Paradigm 13 ("Leading beyong the obvious")
Edmund Chan speaks of 'efficiency" (ability to do things right) and "effectiveness" (wisdom to do the right things). Then he adds a third characteristic of leadership that he calls "efficacy", defined as "doing the right thing at the right time in the right way with the right motive to ultimately produce the right results". His argument for the existence and practice of this third characteristic is that as Christian leaders we primarily need alignment with God, rather than accomplishment for God. He then gives examples of God's contrariwise, inefficient way of working and urges us to be like God in the way He works.
I thought we should ask ourselves whether Chan's point is contrived and sourced in a love of alliteration rather than Biblical truth. Surely the standards he sets are too high for most of us to achieve! I asked:
1. How can we aim for efficacious leadership in practice? How can we tell when a counter-intuitive move is required?
2. How does the need for efficacy relate to the need for thorough planning? What is the role of planning in Christian leadership anyway?
My answer lies in the idea that it is really Biblically important to align with God's nature and God's methods. Efficacy as defined by Edmund Chan is not a management strategy to 'successful' leadership - it is a theological imperative. Like Jesus, we must do what our Father in heaven is doing. His way is always the way of humility and small things (1 Cor 1:10-31, Zech 4:10, Mt 13:31-32). Our planning must be done with a motive and in such a way that it expresses our alignment with God, rather than becoming that which we rely on for success.
It takes a measure of certainty to dare to do something counterintuitive because we (and those around us) are geared to expect visible results. This certainty can only come as a fruit of communion with God. So we should be encouraged if we are faithful in little things and appear to be spending time with insignificant people. This is how God works, and we are to work where and how He works. The understanding of how God works in the world is the basis for Edmund Chan's aphorism to "think big, start small and build deep". I take this to mean that, in general, we should aim for sustainable, organic growth with life-on-life encounters. The 'obvious' big programmes should be followed up by planning for life-on-life follow-up that is not obvious. In the light of this, pulpit preaching and teaching programmes transmit potentially life-changing truth, but will not change lives until the hearers apply that truth. More often than not, that application requires the gradual life transformation that comes when one walks with the hearer.
We considered Mt 17:24-27 and what Peter would have been expected to learn.
We can see that this was a miracle (Jesus spoke to Peter first, showing supernatural knowledge; it was the first fish caught, with a coin in the mouth - not swallowed, precisely of the value Jesus stated). In his miracle, Jesus shows his sovereign power. He gives Peter an unforgettable lesson.
Why did Jesus not make coins the way he broke bread in the feeding of the 5000? Instead, he performed a miracle in the everyday work of Peter, a fisherman.
Why only a 4-drachma coin? Why not a gold coin to pay for all the disciples? Jesus was exact in meeting the need of the moment. Sometimes, God 'splurges' on us, and sometimes, He gives us precisely what is needed, and no more. We should be sensitive to the possibility that in the disappointments and delays of our lives God is working out His usual counter-intuitive strategy of the best for us and for those our lives touch.
This miracle shows that that God's sovereign power is freely exercised on behalf of His children.
Jesus shows grace and gentleness in identifying with those Jews in the old covenant who truly need to pay the tax. He shows that God's children *may* pay as God's non-children pay, so as not to cause offense, but have the freedom not to pay.
At one level, Jesus is proclaiming our freedom from the requirements of the old covenant. At another level, Jesus illustrates the principle that God gives to us the means to give to Him (c.f. Augustine's prayer: "Command what You will, and give what You command").
We celebrated Joshua's birthday!
I thought we should ask ourselves whether Chan's point is contrived and sourced in a love of alliteration rather than Biblical truth. Surely the standards he sets are too high for most of us to achieve! I asked:
1. How can we aim for efficacious leadership in practice? How can we tell when a counter-intuitive move is required?
2. How does the need for efficacy relate to the need for thorough planning? What is the role of planning in Christian leadership anyway?
My answer lies in the idea that it is really Biblically important to align with God's nature and God's methods. Efficacy as defined by Edmund Chan is not a management strategy to 'successful' leadership - it is a theological imperative. Like Jesus, we must do what our Father in heaven is doing. His way is always the way of humility and small things (1 Cor 1:10-31, Zech 4:10, Mt 13:31-32). Our planning must be done with a motive and in such a way that it expresses our alignment with God, rather than becoming that which we rely on for success.
It takes a measure of certainty to dare to do something counterintuitive because we (and those around us) are geared to expect visible results. This certainty can only come as a fruit of communion with God. So we should be encouraged if we are faithful in little things and appear to be spending time with insignificant people. This is how God works, and we are to work where and how He works. The understanding of how God works in the world is the basis for Edmund Chan's aphorism to "think big, start small and build deep". I take this to mean that, in general, we should aim for sustainable, organic growth with life-on-life encounters. The 'obvious' big programmes should be followed up by planning for life-on-life follow-up that is not obvious. In the light of this, pulpit preaching and teaching programmes transmit potentially life-changing truth, but will not change lives until the hearers apply that truth. More often than not, that application requires the gradual life transformation that comes when one walks with the hearer.
We considered Mt 17:24-27 and what Peter would have been expected to learn.
We can see that this was a miracle (Jesus spoke to Peter first, showing supernatural knowledge; it was the first fish caught, with a coin in the mouth - not swallowed, precisely of the value Jesus stated). In his miracle, Jesus shows his sovereign power. He gives Peter an unforgettable lesson.
Why did Jesus not make coins the way he broke bread in the feeding of the 5000? Instead, he performed a miracle in the everyday work of Peter, a fisherman.
Why only a 4-drachma coin? Why not a gold coin to pay for all the disciples? Jesus was exact in meeting the need of the moment. Sometimes, God 'splurges' on us, and sometimes, He gives us precisely what is needed, and no more. We should be sensitive to the possibility that in the disappointments and delays of our lives God is working out His usual counter-intuitive strategy of the best for us and for those our lives touch.
This miracle shows that that God's sovereign power is freely exercised on behalf of His children.
Jesus shows grace and gentleness in identifying with those Jews in the old covenant who truly need to pay the tax. He shows that God's children *may* pay as God's non-children pay, so as not to cause offense, but have the freedom not to pay.
At one level, Jesus is proclaiming our freedom from the requirements of the old covenant. At another level, Jesus illustrates the principle that God gives to us the means to give to Him (c.f. Augustine's prayer: "Command what You will, and give what You command").
We celebrated Joshua's birthday!
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