Occasionally when I have the opportunity for reflection and time to journal, my thoughts go to leadership and what I have learned. There is nothing necessarily profound about these musings other than the fact that I have found them to be real in my experience and I have the scars to prove it. Perhaps they may prove beneficial for others:

• Any effective leader should expect relational conflict and realize that sometimes such conflicts are not resolvable. The onus on a leader in such circumstances is to do whatever is within his/her ability to make things right and then leave the results to God.

• Good leaders …those exercising spiritual leadership …hear from God and are open and sensitive to confirmation of that word through others

• Many mistakes can be avoided by the wisdom of a multitude of counselors. Proverbs is right!

• Followers can shrewdly exploit a leader’s weaknesses and blackmail him/her to the point of impotence and indecisiveness.

• One of the true test of leading is the ability to persevere and press ahead regardless of the opposition.

• Doing what is right for another person’s welfare may be more important than the relationship itself.

• God must be the one who ultimately vindicates a leader’s decisions and reputation.

How does one choose whom to invest in when it comes to leadership development and training? In my experience, an array of factors influence such selection including:

Faithfulness – I’m not interested in people who are flakes.
Availability – I cannot pursue someone who doesn’t want to be pursued. I’m looking for eager people.
Teachability – It is not my desire to cram a blessing down anyone’s throat.
Giftedness – I cannot make someone into something where God has not provided the raw material.
Chemistry – If I’m going deep with a person, I need to like them and want to spend time with them.
Character – A core commitment to personal integrity is an essential.
Passion – I’m looking for people who burn with zeal for the things of God.

In the final analysis, the choice is not mine. Before he chose the 12, we find Jesus spending a whole night in prayer with the Father. This illustrates not only the critical nature of such decisions, but the ultimate sovereignty of God in dictating the choices.

Some of my greatest mistakes in ministry have been when I have failed, for one reason or another, to embrace this principle of leadership selection.

“This principle of selectivity and concentration is engraved in the universe, and will bring results no matter who practices it, whether the church believes it or not. Some might object to this principle when practiced …on the ground that favoritism is shown toward a select group in the church. But be that as it may, it is still the way that Jesus concentrated His life, and it is necessary if any permanent leadership is to be trained.”

– Robert Coleman in The Master Plan of Evangelism, Chapter 1

In cultures such as mine where egalitarianism strongly influences our understanding of fairness, notions of selectivity run against the grain. If “all men (and women) are created equal,” how can we choose, as Jesus so clearly did, without it appearing discriminatory and prejudicial?

The facts are that sanctified selectivity:

1. Enables one to physically manage relationships and not be spread too thin,
2. Makes it possible to go deep with a few so that the life-change is profound,
3. Is an acknowledgment that not everyone has the gifts and calling to be the object of such intense leadership development,
4. Recognizes that God is at work at different paces and stages with each individual,
5. Is always a means to a much greater end,
6. Is an essential for the sustainability of any movement.

– (Painting is “The Calling of Matthew” by Hendrick Terbrugghen (1588-1629) of the Dutch Utrecht school).

“Jesus concern was not with programs to reach the multitudes, but with people whom the multitudes would follow. People … who would lead … were to be his method of winning the world to God. The world is desperately seeking someone to follow. This is the decisive question of our age. The relevance of all that we do waits on its verdict, and in turn, the destiny of multitudes hangs in the balance.”

Probably next to the Bible, the most influential book in my life has been Robert Coleman’s classic little volume, “The Master Plan of Evangelism.” I know that’s a strong statement, but it is not an exaggeration. This is one of those basal books that I return to time and time again. It lays out in simple, yet compelling language a philosophy of ministry that I believe is worth my all.

When this mortal existence is over and done, I would long for nothing more than a legacy that has emulated the life of Jesus in how he imparted vision and life to a handful of those who were his closets followers. I am convinced beyond all doubt that such an investment in the lives of carefully selected leaders, who can in turn multiply to succeeding generations, will affect the course of history and the fate off nations.

“Master Plan of Evangelism, The,” (Robert Emerson Coleman)

In my experience, ineffective spiritual leaders:

1. Have issues with authority. They have never learned to be a follower.
2. Experience little closure. They don’t or can’t complete processes. There is a lack of faithfulness in the small things.
3. Gravitate to extremes. For example: there is a demon behind every bush and life is super-spiritualized or they only understand the human dynamic of ministry and there is little room for the supernatural.
4. Have never thought through a clearly articulated philosophy of ministry.
5. Cannot tell the difference between their ambitions and God’s desires, most often because they have never learned to hear from God. Their “theology of guidance” is warped.
6. Do not listen well and don’t ask questions. They are unteachable. Usually, this stems from an arrogant, know-it all, self-absorbed perspective.
7. Are uniquely susceptible to acts of the flesh because they have not dealt with their emotional “stuff” and are unaccountable.

