Tag Archive for: Exodus

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Naming Current Reality in Church Leadership

How many meetings have you attended when an action was needed but no action was taken? A meeting where the need for a decision was either postponed for more discussion or handed off to a committee to make a recommendation? How much time have you invested in discussing an issue and then, as we say, “kicked the can further down the road?”

If you have experienced any of those meetings, you are in the company of some influential biblical characters. One of the great stories in the bible is the story of the Exodus. You know the story. The Israelites, the chosen people of God, were freed from slavery when Moses challenged Pharoah and led them into the wilderness.

Their escape took them to the banks of the Red Sea. When they got to the sea, they found themselves between the Egyptian army and the water. As you can imagine, there was a lot of anxiety and fear.

Biblical Leadership Lesson

Moses faced a dilemma. To lead the people into the water would be to drown, but to wait without action would be to be captured and punished by the Egyptians. They were trapped. Someone needed to make a decision and to be the first person into the water and to test God’s promise of deliverance.

The Hebrew Midrash, the stories of the rabbis, tells that the leaders of the tribes of Israel gathered at the edge of the water to decide who would go into the water first.

Isn’t it interesting that action was needed, but the leaders did what they knew to do. They had a committee meeting. As the story goes, they were unable to come to a decision. Their indecision created more anxiety and fear.

Quietly Courageous Leadership

It was at that point that Nashon, son of Amminidab, stood up and began to walk into the water. He stepped out in faith trusting God’s promise of deliverance.

Again, as the story goes, he walked into the water up to his ankles and the waters did not part. He walked into the water up to his waist, and the waters did not part. Up to his shoulders, up to his chin, and the waters did not part. He continued. As he took the step that would have put his nose under water, the waters parted.

Nashon, simply remembering the purpose of escaping from Egypt and remembering the promise given to Moses, quietly got up and did what was required. It was risky. But while others argued about the right way to do things, he stepped up to fulfill the intended purpose of the moment.

Nashon did not “kick the can down the road.” He faced the reality of the situation and acted upon what he trusted to be true. He risked his reputation, even his life, to lead the Israelites to safety. Nashon based his decision upon God’s promise of deliverance.

Church Leadership Challenges

Although we might not think our time is as dramatic as the Exodus, we are living in some desperate times. We need courageous leaders to step out in risky action, trusting God’s love, to address the anxiety and fear in which we are living.

Gil Rendle in his book Quietly Courageous, names three barriers to courageous and effective leadership. At the risk of being too simplistic, these barriers are the temptation of playing it safe (nostalgia), the temptation of Christian empathy (distorted empathy), and the temptation of tiredness (working harder instead of smarter).

To address these barriers, Rendle writes, “the first task of leadership is to paint an honest picture of the current reality.” He goes on to write, “The current reality is so deeply changed that it challenges old ways of leadership and asks for quiet, purposeful courage.”

Naming Truth in Christian Leadership

So, let me start with this. Most of the characters in the J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels refer to the evil character, Voldemort, as “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.” But there is one character, Harry Potter, who dares to say “the name” aloud.

Repeatedly, Harry is quieted, scolded, and “shhh’d” for saying Voldemort’s name. It is in saying his name that Harry claims power over “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.” Harry named the reality that others were afraid to name.

Perhaps the avoidance of naming reality should be called the “Voldemort Effect.” It has more to do with the current reality of leadership in the local church than you might think.

“The Effect” seems to be huge in many of our churches. It presents itself in the way we face reality and make our decisions. When you do not have the courage to name the current reality of your congregation, you fall victim to “the effect.” By not naming reality, you are unable to claim the power needed to move forward.

“He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named” shows up as nostalgia, distorted empathy, and overwork. Just as Voldemort started out as a good character, nostalgia and empathy are not bad within themselves. But when they demand unhealthy respect, each one can become harmful. Nostalgia hides in the closets, classrooms, sanctuaries, and parking lots. Nostalgia can make property more important than people.

Even worse, when unbridled nostalgia, empathy, and not letting go take control of our purpose, they can become the very realities you refuse to name. In the midst of not facing reality, you are faced with indecision and disengagement.

Let’s take a closer look at these realities that can and often blind us from the truth of our current reality.

