Since my wife and I first discovered we were going to become parents their has been a lot of discussion and contemplation of family around our home. We have talked about what methods and practices we will use to raise our child, what he will and will not be allowed to do, and how he will relate to his family. That may sound weird, because it did to me at first, but parents dictate the way our families relate to one another, and to others, by the attitudes they have and the moods they set in the home environment.
I can remember my family as a kid. I had three brothers, so things were generally pretty wild, but even so our attitudes and actions were dictated by that of our parents. If our parents were happy, so were we. If they were quiet, we were quiet. If they were angry, the mood was tense. Get the picture? By now you’re probably thinking, “DUH, that’s just what children do.” And while that may be true this principle applies to many other things, including our churches.
If the leadership and staff of a church are passive and hesitant to do something then the body will be passive and hesitant int he way they do everything. If they are bold and passionate the body will follow suit. I believe this even goes so far as to effect the personal motivation that many people have to grow in their relationship with Christ.
It is the little things like this that constantly throw me into a panic about how I am doing as a leader in the church. I mean this kind of stuff is what keeps me up at night, but I believe that without reminding ourselves of this we could very well turn around one day and wonder how we got so far off track.
I just wonder what Christianity would be like if everyone realized this and tried to live their life as a catalyst for the faith of others. If we made our goal to spur one another on and motivate progress, growth, and spirituality in the church. Think about that.
A friend of mine, Mike Edmisten, really got me thinking about family relationships today and had a really great post on his blog about togetherness. If you have time check it out. I think you’ll enjoy it.
# Clarence on May 11th, 2007
While in part I agree a lot with what you said, I think a better comparison would be making the church the wife and the leadership the husband. As both are called to serve each other, respect each other, and love each other.
When a leadership treats the church like children then they get children as a result. When you treat the church as your wife, then you get an equal partner in the gospel in return.
I’ve seen this dynamic where a church leadership makes decisions on the fly, with no real input from the church because they want to be an empowered leadership. Even when the decision was one where support would have been rampant, and I am not talking about the color of the carpet here. When staff for key positions, or major financial commitments are made by a leadership with no feedback from the church you will run into much deserved problems. Any yahoo can lead as a dictator, what Jesus calls leaders to do is to lead and have people want to follow you.
Plus by putting leadership in the ‘parenting’ role you put way to much burden for a person’s spirituality on leadership. In the end we all have to work out our salvation in fear and trembling.
# Mike on May 12th, 2007
Awesome post! And not just because you referred to my blog, although that always helps. :o)
Leaders set the tone for a church. If they are excited and passionate, people under their leadership will often feel that same excitement and passion. If they’re complacent or frightened to make a bold move, they will reproduce complacency and fear in their church. One of my leadership mantras is that “leaders are cheerleaders.” They’ve got to be the key encouragers and motivators in their church.
As leaders, we can never forget that the character of our leadership is contagious. It’s up to us to decide if that’s a good or a bad thing.
# Joel Young on May 13th, 2007
Thanks for the comment ck. I love discussion on this topic.
While I did compare the way leadership related to their congregation to a parent child relationship I never implied that the leadership was the parents and the body were their children to rear or even discipline. I think the proper way to see it is how the Bible describes it; God as the husband and the church as His bride.
The elders of each church were given Biblical authority to lead the church in the New Testamet and they are guide and direct according to the will of God.
Also, while I don’t feel that “parenting” is not the best term I do believe that leadership has an effect on the salvation of those in their congregation and community. People are ultimately responsible for their own decisions, but the leadership of the church has a responsibility to present the gospel and give people the opportunity to accept its grace. All Christians are responsible for the the world’s salvation. It’s what God charged us with in Matthew 28.