7 Habits of Highly Unorthodox Leaders
Just sent off a draft of a magazine article on 7 Habits of Highly Unorthodox Leaders.
Here's an excerpt:
Jesus was anything but orthodox. Don't get me wrong. Certainly no one was more orthodox in belief. After all, Jesus didn't just know the truth. He was The Truth. But he was anything but orthodox as a leader. Not only did he break tradition. He broke the law. That is why the Pharirazzi despised him!
In the words of Dorothy Sayers:
To do them justice, the people who crucified Jesus did not do so because he was a bore. Quite the contrary; he was too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have declawed the lion of Judah and made him a housecat for pale priests and pious old ladies.
Jesus touched lepers, washed feet, hung out with prostitutes, talked with Samaritans, partied with tax collectors, and healed on the Sabbath.
Jesus wasn't just an out of the box. He smashed the box to smithereens!
So here's a thought: the more like Jesus we become the more unorthodox we'll be.
We must strive for doctrinal orthodoxy while practicing leadership unorthodoxy. The message of the gospel is sacred, but methodology is not. The moment we anoint our methods as sacred, we start repeating the past by doing ministry out of memory. Jesus set a much higher standard than that.
Habit #1: Thou Shalt Offend Pharisees [1]
In the venerable words of Abraham Lincoln: "You can please all of the people some of the time; some of the people all of the time; but you can't please all the people all the time."
I have to remind myself of that truth all the time. No matter how good a leader I am, someone is going to take offense at me. It's inevitable. The question is this: who am I going to offend. And who you decide to offend is one of the most important leadership decisions you'll ever make. Jesus decided to offend the religious establishment.
Let me remind you of this simple truth: if you're following in the footsteps of Christ you might offend some Pharisees along the way.
Permission to speak frankly?
I've never had any unchurched or dechurched people complain about the way we do ministry at National Community Church. The only complaints have come from people with church backgrounds. In fact, it seems like the more church history someone has the more potential problems they'll have with NCC. I'm certainly not suggesting that we're beyond criticism. I see imperfections everywhere I look. Especially when I look in the mirror. But I've discovered that many of those complaints trace back to one root cause: NCC isn't doing church the way their old church did church. We're a little too unorthodox for their taste!
Here is a lesson I learned early on in my pastoral ministry: all the churched people who walk through our doors have an internal picture of what our churches should look like and it's often based on whatever their last church looked like. So if we aren't careful, pastors can become professional contortionists who try to be all things to all people. I'm certainly not suggesting that you don't listen to good ideas or process constructive criticism. But you also have to come to terms with who you are and who you're not.
Be yourself.
Dare to be different.
A few years ago I heard Erwin McManus give some great advice:
"Don't let an arrow pierce your heart unless it first passes through the filter of Scripture."
If criticism passes through the filter of Scripture then we need to repent. But if it doesn't pass the filter test, then we need to deflect the criticism. That is what Jesus did with the criticisms leveled at him by the Pharisees. He didn't get defensive. He didn't apologize for who he was or how he taught or when he healed. He didn't let their criticisms keep him from being himself.
Don't let the Pharirazzi keep you from radically loving prostitutes. Don't let the Pharirazzi keep you from healing on the Sabbath. Don't let the Pharirazzi keep you from hanging out with Tax Collectors.
Unorthodox leaders aren't afraid of offending Pharisees!
[1] Matthew 23:1-36
Here's an excerpt:
Jesus was anything but orthodox. Don't get me wrong. Certainly no one was more orthodox in belief. After all, Jesus didn't just know the truth. He was The Truth. But he was anything but orthodox as a leader. Not only did he break tradition. He broke the law. That is why the Pharirazzi despised him!
In the words of Dorothy Sayers:
To do them justice, the people who crucified Jesus did not do so because he was a bore. Quite the contrary; he was too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have declawed the lion of Judah and made him a housecat for pale priests and pious old ladies.
Jesus touched lepers, washed feet, hung out with prostitutes, talked with Samaritans, partied with tax collectors, and healed on the Sabbath.
Jesus wasn't just an out of the box. He smashed the box to smithereens!
So here's a thought: the more like Jesus we become the more unorthodox we'll be.
We must strive for doctrinal orthodoxy while practicing leadership unorthodoxy. The message of the gospel is sacred, but methodology is not. The moment we anoint our methods as sacred, we start repeating the past by doing ministry out of memory. Jesus set a much higher standard than that.
Habit #1: Thou Shalt Offend Pharisees [1]
In the venerable words of Abraham Lincoln: "You can please all of the people some of the time; some of the people all of the time; but you can't please all the people all the time."
I have to remind myself of that truth all the time. No matter how good a leader I am, someone is going to take offense at me. It's inevitable. The question is this: who am I going to offend. And who you decide to offend is one of the most important leadership decisions you'll ever make. Jesus decided to offend the religious establishment.
Let me remind you of this simple truth: if you're following in the footsteps of Christ you might offend some Pharisees along the way.
Permission to speak frankly?
I've never had any unchurched or dechurched people complain about the way we do ministry at National Community Church. The only complaints have come from people with church backgrounds. In fact, it seems like the more church history someone has the more potential problems they'll have with NCC. I'm certainly not suggesting that we're beyond criticism. I see imperfections everywhere I look. Especially when I look in the mirror. But I've discovered that many of those complaints trace back to one root cause: NCC isn't doing church the way their old church did church. We're a little too unorthodox for their taste!