Nostalgia

Memory is a gift from God. It is good at helping us with context and direction. It helps us become who God created us to be for today. But when memory enslaves you to the past and paralyzes you with fear, it is problematic. Being held hostage by yesterday does not produce fruit for tomorrow. It is time to name your captivity. You need to lay the fears of yesterday to rest. It is time to be courageous in your decisions. Keep your mission the priority. Create new memories. Take the risk to step out in faith, trusting God’s direction for this day.

Empathy

Identifying with another person’s feelings is a blessing. Understanding how other people feel is a good thing. Empathy is a gift from God. But when you distort empathy by getting stuck in a pattern of being nice, over-identifying, making decisions that will not offend friends, or masking your niceness as grace, you distort empathy.

The church and our culture need courageous Jesus followers to name what has become unhealthy, cheap grace. Then, we need courageous leaders to reframe empathy and lead people into the tough ministries of loving the people they encounter each day (neighbors). The neighbors you might or might not know or you might or might not like, or you are not sure you want to know.

Tiredness

The work of the church is some of the greatest work any one of us can be involved in. It is engaging, energizing, and exciting. On the other hand, church work, which has its necessary place, is too often energy draining and challenging in negative ways.

Being worn out because you do not have healthy habits of time management is not good for you or for the church. Too often you and I are involved in church activities to avoid the real mission of the church. You give too much time to the church to keep the machinery running but give little time or effort to make a difference in the community. I am not saying you should not be involved in the work of the church. But I am saying that any work that is not leading you and the church into the waters of the mission, supporting the mission, and making a difference in the community should be examined and named for what it is.

Courageous Christian Leadership

The time has come, in fact it is past time, for courageous Jesus followers to hold the purpose of the church above all other concerns (nostalgia, empathy, agendas). We need courageous leaders to guide our congregations into God’s plan and purpose of Shalom.

Even though “the effect” seems to be huge, we need courageous Christ-centered leaders to name that which we are afraid to name. Only then, can we claim the power to lead to be a welcoming community of faith, hope, and love, while serving as the hands of Christ. Only then, can we claim the power of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of Charleston, the Kanawha Valley, West Virginia, and the world.

So, how will you claim and use the power to lead this week? Will you take the risk of naming the reality of your present context?

As we stand on the edge of the sea, will you lead us into the waters of deliverance?

Know of my prayers for you and for our church as, together, we step into the waters of today to provide a bright hope for tomorrow.

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Three Characteristics of Christ-Centered Leaders

Read any book on leadership, and you will get a list of characteristics that are attributed to good leaders. Most of those characteristics are the same, but occasionally you will come across a new one or a certain nuance of a common one.

For the most part, the characteristics of a Christ-centered leader are the same, with a few exceptions. One of those exceptions is centered in whose business you are focused upon. As a Christ-centered leader, you are focused on God’s business of loving people. 

You work for the good of all people whether you know them, agree with them, or even like them.  Being about God’s business is to love and care for people as God in Jesus has loved and cared for you.

Focused on God’s Business

There are several stories in the bible that help us understand God’s business. Most of them give us clues to the who and what of God’s business. But there is one story that helps illustrate the “how” of God’s business. It comes from the Book of Exodus, and it is a story of a father-in-law giving instructions to his son-in-law.

You can read the story below and then read how Jethro’s advice to Moses helps him become more of a leader centered upon God’s business and how his leadership is shared with others. 

Read Exodus 18:13-27

13 The next day Moses sat as judge for the people, while the people stood around him from morning until evening. 14 When Moses’s father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, while all the people stand around you from morning until evening?” 15 Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God. 16 When they have a dispute, they come to me, and I decide between one person and another, and I make known to them the statutes and instructions of God.” 17 Moses’s father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. 18 You will surely wear yourself out, both you and these people with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone. 19 Now listen to me. I will give you counsel, and God be with you! You should represent the people before God and bring their cases to God. 20 Teach them the statutes and instructions and make known to them the way they are to go and the things they are to do. 21 You should also look for able men among all the people, men who fear God, are trustworthy, and hate dishonest gain; set them as officers over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. 22 Let them sit as judges for the people at all times; let them bring every important case to you but decide every minor case themselves. So, it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people will go to their homes in peace.”

24 So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that he had said. 25 Moses chose able men from all Israel and appointed them as heads over the people, as officers over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. 26 And they judged the people at all times; hard cases they brought to Moses, but any minor case they decided themselves. 27 Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went off to his own country.