Another principle that Clinton emphasizes in strategic leadership transition is Goodwin’s Expectation Principle which comes from a small booklet on leadership written by Bernie Goodwin, published by InterVarsity Press.

“Emerging leaders tend to rise up to the level of genuine expectations of older leaders whom they respect.”

This powerful social dynamic assumes some important pre-requsites:

1. Emerging leaders and older leaders are in relationships of meaning.
2. Older types understand such a principle and see the value in it. They are willing to invest in such relationships.
3. The old heads have also earned the respect of the newcomers. The grey hairs are models worth emulating.
4. The emerging leaders are teachable and desirous of learning from those who have gone before.
5. The older leaders know how to mentor, coach and communicate expectations with a genuineness, humility and transparency that inspires.

I honestly believe that there have been few motivators more powerful in my life than having someone believe in me. I can name the handful whom God has used in such a profound way. They trusted me. They spoke “faith” into my life. They emphasized my strengths and not my weaknesses. They were conduits of God’s grace, kindness and acceptance. They saw for me beyond what I could see for myslef. They enhanced my relationship with Jesus and urged me on in the pursuit of God. They loved me. I would not be who I am today without them.

May I be as faithful in the lives of selected emerging leaders as those who have gone before have been in mine.

It seems so simple. But Clinton’s principle of co-ministry for the development of emerging leadership is profound:

“Co-ministry with higher-level leaders is a must. Such a ministry raises the status of an emerging leader toward the status of the respected leader he/she co-ministers with, gives exposure to the organization’s people, and provides experiential learning.”

There is no substitute for taking someone along. One of the best means I have of sharing and imparting life with younger leaders is to get them out of their comfort zone, travel with me and be immersed in ministry settings around the world. It’s amazing what can be accomplished through many hours together at 35,000 feet in the air, punctuated by on-the-ground experiences with people in the trenches of real life and ministry in cross-cultural venues.

The principle is another way of stating the obvious when we closely examine the life of Jesus. He trained the 12 in the midst of ministry to the multitude. His process was not some isolated, ivory tower experience. Rather, it was an intensely relational form of mentoring which took place in real life with all of its physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

One of Bobby Clinton’s more significant contributions to my own thinking and practice as I move into a new season of ministry responsibility has been regarding “strategic leadership transitions.” Of his ten principles, his comments about mentoring as a primary means are particularly applicable:

“Mentoring (both from within the organization and without) must be intentional and in terms of developmental needs. A whole range of mentoring is needed. There should be short term mentoring as well as long term mentoring. Mentor sponsoring, of course, is the major thrust of the whole strategic leadership transition function. But coaching (of the next needed leadership level skills is a must). Spiritual direction is paramount. Contemporary modeling is a major way younger leaders learn about leadership. Taking younger leaders with you and allowing them to sit in on major problem solving activities and seeing how decisions are made will speed their development as leaders, immensely. Sponsoring is crucial and should be deliberate. This includes linking to important needed resources-including people and finances. Send them to seminars and workshops and conferences and pay for it. Send them to school if that can help, and pay for it.”

What I wrote in yesterday’s post (9- 2-06) is mostly aimed at the church in its traditional, modern setting.

But what about the “emerging” church? How can those within these creative, emerging expressions of the church who have a passion for the world beyond their own communities be effectively stifled? What could be done to straight jacket what God wants to do with them?