Here is a lesson I learned early on in my pastoral ministry: all the churched people who walk through our doors have an internal picture of what our churches should look like and it's often based on whatever their last church looked like. So if we aren't careful, pastors can become professional contortionists who try to be all things to all people. I'm certainly not suggesting that you don't listen to good ideas or process constructive criticism. But you also have to come to terms with who you are and who you're not.
Be yourself.
Dare to be different.
A few years ago I heard Erwin McManus give some great advice:
"Don't let an arrow pierce your heart unless it first passes through the filter of Scripture."
If criticism passes through the filter of Scripture then we need to repent. But if it doesn't pass the filter test, then we need to deflect the criticism. That is what Jesus did with the criticisms leveled at him by the Pharisees. He didn't get defensive. He didn't apologize for who he was or how he taught or when he healed. He didn't let their criticisms keep him from being himself.
Don't let the Pharirazzi keep you from radically loving prostitutes. Don't let the Pharirazzi keep you from healing on the Sabbath. Don't let the Pharirazzi keep you from hanging out with Tax Collectors.
Unorthodox leaders aren't afraid of offending Pharisees!
[1] Matthew 23:1-36
13 Comments:
"If criticism passes through the filter of Scripture then we need to repent. But if it doesn't pass the filter test, then we need to deflect the criticism."
More pastors have allowed the careless comments (reckless words that pierce like a sword) of critical Christians change the way they think about everything from God, church, themselves, etc.
I purpose to live with one filter...the Word of God.
Stay outside of the box, my friend
mark...this one hit me across the head with a 2 X 4...my congregation is going through a season of change, and I am asking them the question..."where do we draw the line to reach the 1 lost sheep, while still protecting the 99?" we must reach the 1, and it may mean getting out of our comfort zone to do it....
chill pastor
In what magazine will this appear? I wanna read the rest of it.
Jesus broke tradition, yes.
Jesus did not break the law:
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill" (Matthew 5:17).
Jesus is the only person who never broke the law. That's why he can be our savior!
Tim
10,727 days
Why do you equate church people with the pharisees? Why do you view yourself as if in Jesus' sandals? Sounds like someone had a bad Sunday School experience!!!
Great Thoughts. Really interesting that those who often want to do the most unorthodoxy(sic) in our churches are the most like Jesus. I agree, I agree.
Anonymous,
Had a great Sunday school experience :)
And it wasn't a categorical statement. Some of the people with the longest church tensure are some of the best people we have at NCC.
You've got to read it in context. Jesus offended Pharisees. They were very religious :) What can I say?
I think this post probably makes more sense to pastors than anyone else...
Hope this post makes you think even if you don't agree with it. I love reading stuff I don't agree with 100% because it forces me to think.
My two cents,
Mark
Tim,
A few thoughts.
It was unlawful to touch someone with skin disease. Of course, you can argue that he was instantly healed so it's a moot point.
It's tricky because I certainly believed that Jesus was sinless. And while he "appeared to break the law" he was fulfilling a higher law. In a sense, the New Covenant upgraded the Old Covenant.
There are a few spots where Jesus does what seems "unlawful" in terms of Jewish ceremonial law. His disicples didn't wash their hands for example. Or the woman caught in adultery who would have been stoned if the old covenant law had been upheld.
And then of course, you have pharisaical law. They had 613 laws. One of which forbid healing on the sabbath for example.
Do I think Jesus ever broke the moral law? No way. Did he break ceremonial law? Seems like it. Did he break pharisaical law? All the time and with great intentionality.
At the end of the day, love is the ultimate fulfilment of the law.
I love the way Jesus summarized the entire law--love God and love people. Divine genius!
Mark
Tim, I think the context implies reading "He broke (the Pharisees') law."
Yancey says in chap. 15 of his amazing grace book that spiritual maturity is not defined by our purity but by how aware of our impurity we are. "Religiously mature" people (speaking from first-hand experience, with a spirit of repentance) are often guilty of artificially inseminating the body of Christ with the corruptible seed of humanistic conformity. No wonder so many in the church are spiritually still-born--dead men walking. Nice appearance but no real life. Churches where they are comfortable are like funeral homes full of well-dressed bodies in caskets. Gives a whole new meaning to the need to "get out of the box."
Wow. Great distinction between purity and awareness of impurity.
Making me think.
Mark
The new orthodoxy is to be unorthodoxed.
Wow! It is something that all Christians need to know. Why not preach this lesson in NCC someday? By the way, I would like to add a verse, Proverb 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart for it is a wellspring for life".
I wonder what can the congregation do to confront a religious person, when our pastor, our sheepherd, doesn't?
Also I wonder how can a family approach to a religious person in the family and honor parents at the same time?
Mark... I am highly impressed with your way of thinking. It's going to take men and women of God that are willing to (as one of your bloggers said) put on "Jesus' sandals" and get after it. Jesus said "I must needs go through Samaria, but when he got there... He sent his disciples away to get lunch, not because he needed their help, but rather because he didn't need their doubt. Say on Mark.. Make your voice as loud as you can. God bless!!
Luke - Indiana
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