Our practice of leadership has changed a lot in a short
time! Put on your agile leader glasses,
and take a scenic tour with me.
Leadership, as a formal field of study, only goes back a
century or so. Our early practices came
mostly from military and business worlds.
Leader approaches began with the “Great Man” theory----in difficult
eras, a great man heroically stepped forward to save the day. In the mid-twentieth century, scientific
studies made some interesting discoveries on how youth gangs selected
leaders. They found two common
trends---leaders were either elected formally, or they emerged informally. Church leaders saw immediately that
congregations and non-profit organizations use both formal and informal
structures. Plus, it became painfully
obvious that, by nature, volunteer organizations are the most challenging
communities of all to lead.
Look at our ministry situation through a wide-angle lens. In the West, the post-World War II world has
become much more complex culturally. In
a bit more than a half-century, our country has opened four hinges in history. The United States has shifted from a
predominately agricultural society to an industrial culture to an information
society to an experiential world. We
call these deep changes “paradigm shifts” or “watershed years.” When a watershed occurs, massive changes
happen suddenly and disorient leaders.
Churches, as conserving institutions, are more resistant to these
changes than more entrepreneurial communities. To complicate matters even more, some churches
are pinched by several hinges simultaneously.
Congregational leaders are
severely stressed by these seismic shifts.
We weren’t prepared to lead in alien lands.
Now, look at our churches under a microscope. For the first time in human history, we have
six generations alive simultaneously.
That’s a daunting reach for leaders.
Some congregations have taken an easy but dead-end road---they have
focused on only one generation. It’s a
simple solution but one that risks missing future multi-generational ministry
opportunities.
Finally, put on missionary leader glasses. Many of us belong to faith families that once
did missions in colonial fashion. We
sent missionaries to establish religious outposts on distant shores. But, we now live in a global world that has
brought mission fields to our doors.
There are now four “world languages”---Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and
English. Can church leaders justify
speaking only one language now? All of
us are now missionaries everywhere every day.
That’s a new leader challenge.
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