Reflect on Exodus 18

The writer of Exodus tells us the story of Jethro’s instruction to Moses regarding his style of leadership. His instruction regarding spiritual, strategic, and shared leadership is good for each of us as Christ-centered leaders.

As a Christ-centered leader, you are first a spiritual leader. You are about God’s business, and it is important that you are not only spiritual healthy but that you can teach and equip others to be spiritual healthy as well. In our story, Moses is a spiritual guide. When people come to him with their issues, he not only resolves their disputes, but he teaches them God’s laws and principles. He guides the people in understanding and applying God’s will to their living.

As a Christ-centered leader, you are a spiritual guide, helping those entrusted to your care to first focus upon God’s love in Jesus, and second to share God’s love with the people they encounter in everyday ordinary situations and circumstances.

Self-Awareness in Leadership

One characteristic of a healthy leader is self-awareness. When you look at Moses, he was not aware he had taken on too much in caring for the people.  Caring for the people was good, but his workload was not.  

To be a healthy spiritual leader you are aware of your capacity to keep yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually healthy, to keep yourself focused upon God’s love in every situation and circumstance, and to know your capacity to respond. Moses was not aware of his capacity to meet the needs of the people day after day after day.

It sounds good when you are talking to colleagues about how busy you are, but just as Jethro said to Moses, “What you are doing is not good. You will surely wear yourself out, both you and these people with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone.”

Trust in Leadership

Another characteristic of a healthy leader is trust. When you look at Moses, he did not trust others to share the workload. He was a micromanager. He wanted to deal with too many details regarding the decisions. In other words, he wanted his hand in all the decisions. Too many leaders fall into the trap of thinking that they are responsible for all decisions, projects, activities, etc.

To be a healthy spiritual leader, you will allow others to use their gifts, make decisions, and lead as God had called and commissioned them to lead. A healthy leader does look over the shoulder of others, telling them how you would do. You trust people for who they are and celebrate how God is working in and through them.

Strategic Leadership

As a Christ-centered leader, you are also a strategic leader. In the story, Jethro watches Moses and observes his method of leading as unsustainable. He warns Moses that the way he is leading is not good for him or the people. 

In other words, Moses is working harder but not smarter. He advises Moses to focus on his responsibilities as the spiritual leader and delegate work to others. Jethro was not taking leadership away from Moses but was helping Moses lead strategically. 

Focus on the Mission

As a Christ-centered leader, you have priorities upon which you focus. Your highest priority is to be focused on the mission and to lead people toward the mission. Moses’ priority was to teach the people God’s laws and direction. He directed them in God’s business.

Too many pastors have not been able to keep their focus on God and God’s love. They lose themselves in, what I will call, trivia. They either lose focus in administrative duties that are done more effectively by others or in paying too much attention to issues and pet projects which drain them of their spiritual health, their perspective in preaching, and their care for people.

Identifying Other Leaders

Jethro offers the following strategy. Select people who are capable, God-fearing, and trustworthy to take on the role of leadership. These new leaders should be organized in a structure where they oversee leaders who are overseeing groups of people which makes their leadership more efficient. In other words, Jethro is suggesting that Moses surround himself with capable leaders who can take responsibility for some of the work, which frees him up to keep his focus on spiritual direction and spiritual health.

Jethro assures Moses that by following this strategy, his leadership responsibility will be lightened and will help him lead more effectively and efficiently.

Sharing the Responsibility of Leadership

As a Christ-centered leader, you also engage in shared leadership. Moses takes Jethro’s advice and instruction, embracing the idea of shared leadership by implementing the proposed changes. 

Moses selects capable people, assigning them different levels of oversight. These newly appointed leaders take on the task of caring for the needs of the people while bringing the most challenging needs to Moses. This shared leadership model made the leadership structure more effective and sustainable.

Being Christ-Centered

Jethro helped Moses by offering him the following instructions. Select people who are committed to God. Let me make an obvious statement. Being Christ-centered is the strength of Christ-centered leadership. It is important to have organizational skills and intellectual capacity, but the most important characteristic of a Christ-centered leader is to be centered upon God’s business of loving people and working for the good of all people.

Recruit and equip people who are followers of Jesus. Whatever natural leadership gifts and skills anyone has must be deepened and enlarged by the presence of Jesus in their lives.

