Leadership Series: Part 1. The Apostle as Leader

As I approach the subject of leadership, I must begin with a question:

"What is it about my leadership philosophy that differs from what could be considered a traditional leadership philosophy?"

After all, there are plenty of good books on leadership. What could I possibly have to offer you that would be different? I was recently reminded by JE at The War College, the difference is I lead from my apostolic gifting.

Therefore I will attempt to share apostolic insight with you in this Leadership Series. And necessarily, this insight will be biblically based. So let's start right there and offer you my most shocking statement at the very beginning:

The church is not a business. therefore those gifted in Administration should not be the ones leading the church.

Let's look at 1 Corinthians 12:27-28 (NIV), "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues."

The church is the Body of Christ. Here Paul gives us an image of a group of members that works together to accomplish its mission. We are all a part of the working-together relationship; we all have a roll to play. In this body, God has established an order. The Greek words here are clear:

First = Proton, [Greek 4412, Strong's] firstly (in time, place, order, or importance):- before, at the beginning, chiefly, (at, at the) first (of all).

Second = Deuteros, [Greek 1208, Strong's] second (in time, place or rank; also adverbial):-afterward, again, second (-arily, time).

Third = Tritos, [Greek 5154, Strong's] third; (as noun) a third part, or (as adverb) a (or the) third time, thirdly.- third (-ly).

Then = Epeita, [Greek 1899, Strong's] thereafter.- after that (-ward), then.

The order we are given is Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, then general categories of gifts such as miracles, healing, service and helps, THEN those with Administration, and finally those with gifts of speaking in Tongues.

Now if we toss out Gifts of Tongues (there are more than one type of Tongues gift) and flip this list upside down, we get a kind of leadership pyramid for a business. O wait! That's what the church does today! Well, not really- parts of the church accept tongues as a gift (oops!).

Here's why this is important: A good business makes good business decisions. But a good church will often make decisions that fly in the face of good (common sense) business decisions!

For example: Joshua, leading the "church" of his day, goes before his CEO and asks for a battle plan to take Jericho (Note: Joshua doesn't call a committee together, he goes to God). With tongue NOT in cheek, said CEO basically tells him to "Walk around the city many times for a week, then yell at the wall."

Sounds like a solid, common sense plan to me . . . NOT!

Imagine a business board of Directors today responding to such a plan by their CEO:

"Say WHAT?!"

"What are you on, man?!"

"Security! Get this NUT out of here!"

Why the discrepancy? Because it's God who is our ultimate leader and even his "foolhardiness is FAR above our human wisdom!" Now Joshua is a simple example, but I think you get my point.

Yes, there is some good advise we can take from the business world, but that human wisdom should not be the largest factor in deciding the future of any Christian denomination.

That said, if we take a good look around Christian denominations today, we see an entire structure of church leadership based around discovering those in our midst who are gifted in Administration and getting them into leadership positions. Oh, did I mention we don't really believe in Apostleship today (or we've neutered it by turning it into the "missionary" gift)? Simply put, an Apostle is a spiritually creative leader (there's a lot more to it, but I'm trying to keep this basic).

Fortunately, there are those Administrators with a gift-mix that includes Apostle, so the church does "get it right" now and then. Yet I've seen that kind of leader struggle with being expected to fit into the old mold (ever read "A Peacock in the Land of Penguins?"). Isn't it sad we don't structure our churches (systems/bodies) in a way that would help us discover people gifted for God's philosophy of leadership?

I should point out that there is no question that when founded, TSA was led by a powerful Apostle- William Booth. And I must not forget the other half of the team- Catherine was the Prophet. In God's design for leadership, he often "hitches" a visionary Apostle with a ground-rooted Prophet. That way the Apostle doesn't float off in the clouds, but can be kept "tethered" by the Prophet holding his/her feet (Oh those visionary leaders)!

And perhaps that's a good place to stop for now, because it leads us to Consensus- a way for the Body to work together and discern God's plan for moving forward.