I think that while some of your statements are good reminders for leaders to hold fast to Jesus and the word, Jesus gave us the most leadership framework throughout the Gospel of His life, yet one all of the leadership examples through the Ten Commandments, the sermon on the mount, the fruit of the Spirit, etc. I think that the message never changes, but the methods surely have and that's where the leadership paradigms are a must. You can have a great pastor, but if that pastor doesn't know how to keep a team, hire the right people, or steward the finances well, than we are at risk of negligence. I think the word and leadership go hand in hand but you can't have exclusively one. Or the word through leadership would be how I would interpret this.
Yes, there's no excuse for not being excellent at running a 501(c)3 and managing the finances. So, point taken. But I don't think that's what most of the leadership material is focussed on.
I think the cult of Christian leadership and consumerism in the church are inextricably linked. The American corporatization of churches, bowing down to the idol of “more”, leaves an albeit genuinely called pastor ill-equipped to handle the impossible task of bootstrapping a “company” from the ground up. Leadership becomes the natural obsession because they are ill-equipped in their training; they are forced to think and act like CEOs instead of Shepherds. It’s genuinely good people caught in the bad culture of an individualized and commercialized gospel.
Thank you so much. I recently heard that the magazine that always lists "fastest growing congregations" admitted that all of those are in counties where the population is also exploding. So I recently went to a meeting of area ministers and young guy with a fast growing church (in an area where the population is exploding) talked about his instagram success. I began to think, how many are coming from other churches? Because he talked about the ROI from the paid ads. And if you are getting ROI on an add, the new people immediately tithe, they are people who already know that principle. The whole thing bothered me for days. We want business fast growth rather than walking with people and sitting with their messiness. That's the Jesus way. Thanks for speaking to this issue.
YES! I always wonder about transfer growth too. At the macro level, the AG is still growing. But the Southern Baptists are shrinking. And I wonder how much of the growth in the AG is just transfer from SB. Especially when a lot of AG churches don't really look meaningfully different from an SB church these days 😳
I’m burdened for the lost, not simply transfer growth. People move and need to find a new church home, but we also celebrate big when maybe they just have the newest show going.
Yeah, that is a good point about constantly trying to be innovative somehow...and I was not taking a shot at AG or whatever. I attend an AG church. And while I don't agree with all of the Fundamental Truths, I like it well enough. Especially for my kids. I just tend to see more of an urge to "commercialize" there more (if that makes sense!?).
This issue is especially prevalent throughout the Assemblies of God, and Pentecostal based denominations as a whole. Not sure why, but just something I've noticed as well. Has this your experience?
I think each denom has unique problems. But I will say I’ve seen leaders absolving themselves in other denoms. Having said that, I think congregationalism, which is what Pentecostalism denominationally, for all its benefits comes with certain down sides. Like the ability to leave others out to dry. But also I think the lack of historic liturgy forces pastors to rely on endless innovation, which is itself more of a market thing than a church thing.
I think that while some of your statements are good reminders for leaders to hold fast to Jesus and the word, Jesus gave us the most leadership framework throughout the Gospel of His life, yet one all of the leadership examples through the Ten Commandments, the sermon on the mount, the fruit of the Spirit, etc. I think that the message never changes, but the methods surely have and that's where the leadership paradigms are a must. You can have a great pastor, but if that pastor doesn't know how to keep a team, hire the right people, or steward the finances well, than we are at risk of negligence. I think the word and leadership go hand in hand but you can't have exclusively one. Or the word through leadership would be how I would interpret this.
Yes, there's no excuse for not being excellent at running a 501(c)3 and managing the finances. So, point taken. But I don't think that's what most of the leadership material is focussed on.
You're absolutely correct, and I would stress the importance of Christian response based on a biblical worldview.
Responsibility*
I think the cult of Christian leadership and consumerism in the church are inextricably linked. The American corporatization of churches, bowing down to the idol of “more”, leaves an albeit genuinely called pastor ill-equipped to handle the impossible task of bootstrapping a “company” from the ground up. Leadership becomes the natural obsession because they are ill-equipped in their training; they are forced to think and act like CEOs instead of Shepherds. It’s genuinely good people caught in the bad culture of an individualized and commercialized gospel.
Yeah, I’m with you about the genuinely good people getting caught up. And the rest of it. Have you ever read any William
cavanaugh? His *Being Consumed* was really formative for me.
I’ll check it out! Thanks for the recommendation!
You might find a good lecture or interview of him o. YouTube as a welcome intro
Thank you so much. I recently heard that the magazine that always lists "fastest growing congregations" admitted that all of those are in counties where the population is also exploding. So I recently went to a meeting of area ministers and young guy with a fast growing church (in an area where the population is exploding) talked about his instagram success. I began to think, how many are coming from other churches? Because he talked about the ROI from the paid ads. And if you are getting ROI on an add, the new people immediately tithe, they are people who already know that principle. The whole thing bothered me for days. We want business fast growth rather than walking with people and sitting with their messiness. That's the Jesus way. Thanks for speaking to this issue.
YES! I always wonder about transfer growth too. At the macro level, the AG is still growing. But the Southern Baptists are shrinking. And I wonder how much of the growth in the AG is just transfer from SB. Especially when a lot of AG churches don't really look meaningfully different from an SB church these days 😳
I’m burdened for the lost, not simply transfer growth. People move and need to find a new church home, but we also celebrate big when maybe they just have the newest show going.
Yeah, that is a good point about constantly trying to be innovative somehow...and I was not taking a shot at AG or whatever. I attend an AG church. And while I don't agree with all of the Fundamental Truths, I like it well enough. Especially for my kids. I just tend to see more of an urge to "commercialize" there more (if that makes sense!?).
It's a really important observation, and I'm with you.
This issue is especially prevalent throughout the Assemblies of God, and Pentecostal based denominations as a whole. Not sure why, but just something I've noticed as well. Has this your experience?
I think each denom has unique problems. But I will say I’ve seen leaders absolving themselves in other denoms. Having said that, I think congregationalism, which is what Pentecostalism denominationally, for all its benefits comes with certain down sides. Like the ability to leave others out to dry. But also I think the lack of historic liturgy forces pastors to rely on endless innovation, which is itself more of a market thing than a church thing.