by Neville Callam, General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance
(On April 4 2008, Neville Callum, gave this address to a Vose Leadership breakfast gathering of Christian leaders.)
Especially in these days, much is being made of the question of leadership in the Christian community. The concern for our subject is driven by a number of trends. I will refer to only three of these.
First of all, we live in an age in which there is a concerted assault on authority and authority figures. In post-modern cultures in which there is an overwhelming concern for the autonomy of the individual – the individual’s right to believe what he or she thinks, and the individual’s freedom from any obligation to follow where others lead – whatever be the traditional interpretation of their power to lead – it is not surprising that what leadership means and what makes for good leadership are issues that are on the agenda of both church and world.
Especially within Protestant and evangelical communities, where there is great diversity in leadership patterns and practices, the question of leadership is being raised again and again. People want to know that those who lead understand that they are servants. People want a more participatory approach to decision-making. Too infrequently, people also want to know the biblical/theological basis for the forms and conduct of leadership that they experience in the church. The net result is that our subject has assumed great importance. And this situation is not alive only in Protestant and evangelical churches.
There is a third reason why the subject of leadership in the church has become such a popular issue in our times. Increasingly, many church people living in our secular culture are expressing great confidence in the theories of management which emanate from those who have given concentrated focus on this area, even if they have no sense whatsoever of the need for their convictions to be grounded in theological consideration. The result is that, as the principals of four Baptist theological colleges in Britain said, in 1997, a great challenge faces the churches. Because “uncompromising rejection of worldly notions of leadership and authority lies at the heart of the covenant community of trust,” “instead of organising hierarchies of control, God gives creative freedom for people [in the churches] to belong together in mutual trust which is open and vulnerable.” At no time should we fear this. If we do, we turn aside from faith and trust, and put our reliance on the structures of power that we establish to achieve the goals we set while keeping us in control of the process.
The challenge posed by our inclination to follow secular theories of management is well expressed by authors like William Tinsley. He warns that when we seek to develop a vision for a church, what we ought to be doing is to discover God’s vision for that church. We must remember, he says, that “most of the ‘vision casting’ processes created by the corporate world and adopted by our churches are designed to discover what comes from us.” And he adds: “God’s vision comes from outside of us, captures us and compels us to go places and do things we would never have done on our own.
It is the heavenly vision that should drive us on.
Rather than attempting to find a new formulation to characterize the profile of Christian leadership in the 21st century – a task that has been addressed repeatedly in our time – what I would wish to do is to mention some of the concerns that I have heard emanating from various parts of the Baptist world. Let me make it very clear that what I am going to share are personal reflections drawn from my own experience of contact with people in the regions of the BWA. These are not perspectives based on scientific or even systematic enquiry. They are impressionistic and debatable and do not by any means represent the last word on the subject.
Asia/Pacific
Let me begin in the Asia/Pacific region. You would no doubt have read in January 2008 Volume of apbf digest Bonny Resu’s challenge to Baptist in this region. Resu identifies several challenges that Christian leadership faces in the region, including:
1. the “need to work and speak for justice, for human rights and freedom of religion”
2. the “need to work for the uplift[ment] and empowerment of the poor,” the need to “care for the weak and needy”
3. the need for coordination in mission
4. the need to offer training to younger leaders and in-service training for pastors, and
5. the great need for churches and their leaders to develop skills in conflict resolution.
It is my understanding that generally in Asia there seems to exists, in some places, an admirable respect for people of old age. An admirable reverential attitude toward those who have spent much time on this planet, and are believed to have gained much from the extent of their experience, has been having a negative effect in some areas. It is that those in church leadership who are so treated are finding it hard to celebrate the blessings God has bestowed upon them and, at the appropriate time, consider that their useful years in church leadership are behind them. The net result is that, after serving, often with distinction, for many years, feelings of insecurity are emerging when they are around younger leaders. The passion to hold on to leadership positions grow more intense and the kind of succession that values continuity in ministry in a particular setting is compromised.
Authentic Christian leadership is leadership that knows when to let go and readily does so. We must be able to discern when our work in a particular area of ministry is done and confidently move on to other challenging opportunities that God opens up for us.
Of course, as you know, this is not a concern that relates only to Asia. But that’s the place where I have heard it being emphatically asserted in recent times. Christian leadership in the 21st century must recognize the share of all Christians in decision-making concerning the ministry of the church. The importance of the ongoing need to raise up a generation of younger leaders is not to be forgotten.
Africa
I hear several concerns emerging from the vast continent of Africa regarding the matter of Christian leadership. I mention one.
