Last night Isaac came up to me and said to me for the first time, "Daddy, I have to ask you a question." I knelt down, looked him in the eyes, and asked him, "What is it?" He stammered a little bit because of the importance of the question and then asked, "Does Superman run?" I replied that he is the fastest runner but remember that Superman is not real. He's just made up. Isaac proceeded to run around the house proclaiming that he was Superman and would grab a hold of Lindsay's leg declaring that he is saving her.
Too often we are like Isaac and get hung up on people's abilities or achievments and try to copy them. He mimics the abilities because he is much too young to grasp mimicing the heart. What actually makes Superman's abilities great and heroic is the heart that they are combined with. Superman is a hero, not because of his abilities, but because of the core of his being.
When we see great things done by men of God, let us not want to mimic the task. Let us strive to mimic the faithfulness that allowed the task to happen. If we don't we'll be just like my son running around the house saying he's Superman. We will be doing similar actions but lacking any of the power.
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I want to clear up a few things. First, I think the ideal we strive for is leading by consensus. An unhealthy church should probably not do such a thing. But in a Spirit-filled body, consensus would just be a natural thing. The Spirit of Christ lives in all of us and would help us to encourage one another that we are heading in the right direction.
In the larger church setting (even in the church I attend of 80-100 people), the consensus needs to only occur in the leadership. There are too many people to do otherwise.
Leading by consensus is not a lack of being guided by the Spirit. It is a check to make sure that what we lead is from the Spirit and not just external expressions of our still somewhat selfish hearts. It is difficult to tell the difference between the two. "Being led by the Spirit" becomes almost destructive if we believe it is just between God and me. There needs to be accountability and people sharpening one another.
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One of my biggest hangups with the one man, top-down leadership style is what to do when we take it out to its logical conclusion. At its logical conclusion stands the Pope, one man who is the person with a better link to God concerning the direction of all churches. The concept of the Pope is the main reason I have chosen to not become a Catholic. It frustrates me because I believe the Catholics are the most loving church in America; however, I do not buy that one man has a better link to God than others. My question for those who do believe in the one man, top-down leadership: How do you say there shouldn't be a Pope?
Watch out for the potholes.
