Eyes to See (MMOW3)

Four years ago I was invited into and excitedly agreed to enter into a co-leadership experiment. Neither one of us would outrank the other, we would collaborate and communicate and share all responsibility. At the time, I thought we had all the right conversations to avoid confusion and that our expectations were the same. I was wrong. But I still believe the co-leadership thing is doable. I believe it is exactly how Jesus shows us in flesh and blood we are to do this church thing, how we are to live.

Now that it has become public that this particular experiment failed, people I know who are leaders in the church are saying ‘it can never work’. I’m saying, respectfully of course, that by following Jesus it can. It should. It must if we are to be Jesus-led leaders. It is ego that says it can’t work and it is ego that caused it not to work.

It is ego that causes us to view life through the lens of competition and ego that demands we think of and work to prove ourselves as being the best or number one or top-dog. It is ego that tells us we have to take others down to make enough room for ourselves. And when ego is ruling the kingdom we cannot ‘co’ anything. We cannot work with ourselves, others, or even God because our hands and heads are too busy trying to hold power over others to protect ego.

When we choose to follow Jesus, we must check our egos at the gate to God’s Kingdom-on-earth-as-in-heaven. The leadership that Jesus shows and teaches by his life is a co-leadership. To lead and to have power over others are not the same thing. Jesus does not teach us to hold power over anyone. In fact he very clearly tells us not to. He redirected the disciples when they questioned him about who is the greatest and who among them would have the best seats in the Kingdom. When we see leadership as power, we’ve lost the Jesus plot.

Jesus-led leaders don’t attempt to control anyone or anything. They don’t insist on always having the final say or the only say. Jesus-led leaders work with others always seeking the best for the community they lead/serve, not what strokes their ego. Jesus-led leaders use the power of their position to equip and enable others to fulfill their ministries in the Kingdom-on-earth-as-in-heaven. Jesus-led leaders work with others for the building up of the Kingdom. If in our leadership we are causing harm, we must stop and seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance to recalibrate our compass toward God.

Now, please don’t hear me that there shouldn’t be authority structures. There needs to be if we don’t want chaos. God brings order to chaos and our agreed upon, healthy, authority structures bring order to human life and enable us to thrive. Even within the existing authority structures we are in, we must continuously pay attention and locate our undiscovered biases that perpetuate holding power over others. We must ask for the eyes to see and ears to hear how world-oriented leadership causes harm and be willing to grow and change.