Mainstream Leadership (Easter - Day 22)

(1 Peter 5:1-11)

As I read today's passage out of 1 Peter, I thought of all of us who feel like the systems of leadership inside and outside the Church can't be trusted. Whether it be because of negative experiences with religion or the countless portrayals the mainstream media has given us of bad leadership, we just don't trust our leaders. And, there's good reason behind it. People are waking up to the reality that things just aren't the way they should be. More and more people are developing their own consciences and belief systems, and are trying to find their own way. 

Their is corruption in every system made by man. Whether we like it or not, there is deception, secrecy, and backdoor deals. In the Church, outside the Church, within business, government, and the education system. We have learned to live with it, but how long do we push it aside and wait for it to get better? 

I believe good leadership is an essential part of participating in God's ongoing restoration in the world. It's equally important that "followers" don't blindly accept whatever it is that comes from the mouths of our leaders. There is a balance here that must be found if the American Church is to reclaim relevance and meaning. Peter outlines beautifully his mandate for what a good leader looks like, and I'm going to list those characteristics here. As we read through the list, may we ask ourselves the following questions: (1) Who do I consider my leaders, or who do I look up to as an authoritative person? (2) Are the people I look up to good leaders according to Peter's definition? 

If we are leaders (and I would say all of us are), it would do us well to ask the following questions: (1) Which of these do I do well? (2) Which of these do I need to work on?

Here is Peter's definition of a good leader (listed in order according to the passage):

1. They do not hide from suffering.
2. They believe there is meaning in suffering, and have hope that restoration will come.
3. They care for "God's flock" with all the diligence of a shepherd.
4. They care for people because they want to, not because they have to.
5. They don't calculate what they can get out of caring for people.
6. They act spontaneously when it comes to caring for people.
7. They don't bossily tell others what to do. 
8. They tenderly show others the way to handle hard situations.
9. They are down to earth.
10. They are not proud, but plain, ordinary people.
11. They are content with who they are.
12. They don't put on airs.
13. They live carefree before God.
14. They keep a cool head.
15. They stay alert.
16. They keep their guard up.
17. They keep a firm grip on their faith through suffering.

About a year ago, I came across this passage, and it led me to completely redefine what spiritual leadership meant to me. What I had previously thought of was not adequate in light of how Peter outlined it, and it was harming me to remain stuck in my old box of what leadership should look like. I want to expound on this a little more. Just because someone holds a high position does not mean that the person is a good leader. Just because someone is nice does not make them a great leader. For a long time, I placed the leaders in my life up on a pedestal because they had a "higher status" than I. I didn't want to be like them because they were good leaders. I wanted to have the status they had. What I was missing was intimacy and someone who would challenge my own status quo. What ended up happening as I sat down and thought of people who I thought matched up pretty well to this list was, the faces of those I considered leaders changed.

At the time I honestly redefined who the leaders were in my life, I came up with one person. I knew of one person who fit the bill, and this person didn't even have a home church or a certain theological stance on anything. However, I wanted to be like them because they embodied what Peter describes as good leadership. 

Those of us who want guidance and like to have someone in our lives who push us to be more than we are, and challenge us in ways that we can't do on our own, here is a message. It is not up to our current leaders to change their lifestyles on account of us. It's our responsibility to do whatever it takes to find good leadership. If we desperate for spiritual growth and hungry for greater things, we have to do the hard work of redefining what leadership means to us. Chances are, some of the people we call leaders right now are not going to be leaders according to Peter's definition. This also doesn't mean that we parade the aisles of our churches screaming for leadership reform. We don't leave our communities or disconnect from the sources of life that are still feeding us and giving us energy. We simply redefine who are leaders are. They may be in our communities already, or they may be somewhere else. Nevertheless, if we are hungry for something more when it comes to spiritual growth, we've got to find a rabbi, a mentor, a friend who will challenge us and push us to lengths we would have never thought possible. 

Today's Action: Using Peter's characteristics of good leadership, make a list of all the people we consider leaders in our lives. Take each name through the list, and measure them up. If our leaders don't embody what Peter describes as good leadership, then we think through all the people we know. Is there anyone in our life who does fit the position? Seek them out and ask them to be our spiritual leaders.