The god of Significance – part 4
David Timms is a teacher and friend. I’m honored to call him both. His reflections below are worth digesting and may cause you to significantly re-think why we lead. Is our quest to be great leaders really bowing to the god of Significance? To check out more by him pick up one of his books.
Servants not Leaders
The “leadership” buzzword of the past 25-30 years has completely distracted us. We’ve blamed the demise of congregations on poor leadership. We’ve cried out for stronger leadership. We’ve attended leadership conferences and devoured leadership books.
In church circles, leadership sells well. People buy it — and buy into it — by the bucketload. We nurture it and honor it and cheer each other on to be more visionary, authoritative, democratic, decisive, ends-focused, goal-driven, and success-oriented.
It’s the age-old quest for greatness, shrouded loosely in the ecclesiastical garb of respectability.
But we’ve not only been distracted. We’ve been duped; deluded by the business models of our culture and the corruption of our own hearts.
Jesus did not call His disciples to be leaders. He called them to be followers and to be servants. He never used the term “ruler” or “leader” to motivate or define any of the apostles. He viewed them as learners (disciples) not leaders.
Some folk may shake their heads and suggest that good leaders are servants, as though they have tidily reconciled the two concepts. The phrase “servant-leader” seems to do that nicely. But would we be willing to drop the term “leader” altogether? Would we rush to attend a conference on “Serving Selflessly”? Would we read a book titled, “Aim Lower: You’re Nothing But a Servant”?
In the first century, the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “We do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.” (2 Corinthians 4:5) “… and ourselves as your bondservants.” What a bold statement. We may fear saying the same thing lest people think less of us or, worse, take advantage of us.
But that’s how it works in the Kingdom at its best. Everything is backwards and upside down. Then one day we realize that it’s our lives that have been backwards and upside down and in a moment of shining clarity we discover that down is up and low is high; not that it matters any longer to us.
On this Easter Thursday, may we pursue the path of servanthood to honor the One who washes our feet and calls us to do the same.
In HOPE –
David
The god of Significance Part 3
This picture has been on the wall of my office for years.
[singlepic id=36 w=240 h=320 float=right] After nine years it has faded from its original glory, but it’s awesome isn’t it?
I know what you are thinking! “Why?” Right, that’s what you are thinking. I mean what is it supposed to be? I guess it’s supposed to be Shelbi’s Family and Friends, but in all honesty it’s Shelbi’s attempt to fill up the page with a marker. But what it is or supposed to be isn’t the point.
Now you ask, “So, why is it on your wall and why has it been there for nine years and what does this have to do with significance?”
I began putting my children’s art on my wall when some shelving was removed from my office and due to some cost cutting at the time it was never painted. So, in an effort to refuse to look at the unfinished wall I began posting art. Shelbi gave this to me with the intention of having me display it, proudly. Now there are other pieces of art that I’m not showing, and that don’t hang on any wall but they are tremendous. Shelbi has become quite the artist.
“Point?” My point is that the picture doesn’t hang on my wall because it’s a significant work. It doesn’t hang there because I’m proud at how well Shelbi drew her family and friends. It doesn’t hang there so people can be impressed with the skill of my child, or with the status that comes with owning such a priceless piece. It hangs there because Shelbi made it. It reminds me of the bright, inquisitive, determined little girl who drew it. I put it on the wall instead of in the trash because she asked me to. It’s a significant piece of work because I think Shelbi is significant.
I think in the big “R” Reality, in the true way that things actually are, what we think is significant really isn’t. What God thinks is significant is us, and it’s only because that He thinks that we are, that we are.
For context see parts 1 and 2.
There will be a part 4
The god of Significance Part 2
[singlepic id=35 w=560 h=420 float=]Have you ever seen the movie, “The Incredibles.” I watched it again after my first post because it really deals with this struggle deep within the American consciousness that just being an insurance customer service employee is far from right especially when you used to be a super hero. The idea that second place is really first loser. The idea that trying not to win is somehow intimately tied to our lack of integrity.
I’m assuming that you are like me and this may be a really bad assumption, but I think it is steeped in our American psyche. When someone plays a prank on me I have always lived by the motto, “I don’t get even. I get ahead.” It’s why little pranks often escalate to the point where real physical and emotional harm is done. We can’t let anyone think that they got us.
It’s why we won’t pull out of Afghanistan or Iraq as losers. It’s why we weren’t willing to take the destructive acts of 9/11 on the chin, but had to one up those who had planned it with a display of shock and awe on a people, who by majority, did nothing to us.
It’s why we take ourselves so seriously, refuse to laugh at our mistakes, and refuse to allow our children to do anything but impress. It’s why my response to the prankster fails to be, “Man you really got me, that was awesome!”
There will be a Part 3…