1. Believe that the necessity for such workers and such ministry is passe’, doesn’t exit, or is “too modern for us.”
2. Be so enamored with social justice and a holistic gospel that we fail to embrace the clear commands of scripture regarding the evangelistic mandate or reject such categorization out of hand.
3. Have a lack of appreciation and understanding of the doctrine of spiritual gifts and be unable or unwilling to help identify those emerging leaders who may be gifted and called to ministry across social, linguistic or cultural barriers.
4. Convince them that just because they are enjoying life as a missional community in one cultural milieu, they can then duplicate the same forms of community in another.
5. Help them buy into the theological and historically naive concept that structurally the church in its local expression is the same as the church in its cross-cultural missionary form.
6. Encourage them to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the past 500 years of missionary activity and missiological understanding. Write it all off as modern, institutional or non-organic.
7. While astutely helping them apply missiological eyes to their own mono-cultural settings much better than their modern brethren, simultaneously fail in helping them to apply the same understanding to the international and cross-cultural dimensions of the missio dei.
8. Embrace a theological posture that says only “presence” is necessary for kingdom influence.
9. Consider hell a repulsive, outmoded concept for the postmodern mind and work to erase any motivation that could stem from the biblical reality that people without Jesus risk eternity separated from God.
10. Be like many of those committed to the radical discipleship movement or the Anabaptist tradition who have been so concerned for the purity of the church and living counter-culturally that they are rarely able to engage contemporary culture and instead, remain irrelevantly on the fringes.
11. Encourage them to read, think, write and blog about being missional but don’t empower them to do much in practice.
12. Write off mentors from the over 50 crowd as out of touch and irrelevant.
13. Inculcate such an anti-institutional bias and suspicion of authority that they become useless in a neo-monastic or sodalic ministry context which will require discipline, followership and sacrifice.

1. Force them to go through a “missions preparation” program which effectively weeds out the entrepreneurs.
2. Don’t consult with anyone who has ever lived with cross-cultural realities when you design your requirements for those who will be sent.
3. Choose people to oversee your mission efforts who have no experience or understanding of cross-cultural realities.
4. Make missions a “program” instead of seeking to make your church missional.
5. Decide to support missionaries 100% of their budget. It creates marvelous dependency.
6. Have standards that Mother Teresa or the Apostle Paul incarnate couldn’t meet.
7. Require seminary.
8. Make sure they have taught 5th grade Sunday School class as a pre-requisite which demonstrates loyalty to the church.
9. Imbue an ecclesiology that believes the sending church is supreme and missionary entities are appendages.
10. Ignore the concept of leverage and only support “front line” workers.
11. Adopt a trendy and unsophisticated view of missions that only supports those going to unreached people groups.
12. Placate the control freaks and don’t let potential missionaries raise money from anyone in the church.
13. Limit whom they can minister with to your own denominational or creedal group. Perish the thought that they would be contaminated by touching those who may be their neighbors in heaven.
14. Encourage “storehouse giving” so that all their money must come through the church.
15. Convince your congregation that short-term, tantalizing overseas experiences are most effective so that there is little money, prayer or commitment left for the few willing to commit their lives to longer term, incarnational, sacrificial service

“If the horse you’re riding dies, get off. “

Seems simple enough. When something doesn’t work, find a better way. Unfortunately in the religious world, being ruthlessly pragmatic is not a often embraced value. Instead, we often choose from an array of other alternatives which include:

1. Buying a stronger whip.
2. Trying a new bit or bridle.
3. Switching riders.
4. Moving the horse to a new location.
5. Riding the horse for longer periods of time.
6. Saying things like, “this is the way we’ve always ridden this horse”.
7. Appointing a committee to study the horse.
8. Arranging to visit other sites where they ride dead horses more efficiently.
9. Increasing the standards for riding dead horses.
10. Creating a tests for measuring riding ability.
11. Comparing how we’re riding now with how we did ten or twenty years ago.
12. Complaining about the state of horses these days.
13. Coming up with new styles of riding.
14. Tightening the cinch.
15. Blaming the horse’s parents. The problem is often in the breeding.

“We will either find a way or make one.” – Hannibal crossing the Alps

Bobby Clinton writes:

“I was quite impressed with Hannibal’s 18 year campaign against Rome. I have no problem imagining him saying the above quote. His crossing the Alps was just such a “making a way.” There are times in our pilgrimage for soft leadership, “finding a way” (consensus, relational, getting ownership, etc.) and then there are times for hard leadership (deciding and convincing, forceful) when we must “make a way.”

Interesting that “soft leadership” is the present mode in vogue in the West. Yet as Bobby notes, that’s not the only way that effective leadership is always exercised. We see both hard and soft throughout history and both are certainly evident throughout the biblical record. While leavened by the tether of scripture, the type of leadership demanded in any given setting is highly situational and depends on what is needed in the context.

In my own experience, when I have been compelled to lead “hard,” it has often come with a price particularly when exercised among independent self-sufficient people in my own culture. I have had to learn over the years to be at peace when opposition or criticism may arise and realize that often, it may be the result of poor followership and not necessarily because I have been compelled to lead with decisiveness and “make a way.”

