I am deeply convinced that the Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her own vulnerable self.
The great message that we have to carry, as ministers of God’s word and followers of Jesus, is that God loves us not because of what we do or accomplish, but because God has created and redeemed us in love and has chosen us to proclaim that love as the true source of all human life.
Human beings live not by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. - Jesus.
In our world of loneliness and despair, there is an enormous need for men and women who know the heart of God, a heart that forgives, that cares, that reaches out and wants to heal.
The Christian leader is the one who truly knows the heart of God as it has become flesh, ‘a heart of Flesh’ in Jesus. Knowing God’s heart means consistently, radically, and very concretely to announce and reveal that God is love and only love and that every time fear, isolation, or despair begin to invade the human soul this is not something that comes from God.
Within the Christian leader, the desire to be relevant and successful will gradually disappear, and our only desire will be to say with our whole being to our brothers and sisters of the human race, ‘You are loved’.
The leaders of the future are truly men and women of God, people with an ardent desire to dwell in God’s presence, to listen to God’s voice, to look at God’s beauty, to touch God’s incarnate Word and to taste God’s infinite goodness.
Christian leaders cannot simply be persons who have well informed opinions about the burning issues of our time. Their leadership must be rooted in the permanent, intimate relationship with the incarnate Word, Jesus, and they need to find there the source for their words, advice, and guidance.
Jesus sends the twelve out in pairs. We keep forgetting that we are being sent out two by two. We cannot bring good news on our own. We are called to proclaim the Gospel together, in community. The Bible tell us ‘If two of you agree on earth to ask anything at all in my name, it will be granted to you by my Father.’
Whenever we minister together, it is easier for people to recognise that we do not come in our own name, but in the name of the Lord Jesus who sent us.
As Jesus ministers, so he wants us to minister. He wants us to feed his sheep and care for them, not as ‘professionals’, but as vulnerable brothers and sisters who know and are known, who care and are cared for, who forgive and are being forgiven, and who love and are being loved.
Laying down your life means making your own faith and doubt, hope and despair, joy and sadness, courage and fear available to others as ways of getting in touch with the Lord of life.
We are not the healers, we are not the reconcilers, we are not the givers of life. We are sinful, broken, vulnerable people who need as much care as anyone we care for. The mystery of ministry is that we have been chosen to make our own limited and very conditional love the gateway for the unlimited and unconditional love of God. Therefore, true ministry must be mutual. When the members of a community of faith cannot truly know and love their shepherds, shepherding quickly becomes a subtle way of exercising power over others and begins to show authoritarian and dictatorial traits.
It is servant leadership in which the leader - to use Robert Greenleaf’s term - in which the leader is a vulnerable servant who needs the people as much as they need him or her. (Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness.)
What then, is the discipline required of a leader who can live with outstretched hands? I propose here the discipline of a strenuous theological reflection. Just as prayer keeps us connected with the love of Jesus, and just as confession and forgiveness keep our ministry communal and mutual, so strenuous theological reflection will allow us to discern critically where we are being led. Theological reflection is reflecting on the painful and joyful realities of everyday with the mind of Jesus and thereby raising human consciousness to the knowledge of God’s gentle guidance. This is a hard discipline, since God’s presence is often a hidden presence, a presence that needs to be discovered. The loud, boisterous noises of the world make us deaf to the soft, gentle and loving voice of God. A Christian leader is called to help people hear that voice and so be comforted and consoled.
In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadershp Henri Nouwen
