Indispensable: What Leaders (or Pastors) Really Matter

Gautam Mukunda's 2012 book, Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter explores the "filtering" process to identify leaders within an organization. Specifically Mukunda argues that those who make it through the filtering process could be called "modal" leaders - the variance of decisions made within modal leaders is very small, thus modal leaders are interchangeable. That is if a pool of people make it through the filtering process then that pool of people (no modal leaders) will make very similar decisions even if there is only one job to contend for. Modal leaders are consistently on the spectrum between "bad" and "good". This mans they are rarely horrible, conversely it also means they are rarely game changing excellent leaders.

Photo by Joseph Pearson on Unsplash

In my way of thinking, modal leaders are leaders who will consistently give you a single base hit. Every now and again, the modal leader will do something flashy to get to the base, but they are only getting to first base. Even rarer, the modal leader may hit a double but conditions really have to be right.

However, Babe Ruth was not a modal baseball player. He was a high risk/high reward player: hitting home runs or striking out. Mukunda identifies these high risk/high reward leaders as "extreme" leaders. Because of their risk, extreme leaders in an organization often are people who for various reasons skit the filtering process. Mukunda says there are many ways you can skirt the process: money, celebrity, legacy, etc. Often we hear of successful extreme leaders, but extreme leaders are risky and most organizations are interested in mitigating risk not amplifying it. 

The United Methodist Church is an organization that has a very stringent filtering process. Most clergy have a high school degree, a four year bachelors degree, a four year graduate degree and then a two (or more) years of residency. Put another way, the youngest someone can be an elder in full connection in the UMC is 28 years old (do keep that in mind when thinking about how few clergy are under 35 years old, you can only be in that category for seven years.)

This stringent filtering process means that the UMC is full of modal leaders. I am a modal leader. Modal leaders are solid but of course we have our limits and when an organization asks modal leaders to function as non-modal (aka: extreme) it is an uphill climb. Truthfully, if modal clergy were extreme clergy then they, more than likely, would not have been ordained to begin with. 

Crushing Life is Crushing Your Life

Anthropology is the study of humans and society and when the Church is "doing theology", it is informed by anthropology. There are some theologians who have a high anthropology which is a shorthand way to describe the idea that humans and human society are very capable. Americans, in large part, hold a high anthropology. Americans believe humans can "pull themselves up." There is a multi-million industry dedicated to self-help, self-improvement and "life hacks." Even Christian churches teach that if you do things you will get rewards such as growth and joy. A high anthropology gives us the impression that through human creativity and ingenuity the world will be better.

Photo by Andreas Klassen on Unsplash

If a high anthropology is one that puts a lot of faith and hope in the work of humanity, a low anthropology has much less faith and hope in humanity. This does not mean humans are worms and that we are worthless, rather a low anthropology takes seriously the fact that humans are capable of doing great destruction and evil. Even the most educated person can participate in evil acts, even the most loving person is capable of horrendous actions. Having a low anthropology means that one has hope and faith somewhere else. 

For the most part, non-religious people have a much higher anthropology than religious people, but this is not always the case. As mentioned above, many American Christians have a very high anthropology and it is not limited to liberal or conservative expressions of the faith. As such, those with a high anthropology (including but not limited to non-religious) have no idea what to do with Ash Wednesday.

Specifically, Ash Wednesday is a day where the Church stands up to say, "give up." Not give up chocolate or social media, but give up in a more foundation sense. Give up the value of a high anthropology. Give up idea that there will always be success with hard work. Remember that none of your self-improvement will actually work. Hear that the expectations we believe are driving us to be people who "crush life" are the very expectations that are crushing our lives. 

Shifting the Marginalized

Recently I was in a conversation with a church member who shared their concern about shifting who we marginalize. This member said that they have been marginalized in their life and it was a terrible place to be. This member said that they have a concern that the conversations in the UMC around LGBTQI+ inclusion has been dominated by voices that are willing to shift who we marginalize rather than attempting to eradicate the very idea of having marginalized groups! 

Photo by Ryan Searle on Unsplash

Photo by Ryan Searle on Unsplash

I heard this member express concerns that it will be the traditionalists who will be marginalized in the conversation. This was unsettling to this member even as they disagree with the traditionalist position. They could not imagine being a part of a church that would be willing to shift who we marginalize.

It is conversations like this that I have time and time again with members of the local church I am a part of that I offer as evidence to why I support the efforts of the Uniting Methodists. 

If we believe that the faithful way to eradicate angry racism toward people of color is to fight with angry racism toward whites then we truly are lost. Replacing one evil/Sin with the very same evil/Sin with different pronouns then the cycle of violence and scapegoating is alive and well. It is this cycle that Rene Girard identifies at Satan.

Satan, like Christ, is a title not a proper name. While Christ means "Anointed", Satan mean "Accuser." The more we accuse, blame, marginalize and scapegoat others the tighter grip the Satan has on us all. And so you may begin to see that to use tactics that divide people is the very first step to acting as the Satan (Accuser). 

If it is true that you just cannot abide with a community that you believe is doing things that are outside the Grace of God, then perhaps the most faithful response is to move closer to them rather than divide. For division is the second act of the Satan. The final act of the Satan is to move toward eradication of another. And when the other is eradicated, guess what, the Satan will desire another victim. 

Shifting who we marginalize is not the work of the Anointed. It is the work of the Satan. May we not shift the marginalized but rather remove the act of marginalizing. 

Seeing God in the Stranger: Overcoming Fear, Disgust and Hate - Dr. Richard Beck

For the past two years Saginaw United Methodist Church has hosted a speaker series. It is a three hour opportunity to hear from some of the leaders of scholarship in different fields. For instance:

  • Dr. Warren Carter, New Testament scholar, lectured on the Biblical book Revelation. Specifically, how Revelation is a political document as much as it is a theological document. (2016)
  • Dr. Joretta Marshall, Pastoral Care and Counseling scholar, lectured on the art and practice of forgiveness. Specifically what forgiveness is and is not (if you would like to hear more from Dr. Marshall, here are four recordings from an academy for Spiritual Formation). 

Continuing the tradition of excellent content and engaging speakers, Saginaw United Methodist Church is hosting Dr. Richard Beck on March 24, 2018 from 9:00am - Noon.

Photo provided by Dr. Richard Beck

Photo provided by Dr. Richard Beck

According to his Amazon author page Dr. Beck "is an award-winning author, speaker, blogger and Professor of Psychology at Abilene Christian University. Every Monday Richard leads a bible study for fifty inmates at the maximum security French-Robertson unit. And Monday-Friday on his popular blog Experimental Theology Richard will spend enormous amounts of time writing about the theology of Johnny Cash, the demonology of Scooby-Doo or his latest bible class on monsters."

Specifically on March 24th, Dr. Beck's lecture is entitled: "Seeing God in the Stranger: Overcoming Fear, Disgust and Hate". Through this lecture, Dr. Beck will help us see how it is the psychological barriers to practicing hospitality, how Christian hospitality is different than secular hospitality, and what specific ways we can practice this hospitality.

More information regarding tickets to this lecture is forthcoming. In the meantime make your calendars for March 24th!