Developing Trust & Trustworthiness 

Recruit and equip people to be trustworthy. Help them develop trust in their relationships so that they can lead with authenticity and vulnerability. Help them model trust so that their decisions are made with open minds and compassionate hearts, focused more on God’s love and less on opinions and issues. Help them aside prejudices and pre-judgments so that they can act in truth as experienced in and through Jesus.

Lead with Love

Recruit and equip people to love others as they have been loved. In other words, people who work for the good of others and who don’t take advantage of them. Too often, those in positions of authority are easily swayed by the favors, opinions, and preferences of others. I have often said, “Friendship ties are stronger than missional ties.” Recruit and equip people who are willing to lay aside their personal opinions and issues and work together with others for the good of the whole body.

Although there are other characteristics of Christ-centered leaders, Jethro’s instruction to Moses included these three characteristics: spiritual leadership, strategic leadership, and shared leadership. As Moses listened and followed the advice of his father-in-law, he became more the leader God has created him to be.

Respond to Exodus 18

Today, be aware of how you model spiritual leadership. As you encounter people today, respond to them with the love you have experienced in and through Jesus. Be aware of what strategies you use to recruit and equip others for ministry. How might you share leadership with others? Be aware of where you tried to micromanage others. And if it is possible, be aware of where you are not self-aware.

Return

At the end of the day, return to this scripture and give God thanks for the people you encountered today. In whom did you see Jesus? In what ways did you model spiritual leadership? What strategies did you put in place to better serve the people entrusted to your care? With whom did you share leadership? Who did you recruit and equip for ministry/service? What did you learn about yourself? What will you do differently tomorrow? Give God thanks for the experiences that have helped you become who God created you to be. 

Keep in mind, who you are is how you lead.

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One Fundamental Truth of Leadership

Who you are is how you lead. Authenticity and integrity are two characteristics of effective and courageous leadership. What is the basis of those characteristics? Today, let’s explore one fundamental truth of leading as a Jesus follower.

Read Exodus 20:7

Below are three different versions of the same scripture text. Each version portrays the same message but each in a unique way.

  • New King James Version: “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”
  • New Revised Standard Version: “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.”
  • Common English Bible: “Do not use the Lord your God’s name as if it were of no significance; the Lord won’t forgive anyone who uses his name that way.”

The message?

Don’t mess around with God’s name. Take it seriously. Live it in high regard. Who you are is how you lead. 

Reflect

Name

Name is important to God. There was a moment when Moses had the nerve to ask God, “Who shall I say sent me?” or “What is your name?” God was gracious and answered, “I AM.” The name translated in Hebrew is YHWH.

Hebrew scholars have noted that the letters YHWH, when pronounced, sound like breathing.

YH (inhale) WH (exhale).

There is so much more to say at this point, but what is important to know is that God’s name is as important as breathing. YHWH. YHWH. YHWH. Name is important to God.

The Hebrews were a nomadic tribe. They did not stay in one place long enough to take the name of a nation like the Canaanites, the Egyptians, or the Assyrians. So, they took the name of their deity, YHWH. For them, taking the name was serious business. As the scripture says not to be taken lightly or in vain. They understood that their very lives depended upon the name of God.

As a Christian, you have taken the name of Christ. You have particularly taken the name of Jesus Christ, God’s name in the flesh. In the same sense as the Hebrews understood their very lives depended upon the name of God, who you are, as a Christian, is important.

In Vain

The words “in vain” mean “empty and meaningless, of no account, of no seriousness.” For the Hebrews, to take the name of God was to live a holy and different life. So, to take the name of God in vain meant that taking God’s name had little significance or impact on their lives. Instead of being holy and different in their living, they continued to live the same old life, have the same old attitudes, and relate to people with the same old prejudices. The name meant nothing, so life did not change.

From this perspective, there are two more things to consider. The first is, taking God’s name in vain is more than saying God’s name in profanity. You don’t take the name of God in vain with your lips. You take it in vain with your living. Somehow, in our culture, we have reduced taking God’s name in vain to saying God’s name in a vulgar way. Please understand, I am not saying that is good. But I am saying, you take God’s name in vain when you confess you are a child of God, and you live contrary to God’s purposes.

