Here are some of my disjointed yet related reflections on our conversations these last few days about leadership and purpose. Please comment in the comments section to keep the conversation going.
- We are a movement – a Jesus movement. The point of this movement is to take the great commission seriously. That is to make disciples of ALL nations.
- We do this by building relationships across differences. Not to eliminate differences but to find a way to respect and celebrate differences. Not to find a common ground, but to make our foundation on differences.
- The only common ground we have — which is non-negotiable – is Jesus.
- We understand that when we reach out to the people who do not know Jesus, like Paul and the rest of the disciples did, we may have to begin by talking about the unknown god. That is, we may have to begin at a place that is comfortable for the person we seek to build a relationship and introduce to the goodness of God.
- For this work we will need constant nourishment. That constant nourishment will happen by having life together – just as the disciples did — and occasions to support, encourage, and nourish, each other. This thought may be helpful here: The Table, the Disciples, and the World. – The Table (the-table.church)
- Jesus did two distinct kinds of work. First, he healed the crowds of all kinds of things, from physical and spiritual ailments to relationships and justice needs. He did not discriminate on who he healed. There was no requirement to follow him to receive the healing or an obligation after the healing was received. We understand that to be our mission as well, to heal the world by addressing the real needs of our communities. Second, he did ask a select few people to become his disciples. For that, he asked them to give up everything they had, and then to follow him. That following him involved hanging out with him and to have constant conversations and experiences with the express purpose of bringing clarity into how to do the work of making disciples and taking on the work Jesus himself was doing, bringing the world closer to the kingdom of God.
- We are the disciples of Christ. We need to do life together. It will take sacrifice. It will take ministering to others by putting their needs ahead of our own. It will take constant conversations. It will take being there to support each other with our presence, wisdom, prayers, and everything else we have. It will take a deep desire to enlarge the group of disciples, and to offer them a seat at The Table.
- The Table is the movement that will always seek to add more seats to the innermost circle. The process will begin with ministering to the crowds and have its goal to bring people into a relationship with Christ. The practical shape of this will be the formation of an ever-growing diverse community of disciples who all have an equal seat at the Lord’s Table. It is at this Table that they would learn to live with their differences with each other.
- So, what does leadership in a movement like this look like? Servant leadership. Our leadership is about serving. It is not about positions or hierarchies. It is about serving. It is not about control. It is about serving. It is not about finding ways to exclude. It is about serving everyone – no exceptions. It is not about who gets to make the decision; it is about how the decisions made are about serving.
- Servant leaders model the culture they want to see thrive. We do it with Kingdom values, that is, the Gospel.
- Are we creating the culture we envision for The Table? The better way to ask this question is, is God creating the culture we need to live into the vision of God to have God’s kingdom on earth as in heaven? I strongly believe God is doing just that. We have all had to make a lot of sacrifices to live in this vision. And yet, instead of sadness, we are all experiencing a certain joy and excitement. There is no hierarchy in leadership, we are all exercising leadership – servant leadership – and it is doing wonders. We are no longer worried about leaking roofs, we are all focused on how to feed people and take care of real needs in the community – the kind of work Jesus came to do and wants his disciples to do. Our desire to be gathering as a community to encourage each other is stronger than our desire to preserve a physical location as a landmark. Our desire to worship is stronger than discussions over what type of music and which candle gets lit first. Today we are much more about the commission Jesus has given us than we ever were.
- How is it possible to be closer to the identity and purpose of God’s Kingdom by not being a conventional “church”? Because Jesus never wanted what we have made church to be. He did not want social clubs with hierarchies of privilege that lived to eliminate those with a difference. He never asked anyone to build buildings to express the community’s pride in their own affluence. Jesus does not need the erection of landmarks. Jesus raised disciples who would raise others to be disciples. Not to feel good about themselves but to serve the communities in which they existed and beyond; to bring God’s healing with God’s love into God’s world.
I am grateful to God for giving us the opportunity to be Jesus’ disciples that gather around His Table with the express purpose of serving God’s world and for perpetuating the culture of servant leadership that seeks to create more and more seats at His Table. We are doing well, and there is a lot of work to do. With God’s help, we will overcome the crosses we have to bear to bring to fruition his kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.