Random Thoughts after Good Council Meeting

It’s so good to be part of a leadership team where we trust one another and don’t waste time on petty issues.

Reading Goodbye church? brought back some memories of tearful nights we had wrestling with similar thoughts.

I’m pretty upset with what I’m hearing again and again … unhealthy leadership in churches and so called “Christian” business. This will be one of the most damaging elements in Malaysian Christianity if left unchecked and undealt with.

We need “better” alternatives … Christian commuities which are willing truly practice servant leadership. I remember a time because I trying so hard to not even step near “authoritarian”, “manipulative” and “abusive” that I almost landed up with “no leadership” … Todd Hunter’s words give me some hope with God’s help we can do better:

The answer to deconstructing ineffective, unethical or manipulative leadership is not to throw out leadership altogether. In the Bible, in the history of cultures, and even in the animal world, there is no such thing as “no leadership”. Leadership simply exists; it is more like the law of gravity than an option—like say a sunroof—on a car. We have a lot of options to construct positive alternatives for leadership, but “no leadership” is not one of them. Taking that tack just creates a vacuum that sucks up into it the most needy, most verbal and often most unhealthy people. This is why a radical, uncritical egalitarian approach will not work. There are differences among people. The Bible uses language like “gifts” and “callings” to describe these differences. This does not have to lead to radical hierarchy any more than it has to lead to mindless egalitarianism. Lets think body life, humility and celebration of diversity. Leadership it simply a task: it doesn’t have to be sexy or celebrity driven; it can be functional, for the good of the body and the world, and done with holiness (see Jesus). ” ~ answers from the other side