Coming Alive

My problem with the leadership thing…

First of all I should probably mention that I am well aware this shouldn’t be the reality, and it isn’t true across the board.  However, this post is based on my 10 year experience of Christian ministry…

The amount of focus being put forth to becoming a “great leader” is in inverted proportion to kindness and gentleness.  

In other words, the more interested in being a good leader a person is, the more likely they are going to be kind of a jerk.  

The worst part is that these guys aren’t jerks (most of the time).  Guys who began in ministry b/c they loved serving God and His church all of a sudden turn into CEO’s spending more time in leadership meetings than in prayer; more time evaluating their staff than serving them; and more time looking for ways to improve their ministry than taking time to celebrate what God is already doing.

Now, I think evaluations can be valuable and I think that ministries should constantly seek to improve.  However, most people on our staffs haven’t yet become jaded by shine of leadership improvement and will respond poorly to their PASTORS evaluating them having never served them (or with them); and critiquing ministries they have never celebrated.  

I totally believe that I have lost at least one person on my staff b/c I wasn’t mature enough to serve and celebrate.  Instead, in a naive desire to improve, I evaluated and critiqued my way into having to replace a man God had provided.  

The worst part is that I was totally on the other end at one time.  I learned from my own experience that most people, if forced to choose, will take a pastor over a leader any day.

For the last two weeks an online application to a leadership network put together by one of the premier guys has sat open on my desktop.  I’m sure there are hundreds of pastors turning in applications to be a part of this.  The best part is that I know a couple of guys who could put in a good word for me with this dude.

I deleted the application today.

I just don’t want to do it.  No doubt about it, I would have a great time.  I would learn a ton.  I would make many great connections with some innovative pastors.  

Maybe I am being naive…or arrogant, but there is something about all this leadership stuff that I am growing tired of.  The most unfortunate thing about it is that there is no good argument for not constantly participating in these “leadership growth” type things.  I’m not foolish enough to think I have arrived, or that it’s not relevant to our situation, or that b/c our church is small I don’t need to be a good leader.  I won’t even make the “I’m a pastor not a leader” argument.

If that network called me tomorrow with a personal invitation and a waived fee I would politely decline…and I feel like I need a good reason for that.  Right now I don’t have one (at least one I can put into words)

So, stay tuned, I plan on exploring that on here in the coming weeks.