In
this article from Leadership online, Brian McLaren discusses how “reflective
Christians,” or Christians who doubt and question current norms of the faith,
are often marginalized for not going along with what everyone else believes. He
then lists off heroes from church history who questioned the popular
assumptions of their day that everyone else took for granted and were marginalized
as a result: Martin Luther, Galileo, John Wesley, Phineas Bresee, Menno Simons,
and Desmund Tutu. History was made when these individuals questioned the status
quo. They refused to be “team players” at the cost of what they thought was
being true and authentic to Christ’s way.
We
need Church leaders who are reflective, who question why we do the things we do
and believe the things we believe. We cannot answer the question, “Why?” with, “Because
we’ve always done it that way.” We must get beyond these easy answers. Leaders
must encourage others to think outside the box and question contemporary assumptions
that are seemingly set in stone. When done right, this should not lead to an
overly critical attitude but to a fresh appropriation of Gospel truth. Leaders
must also guard against the temptation to stay in control by cutting off people
who challenge commonly held beliefs. Instead, they should embrace these sources
of “questioning” as ways toward new growth and renewal. Too often those who
question the majority opinion, or a popular leader, are met with resistance and
are shunned by the community. These voices should instead be met with “a kind
heart and a listening ear.”
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with the overall thesis of the article, as well as your analysis of it, I question, however, the method McLaren used to arrive at his conclusions. It seems like he was being historically naïve to posit this category of “reflective Christians” and just lump all of these figures into it. Galileo, for instance, got in trouble more because of how he handled the situation than for his views on astronomy. Thus, I do not think I would wish to include him as a model for reflective Christian leadership.
ReplyDeleteAs you note, however, it is good to have leaders who are reflective and can question why we do things the way we do. I see this as similar to vision-casting styles of leadership mentioned in lecture several weeks ago. I think Desmond Tutu makes a good point in the video I posted this week, however, concerning the need for the ability to inspire others into action. If one’s only ability is questioning the status quo, I would not consider this in itself to be a quality of leadership. If one can move from this into casting a vision that others are willing to follow, then I would agree that this is valuable for leadership.