Perry Lay Leadership

For the Care of Souls
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-68359-779-7
Verlag: Lexham Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 240 Seiten

Reihe: Lexham Ministry Guides

Inviting others into God's good work - Learn how to empower laity in leadership - Understand a theology of leadership - Gain practical wisdom for your own context The church is ordered so that good can run wild. God appoints leaders to commission the laity in the church's ministry and mission. Pastors and ministry leaders serve and organize the church in such a way that people in their care can pursue their unique gifts. In Lay Leadership: For the Care of Souls, Aaron Perry empowers pastors to empower laity in leadership. Perry helps leaders recognize the challenges and pursue the opportunities in sharing vision, inviting participation, delegating roles and responsibilities, and equipping people for sustained ministry. With theological structure and practical wisdom, Perry provides a foundational theology of the laity and specific actions for leaders to apply in their own context.

Aaron Perry is director of Wesleyan Academic Initiatives for The Wesleyan Church; adjunct professor at Wesley Seminary, Asbury Seminary, and Indiana Wesleyan University; and coeditor of Leadership the Wesleyan Way.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Perry, Aaron

Leseproben

CHAPTER 2 Cast: Helping Others to See What You See For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it also depends on what sort of person you are. —C. S. Lewis Pastors lead the people of God so that good things run wild in the church, wide in the world, and deep in the believer. But leadership is a complex phenomenon. It has been variously conceived as certain behaviors, necessary skills, a relationship, and a unique blend of all of these put into processes and systems. Not only is leadership complex; it is also mysterious. Leadership has also been conceived as an ability—perhaps an ability that only great men and great women have. If pastors lead in such a way that good runs wild, wide, and deep, what does this leadership include? Is it behaviors, skills, a sheer ability? There are six key components to leading the people of God in a way that cares for the soul and facilitates wide, wild, and deep ministry: casting vision, asking for commitment, designing tasks, training for effective service, tracking effectiveness, and expressing thanks. Each of these components is the subject of a chapter in this book. Growing up the youngest of three boys had its disadvantages. (My brothers will gladly tell you all the advantages.) Being the smallest and least educated of us at any point meant that I was not much of a match for them in wrestling or wits. I was so uncompetitive in one particular game, Trivial Pursuit, that my older brothers only competed against each other. One of the game’s distinguishing features is its iconic game-scoring pie with its wedges of various colors, each representing a different field of knowledge. Players compete to fill the pie with wedges by answering questions from pop culture, arts and entertainment, sports, history, and so on. To win the game, you needed to show your knowledge across various domains. Imagine that scoring pie and those little wedges representing the various practices of leadership that go into leading the laity in ministry, especially so that it is pastoral leadership that cares for the soul. Just like Trivial Pursuit required a full array of different-colored wedges, so does leadership require a variety of competencies. However, just as in a game of Trivial Pursuit, the wedges don’t need to be filled in a particular order. I will flesh them out in a logical order, but rarely does organizational life, including the rhythm of church, perfectly follow logic. Life develops according to its own logic. There’s a rationale, but it’s sometimes hidden. As a way of expressing my frustration at not being included in this game, I would sometimes jam the wedges into the scoring pies upside down and sideways. It’s what little brothers do. While the wedges that fill in the pie of the diagram have a certain flow in this book, it might be that the Spirit prompts you to focus on one or another in a different order. My only encouragement is not to force the “wedges” just so that they fit. Leadership is not simply an order to impose; it’s a dance to be enjoyed. Leading laity for the care of souls will take the state of the flock into consideration as these responsibilities are implemented and developed under the Spirit’s direction. SEEING IS BEING AND LEADING “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality,” said Max DePree.12 I used to disagree with him. When I first heard the phrase, I bristled. “Define reality? Who gets to define reality but God?” Of course, that’s true. God alone defines reality. Better, God Defines Reality. And all the capitals mean something. God’s own Reality is different from how you and I are real. God is not just one being among several; God is other than our reality. God is the context of our reality. To use Paul Tillich’s phrase, God is the ground of being. By contrast, our reality is not just something out there. I, too, am part of reality. And so are you. We