking to Mrs. W, Margaret didn’t even ask if she wanted her apartment cleaned again. She simply told Mrs. W that she wanted to clean her apartment again. The next day, Margaret asked if anyone would like to help her clean Mrs. W’s apartment.
So, this morning, Margaret, Miranda, three other ladies, and one of their daughters cleaned Mrs. W’s apartment again.
I appreciate their example of working together to serve others!
Saying you care with your actions
My friend, Eric, at “A Pilgrim’s Progress,” wrote a post about helping a neighbor get his cat out of a tree. The post is called “Serving Isn’t Easy When the Cat is in the Tree.” Eric concludes with this:
I’m glad I could help my neighbor, but it was not easy. Service has a tendency to be difficult and dirty. It is also often inconvenient. Despite this, it is certainly worthwhile.
My neighbor is not a Christian. I’m hoping that this act of service will give me the opportunity to share the gospel with him. At least he knows we care.
Eric says some very important things here. Serving isn’t easy, and it’s often inconvenient. It can be dirty. In fact, we should rarely serve people in ways that we want to serve them. Instead, we should serve people in the way that they need to be served – which may not be what we want to do.
But, like Eric says, serving is always worthwhile. Always… even when, maybe especially when, it is hard, inconvenient, and dirty.
Yes, Eric’s neighbor knows that Eric cares, because Eric told him with his actions.
Markus Barth on Ephesians 4:16
Last weekend, someone mentioned Markus Barth’s (son of Karl Barth) commentary on Ephesians. During the conversation, I remembered this great paragraph concerning Ephesians 4:16 –
(1) It is Christ, the head, alone “from whom†the body derives unity, nourishment, growth – but Christ’s monarchy and monopoly do not exclude but rather create the activity of a church engaged in “its own†growth and upbuilding. (2) All that the body is, has, and does is determined by its (passive and active) relationship to the head – but this (“verticalâ€) relationship establishes an essential and indispensable (“horizontalâ€) interrelation among the church members. (3) While Christ provides for the body as a whole and makes it a unity, and while the body grows as a unit – no individual growth is mentioned here – the distinct personality of each church member is not wiped out but rather established by Christ’s rulership and the church’s community. What Christ is, does, and gives, is appropriate “to the needs†(lit. “to the measureâ€) “of each single part.†If the only things affirmed in Eph 4:16 were Christ’s own activity, Christ’s rule over all Christians, Christ’s relationship to the community, then this verse would have been phrased more clearly in Greek and could be more easily interpreted in a modern language. But in this verse there are several accents, not just one: the church’s and each member’s responsive activity is not only recognized or tolerated but receives an emphasis of its own: “The body makes its own growth so that it builds itself up in love.†(Markus Barth, Ephesians: Translation and Commentary on Chapters 4-6, Anchor Bible 34a, Garden City: Doubleday: 1974, 446-47)