The title of this blog is a tad misleading. The author begins with the premise of how one could lead effectively in unstable times, but he actually digresses and spends time discussing leading through change. This is not a leadership blog for ministry, but the two crises of leadership discussed are very relevant to the church today.
First, the author briefly discusses the role of the leader when great change is needed. He gives the example of politics, where a party simply elects a new leader, rather than give the current leader leeway, to enact necessary change. Many of us may have been raised (or are currently serving in) congregational churches. Thus we know that the pastor faces this risk of the congregation simply ousting him or her from leadership.
The author accurately points out that this truly is not a good way to enact change within a congregation. He writes that when organizations (or nations) rapidly change leaders, they are just like consumers switching to a new brand “which has not let them down YET” (emphasis mine). From the perspective of the congregation, I wonder how we have been guilty of switching churches or simply worship services (which we all know can be simply another church-within-a-church)? From a leadership perspective, how often have we jumped from approach to approach, curriculum to curriculum, and so on? The author aptly describes change as a two-way street. The congregation must provide the leader time and space; the leader must provide the vision.
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ReplyDeleteThe example (that you mentioned) that the writer gave of political parties electing new leaders rather than giving the current leader the opportunity or leeway to enact change was a good illustration of what may also happen in churches. We select leaders, hoping that they do what we want, only to be disappointed when they do not come through or become impatient and push them out before they’ve had sufficient time to accomplish this. This leaves us with inconsistent and unstable leadership. Something struck me as I was reading this, though. While I agree that leaders need to navigate their people during times of uncertainty, change, and otherwise, are we not mistaken to expect them to satisfy our desires, perfectly meet our expectations, or solve our problems in the first place? When it comes to the Church, politics, and all things, our hope and confidence must be in the Lord and His Kingdom. As such, we depend on Him to satisfy our deepest needs and desires, bring resolution to our problems, and heal our wounds. As this happens in our churches, we work cooperatively with our leaders as they shepherd us through change, instability, and toward the realization of God’s will and the breaking in of His Kingdom.
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