can’t help but define it. God’s Defining gives it a context; our defining recognizes it, names it, puts words to what we see—including ourselves and other people. If “defining reality” seems a bit strange, you could think of the first responsibility of leadership as seeing. To define reality is to see it truly. And that’s what leaders need to be able to do. Now, this act of leadership—defining reality or seeing truly—can be done arrogantly or humbly, foolishly or wisely, poorly or well. Arrogant and foolish reality defining, arrogant and foolish seeing, forgets that one is part of reality. This leader acts as though they are outside reality and can see the whole, pretending that reality is under the control of their words. Augustine was adamant that such arrogance could not see truly. In his search for God, not yet submitted to God, Augustine realized that pride had puffed up his face, swelling his eyes shut.13 Pride blinds us! By contrast, humble and wise leadership seeks God’s wisdom in defining reality and seeing truly. In the biblical narrative, it is God whose words bring creation to being; it is God and God alone who sees without limit. God doesn’t just see the outward, but also the heart (1 Sam 16:7); his eyes are everywhere, always keeping watch of good and evil (Prov 15:3). God’s eyes range over the earth, finding faith and folly (2 Chr 16:9). But God does not simply see. God gives sight! In one of his most memorable teachings on leadership (Mark 10:42–45), Jesus brought the Twelve together and told them not to lord their authority over one another. Instead, greatness means serving, and he’s the example! He, the Son of Man, came to serve. But dig a bit deeper. What had prompted this little aside was a brotherly duo setting themselves apart from the other ten. James and John had pulled Jesus aside, seeking his favor. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus had asked (Mark 10:36). And what did they want? Prominence. Greatness. Positions of honor. Their misguided notion of leadership had prompted Jesus’s lesson. But they weren’t the only ones who needed it. The other ten had become indignant (Mark 10:41). They were after greatness, too. Then Mark’s Gospel draws a profound contrast. As he is leaving Jericho, Jesus encounters a blind man who is also seeking Jesus’s favor. Notice what Jesus asks him; it’s the very same question he posed to James and John. “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:51). The blind man doesn’t want greatness. He wants to see. Jesus restores his sight, and a new follower joins the entourage.14 What a story of leadership! What a story of defining reality and seeing! Defining reality, seeing reality truly, is the first job of leadership because it can only be done when the would-be leader is humble enough to seek the One who gives sight. Humble leaders recognize that without God, they are simply blind guides leading blind followers, which Jesus also spoke about in Matthew 15. This humble seeing recognizes that there is a reality outside the self that can be seen—praise God!—but that is outside the seer’s control and command. No wonder C. S. Lewis said, “For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it also depends on what sort of person you are.”15 SEE SOMETHING? SAY SOMETHING! There is nothing worse than a leader who doesn’t see reality. When a leader can rally others to action but can’t see reality truly, they are a dangerous leader. Pastors who do not know God and do not seek God are a danger to many souls. They are not seeing and should not be leading. But almost as bad as the blind leader is the seeing leader who stays silent. If you see something, say something. Have you seen those security signs in an airport or shopping mall? The idea is that security is everyone’s responsibility. The sign encourages everyone to look around and to speak up if something seems suspicious. But seeing makes no leadership difference if what is seen is not communicated. Pastors are to see something and to say something. Now, leadership is not only looking for what’s wrong; it is also looking for what’s right, what’s possible, what’s coming. Casting is about determining reality, which includes a better future that points to the kingdom of God and the reign of Christ. Pastors see reality in Christ and speak that reality through Christ. CASTING PROBLEMS AND CASTING POWER Even if you agree that leadership is casting, you can be tempted to do triple takes and to get tongue tied. Many of us have either been, followed, or seen the effects of a leader who defined reality arrogantly, who thought they always saw clearly and then spoke immediately. And we certainly don’t want to repeat that leadership! Pastors are also wary of increasing cultural skepticism toward spiritual leadership. The rise of smooth-talking preachers has not been helpful to conscientious leaders, especially pastors who are sensitive to power dynamics. It is relatively easy to worry that others might see something just because the pastor said something. Seeing also takes a lot of effort. It’s hard work to know the conditions of the flock and the world! Just as a lot of our brain’s energy is devoted to physical seeing, so a lot of our spiritual energy is devoted to seeing. Finally, when you’re intent on...