Warren Bennis, one of the most respected authors on the subject of leadership and founder of The Leadership Institute at USC, writes that the crisis of leadership in our institutions and governments is in many ways the most urgent and dangerous threat facing the world today because “it is insufficiently recognized and little understood.” Drawing on 40 years of studying leadership, Bennis says that effective leaders share five characteristics. They have:

1. A strong sense of purpose, a passion, a conviction, a sense of wanting to do something important to make a difference.
2. Are capable of developing and sustaining deep and trusting relationships. They seem to be constant, caring, and authentic with other people.
3. Are purveyors of hope and have positive illusions about reality.
4. Have a balance in their lives between work, power, and family or outside activities. They do not tie up all of their self-esteem in their position.
5. Demonstrate a bias toward action and while not reckless, they do not resist taking risks.

No one person in the Protestant world comes as close as Billy Graham does to being a unifying, patriarchal figure. Having personally spoken in front of more people than any other individual in history, Graham’s decades of ministry around the globe have been marked by humility, integrity, and the clear anointing of God.

Now at age 87, he is experiencing what leadership emergence theory calls “afterglow” and NEWSWEEK magazine labeled “In Twilight” in its August 14th, 2006 cover story. The article is well worth the price of the magazine or can accessed free at msnbc.com

There is much that can be learned from a leader, such as this, who is finishing well. Nestled in the NEWSWEEK article are many memorable quotes, among them:

“All my life I’ve been taught how to die, but no one ever taught me how to grow old…. The older I get, the more important the eternal becomes to me personally.”

The interviewer goes on to comment:

“Graham now prizes peace. He is a man of unwavering faith who refuses to be judgmental …a resolute Christian who declines to render absolute verdicts about who will get into heaven and who will not; a man concerned about traditional morality … who will not be dragged into what he calls the “hot-button issues” of the hour. Graham’s tranquil voice, though growing fainter, has rarely been more relevant.”

Describing developmental stages for those who lead, J. Robert Clinton writes:

1) Younger, less experienced people in leadership, need the focus of spiritual formation in their lives, in whatever studies or experiences they are involved in,
2) More experienced people need ministry formation in what they are studying and experiencing.
3) Older more experience people need strategic formation at this point in their lives.

Spiritual formation is the shaping activity in a leader’s life which is directed toward instilling godly character and developing inner life.

Ministerial formation is the shaping activity in a leader’s life which is directed toward instilling leadership skills, leadership experience, and developing giftedness for ministry.

Strategic formation is the shaping activity in a leader’s life which is directed toward having that leader reach full potential and achieve a God-given destiny.

In real life, these formations are mixed up, happen simultaneously and are sometimes overlapping. But for the purpose of definition they can be separately identified. And when studying the early formation of a leader, the middle formation of a leader and the latter formation of a leader the observations above hold in general; most spiritual formation occurs early-on; most ministerial formation develops over the first several years of ministry; and most strategic formation develops as one matures in ministry and begins to focus on longer term direction.

J. Robert Clinton from his studies in the book of James writes:

“Christian faith which has the ring of authenticity is:

• tested and strengthened by temptation,
• manifested in life style,
• illustrated by control of one’s words,
• is rooted in character with proper underlying motivations, and
• waits for the Lord’s coming with expectant prayer-answering faith.

Authenticity is a dominant trait looked for by “post-modern” people examining Christianity particularly in light of the HIV/Aids pandemic, the millions of kids at risk and the injustices in our world. Does our Christian faith have a ring of authenticity? Is it manifested in a life style that is challenging the great needs our world? In light of these issues, James comes alive in a fresh/new way.”

(Painting is the Apostle James by El Greco, circa 1610-1614, who was known as the first great genius of the Spanish School).

Here is short list on how to frustrate, stifle and squash a leader, particularly those with any sense of apostolic gifting:

1. Force them to go to school
2. Give them too much money
3. Tell them all the reasons why something can’t be done.
4. Swamp them with paperwork and administration.
5. Give them people to lead who are excessively needy.
6. Limit their travel and keep them in mono-cultural contexts.
7. Consistently correct them when they are provocative or prophetic in their communication.
8. Make certain any initiative they take must go through multiple steps of approval.
9. Insert “conserve” and “maintain” into all their conversations.
10. Have someone who “gift projects” strong pastoral gifting supervise them.
11. Tell them to stay when they want to go.
12. Make certain they have plenty of rules and policies to live by.
13. Give them a precise, detailed, inflexible job description.

Any suggestions about what could be added to the list?

No figure in American public life has been studied, analyzed and dissected as much as Abraham Lincoln.

