The Challenge of Spiritual Leadership

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children.  But she had an Egyptian maidservant names Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said (Genesis 16:1-2).

In Orlando, Florida, Riva Tims, wife of deceased pastor Zachary Tims, has been fighting to run the church that she and her husband founded in 1996, the New Destiny Christian Center.  But Pastor Paula White was chosen to run the church, leading to a major divide in the church’s ranks.  The church planned to announce their new leader on January 1.  It is alleged that a survey was sent out to church members asking them if they want Paula White to be their new pastor.  The problem was that no other names were offered for consideration.  Riva Tims made a strong statement about her treatment at church this Sunday on her Facebook page accusing Ms. White of being deceptive, a false prophet, and of sexual promiscuity to influence male church members.  

One member posted a comment on Rev. Tims’ Facebook page:

The church did not belong to Zachary Tims, it does not belong to Paula White, it does not belong to the board of directors, it does not belong to Riva Tims, and it does not belong to her children. The last time I checked, the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the head of the church (Colossians 1:18).

Genesis 16:2 ends with the comment, “Abram agreed to what Sarai said.”  I believe that our nation is in crisis because our cultural, financial, political and religious leadership has been in crisis.  In this election year (2012) we will see Presidential candidates, church bishops, and business leadership, all chosen by less than democratic means.  Money, influence, back room deals, family loyalty, bedroom politics, influence peddling, arm twisting, and lots and lots and lots of money and dental bills to show us that gleaming white smiles or the ability of that person to exact the same in other situations, will determine the outcomes of most of these contests.  Many religious traditions have sacred processes or democratic processes or both for choosing their leadership.  What is happening in our faith communities is a sign of the corruption that is occurring in leadership choices in the larger society.

As a young pastor I had friends in many religious traditions.  I remember distinctly visiting the Metropolitan Baptist Church on the West Side of Chicago.  It was an impressive place, every pew filled.  The pastor, the Reverend E. F. Ledbetter was a genteel soft-spoken man whose words carried great weight with the people.  His life was one of consistent self-sacrifice, humility and strong spiritual leadership. 

He was failing in health and not long for this world, so that this particular Sunday afternoon at a special musical, he stated plainly regarding his successor, “We will vote until a majority decision is made.  I will not choose your new pastor for you, nor will the deacons of the church, nor will anyone appoint himself after my death.  In the Baptist tradition, we believe that ‘the voice of the people is the voice of God.’” 

For some reason this made a great impression.  It was the clearest statement of public religion that I had ever heard from a pulpit, and yet for a young man raised to believe in the virtues of democracy in choosing leaders for our Republic, it was solid stuff.  This congregational policy was new but refreshing. 

I knew the discontent that often followed when the bishop appointed pastors--even my recent appointment as pastor to a church that had no REAL input and decision in my being there, was difficult.  Years later those members would be just as unhappy when the bishop decided that he wanted me to serve in a different parish.  For the past 40 years my family was often uprooted.  This constant moving had a very negative impact on my children as well as the marital relationships.  So the Reverend Ledbetter’s words were music to my ears.  Of course after his death there followed a vitriolic struggle in which one associate pastor split off with a gaggle of members to form another Baptist congregation, and the choice that “deacon’s board” did make was one that ended in yet another poor choice a few years later. 

In the United Methodist Church where I am a clergy member in full connection, we like Baptists, Buddhists, Jews, Hindus, Presbyterians, and many others believe that one needs to be called by God and have a clear sense of this call.  It means that you accept divine leadership and you don’t back away from making decisions because you are trying to please one or more members of a congregation, of a board, of a committee, of a council, of the larger community, etc.  Neither do your spouse, offspring, parents, neighbors, best friends, etc. make decisions for you.  It’s about leadership. 

In the Roman Catholic Church the Church Council advises the pastor, but the final decisions rest with him.  In most religious communities, sermons, matters of faith and practice, selection of other church leaders, etc. are decided by that person called to ministry.  In Roman Catholic, Protestant Episcopal, United Methodist and similar churches, boards, clergy committees of ordained clergy and councils examine those who claim to be called to verify whether or not their calling squares with what those particular communions believe.  It is then the bishops who assign or appoint pastors, after consulting with the local parishes.  In the Presbyterian and other Reformed communities, a classis or presbytery also approves candidates for ordination, and then the decision to accept them as pastors is given to a board of lay elders in each local church.  The United Methodists final decision is with the annual conference to which a pastor is a member, on recommendation by the conference’s board of ordained ministry, which until recently was exclusively a board of ordained clergy. 

Yet, none of these processes guarantees that leaders will be effective God-directed leaders, but having a husband decide that his wife will follow him as pastor or a pastor decide that her/his son or daughter will succeed them leads to the kind of neo-nepotistic chaos we are experiencing that is too evident in too many places in our world.  Examples like North Korea, Chicago, Illinois, the previous Bush Administrations readily come to mind. These are examples of family loyalty and cronyism run amuck.

God called Abram to lead.  In Genesis 15:1 he received a vision in which God said to him, “Do not be afraid . . . I am your shield, your very great reward.”   Later in verse 15:5-6 we read:  “He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them,’ Then he said to him, ‘so shall your offspring be.’ Abram believed the Lord, and God credited this faith to him as righteousness.”

Abram had proved his call, his leadership by believing what God said.  I cannot speak for leaders of the other sectors of our reality, but in the assembly, the church, the meeting house, the mosque, the synagogue, the temple—what defines called leadership is the ability to put God and what God has said, promised, commanded, and proclaimed FIRST.  It is not family first, spouse first, offspring first, friends and cronies first, big donors first, loud critics first, old friends first, but GOD FIRST. 

In all kinds of faith communities in America today, we need God-First leaders, whether the people choose to believe us or not.  Our call was not given to us by “the people—the board—the committee—the council—the conference—the bishop—the deacons.”  The call of authentic, prophetic God leaders must always come from God.  As the people of God, we must exercise our God given rights to affirm that call.  It can never be delegated to a back room or a representative group, because the buck stops somewhere.

Interestingly enough, after Abram “agreed to what Sarai said,” and Hagar, now with child and feeling superior began to despise her, Sarai complained to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering.”  In a real sense this is true, because he had listened to and acted in accordance with what “Sarai had said,” instead of listening to and patiently waiting in faith for what “God has promised.” God’s promises are clear in the Hebrew Bible for all persons who follow in the “faith-steps” of Abraham.

Each of us as God’s people can and must exercise spiritual leadership in 2012.  We must learn to distinguish between what those we love and care about are encouraging us to do, advising us to think, counseling us to consider, and turn always to what God has promised us.  Everyone who exercises faith is part of a “royal priesthood” that is called to lead in demonstrating and witnessing to the power of God’s compassion in the world.  The promises of God are many for we who seek to walk in the spiritual power of God’s unconditional love.  Whose advice are you following this year?   Are you going to lead, or look for someone to pick a leader for you?