The Transformational Journey: The Great Curiosity

As churches (and a presbytery) who seek to grow ever deeper into the mission dei, the mission of God, we must ask ourselves what it looks like to walk the transformational journey toward the faithfulness, courage and compassion we are called to have for the sake of Jesus Christ. Put another way, what does it look like when a congregation (or presbytery)practices Jesus-styled leadership?

            Jesus’ giving of the Great Commission in Matthew 28 is well-known, well-loved but not often well-practiced. As such, it is a bit of a curiosity; indeed, we might call it the Great Curiosity. How can we learn from Jesus for our own leadership?

1.      Jesus received doubt. Perhaps the greatest curiosity is that when the resurrected Jesus stood before the disciples, “some doubted” (28:17). Even the greatest leader ever was doubted by his followers. As teaching and ruling elders, not everyone is going to be on board with the decisions we make. That’s okay!

2.      Jesus moved toward the disciples. Rather than be offended or taken aback, Jesus “came to [the disciples]” immediately following their expression of doubt. It is a leader’s temptation to experience others’ doubt of our leadership as rejection and to move away. Not Jesus. In the face of doubt, Jesus connected at deeper levels.

3.      Jesus gave clear instructions. In the Greek text, “go” is not in the command form and has the connotation of “as you go.” The command is “make disciples” (28:18). That is our mission – God’s mission dei. As leaders we do not need to guess what our mission is, nor do we need to write a mission statement for our church; such has been given us already.

4.      Jesus grounded mission in identity. The making of disciples is connected by Jesus with baptism (28:19), which is the sacrament of identity. Who we are gives inspiration and passion to what we do. Because we are God’s beloved – a truth we learn in baptism – we seek to share the fullness of this gift with others.

5.      Jesus reinforced truth with action. Jesus understood that a truth such as our belovedness is an abstraction if it is not reinforced with daily practices of active obedience (28:20). As leaders, we need to call Jesus followers to demonstrate right theology through right practice – be doers of the Word, especially as we seek to live into our own belovedness and teach others of their belovedness.

6.      Jesus was present. Leaders like Jesus stay connected to their people (28:20). The call to practice courageous faith requires knowing that we are not alone, never alone. God does not call us to individualism but invites us into community.

On the mountain of the Lord, Jesus broke through human doubt to invite divine faith. Can we do the same after our encounters with Jesus? With God’s help, all things are possible. But before we seek to ignite transformation in our congregations (or presbytery), we might do a bit of self-reflection. As leaders, how would we rate ourselves? At which of these six actions are we most like Jesus and least like Jesus? How can we lean into our strengths? How can we invite and enlist those around us to help us minimize the damage we do because of our weaknesses?

Change is not a four-letter word,

Brad Munroe