African Christian leaders continue to explain the importance of relating the treasure of the Gospel to the cultural context in which people live. The argument is that God has always been with the African people, even if the people never realized it. As a result of God’s long journey with the people, whatever emerged in the cultural traditions of the people prior to their contact with Christianity should be valued for what it is worth while, of course, negative aspects are abandoned. The inculturation of the Gospel may be taken to include the re-interpretation of ancient traditions so that they may be accommodated within a Christian worldview. In other words, the people’s experience before they came to know about Jesus Christ should be drawn into the ambit of Christian community concern and interpreted in the new context.
In this regard, the traditional African sense of the proximity of the spirit world, for example, might draw people into a greater understanding of the bonds that bind them together and lead them into an experience of the sense of community that finds its place in Christian understanding.
It is interesting how the African notions of ujamaa harambe, and ubuntu, have been taken up and used in the quest to give expression to how the people understand their relationship in community.
Of course, the concept of ujamaa came to our attention through a Tanzanian experiment. It was the notion that guided Julius Nyerere’s push for collective ownership in the country’s agricultural system. It represents a stirring call for a people’s togetherness, unity, cooperation and familyhood.
It was Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta who appealed for harambee as a rallying cry for the people’s unity and co-operation. Harambee describes a pattern or way of life characterized by existence-in-relation. Harambee denotes the need for people to pull together as an expression of the bond they share and the common concerns and purposes that hold them together.
And of course, ubuntu conveys the idea of humanity toward others, fellow feeling. It represents “a belief in the universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity.” It is this idea around which people were able to galvanize in the post apartheid period. Ubunto reflects the South Africans’ belief that a person is a person through others. It underlines how one’s humanity is caught up and inextricably linked with the humanity of others.
It is the function of Christian leadership to appropriate, from the culture, elements that may be useful as a vehicle for the communication of the truth of the Gospel. In this work, Christian leaders have a profound responsibility as inspirer of a people’s togetherness and of their faithfulness in the service of the one they call Lord.
Latin America
Only in Africa is there an explosion of numerical church growth comparable to what is happening in Latin America. There appears to be, among Christians, a rebirth of missional commitment that is driving a process leading to rapid discipleship and evangelization.
This process is not marked by an evangelistic fervor that forgets the necessary link between mission and discipleship. Nor is it a movement that ignores the need for the commitment and participation of the total church membership.
In Brazil, for example, the youth are not ignored in the special efforts to recruit, train and send on mission for Christ, those who should become the new agents for the evangelization of people. Christian leadership is not only leading in the recognition of the centrality of mission in the church’s life, but also in the intentional recruitment of young people as valued participants in the enterprise of spreading the Gospel.
105 Brazilian Baptist young people are involved in the “Volunteers without Borders” Project in three areas: Africa, Latin America and two colonies of Portugal – Cabo Verde, São Tomé/Príncipe. Originally, they were called “Radicals”, but the word “radical” is problematic for people in some parts of the world. Thus, the group has also been given the name “Volunteers without Borders”. In Brazil, however, they are still referred to as “Volunteers without Borders/Radicals”.
Furthermore, in the implementation of their international mission strategy, 311 of the 563 persons serving in 57 countries overseas are people who were born and grew up in the place where they serve. This is very praiseworthy. Do you remember how clearly Zhang Guangzheng, an engineer and lay member of the Shanghai Community Church, answered the question why Chinese people no longer consider Christianity a foreign religion? This is what he said:
In society, the Christian Church occupies the same place as Buddhism, Islam and Yaoism. This is the same in cities and in rural districts. How could this be possible? It is by proclaiming the Chinese Christian Church indigenous and independent… The Chinese Christians are instructed that they must be both Chinese and Christian at the same time (p. 161).
Yet - and this is particularly interesting, at least to me - concern is emerging in Latin America about the reticence of leaders in the Christian community, including Baptists, who are unable to speak clearly about the pneumatological dimensions of Christian existence.
For reasons of culture, and out of reaction to the rapid growth of Pentecostalism in their area, some are downplaying the importance of the Holy Spirit in Christian initiation and nurture. They fear that by speaking about the Spirit, they may strengthen the hand of the Pentecostals, whom they regard as their competitors. Others feel that an emphasis on the Spirit may strengthen the hand of those who have introduced fantastic schemes into the Christian community that seem to compromise a proper understanding of the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
Take, for example, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. This group that began in the 70s is a rapidly growing institution. Combining elements from African culture with the prosperity Gospel and a peculiar understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit and strong emphasis on exorcism to enable the believers to overcome the work of the devil in their lives, they have attracted a strong following.
Take, as another example, the G-12 movement which adopted the methodology of the cell church and introduced a number of theological distortions. For example, forgiving God for unanswered prayers, rite of anointing the sexual organs of married couples to enhance happiness in marriage, and the ministration of spirits. This includes, for example, the ministration of the spirit of David upon ministers of music, others musicians and singers to enable them to become more effective in their ministry.
