The Missional Leader: Go First
There's no way to get around it.
If you want your people to live a missional lifestyle, if you're going to ask people to be missionaries in their own neighborhoods and workplaces, you have to go first.
The leader goes first.
It's not enough to talk about it. It's not enough to read others' stories and repeat them. It's not enough to study Scripture.
You need to go first and find out what actually happens when you personally start to put missional practices into play outside the church building.
Pastors ask me all the time, "How can my congregation become more missional?" The answer is always the same, "You personally will have to become more missional first."
My good friend, Pastor Jeff Meyer at the Church in Madison, Wisconsin, says that this realization came upon him like a blinding flash of the obvious. "If I wanted my church to change, I as the leader had to change first."
It might, indeed, seem obvious when we say it out loud, but it can't be taken for granted. The fact is, many pastors who are wanting to "take their church missional" are not leading the way with their own lifestyle choices. A couple weeks ago I was talking with a gentleman who presented himself as a missional coach. I asked him, "What are you personally doing to live missionally?" He didn't have an answer. I wasn't all that surprised. Believe it or not, more often than not, this is par for the course.
In Matthew 23:3closeMatthew 23:3 3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. (ESV) closeMatthew 23:3closeMatthew 23:3 3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. (ESV) 3 so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. (ESV) , Jesus is getting on the Pharisees pretty fiercely because, "...they do not practice what they preach." That is still a weakness of American church leaders.
If our people are going to follow our example, we need to go first. We need to go back to our neighborhoods and personally figure out how to connect with people we do not yet know. We need to figure out how to naturally and authentically deepen relationships with people who may not share our values. We need to figure out how to value just hanging out with people without there being a clear agenda or stated outcome to pursue. We need to figure out how to share good news with people when they aren't coming in to sit in our pew or in our office first. We need to discover how the Holy Spirit actually works outside the church building.
The leader goes first.
If we say, "But I'm too busy," we are leading our members to do the same.
If we say, "But I don't know what to do," we are leading our members to do the same.
If we say, "My work in the church building is more important," we are leading our members to do the same.
However, we can reverse course and lead in a new direction.
"I am too busy, so I am making some new choices so I have more time in my neighborhood."
"I don't know what to do, so I am getting started by having a BBQ and inviting my neighbors to have some fun."
"My work in the church building is important, but so is BEING the Church outside the building. Where can I regularly volunteer to be 'on the streets' of my local community?"
That's good leadership. There's no way to get around it.
Rev. Greg Finke
Executive Director of Dwelling 1:14
Training leaders for discipling and missional living
281-844-7644
