In my 20’s, I was involved in various martial arts. Soon after obtaining my first belt (yellow)
in Tae Kwon Do, I switched to a Japanese-American style of Karate where I
worked my way up through the various ranks.
I can still remember my first class in Karate. I was wearing a standard white gi (uniform)
with my yellow belt. The instructor, who
was a friend of mine, quickly approached me and told me to take off my belt, as
that belt didn’t mean anything in that class.
Feeling a little embarrassed and knowing that my friend knew how to hurt
me in places I didn’t know I had, I quickly took my belt off – a belt which I
had earned through my experience, albeit minimal experience.
In the same way, much of the church is waking up to a new reality – a new calling. It is a call out of and up to a new level of kingdom living. It’s a call away from the man-made, CEO driven, hierarchical model of corporation-style, performance based, attractional church practices. It is an uprooting of hundreds of years of tradition. It is a call to simplicity. It is a call to return to the way of the Master. It is a call in which the "great ones" are the ones with scraped knees and a towel tied about their waist. It is a call in which we don’t attempt to copy the phenomenon of the first church, but rather return to its foundational principles.
And in this new reality, I believe the Master is telling us to take off our yellow belt and drop it to the ground. The same tools, talents, and intellectual prowess that we’ve relied upon for so long no longer matter like they used to. It’s not that the old way of doing things didn’t produce any results. Let’s just say that and get that out of the way. But the reality to which we are being called means that in many cases, we’ll have to leave behind our yellow belts in order to pursue the kingdom.
This “new” (it’s not really new – just new to us) type of leadership, is the leadership of “living-out.” It’s the leadership of living out our calling to be salt and light. It’s a leadership based on this simple principle: “Imitate me.” Be with me. Watch me. Imitate me. (1 Corinthians 4:16). That’s it. No fancy tools required. No organizational strategies. Just imitate me. Are we ok with that? Can we leave it at that? Can we resist the urge to “improve” upon that? Are we ok allowing the Spirit to do the Spirit’s work in people? Are we ok when they don’t respond? Can we walk away from the rich, young ruler? Are we ok not being able to define or quantify kingdom reality beyond the fruit the Spirit produces?
It’s clear to me that I cannot continue to lead in the same way I used to lead. The way I used to lead depended on me and what I could bring to the table via my experience, talent, and intellect. In fact, I think my resume is rather impressive. But the way I’m being called to lead now has very little to do with me, rather what the Spirit does through me. It means tuning my ear to the Father and doing what He wants me to do in that moment. It means being so in-tune with the Father that I no longer have to ask some of the questions I used to ask because I have the mind of Christ. I am a willing servant to His will.
In (Mt 7:21-23 NIV), Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
Clearly, these prophesying, miracle working, demon fighters were some heavy hitters. They “DID” a lot of really “good” stuff in the name of the kingdom. But Jesus sent them away and called them “evildoers.” Why? I’m not certain, but perhaps because these people weren’t doing the will of the Father who is in heaven. How can that be? Well… perhaps these folks were so wrapped up in what they were doing that they were not in-tune with the Father. Perhaps these people did not have the mind of Christ. Perhaps they were so consumed with the “idea” of serving God that they weren’t “actually” serving God. Many of the religious elite of Jesus' day made the same error. Perhaps in their zealousness, they missed the true kingdom of God. I don’t really know. But I do know that while these words in the book of Matthew are hard words, they are also true.
In the same way, much of the church is waking up to a new reality – a new calling. It is a call out of and up to a new level of kingdom living. It’s a call away from the man-made, CEO driven, hierarchical model of corporation-style, performance based, attractional church practices. It is an uprooting of hundreds of years of tradition. It is a call to simplicity. It is a call to return to the way of the Master. It is a call in which the "great ones" are the ones with scraped knees and a towel tied about their waist. It is a call in which we don’t attempt to copy the phenomenon of the first church, but rather return to its foundational principles.
And in this new reality, I believe the Master is telling us to take off our yellow belt and drop it to the ground. The same tools, talents, and intellectual prowess that we’ve relied upon for so long no longer matter like they used to. It’s not that the old way of doing things didn’t produce any results. Let’s just say that and get that out of the way. But the reality to which we are being called means that in many cases, we’ll have to leave behind our yellow belts in order to pursue the kingdom.
This “new” (it’s not really new – just new to us) type of leadership, is the leadership of “living-out.” It’s the leadership of living out our calling to be salt and light. It’s a leadership based on this simple principle: “Imitate me.” Be with me. Watch me. Imitate me. (1 Corinthians 4:16). That’s it. No fancy tools required. No organizational strategies. Just imitate me. Are we ok with that? Can we leave it at that? Can we resist the urge to “improve” upon that? Are we ok allowing the Spirit to do the Spirit’s work in people? Are we ok when they don’t respond? Can we walk away from the rich, young ruler? Are we ok not being able to define or quantify kingdom reality beyond the fruit the Spirit produces?
It’s clear to me that I cannot continue to lead in the same way I used to lead. The way I used to lead depended on me and what I could bring to the table via my experience, talent, and intellect. In fact, I think my resume is rather impressive. But the way I’m being called to lead now has very little to do with me, rather what the Spirit does through me. It means tuning my ear to the Father and doing what He wants me to do in that moment. It means being so in-tune with the Father that I no longer have to ask some of the questions I used to ask because I have the mind of Christ. I am a willing servant to His will.
In (Mt 7:21-23 NIV), Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
Clearly, these prophesying, miracle working, demon fighters were some heavy hitters. They “DID” a lot of really “good” stuff in the name of the kingdom. But Jesus sent them away and called them “evildoers.” Why? I’m not certain, but perhaps because these people weren’t doing the will of the Father who is in heaven. How can that be? Well… perhaps these folks were so wrapped up in what they were doing that they were not in-tune with the Father. Perhaps these people did not have the mind of Christ. Perhaps they were so consumed with the “idea” of serving God that they weren’t “actually” serving God. Many of the religious elite of Jesus' day made the same error. Perhaps in their zealousness, they missed the true kingdom of God. I don’t really know. But I do know that while these words in the book of Matthew are hard words, they are also true.
Will
we diminish so that He can be great? Will
we remove our yellow belts?
No comments:
Post a Comment