October 22, 2006

Glynn Cardy

Pentecost 20     Mark 10:35-45

Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people who do the right thing. [i]

Jesus, I believe, was a leader, not a manager. The gospel reading this morning gives us the opportunity to reflect upon leadership – the sort of leadership Jesus offered, and the sort of leadership we need today.

Good management is essential in any organization. People need to be heard and understood; good processes, protocols, and safety provisions need to be in place; conflict needs to be mediated and resolved; and employees and clients' hopes and expectations need to be taken seriously. Good management usually leads to increased productivity and profit. This is what many people understand to be leadership.

There is no evidence in the biblical texts that Jesus was a manager. There are no stories of him sitting down and listening to the hopes and fears of Peter; or patiently mediating in conflicts between the disciples; or emphatically caring for those who gave up their jobs and businesses to follow him. Those who posit that Jesus pastorally coached his disciples are largely arguing from what is unsaid in the texts rather than what is said. However there is no doubt in anyone's mind that Jesus lived and preached a vision, and challenged others to follow him.

I think the Church has a bad habit of trying to domesticate Jesus. It paints him as meek, mild, and obedient, a kindly shepherd always ready to listen, guard and comfort. It tries to portray him as apolitical, as if that was possible in 1st century Palestine. Similarly the Church has wanted its leaders to be meek, mild, and obedient, always ready to protect and console, and of course be apolitical. 'Servant leadership' is the term.

The Church wants to be safe. It wants leaders who will make people feel safe. It asks its leaders to faithfully adhere to the traditions and understandings of the past in the mistaken belief that repetition will bring security. It asks its leaders to care for the members. It asks its leaders to coach and equip the members in caring. And it asks its leaders to care for outsiders - but not at the cost of neglecting the members. Like a well-run club the wellbeing of members is paramount because the highest value in the Church is continuity. Is it accidental then that we appoint people into positions of authority who have highly developed managerial skills?

Jesus wouldn't have got a job in the Church, and if he had he would have turned it down. The Bible portrays him as confrontational, challenging, and disturbing. He was rude to those in authority. He disregarded the rules. He spent more time with the unfaithful than he did with the faithful. He got into heated arguments and said outlandish things. He had grandiose ideas that didn't seem to lead anywhere. He was impractical. The bottom line was: Jesus served no one but God. An employee of the club needs to serve the needs of the club.

Jesus promoted a political and spiritual vision of an upside down kingdom where the last are first and the first slaves. It is a place where the CEO's wash the feet of the unemployed. It is a place where the outsiders are in, and the insiders choose to be out. It is a place where the 99 sheep are deserted in order that the lost one is found. It is a place where the despicable find a home.

In this vision Jesus will not sit on a throne with his two trusted lieutenants beside him, sycophants serving him, and his army available in the wings. Rather it is vision where the forces of oppression will hang him on a cross, with two thieves beside him, with Roman soldiers dividing his meagre assets, and a few women wailing beneath him. Siding with outsiders made Jesus an outsider. Threatening the powerful made Jesus a threat. There is a terrible cost to ignoring safety.

James and John, and in Matthew's account their mother, didn't understand the vision or the cost. On the way to Jerusalem, the pinnacle of religious and civic power, they thought glory was coming and the fishing nets were far behind. They thought they were, with God's help, soon to overcome any opposition, then triumph and reign. And, being entrepreneurial upwardly mobile graduates of the Galilean Leadership Academy, they thought they would put their hands up first for the best jobs.

You can almost hear Jesus groan. They didn't get it. They didn't understand what triumph and glory would be. Jesus' vision had not penetrated their hearts, let alone their heads. The cost hadn't entered their equation. Neither did the other disciples get it. They were just envious that the Zebedee brothers had put their hands up first.

I'm reminded of these words: “Most of the people who mourn the passing of a national leader wouldn't know a leader if they saw one. If they had the bad luck to come across a leader, they would find out that he or she might demand something from them, and this impertinence would put an abrupt and indignant end to their wish for his or her return.” [ii]

The leadership of Jesus demanded something of the disciples, and demands something of us. It demands commitment to making his vision a reality in our lives. As Ghandi said, “We must become the change we want to see.” It demands a commitment to stand with outsiders and both criticise and seek to dismantle the structures that keep them there. When you stand with outsiders in time you become one.

Most of what is called leadership today in the Church is a blend of management and leadership. We need both. The worry is that in the order to maintain 'productivity' we will nurture risk-adverse strategies ('Keep doing the same things but just do them better!') and encourage our clergy to be managers more than they are leaders. Despite any rhetoric to the contrary the church primarily employs pastors, not prophets.

Two stories, one of good management and one of good leadership:

“An influential British politician kept pestering Disraeli for a baronetcy. The Prime Minister could not see his way to obliging the man but he managed to refuse him without hurting his feelings. He said, “I am sorry I cannot give you a baronetcy, but I can give you something better: you can tell your friends that I offered you the baronetcy and that you turned it down.” [iii]

Good management. Now for good leadership:

“Of the great Zen Master Rinzai it was said that each night the last thing he did before he went to bed was let out a great belly laugh that resounded through the corridors and was heard in every building of the monastery grounds. And the first thing he did when he woke at dawn was burst into peals of laughter so loud they woke up every monk no matter how deep his slumber.” [iv]

Good leadership. A leader defines reality - both for him/herself and for others. That's what that laugh was doing. How much laughter is there in your Church or workplace?

The word “servant” or “serving” needs to be carefully used in relation to leadership. As a friend once said, “When I see cleaners, waitresses, and rubbish collectors becoming bishops and priests I'll believe the Church has servants as leaders.” He has a point. 'Servant' has socio-political implications.

What do we mean in the Church by the word 'serving'? Does it mean that our priest should be on every committee? I would say that reflects an inability to trust others. Does it mean that our priest knows every parishioner's needs, and where possible attends to them? I think it is the vocation of every Christian to be a good neighbour and care for one another. By expecting the priest to do it we are neglecting our baptismal vocation.

I remember one vicar who for twenty years had a wonderful reputation among his parishioners. He was always there for them, always caring, always available. However in the 20 years he served that parish both his family and his health fell apart. He had succumbed to an uncritical understanding of 'servant leadership'.

Self-care is not optional. You live what you are. The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. If reality is solely your business or your Church then you have failed to understand what spirituality is and the importance of transformative love [the essence of God] permeating all of your life and relationships. I think a priest's job description should be simply “To pray Jesus' vision into being”. Period. But please don't think I mean something passive when I use the word 'pray'.

When you are, like myself, a recipient of privilege (and it is a privilege to lead) you have the obligation to use that privilege and its power wisely. This is what 'serving' is. 'Serving' doesn't mean necessarily doing the dishes. Often it is harder to make small talk with the dignitaries out front than pick up a tea towel out back. 'Serving' is about being conscious of the good fortune and grace bestowed upon you, and treating all others with grace and dignity as equals. The opposite is arrogance, which unfortunately is all too common.

The task of the Christian leader is to articulate a vision and to lead people in the transformation of society in line with that vision. Further, and intimately connected with this, is the ability to live and engender the spirituality that will sustain both the struggle and its outcome. This is how Jesus led. When he died he left others to manage. Thankfully some of them had the courage and tenacity to lead.

[i] Warren Bennis.

[ii] Lewis Lapham.

[iii] De Mello, A. The Prayer Of The Frog, Anand: Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, 1988, p.154

[iv] De Mello, A. The Prayer Of The Frog, p.172.