Thoughts On Leadership...

I have some students who are reading 21 Irrifutable Laws on Leadership for a class. It made me think of some past posts I had made on theOoze (Hey, if spencer can capitalize on those old posts for a book...).

Let's see....leadership.....hmmmmm......Here are some steps to effective leadership:
· Be a chicken and thresh wheat in a winepress and wait for a celestial being to tell you what to do
· Build a giant boat...make sure to get silly drunk afterwards
· Spend 40 years watching your father-in-law's sheep...you probably won't really be ready for leadership until you're at least 80. Some kind of mystical experience with a glowing plant might help, too.
· Kill a giant (would a basketball player do?)
· Be as obnoxius as possible...you know, go around naked for three years, sleep by a fire of dung, wear some type of bondage device and declare it has spiritual significance.
· Run from positions of leadership--like being made King--as much as possible
· Be executed by the government

Those are just a few Biblical examples of leadership I have found.

Now, on a more serious note...

It seems to me that the current focus by the church™ on the whole leadership thing is fairly new --perhaps conceived in the Industrial Age and being birthed more fully now. I think it comes out of that American success ethic version of Christianity. Historically, we would do well to simply focus on things like integrity, sacrifice, and the mysterious voice of God. While the current leadership-talk mentions these things, it tends to lead more strongly towards issues of style, hype, and the ability to manipulate and politic.

Just like success, God doesn't seem to place much emphasis on leadership...faithfulness seems to be the key. The world pursues the realm of leadership with a passion. It's a be the best world, be the one on the top. I think maybe followers of Jesus would place more emphasis on being a servant...not a leader. The pagans rule over each other, but the greatest in God's rule is the slave. What we need are more books like 21 Irrefutable Ways to Be A Doormat. Of course that doesn't sound quite as appealing...


posted by Jimmy at 8:27 PM | |