From the Top

In any organization, it's been said that the climate comes from the top. The people in the organization become become like their leaders. So there are some dynamics at play here that we all should take note of - whether we are leaders or not.

What kind of climate are you setting for your leaders? Think about the people who are leaders in your life. Parents, heads of households, bosses at work, church leaders, government leaders and others. Do you have expectations of them? Do you trust them? Consider how much what they do or say tends to set the tone for your mood.

I've noticed something about human relationships, and I think it especially applies to leadership. When other people disappoint, humiliate, hurt or threaten us - we feel empty. It's as though a vital part of ourselves has been stolen. When others break the trust we have placed in them - they also break our spirit. And they can do this even when they aren't aware that we've placed our trust in them.

Many years ago, we attended a church that was dynamic and growing. The pastor was charismatic, inspiring and he was a leader that everyone wanted to follow. The worship pastor was a gifted musician. He wore tight jeans and cowboy boots as he pounded the keys on the grand piano - it was a spectacular experience - every Sunday morning!

And then it happened. He committed suicide. Seems he'd been having an affair with a 15 year old girl and the police were closing in on him. He left a wife and family, a solid career and a thriving ministry. We were devastated.

About a year later, the senior pastor got caught having an affair. He was forced to resign in shame - his wife and family crying beside him. Were were devastated. More than that, we were lost. Our church seemed never to be the same again.

What had happened? Leadership had set the tone. We trusted the tone; we followed the leaders. And they disappointed. Our spirits were broken. Trust had been broken.

Bosses in the workplace can do this too. You follow them, you trust them. But they disappoint. It can be something as simple as them not delivering on a compensation promise, or even leaving to take another job elsewhere. Whatever you expected someone to do - he or she didn't do. Or whatever you hoped they would not do - they did.

It's been said that expectations we have of others are really just pre-meditated resentments or pre-planned disappointments. So the analogy is that we shouldn't have expectations of others. I don't really think that's possible though. After all, we're human. Expectations of leaders can't be helped.

So in any kind of organization, the climate comes from the top. What kind of climate are you setting with the people who follow you? Do you even know who those people are?

And if you're in the organization, doing some following of your own - what kind of trust are you placing (or misplacing)? How will you handle it if and when the sky falls? Will your spirit be broken ... or will it be strong enough to sustain the storm?

Spiritual Formation Hiring

A popular new term in Christian churches is spiritual formation. It describes the process through which Christ's character is formed in our spiritual being. Popular author Dallas Willard, however, points out that it is a process that all humans go through, Christian or not. He narrows the definition to how our spirits or hearts are formed, and says it happens to everyone from the saints to terrorists.

I was on staff at a big city church for a couple of years. My title was "Pastor of Spiritual Formation and Ministry Development." It was a mouthful of a title. Of course the elders and senior pastor had defined the title for me when they hired me. But I am still learning to understand what it means. It seems to go deeper than just scheduling educational opportunities for church goers. It seems that the Apostle Paul was a pastor of spiritual formation. There have been many through the centuries. The term has come into vogue only in the last century though.

If you browse the ministry and church job boards, you'll find job postings for associate pastor, senior pastor, executive pastor, pastor of education and all sorts of terms. Sometimes, you'll find a job posting specifically for a pastor of spiritual formation. Usually the credentials they're looking for include things like a master's degree in theology, several years of ministry experience, biblical piety. One has to consider how those credentials translate spiritually. It is certain that many who have such credentials do not seem to impart spiritual formation to others. On the flip side, we must ask ourselves if these are the differentiating credentials that really position someone for success in such a role.

Christian author John Ortberg (who is also pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in California) has some thoughts about hiring for spiritual formation in your church. Let's look at what he says about that. "What kind of person should we hire to do spiritual formation? the most important criterion is this: hire someone whose character and humility and attitude you would like to see reproduced in your church and yourself. .... if someone is going to champion the cause of spiritual life, they have to be at least on their way toward living the kind of life I'd like to live."

Did you catch that? According to Ortberg, it's not the degree. It's not the experience. It's not the age or the references. In fact, it is the kind of credentials that only God Himself could bestow upon someone! Ortberg continues, "... spiritual formation is not mostly about expertise in techniques ... it is having wisdom about how our spirits - our wills; our inner selves and characters - actually do get formed. It's being formed yourself in such a way that other people want to grow in your direction."

It seems to me that churches go about the process of spiritual formation in a variety of ways. Formal study (i.e., college-level courses or degree programs), informal study, community or church involvement, the practice of spiritual disciplines (like prayer, fasting, confession, etc.), and of course ordinary experiences of everyday life lived out with the leadership of the Holy Spirit.

Not long ago, Willow Creek Church in Illinois did a study of its congregation and found an alarming truth, that their people were not maturing. They concluded that Christ's character was not being formed in their congregation --- and of course they determined to change course and address that. Many other churches have come to similar conclusions and are taking similar actions. They put maturity high on the list of priorities and all sorts of maturity programs are being rolled out to address the problem as they understand it (mostly through surveys and informal observations).

As I look at these programs, it seems that more and more, people are concluding that leadership development is an important dimension of spiritual formation. So leadership training is rolled out, with the expectation that it will multiply leaders who can act as pastors of spiritual formation in the church. I wonder if that works. My sense is that it may not, and that the jury is probably still out as to why. You see, I find no shortage of books, programs, teaching tools, tapes, events and even music around spiritual formation. It seems that everyone has an opinion and many have an answer (that they'd like you to purchase).

But I think there is another aspect of spiritual formation that we may be overlooking. If I really want Christ's character to be formed in me --- I am going to have to get a laser sharp focus on Christ. I will need to be taught spiritual disciplines like prayer, fasting, confession, tithing, submission, obedience and even listening to God. But even then, Christ's character won't be formed in me unless God Himself does the transforming work in me. I've read a lot about this and I think Ortberg hit the nail on the head. "Spiritual formation is about having wisdom ... it is about being formed yourself ..."

I think the conclusion to make here is that there are no earthly credentials for someone you'd want to hire to lead spiritual formation in your church. Quite frankly, no one is qualified ... unless God Himself provides the credentials. Now, imagine the challenge that will pose for your church's search committee to word that job posting and filter those resumes!