Editors, JACL

English

Andrews University

Journal of Applied Christian LeadershipVolume 5 | Number 2 Article 12011Embracing a Paradox in LeadershipJACL EditorsAndrews University, jacl@andrews.eduFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/jaclPart of the Leadership Studies CommonsThis Editorial is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal ofApplied Christian Leadership by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contactrepository@andrews.edu.Recommended CitationEditors, JACL (2011) "Embracing a Paradox in Leadership," Journal of Applied Christian Leadership: Vol. 5: No. 2, 4-6.Available at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/jacl/vol5/iss2/1EDITORIALEMBRACING A PARADOX IN LEADERSHIPI love to travel by airplane. It allows me to comfortably escape thetyranny of gravity and get to the other side of the world in about a day or so. Did I say comfortably? I just arrived in Europe. Now that I haverecovered from being folded for hours into the most uncomfortablechairs, not designed for my long back, I realize that I really don’t likethis mind-numbing experience requiring you to sit still for hours wear-ing a seatbelt around your waist. But I have learned to live with this par-adox surrounding modern travel: on the one hand, the unprecedentedfreedom and enrichment that comes from being able to work in differentparts of the world; on the other hand, the inconvenience of adapting tocarefully constructed confinement designed to keep me safely in the air.While I embrace that tension that allows me to travel, I have been hoping against hope for some creative solution that would allow me to sit more comfortably without having to pay business class prices. Paradox is also part of the daily fare of Christian leaders. While weare responsible to the organizations and churches we lead, our ultimateaccountability is to God himself. What happens when this sense ofaccountability to God presses Christian leaders to challenge long-heldexpectations? At what point is it acceptable to deviate from communalconventions to be true to one’s conscience? Any leader who has ago-nized over such issues knows that the tension is sometimes unbearable.A similar tension arises when leaders have to decide how to navigatebetween caring for individuals and the needs of the community. ForMichael Cafferky, this is one of the core tensions Christian leaders face,often causing conflicts and ethical dilemmas in the day of a Christianleader. In fact, Cafferky maintains that this intersection of the individ-ual and communal dimensions of leadership is “sacred ground” uponErich Baumgartner, Ph.D., JACL Senior Editor, is Professor of Leadership and Intercultural Communicationat Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan.1Editors: Embracing a Paradox in LeadershipPublished by Digital Commons @ Andrews University, 2011THE JOURNAL OF APPLIED CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP PAGE  5which Christian leaders stand. The tension between the spiritual dimension of their leadership andthe daily grind of solving countless human problems can sometimesbecome unbearable. Looking at the amazing story of Moses’ failure torepresent God’s care to His people when he angrily stood in front of awhining group of Israelites, Don Livesay reminds us that Christian lead-ership is indeed a sacred calling that comes with an awesome responsi-bility. No matter how difficult, the ultimate purpose of Christian leader-ship is more than keeping people happy and well fed. Leaders are toengage a community of people in bringing glory to God. If that is true, we cannot be content with churches that no longer seemto be able to effectively reach a spiritually hungry but skeptical genera-tion. In this issue we are pleased to bring you an exclusive interview withGary Hamel, the renowned business writer who a few weeks ago satdown with a group of leadership professors at Andrews University to dis-cuss the question of how the church copes with the unrelenting changethat has become such a sign of our time. Gary has done more than anyother leader to help organizations rethink their relationship to changeand innovation. In his latest book, What Matters Now, which MatthewShallenberger reviews later in this issue, Hamel calls for a new kind ofleaders who see themselves as stewards not only of the bottom line andorganizational purpose but also of people with passions and creative giftsto be unleashed rather than exploited. But how do you do that in a worldwhere the predominant management paradigm is still one of productivitythrough control? And what would a 21st-century organization that is fitfor people to give their best look like?Strangely enough, this is where the church comes in. Lacking theincentive structure of businesses, the church always thrives on intrinsicmotivations. Somehow, Hamel contends, Jesus was able to literally cre-ate “the world’s first viral organization.” Even though threatened withviolence, the church’s enemies could not stop it. In contrast, today’schurches seem to lose ground, immobilized by an environment ofchange that no longer respects yesterday’s successes. But is the journeyalong the organizational lifecycle towards irrelevance and deathinevitable? Yes, says Hamel, if the church is not willing to overcome itshabit of blaming the culture instead of facing its own problem of inertiaand denial. Instead, he calls for entrepreneurial churches that answerthe spiritual hunger of our postmodern generation with a willingness tofind new ways to be a spiritual community for and with them. The WallStreet Journal has called Hamel today’s leading business strategist. (HeE R I C H  B A U M G A R T N E R2Journal of Applied Christian Leadership, Vol. 5 [2011], No. 2, Art. 1https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/jacl/vol5/iss2/1also happens to be a graduate of Andrews University.) But can that business-style thinking also benefit the church? We let you be the judge.Many Christian leaders wonder what the place of secular leadershiptheory is in the practice of Christian leadership. Russell Huizing makesan important contribution to this issue by asking how we can develop aproper theology of leadership that is based on a solid understanding ofthe biblical principles without ignoring what we can learn from secularleadership theories. The author reviews some 23 recent articles that havewrestled with the same question and suggests four themes that need tobe present in a theology of leadership. With this article, we hope to starta dialogue with concerned readers and leaders to wrestle with the ques-tion of how to bring Christ to the table of leadership. We invite respons-es to the article from leaders of different communities, because ultimate-ly it is this dialogue that this journal is passionate about. How a theological understanding of the world and humanity leads torevolutionary practices that have changed the world is the subject ofThom Wolf’s intriguing treatment of two barely known historical lead-ers: Jan Comenius, the 17th-century Czech reformer who was nominatedto be the first president of what today is known as Harvard University,and Savitribai Phule, the 19th-century follower of Christ who defiedprejudice and thousands of years of discrimination by opening a schoolfor girls in India. The tension between oppressive culture and God’scalling to risk life to translate God’s love into tangible realities markedthe lives of both leaders. What do they have to say to 21st-centuryChristian leaders who are called to move a postmodern generation totransformation?Today we hear many voices that call for more decisive leadership in atime of uncertainty and change. At the same time, divided nations testifyto the fact that leading in a time of change is not a matter of easy answersthat ignore the complex realities churches and organizations face everyday. We hope that the reflections in this journal will enable you to livemore fruitfully with the reality of paradox in Christian leadership.PAGE  6 Vol. 5, No. 2 FALL 2011E D I T O R I A L L E A D E R S H I P  P A R A D O X3Editors: Embracing a Paradox in LeadershipPublished by Digital Commons @ Andrews University, 2011

Embracing a Paradox in Leadership

https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1076&amp;context=jacl

Embracing a Paradox in Leadership

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Andrews University