For those interested in the situation at Westminster Theological Seminary: I have decided to take a weeks departure from interaction with President Lillbacks letter. I am presently finishing writing Genesis (Story of God Commentary Series; Zondervan, to appear hopefully late 2015). The unique feature of the Old Testament series (which I helped design and of which I am General Editor) is that after explaining the text in its Old Testament context, we turn attention to reading the text from our situation in the 21st century. This involves Christotelic readings as well as asking what we can learn about living today. I have about five or six essays following the account of the story of Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32. The following is inspired by Dan Allenders wonderful book on leadership (Leading with a Limp [Waterbrook, 2008]). It also made me think of the situation at Westminster as you can tell from the following excerpt from my forthcoming book. Leading with a Limp When people think of a leader, they often conjure an image of a strong individual who has it all. The leader is smart, physically attractive, able to take risks, has the aura of being in control and invincible, as well as to make decisions that cost (usually others). Have you ever noticed how tall leaders are and how shorter ones stand out as odd? I was just at a gathering of seminary and university presidents and I felt like a midget. Of course, this anecdotal observation is not to suggest that tall leaders are bad or ineffective leaders. But the idea that physical power suggests strong leadership goes back to Israels choice of tall Saul (1 Sam. 10:23) and before. One might almost say it is built into our DNA. Leaders, so we think, are self-sufficient, decisive, and resourceful. They may take advice, but they are the decision makers and then the ones who execute their ideas. Such leaders fear exposing weaknesses. If one is weak, how can one lead? Even in our Christian institutions, leaders employ power plays and exploit procedure to achieve their ends rather than acting transparently, admitting weakness, and trying to effect change through persuasion. One well-known Christian leader gives the following advice to another institution about how to (in my words) game the system in order to reach a desired goal. He refers to successful efforts at other institutions in the past as he bemoans what he considers the weak efforts of another institution: The changes in those places (those that had success at change) had a number of things in common: the reformers organized and prepared for every eventuality, putting into place safety nets and multiple `Plan Bs’, they identified the places where influence could be wielded, mastered procedure, fought like the blazes when they had to, stood strong and immovable in the face of violent opposition, and outmanoeuvred their opponents by continual attention to meeting agendas, points of order, procedural matters, and long-term coordinated strategy. They did not waste time and energy on irrelevant sideshows like rhetorical petitions that merely provided the material for public relations disasters. And guess what? In each case it actually worked. In fact, this way of approach sounds very like the strategy which frankly outflanked and then crushed the ill-prepared evangelical assault at last week’s…GA (General Assembly). It would seem that angry but sincere petitioners generally lose, while sincere but canny parliamentarians generally win. The evangelicals of [Name of Denomination] need new leadership that understand…polity, the importance of procedure and, crucially, how institutions work and can therefore be changed. (thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2009/05/27/carl-trueman-church-of-scotland-and/) The use of such Machiavellian strategies as means to even a good end cannot be justified. It is leading out of human strength using worldly tactics. Unfortunately, such means succeed too often, but the goal, as is the case in this leaders case is an institution that is ingrown, under attack, fearful, circling the wagons, and losing influence in the broader world. Dan Allender draws insight on the topic of leadership from the story of Jacobs wrestling with God. Indeed, the title of his book, Leading with a Limp, comes from this story. Allender rightly describes Jacobs life up to the present moment as one in which he tried to live and lead his family in his own strength, utilizing worldly means (deception) to protect himself and gain an advantage. As a deceiver, he must be quick; he must get ahead of everyone else in his opportunistic hold over life. Allender rightly points out that his encounter with God that marks him with a limp, an obvious sign of weakness, effects a change that does not hurt but rather enriches him as a person and as one who can lead his family and interact with his world: The process of becoming a person who can lead others with a limp is not what we would have predicted. Do we really have to be that desperate and that deeply exposed to be freed from our narcissism, our fear, our dogmatism, and our tendency to hide? The story of Jacob exalts not the struggle but the goodness of God as he blesses a conniving, undeserving man. No matter how far off the mark we might be, we see in this account the promise that if we open ourselves to meet God, we will not come out of the encounter the same. We will walk a new path--with an unpredictable gait. As we will see, this encounter with God does not make Jacob a perfect person. He still has his flaws to be sure. But he can now face life with a new level of humility and with a confidence that is born not out of his own human resources, but out of a sense of his relationship with God. If we lead with a limp, we follow the example of Jesus himself. Did he come with displays of power? Did he make people cower before him? Did he walk over and destroy his opponents? Of course, the answer is no. He did not make the disciples wash his feet, but he washed his disciples feet, and then told them to do the same for others (John 13:1-17). His path as leader was to suffer and die for others: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, begin made in human likeness. and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by become obedient to death-- even death on a cross! (Phil 2:6-8) And this is the model of leadership Jesus imparted to his disciples. In response to the request of James and Johns mother that her sons sit at Jesus right side, Jesus responded: You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave--just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matt. 20:25-28). If you are a leader, seek to emulate Jesus. Lead out of weakness not out of strength.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 17:56:19 +0000
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