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The title of an article I read several years ago on poor morale among spiritual leaders, “When Pain Outweighs the Promise,” highlights the importance of focusing on leadership and spirituality. To attend to the life of the spirit, to remember and renew the promise each day, is the foundation for leadership in the church. And it has always been so. Recently I reread that classic on pastoral ministry, Richard Baxter's The Reformed Pastor, first published in 1656. While Baxter had significant limitations, one knowledgeable observer said that he was "the most outstanding pastor ... that Puritanism produced." By "reformed" Baxter refers not so much to a doctrinal stance, but rather to "renewal," – the renewed pastor. Baxter believed that "if God would but reform the ministry and set them on their duties zealously and faithfully, the people would certainly be reformed.” He makes it clear that leaders of the church must always take care of their own selves spiritually before they can offer help to anyone else. Baxter wrote, "Take heed … lest you famish yourselves while you prepare food [for others]." The twelfth chapter of Romans provides a number of important clues for leadership and spirituality for clergy and laity alike. Present Your Bodies I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1) Ministry does not begin with our need for meaning but with God’s task of redemption of the world. Will Campbell, that eccentric Baptist preacher and writer, tells of his ministry with a woman named Millie. She was thirty-five years old and was in the hospital, dying with cancer. Millie claimed to be an atheist, but spent all of her energy condemning this God that did not exist. After he had visited with her for several months, Campbell says that one day she laughed and said, "You know, Reverend, I just might join your church." "I don't have a church," he replied. She said after a long pause, "No. I guess not. You don't have a church. A church has you." That is what this passage is talking about, being grasped by the church’s mission. A prayer in the Lutheran Book of Worship begins with these words: "Lord God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown." Such is the exciting and terrifying calling of God to ministry. And our clarity about our being God's vehicles – not our own – is critical to the life of the spirit. Renew Your Minds Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds. (Romans 12:2a) We need a transformation in the way we think. We need to hold some of our basic assumptions up to critical review. If we intend to be engaged in this great adventure that is the spiritual life, we need to renew our minds. For those of us who would be leaders in the mainline churches, there are ways of thinking that call for reexamination. One is that we can take for granted the church as we have known it, the church that nurtured many of us, the church that has had a dynamic mission around the world, the church that established great institutions – that we can take the church for granted, and spend our ministries concerned primarily about our own self-fulfillment. When we do that, we preside over the decline of the church. We do not need more programs. We need a change in the way we think. We need a renewal of our minds. Discern God's Will So that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2b) We are called to discern God's vision for our future and the future of the church. Think of vision as a picture of that to which God is calling us in the immediate future. Discernment of this preferred future is a task essential for Christians at all times. The way things are now can never be deemed synonymous with God's ultimate will for us. The present state of affairs in our lives and in the church always falls short of God's highest purposes. Therefore, we must always be about discernment of God's vision for the future and can never become content with the status quo. Leadership and spirituality are inevitably linked because leadership is possible to the extent that we are able to discern a compelling and driving vision of what is good, acceptable, and perfect. One cannot lead without such a vision. Surely the crisis of leadership in the church is, in part, a crisis in the life of the spirit among our leaders, among ourselves. What a time for spiritual leaders with bold visions. What a time "to present your bodies as a living sacrifice" or, as Letty M. Russell translates this passage, what a time to "put your bodies on the line." The Lutheran Book of Worship prayer concludes with these words: "Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us." With this confidence, may we all become faithful, true, and great leaders for the church of God. |
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