In this new century, Christian leadership must remember the calling that the church has. It is a calling to participate in “God’s design to gather all creation under the lordship of Christ (Eph 1:10) and to bring humanity and all creation into communion [with the triune God]. ”
Christian leadership must recognize the centrality of mission in the church’s life and must intentionally strive for the engagement of all age-groups in the church as valued partners in the enterprise of spreading the Gospel. Meanwhile, it must never be unmindful of the place and role of the third person of the Trinity in the process of empowering those who would serve the cause of Christ. In fulfilling the call to mission, Christian leaders have nothing to fear in the rediscovery of the Trinitarian understanding that has emerged in our historic Christian faith.
European & North American Concern
When the forces of secularism are marching forward at an amazing speed and traditional understandings underpinning life in community seem to be tottering, Christian leaders in Europe and North America do seem to need to rediscover two things: the power of prayer and the capacity to hope.
Consciousness of the power of prayer is needed, in a situation marked by a determined effort to ignore the church and to overlook its relevance to life in the contemporary world. In the new constructions of the European identity, unless the church asserts itself, the understanding of contemporary European identity could completely set aside all that suggests there is any good in the heritage bequeathed by the Christian Churches in Europe.
The capacity never to lose hope is desperately needed amidst the emptying of churches, the falling away that opens the door for angst to take hold and to destroy the confidence of those who still dare to hold on to the faith.
Meanwhile, in North America, finding a way to lead the people of God through the changes that are taking place in society is a major challenge for Christian leadership. Insofar as some Baptists are concerned, so widely has the name Baptist become associated with right wing forces that some churches are changing their names, dropping the word Baptist, disguising the fact that they are indeed Baptist churches. This is not about post-denominationalism. It is really about shame surrounding a particular confessional identity. Would it be a better challenge to rehabilitate the name Baptist, than to become complicit in the creation of a caricature of what being Baptist means? Well, some would and some would not agree. Add to this the lack of enthusiasm for denominational identity, and you will see the challenge faced by Christian leaders in North.
Christian leadership in Europe and North America must rediscover the power of prayer and the capacity to hope if the churches are to retain their vitality as expressions of a divine institution. Meanwhile, many are seeking new ways of being church that will possibly attract the skeptics.
The Caribbean
In the Caribbean, about which I will say very little, Christian leadership faces the challenge to keep its focus on developing a theology that can deal with the pain associated with the memory of enslavement, the legacy of colonialism, imperialism and neo-imperialism, and the challenges leading people to develop friendship with violence and drugs in the desire for survival.
It is interesting to see how Indians share the same concern for a theology to deal with their cultural identity in a work like Tribal Voice edited by V. Anshely Sumi.
Conclusion
What I have said about the topic you asked me to address is essentially this:
Both ordained and non-ordained Christian leadership face many challenges in the 21st century. I have mentioned a few:
1. the challenge of recognizing the share of all Christians in decision-making concerning the ministry of the church and the urgency of the ongoing need to raise up a generation of younger leaders in the church;
2. the challenge of relating the Gospel of Christ to the cultural context in which people live;
3. the challenge of recognizing the Trinitarian foundation of human engagement in mission;
4. the challenge of rediscovering the power of prayer and the capacity to hope if the churches are to retain their vitality as expressions of a divine institution, and
5. the challenge of maintaining the focus on developing a theology that can deal with the threats and challenges the people face.
Thankfully, the endowments required for Christian leadership to exercise its
responsibility are not of human origin. The one who sends the church on
mission also empowers the church for mission and God raises up leadership
to serve the churches’ faithfulness in its vocational engagement.
Some resources
General
Tinsley, Robert Finding God’s Vision: Mission and the New Realities. Veritas Publishing, 2005. p. 13.
Kidd, Richard ed., On the Way to Trust. Whitley Publications, 1997
The Nature and Purpose of the Church: A stage on the way to a common statement. Faith & Order Paper no. 181,1998.
Asia
apbf digest Vol. 1 No. 1, January 2008
V. Anshely Sumi, ed. Tribal Voice. Aloino Centre Publication, 2007
Lak, Yeow Choo Doing Theology with Asian Resources: Theology and Politics. Vol. 1, ATESEA, 1993.
Africa
Baur, John 2000 Years of Christianity in Africa: An African Church History. Paulines Publications Africa,
1998
Bujo, Bénézet & Juvénal Ilungu Maya (ed.) African Theology in the 21st Century: The Contribution of the Pioneers Volume 1. Paulines Publications Africa, 2003.
Bujo, Bénézet & Juvénal Ilungu Maya (ed.) African Theology in the 21st Century: The Contribution of the Pioneers Volume 2. Paulines Publications Africa, 2006.
On ujamaa, see the works of Julius Nyerere
On harambee, see the works of Swailem Sidhorn
On ubuntu, see the works of Desmond Tutu, Dirk Louw & Alan Falconer