BLOG 3/29/15. (CONTINUED) CHURCH LEADERSHIP: PRACTITIONERS OF CHRISTIAN MATURITY.
We live in a culture of discontent, replete with a large slice of cynicism, and this is often quite understandable. When it comes to the phenomenon of that which designates itself as the church of Jesus Christ, and pertains to be the community of those who believe in, and follow him, … then those observers who are ‘outside’ deserve to see something that has integrity of purpose with the life and teachings of Jesus—especially should this be true of those who are its ostensible leaders. So what might be the basics as to what that would look like?
You must understand, that Jesus, himself, gave almost no instructions about the form and structure of the church, or the community of his followers. That is pretty much the role of those on whom he sent is own Spirit, and who are the authors of that whole segment of the New Testament which we designate as: the epistles/letters, and which were primarily addressed to the early Christian communities by its acknowledged missionary founders.
Inarguably, then, I would begin describing the qualifications for church leadership with an awesome mandate from Paul to the church at Philippi on the Macedonian/Greek peninsula. It is written as a guide for all of the Philippian Christians, but it would have been especially a qualification for those who would be its leaders: “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interest of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, …” (Philippians 2).
That kind of demonstration of true humility certainly eliminates all of the posturing clergy, and the power-grabbing individuals within Christian communities that one so often encounters along the way. Humility and the servant spirit would lead the list of those whom the community to look to as its leaders.
The other most helpful description of those who are chosen to be, or aspire to be the church’s leaders, comes from Paul’s letter to his missionary (and church planting) aide Timothy. Those leadership persons should be: (note) 1) above reproach; 2) responsible in their family relations; 3) [From this point I defer to Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase in The Message] “cool and collected, accessible, and hospitable. He must know what he is talking about, … he must know how to handle his own affairs well, … he must not be a new believer, lest his position go to his head, … Outsiders must think well of him … ”
Just this much of the New Testament on leadership gives us enough to work on, and would eliminate a whole host of ecclesiastical egos, whom one encounters along the way. What Paul describes are visible, necessary, modest, Christ-incarnating lives of ordinary folk. They are anything but self-important. They are those who model Christ in the daily vicissitudes, not only the Christian community, but to those outsiders who are looking to see if this ‘Jesus thing’ is authentic. They are not so much religious as they are truly human New Creation folk.
It also puts in perspective a point that will get me into trouble: Such maturity and character is not the product of a theological degree. Seminaries have their role, but one proves leadership “in the trenches” of real life. There are a whole lot of poor lost souls inhabiting theological schools looking for themselves, who have never functioned fruitfully in Christian communities. To call them Masters of Divinity could be considered laughable. There are, to be sure, those in such academies who are wonderful Christian folk, but who have never exposed themselves to the scrutiny of those outsiders, or proven themselves to those inside the Christian community. Most true leaders in Christian communities are not the clergy, but humble flesh-and-blood followers of Jesus in daily life. They are those whom the cynics could look at and see something of Jesus.
