Reviving Revelation

I have been asked many times during the pandemic (and before) if this is "the end," if the return of the Lord is imminent as proved by the signs of the times. Some have referred to the book of Revelation, which Screen Shot 2020-06-19 at 7.49.59 PMcertainly seems to describe cataclysmic global events like we have recently witnessed. My answer is always the same, "I don't know if this is the end, but I am closer to my end than I have ever been." The truth is I don't know and no one else does either. All we can do is be faithful to this day and trust the Lord for tomorrow.

Years ago, I wrote a commentary on Revelation called The Revelation Project: A Fresh Look at the Last Book and then edited and re-released it as part of my Live the Word Commentary series. My perspective in both books flew in the face of most commonly held interpretations. I recently re-read the introduction to both books and thought it may be helpful if I shared it with you. My purpose is to continue my work to reclaim and revive the last book of the Bible from the zany and bizarre interpretations many hold that cause them to mistakenly examine current affairs under the light of Revelation's message. Here is what I had to say in my introduction.

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I suppose it's natural for us to think about the end of time and speculate concerning what will happen leading up to the end and beyond. Due to the popularity of fiction books that focus on the end times, along with the commonly held and taught positions on the meaning of the rapture, the millenium, and the antichrist, people study Revelation, along with Daniel, Ezekiel, and some parts of the gospel accounts. Many are looking for the beast, the dragon, and the meaning of the number 666, among other things mentioned in Revelation.

LiveTheWordRevelationYet as you start this commentary, I'm asking you to do something completely counterintuitive: Suspend any and all preconceived notions you have accumulated about Revelation, just for as long as you read this book. I don’t want you to think as a pre- or post-millenialist. If you tend more to be a preterist, futurist, historicist, or even an idealist (and if you aren't familiar with those four labels, please don't spend much time researching them), I want you to approach this book like you know nothing at all. If you don’t do that, then you will approach my book or a reading of Revelation looking for the familiar, consequently not seeing what else may be there. If you go looking for the antichrist, that's all you'll see. If you can go looking for the Christ, you may notice things you have not seen before.

That brings me to my main objective for writing this commentary and that is I want you to read  Revelation, approaching it as a devotional book. My reason for this is because that is how you approach, at least in part, the other 65 books of the Bible. You usually read those books asking, “What can I learn from this that will help me in my daily walk? What can I learn about God’s will for my life? What can I learn about the Lord Jesus that will enhance my worship and walk with Him?” 

Once you suspend your preconceived notions of what Revelation is or how you have interpreted it, here are some other guidelines I have set up as you work through the material, just so you know how I'm approaching this work:

    1. Revelation isn't a book primarily about the future. It's a book about the past. This doesn't mean there are no future aspects to Revelation. There most certainly are. Yet the other 65 books of the Bible primarily explain how God has worked among His people, culminating in the work of Christ on the cross. The Old Testament basically tells us that Christ is coming. The New Testament explains the implications for His finished work and Ascension to heaven. Revelation has much to tell us about Christ’s work just like the other books do.
    2. Revelation is a book about the Christ, not the Antichrist. Yes, Revelation does depict the work of forces that align themselves against the Lord and His Anointed One, but their actions are shown to be futile in light of God’s superior power and authority and the finished work of Christ on the cross. Focusing on the enemies of God has tended to magnify their power and actions. We are never to magnify the enemy, only God.
    3. Revelation had to mean something to the churches that initially received it. The New Testament was written to the Church in all ages, and Revelation is no exception. The gospel of Matthew has meaning for us today, but it also meant something to those for whom it was first writtenthe Jews of the first century. If we can grasp and recapture some of what Revelation could have meant to the early church, then we will have a clearer understanding of what it says to us today. 
    4. Revelation is also called the Apocalypse because it's a book that utilizes apocalyptic language and images. The word apocalypse literally means unveiling. It was a genre of literature that was well-known to the early church, but almost a complete mystery to us today. There were specific rules of interpretation for apocalyptic literature then, just like there are for satire and science fiction today. You approach those latter types of literature with certain expectations and rules for interpretation. You must do the same as you read Revelation. Much of Revelation employs graphic and exaggerated symbols and metaphors, intended to give a general “bird’s eye view” of the work of Christ as He rules until all His enemies are His footstool. Those metaphors aren't to be interpreted as literally as some have done. When Revelation wants us to know what something represents, it tells us. When it doesn't, be careful not to assign specific meanings that may even make some sense, but aren't supported by biblical evidence.
    5. Revelation wasn't intended to generate fear, but trust and confidence in God. If the other 65 books of the Bible were intended to teach reverence for God and confidence in His ability to protect His people, then why would Revelation be any different? Yet the Bible and Revelation do tell the sinnerthose who are apart from God and in open rebellionto fear. He will not remain silent or inactive forever but will eventually judge His enemies, both in this Age and at the Final Judgment. If anyone should fear when reading Revelation, it's not God’s people but those who do not know Him. Of course, they are not reading it and our depictions of it do little to draw them to Christ.

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There you have my basic approach to the reading, study, and interpretation of Revelation. It is a book of victory, not of defeat, and I resent just a little those who have made it be something else. It matters what you believe about the end for that will direct how you live. I want to live as one who exalts daily in the truth that Jesus has taken on, and will continue to do so, all comers and is still winner and champion. Maranatha! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!


The Acts of Jesus

I have begun G. Campbell Morgan's devotional from the Acts of the Apostles and already in the first Screen Shot 2020-07-04 at 6.10.06 PMchapter, I have learned so much from Morgan who was known as the "Prince of Expositors" in England through World War II. He confirmed many things I have felt about Acts that i have never seen in print anywhere else. 

First is the name of the book: the Acts of the Apostles. There are so many other titles I can think of, like the Acts of the Spirit, the Acts of Purpose, or the Acts of Believers. The book of Acts barely mentions the twelve apostles and then focuses on the ministry of Peter (a little) and Paul (a lot). The book is more like a collection of stories told about people who found their purpose and achieved it through the power of the Spirit—people like Barnabas, Dorcas, Phillip, Cornelius, Lydia, and John Mark. John had to terminate his missions trip with Barnabas and Saul, probably because of tension between him and Saul. I am sure Saul was not an easy man with whom to work.

Luke began Acts with these words: "In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach . . ." (Acts 1:1). Notice that he said his gospel focused on what Jesus had begun to do and teach, which means Acts is an account of what Jesus continued to do and teach through His followers in the power of the Spirit. Therefore, I supposed another good title would have been the Acts of Jesus through the Spirit. I have often considered Acts a fifth gospel, which when coupled with the other four, would produce the special number five that would parallel the five books of the Pentateuch. The Old begins with five books as does the New. Only the Spirit could arrange something like that.

The book of Acts takes us on a breathtaking overview of what the disciples accomplished after Pentecost, which should be viewed as Jesus's work. What energy and purpose He displayed! Whereas He was constrained during His earthly ministry, in Acts Jesus was released to do what He wanted to do all along: touch the lives of people everywhere with the love and power of God—introduced through His message, "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand."

When Acts ends in chapter 28, there is no conclusion, no words that say "and they all lived happily ever after." It just sort of fizzles out, just like Mark's gospel does. As Acts concludes, Paul is under house arrest but nevertheless ministers to all who come to see him. It's almost like Luke ended the book through the Spirit's inspiration to say, "This book has no ending. It is still being written, for Jesus is still doing magnificent and plenteous work and good deeds in the power of the Spirit through His people." When I have taught Acts 6 where the deacons were selected, I pointed out that this was not to institute the office of deacons. Rather, it represented a creative solution to a never-before-encountered problem, leaving us a model to follow for our own encounters with the challenges of our day and culture. We are to add our names to the book by finding and fulfilling our purpose in partnership with the Holy Spirit of Jesus. Is that what you are doing?

Needless to say, I am looking forward to this 58-chapter book, which will take me through the rest of the summer for my devotional reading and study. Stay tuned, for I am sure there will be other things i will share as I make my way through G. Campbell Morgan's latest posthumous gift to my understanding of God's word.


New Book and Magazine Article

Late last year, I published a book I co-authored with my friend, Dr. Jim. Dittmar, titled A Leadership Carol: A Classic Tale for Modern Leaders. After that, our friends at the Hesselbein and CarolCoverCompany, publishers of Leader to Leader journal, published an article we wrote summarizing the book and the leadership model we described in the book. Our thanks to them for the space!

I am attaching a copy of the article for your enjoyment. After you read it, you can order an autographed copy (or two) of the book from the Urban Press website.

Download LeaderToLeaderArticle


New Book Excerpt Part 4

I have posted three of four excepts from my upcoming book release, Changing the Way We Do Church: Seven Steps to Purposeful Reformation. Here are the first three parts if you missed them. I will include the last paragraph from the third excerpt and then pick it up from there in this final part.

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THE DYNAMICS OF CHANGE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Dr. John Stanko
 An excerpt from John’s new book, Changing the Way We Do Church: Seven Steps to Purposeful Reformation

    This story [from Acts 6:1-7] epitomizes what I refer to as Holy Spirit chaos, for the ministry idea bubbled up from the bottom, or from among the membership. It did not come from the top.  When you make room for the Holy Spirit working in the people, the Spirit does not have to follow any predetermined rules, strategic plan or vision.  Leaders who want to control the process can do that easily, but they are then restricted to what they alone can see instead of accessing all that could be.

    I promised a second passage, which is found in Acts 13:1-3:

In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

    Barnabas had played a key role in the revival that was taking place at Antioch and had brought Saul in as his assistant.  At some point, the leaders took time to minister to the Lord in prayer and fasting, and the Holy Spirit spoke that it was time to send Barnabas and Saul out as missionaries.  The Spirit did not ask permission; He did not seem to care what Barnabas and Saul were doing in the Church at that point or what their absence would mean to the team left behind.  The Spirit spoke and the people were expected to respond.  I am not sure this mission was part of the church’s vision, but that didn’t matter once the Spirit had “spoken.”

    In the first example from Acts 6, we saw how a problem created a need for a whole new level of leadership. In this second example, we see how the Spirit moved people around according to His own plan and purpose.  You can see how “chaotic” this kind of ministry can seem to those who want to plan their work and work their plan. Yet purpose creates just this kind of disorder, if I can refer to it as such, for which God does not apologize. 

    Please note that this kind of disorder is not the same as confusion. There was clarity of direction in both instances, but the direction was a shift from the way the church had been conducting business.  From a human perspective it could appear to be chaotic, but from God’s perspective it made perfect sense.  This is why leaders and followers learn to live with and respond to what I refer to as Holy Spirit chaos. 

    Responding to this kind of chaos requires constant change and adjustment.  As I have said to many audiences, the church should eat change for breakfast, for we are the Spirit-led people.  Yet I have found that the Church is not particularly adept at managing change, and it starts at the top.

    Years ago, I heard Peter Drucker, father of modern management studies, say, “The only way to manage change is to initiate it!”  We should not have change imposed on us but rather have the courage and faith to seek and initiate it.

    Feel free to write your comments to this entry on the site where it is posted.

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Changing the Way We Do Church: Seven Steps to Reformation is due to be released July, 2009 by Evergreen Press. To order your copy, please send an email to [email protected].


New Book Excerpt Part 3

I have posted two of f four excepts from my upcoming book release, Changing the Way We Do Church: Seven Steps to Purposeful Reformation. Here are the first two parts if you missed them.  I will include the last paragraph from the second excerpt and then pick it up from there in this third part.

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THE DYNAMICS OF CHANGE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Dr. John Stanko
An excerpt from John’s new book,
Changing the Way We Do Church: Seven Steps to Purposeful Reformation

    There is much more I could say about this passage (Acts 6:1-7), which has become the cornerstone for each purpose message I deliver publicly. The one additional point I would like to emphasize is found in verse seven.  The word of God continued to spread and the church grew because these men know how to stay focused and flow with the unexpected that tends to arise in the life of every church.

    The early church leaders did not have a vision for what kind of church they wanted to have. Instead they flowed with the vision that Jesus had for the church. That meant that they had to be flexible with what took place, but rigid where doctrine was concerned.  Today we sometimes take the opposite approach: rigid with our vision and flexible with our doctrine!

    This is important because rigidity where vision is concerned will cause leaders to dismiss those in their midst who cannot contribute toward the accomplishment of that vision.  When someone comes with an idea or with a desire to help the church, leaders very often try to fit them into some predetermined jobs.  I have often said that you can do anything you want in the church, as long as it is ushering, choir or nursery.  If you can’t help there, then many churches don’t know what to do with you (unless perhaps you are a missionary).

    This story epitomizes what I refer to as Holy Spirit chaos, for the ministry idea bubbled up from the bottom, or from among the membership. It did not come from the top.  When you make room for the Holy Spirit working in the people, the Spirit does not have to follow any predetermined rules, strategic plan or vision.  Leaders who want to control the process can do that easily, but they are then restricted to what they alone can see instead of accessing all that could be.

    Feel free to write your comments to this entry on the site where it is posted.

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Changing the Way We Do Church: Seven Steps to Reformation is due to be released July, 2009 by Evergreen Press. To order your copy, please send an email to [email protected].


New Book Excerpt Part 2

I started out last week with the first of four excepts from my upcoming book release, Changing the Way We Do Church: Seven Steps to Purposeful Reformation. Here is the first part if you missed it.  I will include the last paragraph from the last excerpt and then pick it up from there in this second part.

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THE DYNAMICS OF CHANGE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Dr. John Stanko

An excerpt from John’s new book,
Changing the Way We Do Church: Seven Steps to Purposeful Reformation

    Do you get the idea?  When God “moves,” angels, governments, shepherds, families, wise men, ordinary men, women and children move, too.  Why is this important to mention at this time?  It is because we must learn to be productive in our purpose as we function in what I call Holy Spirit chaos when God “moves.”

    It is also because church growth and development require change.  They involve leaders changing the way they do business, so to speak, and followers changing the way they follow.  Growth and development require that some people move out and go, and some to come home.  They require that every one of God’s people accept his or her personal responsibility not just to be spectators to what some do but to be active participants in the plan of God.  Growth and development necessitate that we challenge everything we have accepted as normal to see if it can take us all to the next level of activity, relevance and involvement.  If anything cannot, then it must be discarded or adjusted (I am not talking about the basic tenets of the faith, of course!)

    Are you sure you want to read on?  Going forward not only has the potential to change the way we do church, but also the way we relate to the Lord.  It will change our paradigm that church is not something we do, contrary to this book title, but something we are and something we express for a purpose, that purpose being to extend God’s kingdom and government on the earth.

   To begin with, let’s look at two passages to see examples of what I mean by Holy Spirit chaos.  First, let’s go to Acts 6:1-7:

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

   Allow me to point out a few things that are pertinent to our discussion here.

  1. Each apostle knew his own purpose, which prevented him from being sucked into the crisis of the day, which in this case was the growing number of non-Hebraic widows who were being overlooked in the benevolent distributions.
  2. The leaders had their own work to do that no one could do like they could. 
  3. The growth of the church caused problems.  This was not an indication that something was wrong with the church, but that they were doing something right. 
  4. While the leaders listened to the voice of the people, they put the problem right back on the people.  When the people basically said, “Someone needs to do something,” the leaders made them the “someones” who needed to be involved.
  5. The leaders determined that the people would hold an election.  They trusted the work of the Spirit in the people so much that they relied on the decision being the correct way forward.
  6. The church had an existing pool of talent, if I can use that phrase, from which they could draw additional leadership. These men were full of the Spirit and wisdom.
  7. The leaders knew how to delegate and did not have to do everything.

   There is much more I could say about this passage, which has become the cornerstone for each purpose message I deliver publicly. The one additional point I would like to emphasize is found in verse seven.  The word of God continued to spread and the church grew because these men know how to stay focused and flow with the unexpected that tends to arise in the life of every church.

    Feel free to write your comments to this entry on the site where it is posted.

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Changing the Way We Do Church: Seven Steps to Reformation is due to be released July, 2009 by Evergreen Press. To order your copy, please send an email to [email protected].


New Book Excerpt Part 1

I recently put out a four-page excerpt from my new book that was distributed to my local church. I thought I would put it out to you in four parts, so you can get a taste of what is to come when the book is released. 

