PAST AND FUTURE LEADERSHIP STYLES REQUIRED

Last week I had a most wonderful time visiting two church plants in North Carolina. A number of times during this short week, I was reminded that this is why I do what I do. There is nothing clamorous about partnering with churches. It is raw, honest, real. Sometimes our times together are stirred by great God stories. Other times that are simply tender tears that punctuate our conversations. The pain of a Judas revealing himself, a Korah led rebellion, an Absalom styled takeover attempt, are some of the common stories that pierce the heart of the planter. I wish deeply it were not so. But they do occur, and we have to simply love the planters through this dastardly pain.

I have just started reading a new book on Leadership called: "Leaders who last" by Dave Kraft. It is inspiring in its simplicity by a seasoned author. Here is a little excerpt from the introduction:

"I share Paul;'s sentiment expressed in 2 Corinthians 11:28: 'There is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.' There are many things to be concerned about today in the church scene:

• A multitude of churches have plateaued, are dying or are already dead.
• Antiquated forms and methods that no longer work are still in use today [some are from the 90's that are not in today's vocab- my addition]
• Worship wars are raging.
• There is a lack of deep spirituality among church members.
• There is an absence of intentional and relevant outreach....

Here are a few obvious contrasts in the way we need to lead today compared to the ways we've led in the past:

Past leaders Future leaders

Organizational Relational

Operate in Committees Operate in teams,

Command and control Permission-giving

Degreed and elected Gifted and called,

Linear and pyramidal Overlapping circles

Share propositional truth Tell stories

People of the written page People of the screen

Tightly structured Highly flexible

Emphasize position Emphasize empowerment

Some very good convo pieces as we evolve our churches in their God authored journeys.