Relational Leadership
On the other side of the leadership continuum, there are those like blogger Tod Bolsinger, pastor at San Clemente Presbyterian, who wrote a multi-part series on his blog in January regarding George Barna and his book "Revolution". From what I can gather from reading his series, he truly believes that you have to be part of an institutional church to be within God's will. The following is and excerpt from his blog of January 28, Trinity, Community and Church ,
"Further, Christian Community is not just a shared experience. It’s not people who sit together in pews or a movie theater or a football stadium (even if they are the audience for a Christian event!). It’s not polite conversation at a potluck or a great weekend together at a Christian camp. Christian Community is an ontologically irreducible organism. It is a living reality that is imbued with the Spirit of God. And most dramatically, it is the very life of the Triune God drawing people into a covenantal relationship with God and each other. It is God’s own being on earth lived in and through believers for the single end-result of seeing each person become like Jesus Christ.
So that the Community together is a witness for Christ."
"Christian Community is an ontologically irreducible organism." I love the way theologians throw around big words. He is saying that Christian community is a metaphysical living organism that cannot be added to or taken away from. This could be said for any community of Christian believers. But he sincerely believes that Christian community only happens within the insitutional church walls.Take some time and read his blog and listen to the latest God Journey podcast. From these two different points you can see how far the gap is between many institutional church leaders and those of us counted "outside the box". If we don't find ways to narrow this gap, how will the unchurched world see the "Kingdom of God"?
posted by Larry @ 11:05 AM
5 Comments:
At 4:27 AM,
LD said…
So many claim to be practicing faith the way that the early Christians did it, but speaking for myself I have yet to see it in action.
If we really wanted practice the way the early Christians did it then lets go all the way back to the way Yeshuah did it Himself, and hang out and pray in gardens, and teach on hilltops.
That may sound factious but it is not. The fact of the demonstration that Christ gave about how things should be done is something that Americans for the most part will avoid like the plague.
Christ did not maintain a permanent residence during his ministry, he slept wherever he choose, and it would seem that the garden was his hangout. The disciples followed him wherever He went, and were taught by Him day after day for 3 1/2 years (and some dare call them ignorant and uneducated?). He relied completly on The Father and did nothing on His own.
How many of us would dare give up everything we have, leave our homes, jobs and familys to "go and preach the Gospel to every creature" and rely completly on Yeshauh the way He relied on The Father?
How many would dare to do things the way Yeshuah did, The way the disciples did, the way the Apostles did?
Not many I'm sure.
So then, how do we really call ourselves the "followers of Christ" when we do not the things He did?
I know, some will say "well this is not literal" or "it was for them alone" or "Jesus's plan for my life is to live in a mansion and sip tea by the pool"
I say Christ wants more from us than we are willing to give, and we fool ourselves when we think we have arrived.
At 12:08 PM,
Larry said…
ld points out that "If we really wanted practice the way the early Christians did it then lets go all the way back to the way Yeshuah did it Himself, and hang out and pray in gardens, and teach on hilltops." Today, this would not be a very efficient way to reach people with the Good News. How many people do you know that hang out on the hilltops around town? In fact, we see the Apostles, like Paul, later going to places where people congregated to spread the Gospel message. We do see quite a few people involved in this type of Apostolic ministry these days. Today, people in large numbers can be introduced to the Gospel using stadium-size revival meetings with people such as Billy Graham or Luis Pulau.
Jesus did, and does, lead by example. He did teach His disciples for three years and we have a portion of His teaching documented in the Gospels. The 12 disciples were His fellowship. He chose a small core group of men as disciples to teach so that they could teach others by example. John says that Jesus did many things that were not written. We don't know all the things that Jesus taught His disciples.
In 1 Corinthians 4, Paul says that we are to follow his example. In verses 16,17 he says "Therefore I urge you, be imitators of me. This is why I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord. He will remind you about my ways in Christ Jesus, just as I teach everywhere in every church." He and the other apostles are our example for living out our faith.
There are some that have been called to an evangelistic ministry that reaches hundreds or thousands. Most of us are called to be imitators of the Jesus who met the woman at the well, or invited himself to dinner at the home of a tax collector. We should follow His example of "Relational Leadership" in the way he shared His love with these "sinners" and how he taught His disciples to teach by example.
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