This Ash Wednesday, Lewis Center Director Jonathan Page invites church leaders to enter a season of contemplative action: a time to discern what to add, subtract, or multiply in their lives and leadership. By taking on assurance, incarnation, and “good trouble,” leaders can cultivate space for God’s direction.
Growing up in the church, I thought Lent was a time for sacrifice. Usually this meant something food-related (ask me about the Lent I gave up mayonnaise … not the most difficult thing to drop for a few weeks). For a few years, I shifted from sacrifice into a space of “taking something on” for Lent. Sometimes this was a spiritual practice, other times it was a form of generosity, and even other times it was something involving a relationship or partnership.
Through all of this experimentation, I have come to believe Lent is a time for contemplative action. It is a season that allows us to do the deep pondering of the soul to discern what we need to add, subtract, or multiply in our lives. I think this is especially true for leaders. So much of the leadership space can be driven by immediacy. The gift of Lent is intentional space for both contemplation: the deep discernment of the soul to discover divine direction; and action: the follow-through on that discernment.
I’d like to use the traditional language of Lent to suggest three contemplative actions leaders can find in this season of Lent. No matter if you follow one of these paths or go in another direction, I hope you will find yourself closer to God and to God’s purpose for your leadership as we draw near to Easter this year.
Contemplative Action 1: Fast from comparison; take on assurance.
In his 2007 NOOMA short film titled “Name,” Rob Bell opens with a description of meeting with his therapist. He indicates that he wants to know from his therapist if “it is normal for people to…” and immediately, the therapist stops him and says, “Normal for who?” Bell will go on to share that this meeting was a perspective shifter—that too much time is spent on trying to keep up with the people around us rather than living into the fullness of who we were created to be.
Nearly 20 years later, I wonder how much of this attitude still exists in church leaders? I know when I am in my least healthy spaces it exists for me. I will convince myself that “she is a better preacher,” or “he is a better leader,” or “they are smarter.” The truth is: all those things are wildly possible, but none of those perspectives are helpful.
A healthier space to find this Lent would be one that allows you to understand your unique leadership giftedness. Where are you finding affirmation? What brings you joy? How are you cultivating those gifts to be a part of your daily leadership habits? As you discern the answers to these questions, it can allow you to have a greater sense of assurance. This kind of divine assurance may not feed your ego like comparison, but it can feed your soul like little else.
What comparisons can you sacrifice in order to have the space for assurance in your soul?
Contemplative Action 2: Fast from “being on;” take on incarnation.
Sometime early in my career, I had the chance to sit with a prominent church leader for a Q&A. I remember someone asking how this leader practiced sabbath given his context and responsibilities. He paused and said, “Every leader has a choice: You can either find time to pause and reconnect with God, or you will have an incredibly short career.”
I’ve remembered that line for the last 15 years because I believe there is a challenge within church leadership of “being on” 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Stanley Hauerwas once said that “the greatest threat to pastoral ministry is that the pastor becomes nothing more than a quivering mass of availability.” Likewise, dedicated lay leaders can become so involved in a congregation that they become overworked and torn.
Instead of constant availability, what would it look like to practice intentional incarnation this Lent? Putting away the distractions and avoidances to focus directly on a given relationship, situation, or event? This kind of intention allows leaders to focus on the important over the urgent and discover the deeper stories that are shaping the communities we are charged with leading.
What busyness can you sacrifice in order to be fully present?
Contemplative Action 3: Fast from playing it safe; take on good trouble.
Leaders in the church are often congratulated for finding middle ground. There is a sense, especially in the Anglo-centric church, that appeasement is the road to satisfaction. After all, isn’t the popular question, “Can’t we all just get along?” To be clear, leadership does not require individuals or groups to come out of the gate with pugilistic attitudes. It is a decent, maybe even a good thing to hear out other perspectives and rationales.
Making camp in the middle, however, is not to be seen as a best practice. Resorting to this kind of effort will find leaders ceding their ability to offer direction and perspective, placing them instead within the modern-day crowds repeating their ancient chants to deliver Barrabas instead of Jesus. Leadership is not a popularity contest. It is an opportunity to set out vision and direction, and in the context of the local church, it is to do this in the setting of communities who are longing for that kind of spiritual sustenance.
This Lenten season, perhaps the push ought to be less for centrism and more for what Rep. John Lewis would call “good trouble.” Leaders in the church need to look for avenues to speak out on behalf of a Gospel witness that does not fit neatly into a two-party political system. This may look like a greater sense of civic engagement, developing a willingness to challenge oppressive systems, or confronting harmful behaviors and those who perpetrate them directly.
What “middle ground” can you sacrifice in order to discover the radical, liberating love of God?
Related Resources
- Prepare for Lent and Engage Meaningful and Life-Changing Practices by Andreá Cummings
- Preaching Easter… Again featuring Will Willimon — Watch the Leading Ideas Talks podcast video | Listen to the podcast audio version | Read the in-depth interview
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