Why the leadership movement is leaving your church leadersless – Mike Breen

May 22, 2012 Blog Referral Mark McIntyre 3 Comments

A challenging artcile on church leadershp by Mike Breen which begins like this:

WHY THE LEADERSHIP MOVEMENT IS LEAVING YOUR CHURCH LEADERLESS

Leadership is one of the most over-used and overwrought topics in Christian ministry today. Yet for all the books, blogs and conferences, there are two staggering realities we must come to grips with: First, while most churches believe they have leadership development programs, in actuality they have programs that recruit and train volunteers. A volunteer is someone who executes someone else’s vision. A leader is someone with a vision of his or her own.

In truth, there are often only a few leaders in the average church, and everyone else is simply executing their vision. It’s the “genius with a thousand helpers” paradigm Jim Collins uses to describe organizations that are good, but never become great. This is the leadership movement widely espoused in the church today.

Read the full article by clicking on the link below:

Why the leadership movement is leaving your church leaderless | Mike Breen

About Mark McIntyre

A follower of Jesus Christ who shares observations about how Scripture should impact the church and the world. Mark is the original author and editor of Attempts at Honesty.

John Stott on the Cross of Christ

So stop for a minute and contemplate the chasm that lies between man in his sin and an infinitely holy God. Even a short meditation on this will bring a much better understanding of the Cross and why Jesus had to die.

In what does Christ’s exaltation consist?

The answer given is, “Christ’s exaltation consists in his rising again from the dead on the third day; in ascending into heaven; in sitting at the right hand of God the Father; and in coming to judge the world at the last day.”

The law of unintended consequences

The church is to be intentional in her quest to make disciples. But a wrongheaded emphasis on short term gains might lead to an unintended consequence.

Sunset on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon

In reflecting upon this scene, I thought of the hundreds of thousands of sunsets over this canyon that have been at least as glorious as this one. We serve a God who cares enough to paint in such vivid colors, even when there is no-one there to appreciate them.

Don’t be surprised by the tares

I’m writing this because a good friend of mine is struggling to recover from the betrayal that this pastor in a real church in a real city represents. I have a mixture of sadness and a tinge of anger in response to this situation. In praying and thinking about this, I was reminded about the parable of the tares.

Please God alone

My greatest struggle in being part of the church has been when leaders possessed a certitude about how things should be done that borders on presumption. If I have learned one thing about humanity, it is that we are all inherently flawed. I have ample evidence in myself and others of the depravity of man. We are broken and that brokenness affects everything that we touch. As a result, we should have a healthy distrust of ourselves and a confidence in God alone.