This post is in response to Oliver Parson’s post “TSL, Strategy, Self-Sacrifice and Christian Ministry.” I appreciated Oliver’s post, especially his reflections at the end which compared strategic leadership with Skye Jethani’s book Immeasurable: Reflections on the Soul of Ministry in the Age of Church, Inc. Linking the activity we are responsible for as church leaders to the kind of activity Jesus regularly found himself engaged in, Oliver writes, “As church leaders, we also may end up wasting time, resources or energy on people who do not offer anything in return simply because we believe they are worth it. In essence, this is servant leadership. Yet it is difficult for me to incorporate this into a model of strategic leadership” (Parsons, O., 2018).
As a church staff we are currently reading With by Skye Jethani. I have yet to read the book Immeasurable, but Oliver introduces an interesting tension. Is strategic leadership at odds with the kind of life and leadership Jesus lived? Could some of Jesus’ behaviours be labelled as lacking strategy? Does Jesus want us to be more strategic or more dependent on the Holy Spirit? Are those two options mutually exclusive?
From my experience in christian ministry there are many times when decisions are made through intentional and deliberate action that is linked to some kind of strategic direction. There are also many times when decisions are made spontaneously and appear to be more random and not linked to anything larger than the decision itself. I have found it helpful to recognize the different approaches to leadership and decision making. I was introduced to a leadership insight a few years ago that describes this difference well, “An organization’s values either form organically in the presence of passive leaders or are intentionally established by proactive leaders” (Disney Institute, n.d., p. 16). Although many people did not understand Jesus’ strategy or why he did the things he did, I believe his actions were consistently strategic. Jesus came to demonstrate the love of God to people who had lost their way. Many had become convinced that their effort, as opposed to God’s effort, was the source of their righteousness. By taking time to love people who could never offer him anything in return, Jesus demonstrated exactly what he came to do. Jesus was a proactive leader.
So then, what kind of decisions do strategic leaders make when it comes to the local church? Should leaders be strategic or dependent on the Holy Spirit when making decisions? To me this question is best determined by asking whether or not the Holy Spirit has anything to do with your preferred way of making decisions. If your vision as a church has anything to do with making disciples of Jesus, then a follower of Jesus is going to live the way Jesus did. A disciple intentionally listens to the Holy Spirit before making decisions. If that is true, then the most strategic decision you can make creates space for the Holy Spirit to influence your decisions. To not make room for the Holy Spirit to altar your plans is to lack strategic insight and strategic direction. Becoming a Strategic Leader defines strategic leadership: “Individuals and teams enact strategic leadership when they create the direction, alignment, and commitment needed to achieve the enduring potential of the organization” (Hughes, Beatty, & Dinwoodie, 2014, p. 11). Assisting the people in your church to walk closer with Jesus and live a life that reflects the priorities he valued is what the local church is all about. Helping people to do that effectively is a very strategic ambition, regardless of how you define discipleship.
References:
Hughes, R. L., Beatty, K. C., & Dinwoodie, D. L. (2014). Becoming a strategic leader (2 ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Leadership excellence. (n.d.). In (Comp.), Disney’s approach to leadership excellence (p. 11). Orlando, FL: Disney Institute.
Parsons, O. TSL, Strategy, Self-Sacrifice and Christian Ministry. LDRS 501 – Strategic Leadership (2018). Retrieved from https://create.twu.ca/oplearning/2018/10/10/tsl-strategy-self-sacrifice-and-christian-ministry-cm1/