Conversation with the church leaders
Last week, we had the chance to talk to two leaders who serve the church.
The way this meeting came about was because one leader had a conversation with Uncle Simon about their different perspectives of church leadership.
One leader commented that there may be a lack of leadership in the English congregation because there are no new English deacons, and there are very little Executive Board members from the English side.
Uncle Simon shared his perspective - that leadership doesn't necessarily have to be the officially recognized church leadership, but rather, the English congregation has its own definition and practice of leadership.
And so uncle Simon invited these church leaders to share about their experiences, their hopes, and their frustrations about leadership.
Feedback
After class, I was speaking to a few people and I heard some pretty interesting remarks. Some include the following:
- I never knew the 'official' church leadership was so messy
- We should develop more unity
- When they were sharing, I felt like I was being talked down to
- the church won't be able to keep going with its existing leadership structure
- do we need to go to the exec board to practice leadership
I'm not sure if you're familiar with church politics or how you felt after that talk, but I personally am quite encouraged by these type of conversations - and here's why.
One Body with Many Members
I used to complain that our church leadership is stuck in a time-warp: that they operate out of a leadership model from the 70s. They still might, but that's not the point here. I have since learned more about how scripture really does give insights into real and practical issues of life and how we can move pass complaining.
In 1 Corinthians 12-14, we see Paul hammering the issue of division/disunity. The church of Corinth was messed up - there were power strugglings, people claiming one ministry/spiritual gift was better than another, and ultimately nothing was done with a loving spirit (does this sound familiar?).
So Paul writes in 12:12 that 'all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.' And we're not just one body, but in 12:27 we 'are the body of CHRIST and individually members of it'. And of course if we were to exercise our rights/priviledges/gifts as members of the body 'but do not have love, then I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal' (13:1).
I think the talk with the church leaders is a step in the right direction. They have expressed their frustration in not being able to understand our culture/generation. They also admit that they cannot do the same things they've been doing all the time. They want to pass on the leadership baton to us.
They just don't know how.
Let's figure out how to better serve one another out of love and learn to help each other grow past any cultural/generational barriers.
I think that's what it means to be the body of Christ.
The way this meeting came about was because one leader had a conversation with Uncle Simon about their different perspectives of church leadership.
One leader commented that there may be a lack of leadership in the English congregation because there are no new English deacons, and there are very little Executive Board members from the English side.
Uncle Simon shared his perspective - that leadership doesn't necessarily have to be the officially recognized church leadership, but rather, the English congregation has its own definition and practice of leadership.
And so uncle Simon invited these church leaders to share about their experiences, their hopes, and their frustrations about leadership.
Feedback
After class, I was speaking to a few people and I heard some pretty interesting remarks. Some include the following:
- I never knew the 'official' church leadership was so messy
- We should develop more unity
- When they were sharing, I felt like I was being talked down to
- the church won't be able to keep going with its existing leadership structure
- do we need to go to the exec board to practice leadership
I'm not sure if you're familiar with church politics or how you felt after that talk, but I personally am quite encouraged by these type of conversations - and here's why.
One Body with Many Members
I used to complain that our church leadership is stuck in a time-warp: that they operate out of a leadership model from the 70s. They still might, but that's not the point here. I have since learned more about how scripture really does give insights into real and practical issues of life and how we can move pass complaining.
In 1 Corinthians 12-14, we see Paul hammering the issue of division/disunity. The church of Corinth was messed up - there were power strugglings, people claiming one ministry/spiritual gift was better than another, and ultimately nothing was done with a loving spirit (does this sound familiar?).
So Paul writes in 12:12 that 'all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.' And we're not just one body, but in 12:27 we 'are the body of CHRIST and individually members of it'. And of course if we were to exercise our rights/priviledges/gifts as members of the body 'but do not have love, then I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal' (13:1).
I think the talk with the church leaders is a step in the right direction. They have expressed their frustration in not being able to understand our culture/generation. They also admit that they cannot do the same things they've been doing all the time. They want to pass on the leadership baton to us.
They just don't know how.
Let's figure out how to better serve one another out of love and learn to help each other grow past any cultural/generational barriers.
I think that's what it means to be the body of Christ.
posted by Yu-Ling at
12:05 PM
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