Odd Leadership

Leadership is a mixed bag in the Jesus movement. On one hand, natural leadership ability comes into play. Charismatic personalities draw people. Take-charge people get things done. Not too many years ago, when speaking about starting new gatherings of Jesus-followers, many in our denomination spoke openly called for "entrepreneurial" leadership. I would suspect that many of the lead pastors of our newest, fastest growing mega churches now would be fantastically successful (and rich) business persons, had God's Holy Spirit not led them into ministry. God uses natural leadership skills and attributes, to be sure.

There is another dimension of Jesus movement leadership, though, that runs counter to obvious leadership profiles. God often has this frustrating, almost mischievous propensity to choose the least likely people to lead. Seriously...a childless old man and woman, chosen to be the parents of a great nation through whom all nations would be blessed...a reluctant escapee/shepherd, whose own people hate him, chosen to defy the world's greatest empire, and to lead his people to freedom...a smallish young man armed with only a leather sling, chosen to overcome a great warrior and to be a great king...a poor carpenter from a backwoods town, born to save us all, and to bring us home to God...the most fierce and hateful opponent of Jesus-followers, chosen to bring spread the good news of the risen Jesus throughout the Roman Empire...The list goes on. Time and again, people who never conceived of themselves as worthy of God's attention, much less as chosen by God to lead, are chosen nonetheless.

Odd thing, this Jesus movement is. It uses the best of the world's capabilities, but for anything but the world's goals and values. And it seems to raise up the least likely and capable people, to do extraordinary things.

I'll see you around the next bend. NOTE: The next post will be a week from today, Wednesday - June 11. For the next several days I'll be at our denomination's statewide annual conference.