The second thing is, you can’t take God’s name in vain if you have not taken God’s name. We often point to people outside the church who use God’s name in profane and vulgar ways. But, if they have never taken the name of God, how can they take God’s name in vain? It is those of us inside the church, we nice people who would not dare let one little cuss word fall over our lips, whose lives are totally unchanged by the grace of God, who take the name in vain. In other words, if you are a Christian, a follower of Jesus, but you live your life outside the love of God for you and for others, you have taken God’s name in vain.

If you are still with me, let’s go a little deeper. Jesus said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Those words can be translated as Jesus saying, “Be different as I am different” or “Be different as God is different.” The question is, what is it that distinguishes you? What makes you different?

The Hebrews had the idea that when God gave you a name God made you a daughter or a son. You were adopted into God’s family. You were a child of God. From that time on, God’s name was important to you. That is what Jesus is teaching when he says to pray, “Hallowed be thy name.”  Let your name mean something.

At your baptism, you were given God’s name. You were baptized in the name of the “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You were claimed by God as a daughter or son of God. As a child of God, you live as one of God’s beloved children.

In the Flesh

Why is this important?

God is made known to people and is identified in and through those of us who wear God’s name. You can see God in the lightning and hear God in the thunder; you can experience magnificent sunsets and breathtaking views of mountains; you can experience God in the wind and watch the mighty waves roll; but God is made known to us in human flesh.

If God is to be known in the world around us, and known by the people we encounter, it will be because we are wearing God’s name. We are identified as God’s children.

In John 17, Jesus prays that his followers might be kept “in the name.” The way our churches and our communities will experience God’s love is to see and experience God’s love being translated into flesh, your flesh, through your living and loving relationships. Just as Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.” You and I continue the incarnation over and over and over again. We live our lives in such a way that we say, “If you have seen me, you have seen Jesus and if you have seen Jesus, you have seen God.” The world will be transformed by God’s name becoming flesh in you and me.

You translate who God is by your words, your prayers, and your preaching, and ultimately by the way you relate to people in God’s name. To take God’s name in vain is to give people the wrong or distorted image of God.

Your Identity

As a teenager, I delivered newspapers, cut grass, and did odd jobs in the neighborhood to earn money for school. I opened a bank account at the bank in town. When I needed or wanted spending money I would go to the grocery store and cash a check. It was easy and simple. I made my check out for cash and Freda, the woman at the cash register, would give me the amount of the check. The system worked well until I graduated from high school and went off to college.

When I got to college, I opened an account and transferred my money to the bank where I was living. One weekend, while home visiting, I wanted spending money. I went to the grocery store, where I had gone for years, to cash a check. I made my check out for cash and gave it to Freda, the same woman who had cashed my checks for years. She looked at the check and then looked at me, and said, “We don’t cash out-of-town checks.”

I said, “But you have been cashing my checks for years. Can’t you cash this one for me?”

Before she could say anything, a man standing in line behind me said, “Freda, cash his check. That is Dick Bias’s boy. Look at him. He is a spitting’ image of his old man.”

She said, “He does resemble Richard. Why didn’t you tell me you were Richard’s boy?” With that, she took my check and cashed it.

The man in line had seen in me the image of my father. I didn’t have a name on my forehead. I didn’t tell him my name. He said it was the “image of my father” that identified me.

The Image of God

When people see you as a person of peace, of reconciliation, of mercy, of humility, of kindness, they say “I know who you are. You are God’s daughter,” or “You are God’s son.” They see Jesus, the image of God, in you.

The apostle Paul called it the “fruit of the Spirit,” “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control…. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If you live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.”

In other words, “Don’t mess around with God’s name. Take it seriously. Live it in high regard.”

Respond

How will you define God’s name today? What will set you apart? How will you live differently with the people you meet? What will you do to show them whose name you wear? In whom will you identify God’s image? How will you let them know you have seen Jesus in them?

Return

Inhale YH, exhale WH. YHWH.

  • How did you define God’s name today?
  • How did you live in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control with the people around you?
  • In whom did you see God?
  • With whom could you have responded with more grace?
  • With whom might you need forgiveness?
  • Give God thanks for the day and for the people who are helping you become more who God created you to be.

“O God, you have given me your name and you have asked me to keep it holy, to keep it different. By your grace, keep me in your name so that the world might see you in me and experience your love through my living. I offer myself to you in the name of Jesus. Amen. 

Who you are is how you lead.

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The Rat Race

“The trouble with the rat race is even if you win, you’re still a rat.” Instead, the race we are to run is to fulfill the call God has on our lives. Read more