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Paradigm Shifts
Love in Leadership
One thing God has been showing us is that becoming more loving doesn’t occur with a slight adjustment or small tweak; but that much of what we have experienced in church has inadvertently worked against true, loving relationships.
Near the beginning of our transition, the question of “running” a church came up. Some felt very strongly that hierarchical structure and clearly defined authoritative roles were necessary for our church to function. As we continued on this journey with God, it became increasingly clear that Jesus wants to build His Church with loving relationships, rather than with rules and lines of authority.
This doesn’t mean a lack of structure or accountability; but much of our previous structure and accountability was an attempt to replace the need for love, trust and vulnerability in leadership.
Under the existent popular model of church (based on a business structure), there is far too much pressure on leaders to appear or to present themselves as all-together or mature, rather than being honest and authentic. The typical church set-up lends itself to pretence. The duty to love other Christians becomes a minor inconvenience as we “get the real work done” of pulling-off functions or “working-the-room.”
We’re discovering that loving one another is the work that Jesus wants done. Leaders need to be going first. Going first in letting God in; going first in seeking self-awareness; going first in learning to be humbled by God; going first in entrusting themselves to Christ in others.
A Hard Transition
We have lost a lot of people along the way. The first month of deciding to follow God in love and authenticity cost three-quarters of our congregation.
Why?
Wouldn’t it seem exciting and liberating to live in honesty and seek wholeness in God together?
Maybe; until one needs to face one’s own brokenness. After all, it should be noted, that the overwhelming church culture tells us not to go there (to a place of brokenness); that we don’t need to.
Aren’t we tired of pretending we’re whole, while never pursuing wholeness?
Learning to invite people to Abundant Life in the church and learning to communicate what God is leading us in has been messy. Lots of stretching and growth and humility. Looking back, we can see how we could have transitioned more gently. We also thought people (including us) were further along than we have discovered was the reality.
One hard lesson we have learned is that many people don’t really want Abundant Life. It is too raw. The pleasant distractions available to us in our culture easily help us get by for another day, rather than asking God to show us the brokenness deep within.
A Matter of Generations…
At one time, we thought that young people would really want this honest pursuit of Abundant Life. The Facebook phenomenon, as with other social networking sites on the Internet, seem to point towards a Gen X and Y desire to be known since young people react against the “apple pie” expressions of their parents; and so we thought that young people would be attracted to join us and Jesus in the adventure of Abundant Life. Instead, what we discovered is that no matter what your age, facing your own brokenness is unappealing and daunting for all. In fact, it just feels wrong.
Perhaps this is why Jesus said, “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Why Brokenness?
What is with the talk of facing up to brokenness?
Isn’t Abundant Life about freedom in Christ?
Why focus on brokenness?
Because repentance from sin is the first step to real life.
In order to operate in truth and authenticity, in order to let God “in,” we need to be able to invite Him in, which means we need to be aware of the true areas of our lives that are broken up and messy.
In a simple statement: the admission of brokenness is the acknowledgement that we need God. As with other things in 2008, we thought this would be a simple transition to give us the little extra of what we were missing in life; but as we’ve discovered, Abundant Life goes right to the very core of who we are.
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