Dr Lynn Anderson
What kind of leadership will effectively lead the church into the morally turbulent twenty-first century? The same kind of leadership that lead it through the morally and politically chaotic first century. Shepherding. This is the kind of leadership Jesus used, and this is the kind of leadership that will take his church where he wants it to go. While the term "shepherd" produces warm images of love, care, and tenderness, it also describes a form of leadership that is perilously protective, dangerous, dirty, and smelly.
This is the second time I’ve read this book. The first was well over a decade ago—maybe even two—when all the elders at Valley Christian Church read and discussed it together. This time, I revisited it to discuss it with a man in our congregation who’s going through an internship on the path toward becoming an elder. After so many years, it felt almost like reading it for the first time, filled not so much with “ah-ha” moments but with several quiet “ah-so” reflections. I highly recommend this book—not only for potential elders, but for all members of a congregation. For both audiences, it’s rich with Scriptural truth and offers a healthy challenge to what can too easily become “business as usual” in North American “churchianity.”
First Line: Christian people everywhere are crying out for spiritual leaders - men and women grounded in the Word of God, made wise by the experiences of life, and filled with the love and compassion of Christ.
Page 56 / Line 5: If we don't provide the flock with positive mentors, many sheep will flock to negative mentors by default.
A Good Line from Somewhere in the Middle: Decision making, having meetings, and administrating - while they may have a place in implementing certain minor parts of an elder's role - do not constitute the biblical focus of God's calling for shepherds.
Last Line: So we disentangle ourselves from all the others and move out behind him into the morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment