Organizations and teams sometimes think the key to health and
effectiveness is finding the “right” leader. Anthony B. Robinson has
written an article in which he stresses the importance -especially in the
church- of developing healthy, engaged followers.
Robinson reminds us that Jesus says this, “Come, follow me.” What does it
look like to be healthy, faithful, thinking, engaged Christ- followers in the
church?
Healthy followers, we said several weeks ago, understand that leading is
necessary work, and it is dangerous work. Often lonely. Frequently
demanding courage.
A second characteristic of a healthy follower is that they are committed to a
larger congregational purpose or mission. Instead of focusing on the
needs and preferences of their particular group in the church, they ask, “What
is best for the whole body? What will best help us fulfill our overall
mission for God?”
The third characteristic of good followers is the willingness to offer support
that is “not conditional or fickle.” Robinson, in the January 11, 2012
issue of “Christian Century,” writes, “They (followers) must support a leader
and be able to disagree without severing the relationship.”
One of the most unsettling statements I ever received started out as a
compliment. Years ago a lay person in a congregation came up to me and
said this: “I am so glad you are here as our pastor. You haven’t made a
wrong move, and I am on your side because you see things the way I do.”
My heart sank because it seemed my friend was saying, “I am glad you are my
pastor as long as we agree.”
That is a thin thread, and it will not hold the fabric of a partnership
together for long. If we stay together, if we love one another and work
together, only as long as we agree then we won’t stay together long.
That’s true in churches, in marriages, and in friendships!
One congregation worked hard to “manage expectations” people had that the
pastor could somehow magically please hundreds of different
personalities. “Followership allows room for disagreement, but also
requires the management of expectations.”
Many Christian communities talk about the “covenantal” quality of the
relationship between followers and the leaders. In this covenant all
parties are called to commit themselves to the relationship.
I believe the story of Simon Peter and Jesus has a lot to tell us about what it
means to respond when Jesus says, “Come, follow me.” Jesus and Peter
disagreed heatedly about strategy: Jesus wanted to head to Jerusalem and Peter
believed avoiding a showdown would be the prudent thing to do. They
disagreed with one another, but at the end of the story they are
together. They use the word “love” to describe their relationship, their
commitment to one another.
Faithful followers, the kind of people God uses to bring new life to a church
or organization, are people who are “all in.” Through the tough chapters
and the good, the easy times and the difficult, followers and leaders keep
journeying together. The commitment to one another is not timid or
conditional, but deep and profound.
What would it look like at First/The Open Door if we lived out that kind of
profound, Christ-shaped commitment to do life together?
In Christ and for Christ,
Mark
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