I have been edified by the work of Lewis Parks and Bruce Birch in their recent book on biblical models of leadership. The truly biblical leader first of all notes that, though we pastors are leaders of the church, we are not in charge. We believe not only that God loves us but that God is active in Creation, that Creation is a continuing divine project. Therefore biblical leadership must be highly adaptive, specific, and contextual, willing to go with the divine flow, refusing to adapt a cookie cutter approach to church leadership, sensitive to the specifics of each situation as God gives us our situation. Particularly for us United Methodist pastors who are frequently sent to places that we did not choose, who are forced to move on a regular basis, the sense that pastoral leaders must be adaptive leaders ought to be strong among us:

'First things first: leaders must attend to the good enough life stories in which they find themselves and concentrate on the projects they have been given. To put it that way, the way of biblical realism, rather than the way of the self-help brand of leadership with its entrepreneurial formulas, acknowledges that there are always elements beyond personal control. Creation is good and trustworthy but seasoned liberally with contingencies, events that may occur but [are] not likely or intended. A sudden turn of health cuts short one person's career but opens a door of opportunity for someone else. The winds of political climate shift, making a certain style of leadership unseasonable and another very appealing. Sweeping currents of history overwhelm best-laid plans. A multinational corporation with headquarters in a far away place decides to close the factory that is the economic lifeline of the community, and suddenly half of the church members are unemployed. The pastoral leader steeped in church growth must begin to ponder questions of institutional survival and triage.'

Weeks and Parks also note that, if we work at truly Christ-given tasks, then we must be willing not to experience immediate change and results:

'Some of the things that are experienced as beyond personal control can and should be addressed, such as inequities of opportunity or the pervasive impact of a culture of honor and shame. But even here the benefit is often oblique to the effort. The pastor who devotes her energies to helping women break through the glass ceiling of leadership may only get to watch the victory at a distance. The judicatory leader who tries to change the corporate culture of a group of clergy from autonomy to collegiality may not see the harvest until an entire generation leaves the field in retirement.(pp. 74-75)'

God give us the grace to be able to let God be God in the church, on God's own good time, and in God's own way, to allow others to reap the benefits of our leadership efforts, and to give glory to God.

--Excerpts from Ducking Spears, Dancing Madly: A Biblical Model of Church Leadership, by Lewis A. Parks and Bruce C. Birch, Abingdon Press, 2004

Will Willimon