While not a new book, Donald Phillips volume, Lincoln on Leadership examines the 16th president in light of his leadership strengths and abilities. Some of the principles Phillips derives from Lincoln’s leadership are:

Advocate a vision and continually reaffirm it
Build strong alliances
Circulate among followers continuously
Search for capable, intelligent assistants
Encourage innovation
Persuade rather than coerce
Influence people through stories and illustrations
Be results oriented

“Lincoln on Leadership: Executive Strategies for Tough Times” (Donald T. Phillips)

C. Peter Wagner in his seminal work on biblical holisim, Church Growth and the Whole Gospel writes:

“Mission structures, at least the better ones, do not have a broad vision. They are single-minded and concentrate on one task. Their narrow vision is part of their very nature, not something to be criticized.

The better mission structure leaders frequently exhibit three characteristics which broader-minded pastors need to understand and appreciate (although at times it is difficult to do so).The better mission structure leaders are:

1. Convinced that their task is the most important task in the kingdom of God
2. Convinced that their particular organization is going about the task better than any other similar organization.
3. Have a low need for people and a high dedication to the task.”

“Church Growth and the Whole Gospel: A Biblical Mandate” (C. Peter Wagner)

This excerpt is from an email that J. Robert Clinton, professor of leadership at Fuller Seminary, puts out weekly. Bobby’s admonition is worth repeating.

________________________________________

“In my opinion we have only one guarantee for an effective lifetime experience as a leader. We must be people of the Word.

In one of my opening classes I use an illustration, which shows that most leaders who have studied at Bible Colleges and Seminaries in the U.S. actually stop really studying the Bible for their own personal growth and lifetime basis for decision-making between the ages of 30-40. The conclusion that I draw in Having a Ministry That Lasts is:

Effective leaders should have an appropriate, unique, lifelong plan for mastering the Word in order to use it with impact in their ministries.

Few leaders master the Bible without a proactive, deliberate approach, which plans to do so. It does not just accidentally happen. For what I mean by “master,” see my book, Having A Ministry That Lasts.

My studies in the volume Focused Lives (1994) revealed that all of the 8 leaders studied the Bible as a lifelong pursuit:

Simeon (1759-1836)—Strategic Mentor
Gordon (1836-1895)—Missionary Minded Pastor
Brengle (1860-1936)—Public Saint
Morgan (1863-1945)—World Class Bible Teacher
Jaffray (1873-1945)—Missionary Pioneer
McQuilkin (1886-1952)—Bible College Founder
Mears (1890-1963)—Recruiter of Leaders
Maxwell (1895-1984)—Missionary Trainer

All were people of the Word all their lives. While they had their own unique approaches to study of the Bible, they were disciplined in doing so. And they finished well!

Daniel was still studying the Word in his-mid 80s. I [Bobby] have about 15 more years to go to catch-up with him. Do you have some plan for mastering the scriptures over your lifetime? Are you still studying, learning, and growing in the Word of God—whether or not you are preaching or teaching something?”

“Leaders win through logistics. Vision, sure. Strategy, yes. But when you go to war, you need to have both toilet paper and bullets at the right place at the right time. It doesn’t matter how brilliant your vision and strategy are if you can’t get the soldiers, the weapons, the vehicles, the gasoline, the chow or the boots to the right people at the right place at the right time.” – Tom Peters

I see it all the time. People with great ideas and passion. Men and women with incredible vision. The blogging world is full of this type of verbiage. But how do you make it happen? How does one translate ideas into reality?

Great vision, without the resources and the means to carry it out, is only a dream.

The Christian movement is littered with people of magnificent vision who never were able to translate their idealism into action. And the critical issue all too often the acquisition of resources. It’s logistics. As General of the U.S. Army, Omar Bradley of WWII fame bluntly put it:

“Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics.”

The lesson to be learned: Behind every great movement, somewhere lurking in the shadows, is someone with logistical genius.

“The leader is rarely – possibly never – the best performer. The best leader is rarely the best pitcher or catcher. The best leader is just what’s advertised: the best leader. Leaders get their kicks from orchestrating the work of others – not from doing it themselves.”

– Management guru, Tom Peters

In my early years of leadership of CRM, I received some stinging criticism that I was “out of touch with the field” and “needed to go back and get my hands dirty doing the same thing as those we were sending around the world to do.”