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THE DYNAMICS OF CHANGE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
Dr. John Stanko

An excerpt from John’s new book,
Changing the Way We Do Church: Seven Steps to Purposeful Reformation

When I speak, I often ask for a show of hands of how many people would like to see God “move.”  Usually almost all hands go up.  Yet if I were to ask those same people, including the church leaders, when was the last time they went through a major change or transition, most would probably indicate that it has been a while. They would probably even recount the way that change was “forced” on them by a job loss, death of someone close or other “act of God.”
    Often when people want God to “move,” they want it restricted to the public service on Sunday morning.  They want four hours of church squeezed into a one- or two-hour meeting.  They want that time to be unscripted and filled with the unexpected.  Yet then they want to go home and have life pretty much as it has been – working in the same place, living in the same house, following the same daily schedule until they come back again in one week’s time to hopefully see God “move” again. . 
    I gave a Christmas message not too long ago and used that time as an example of God “moving.”  Consider how these people moved and were affected when God “moved.”  When God shows up, things are put into motion, especially His people:

1.    Elizabeth became pregnant late in life after the angel visited her.
2.    Her unbelieving husband, Zechariah, could not speak for nine months until the baby was born.
3.    When the baby was born, they surprised everyone by naming the boy John.
4.    While Elizabeth was pregnant, her cousin Mary also had an angelic visitor announcing that Mary was pregnant with the Holy Child Jesus.
5.    Mary immediately went off to pay a visit to see Elizabeth.
6.    After Mary went back home, she and Joseph had to go to Bethlehem to register for the Roman census.
7.    While they were there, the baby “moved” and was born.
8.    Angels came to unsuspecting shepherds at work, who stopped what they were doing to go and see the child.
9.    Meanwhile men from the East were following a moving star that led them to the house where Jesus was so they could worship Him.
10.    Herod was disturbed by the Magi’s visit and sent soldiers to Bethlehem to destroy any male babies who could be a rival to his throne.
11.    An angel had warned Mary and Joseph that Herod was coming, so they had already left for Egypt.
12.    Eventually, an angel would come back to Joseph to tell him that the “coast was clear.” Herod was dead and they could return home. 
13.    They did return to Judea but did not feel safe, so they left and went to Nazareth.

    Do you get the idea?  When God “moves,” angels, governments, shepherds, families, wise men, ordinary men, women and children move, too.  Why is this important to mention at this time?  It is because we must learn to be productive in our purpose as we function in what I call Holy Spirit chaos when God “moves.”

    Feel free to write your comments to this entry on the site where it is posted.

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Changing the Way We Do Church: Seven Steps to Reformation is due to be released July, 2009 by Evergreen Press. To order your copy, please send an email to [email protected].


Reading

I have been so busy with my trip to Kenya and my schoolwork that I have not had a chance to report on any of my recent readings.  Already this year I have read two outstanding books (and have read or listened to a total of 8 books since January 1). 

The first book I would highly recommend is Seth Godin's latest, Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us.  It was Seth's influence eight years ago that led me to start The Monday Memo and then to launch a blog in 2005. Seth has brilliant things to say of how to design a website and other Internet programs to build and maximize relationships with friends and customers.  In Tribes, Godin "argues that lasting and substantive change can be best effected by a tribe: a group of people connected to each other, to a leader and to an idea. Smart innovators find or assemble a movement of similarly-minded individuals and get the tribe excited by a new product, service or message, often via the Internet (consider, for example, the popularity of the Obama campaign, Facebook or Twitter)" (Publishers Weekly).

Then I followed up Godin's book with Malcolm Gladwell's latest, Outliers: The Story of Success. In this book, Gladwell seeks to de-mystify why some people succeed.  For him, it is simply because they had access to unlimited gobs of preparation time, augmented by being in the right place at the right time. For example, Gladwell points out that Bill Gates, Microsoft founder, was probably the only person in the United States as a thirteen-year-old who had unlimited access to a computer.  When Gates quit Harvard at 19 to start Microsoft, he didn't just have a good idea, he had a massive amount of programming experience that allowed him to develop his business idea.

I listened to both of these books, but then went out and bought Gladwell's book so I can access some of Gladwell's quotes and research. If you are looking for something good to read, either one of these books would be worth your while.


Servant-Leadership

It has been a while since I wrote about servant-leadership, and I have noticed a general trend of people finding this site while doing a search on that topic.  My lack of writing about this isn't due to lack of interest or commitment, so I thought it would be good once again to devote a few posts to the subject.

I am on record saying that there is a leadership crisis in the Church and, in some ways, society in general.  Don't misunderstand; we have plenty of leaders and more than enough servants.  What we don't have is leaders who understand the concepts of servant-leadership.

I follow many of the blogs and sites that bemoan the condition of the local church. They mock some of the goofy trends in the Church that deserve to be mocked.  They debate and write to come up with better philosophical and theological solutions to our current dilemma.  Many of these bloggers are much better writers and thinkers than I, so I read them and agree with almost all of them. Yet the leadership crisis worsens daily.

For one of my upcoming D.Min. classes, I am re-reading and re-listening to Jim Collins' book, Good to Great.  In that book, Collins outlines the principles he discovered from his research into what made good companies great companies.  Collins has also written a short pamphlet applying and analyzing the "good to great" principles in the social sector, which would include churches.  One of the concepts that Collins describes, and it's at the top of his list, is what he has come to call Level 5 leaders.  This is just another name for servant-leaders.

What is a Level 5 leader?  Collins explains:

 "Level 5 refers to a five-level hierarchy of executive capabilities, with Level 5 at the top.  Level 5 leaders embody a paradoxical mix of personal humility and professional will.  They are ambitious, to be sure, but ambitious first and foremost for the company [or organization], and not themselves. . . Level 5 leaders are fanatically driven, infected with an incurable need to produce sustained results.  They are resolved to do whatever it takes to make the company great, no matter how big or hard the decisions." (page 39). 

It is my contention that we can debate the theology of the Church all day long -- what it should be, the appropriate mix of outreach and missions, and the appropriate structure -- but until we have a change in the heart and thinking of leaders, we will continue to repeat the same problems we have experienced in the last 30 years. We don't have a lack of creativity or ideas of what the Church should be; in my opinion, we don't have enough servant-leaders.

I have found that when most people plant churches, sometimes even breaking away from an oppressive church situation to do so, they don't resolve to change the leadership philosophy or practice they experienced. They simply determine they are going to do a better job than the previous leaders under which they served. Until we see and accept that the current leadership attitude and spirit are flawed, then we will not see any change in the Church, whether we call the church seeker-sensitive, seeker-friendly, seeker-tolerant, seeker-suspect, or "us-four-and-no-more."

I heard Collins talk about Level 5 leaders in New York City before he ever published Good to Great and I cried.  (For those of you who know me, you know that is a significant event!).  He talked about how Level 5 leaders practice the principles of the window and the mirror.  I'll let Collins explain what he means in his own words:

"Level 5 leaders look out the window to attribute success to factors other than themselves.  When things go poorly, however, they look in the mirror and blame themselves, taking full responsibility.  [Other kinds of leaders do] just the opposite--they look in the mirror to take credit for success, but out the window to assign blame for disappointing results." (page 39).

Why did I cry when I heard him talk about this?  I cried because I never, ever heard or read about anything like this in the Church, and I still don't, for the most part.  I read plenty about philosophical changes that need to be made in church theology but until we identify leadership as the problem and pursue specific remedies, we won't make much progress.  We will start over and over again, and enjoy the ennui of fresh starts, only to find ourselves in the same woeful predicament due to lack of servant-leaders.  My solution to the church leadership crisis is to work to become a Level 5 leader.  I don't need a title, an armor-bearer, an office or a position to do so.  And neither do you.

I want to contribute to the healing of the Church and her members not by replicating the mistakes of the past, only doing a better job of implementing a flawed system and philosophy.  I want to model servant-leadership and train servant-leaders, not working with those who are content to tweak the past but who want to learn from the past and change the present for a better future.  And by the way, I don't think the leadership crisis is limited to the Church.  I do believe, however, that we must address it there so that we can once again produce leaders who go forth to transform society.  At the present, most leaders are built and shaped outside the church and then come to worship.  I want to reverse that process -- they come to worship, are shaped into servant-leaders and go out from that point.

Stay tuned for more to come about servant-leadership in the coming days.  I haven't forgotten about it.  I am just now ready to do something about it! 

    Feel free to add your comments to this entry on the site where it is posted.