Barnabas File

The 20 th   century industrial model thrived on a tight command and control model.     It increased production, but it often fostered an “us” versus “them” approach--industry versus labor union, employer versus employee, “boss” versus workers.       In his New Leadership Paradigm , Steve Piersanti picks up on this in calling for a shift from the old paradigm of control to one of collaboration.  The control approach depended on coercion, dominance, and secrecy to “keep people in line.”  The new paradigm calls for collaboration.  Piersanti describes collaboration in this way: “Leadership is exercised through invitation, request, dialogue, persuasion, respect, openness, kindness, integrity, and partnership, without compulsion.”   This is the way that the church was intended to function.  In Romans 12:4-8, the apostle Paul writes,   For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not ...

Each season bring its own gifts.    Fall brings us cooler temperatures, the familiar rhythms of school and work, football, and denominational meetings! Some may be surprised at the last item of that list, so let me explain.   In my Southern Baptist tradition, fall is the time for associational meetings and state meetings.  As a denominational person and collegiate minister, I was expected to be present in those gatherings.  Associational meetings are made of messengers from local churches in a county (or maybe a combination of two or more) who gather in October (usually) to learn about local and state ministries, worship, and listen to sermons.   My appreciation for these annual associational meetings grew when I was campus minister at Carson Newman College (now University) in east Tennessee.  In that role, I would be expected to represent the college in three or four such meetings.  Of course, these were usually smaller, more ...

Benjamin Franklin said this about mentoring:   “There are two ways to acquire wisdom; you can either buy it or borrow it.  By buying it, you pay full price in terms of time and cost to learn the lessons you need to learn.  By borrowing it, you go to those men and women who have already paid the price to learn the lessons and get their wisdom from them.”   Mentors are important in our personal and professional development.  They not only share their experiences with us, but they open doors by introducing us to people in our field and sponsoring us to be involved in special projects or events.   Is it possible that one can outgrow her or his mentor?  This is not only a possibility but very likely. In the Book of Acts, we read the story of a mentor-protégé relationship that prospered for a period but ended with some discord.  We sometimes forget that Barnabas was a mentor for Saul, the persecutor of the Way who would become i...