With my proverbial tail between my legs, I had a chat with Bobby Clinton. In his indomitable wisdom, Bobby helped me to see that leading from a posture of “competent” leadership was quite limited and that I had already outgrown the ability to lead in such a manner. I should not expect (nor should others) that I could minister as competently as the growing number of those whom I led. Their skills, language abilities, and specialized competencies far outstripped mine. I could never keep up. Instead, he suggested I focus on two things:

1. Spiritual authority was the preferred posture that I should grow into where people follow because I have grown in my ability to hear from God and then lead from his perspective.

2. When faced with such criticism, to respond by saying: “You’re exactly right. I can’t do what you do as well. But neither can you do what God has called me to do in my leadership of the whole.”

That was liberating!

J. Robert Clinton writes:

“It is important to note that Jesus demonstrated power ministry as part of his recruiting technique. You must be able to move with power as you challenge people.”

I believe the “power” that Clinton refers to has two aspects:

First, is gifted power. It may emanate from an exhortive or prophetic gift where one can speak with unusual force into a life. Or it may be a gift of knowledge where information is utilized that could only be available through supernatural means. This is what we see in the first chapter of John’s gospel in how Jesus interacts with Nathanael.

Gifted power may also be demonstrated through the types of signs and wonders missiologists refer to as “power encounters” where the power of God directly and overtly confronts the powers of evil. Elijah and the confrontation of the prophets of Baal in I Kings 18 is a example.

Secondly is spiritual authority. Clinton has written much about this. According to him, “Effective leaders value spiritual authority as a primary power base…” and “Leaders who dominantly rely upon spiritual authority as the major power base will usually have good followership.” Simply put, spiritual authority results in a leader journeying deeply with God, being able to hear from God, and then acting accordingly.

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer puts it:

“Genuine authority realizes that it can exist only in the service of Him who alone has authority… The Church does not need brilliant personalities but faithful servants of Jesus and the brethren…”

J. Robert Clinton writes:

“Jesus recruited from the fringes, in terms of leaders who could be shaped, and not from the current religious leadership which had very fixed paradigms.”

This week I spent an evening at a large event that was realted to one of Southern California’s prominent mega-churches. Driving home in silence, I was sobered by the celebrity-satiated scene. Shallow …plastic …superficiality …all are words that seemed to describe the fare. Nothing really bold. Although his name was invoked, his attachment to this venue it was far from the Jesus I see in the context of 1st century Palestine.

That evening was a representation of a contemporary religious establishment in which there appears to be little spiritual authenticity, reality or power. The pool for potential leadership in such a context seems sorely lacking in genuine spiritual authority. It was sad. Very sad.

I have little hope that the leadership of the future will be able to percolate up through such a system. Consequently, we may need to look elsewhere for people who are dissatisfied with the establishment – “on the fringes.” Those are the men and women in whom we need to invest …those on the edge and those willing to go there! God has always used such individuals to shatter the status-quo and bring vitality and health to the Church in every generation.

“One of the most important lessons from history is that the renewal of church always comes from fringes, and we mean always.” – Hirsch and Frost in The Shaping of Things to Come, pg. 194.

J. Robert Clinton writes:

“Recruitment refers to the deliberate effort to challenge potential leaders and to engage them in on-going ministry so that they will develop as leaders and move toward the accomplishment of God’s destiny for their lives.”

I see the intentionality Clinton describes as sadly lacking throughout the Christian movement of our day. It is one of the greatest shortcomings in the traditional, institutional church. Regardless of what continent we observe, the leadership gaps are daunting.

In the Western world, the problem persists in new expressions of the church as well. In my exposure with the “emerging church,” this seems particularly true as the movement reacts to the top-down, autocratic, hierarchical models of modernity. But I fear in this reaction, what is lost may be worse than the distortion which has rightly provoked the reaction.

There is no way, if we are faithful to the historical texts, that we can get around the intentionality of Jesus in the cultivation, selection, and development of those who followed him and who were to be the leaders of the movement he left behind. His strategy was elegant and highly intentional. it was not democratic. It was not consensual. It was not egalitarian.

While not mechanistic, Jesus was incredibly deliberate in this pursuit because he knew the future of what he had begun depended upon its outcome. And his “recruiting” to his Kingdom cause was a profoundly spiritual undertaking.

One of the more thorough studies of this theme, overlooked in our time, is Scottish theologian A. B. Bruce’s The Training of the Twelve. First published in 1871, its original extended title – in true 19th century form – was “Passages out of the Gospels Exhibiting the Twelve Disciples of Jesus Under Discipline for the Apostleship.” Nevertheless, for over a hundred years it has been considered one of the major Christian classics of the 19th century.

*Painting is by the Italian master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573-1610) depicting the resurrected Christ and Thomas the doubting disciple.