Where Are We Going?

The former General Conference president, Jan Paulsen, recently wrote a book entitled Where are We Going? (published by Pacific Press, 2011) in which he gives his perspective on a variety of issues within the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Two portions of this book particularly caught our interest. One was a description of seven qualities of outstanding Adventist leaders, and the other was an examination of the place of loyalty in the Adventist Church. As both of these subjects are germane to the themes of this blog we would like to quote a few excerpts from this book for general consideration.

From pages 30-36:

1. Outstanding Adventist leaders have transparent motives.

…The questions we must ask ourselves are, What is it that drives me to take this particular stand? Is it a clear “Thus saith the Lord”? Am I sure? Is this corroborated broadly by me colleagues in leadership who have similarly understood the Lord, or am I motivated by a desire to continue doing what we’ve always done so I won’t rock the boat? Am I thinking of this in terms of a “pay time” for a deal I’ve made with some group or some segment of the church? Am I pandering to a vocal or powerful part of my congregation? Am I being led by my desire to assert that I’m in charge, and this is the way I like it? …

2. Outstanding Adventist leaders have nothing to prove. I like the advice an experienced leader once gave me: “You’re in charge as long as you don’t have to prove it.” By this test, many a leader fails. We’ve all encountered spiritual dictators whose style of leadership has become more self-assertive than servantlike. These are leaders who’ve failed to understand that their election was not the coronation of an absolute monarch. …

3. Outstanding Adventist leaders “read” the community. It makes no difference whether one’s leadership is in the local congregation or at the world headquarters, good leaders will be able to read the pulse of the community they have been asked to lead. …

True communication takes place only in the absence of fear. Do our colleagues feel safe when they’re talking to us? Do we keep their confidence? Do church members feel that they can express to us without reserve their misgivings, their concerns, and their hopes? It’s more important for church leaders to pay attention to what others are saying than it is for them to speak. …

4. Outstanding Adventist leaders have the humility to be led. I’ve had my assumptions about effective leadership challenged, shattered, and remade many times over, but, through the years, I’ve learned that the most significant ingredient of successful leadership in our church is the humility to let God’s Spirit lead.

Spiritual leading is an imprecise concept. How do we test for it? What does it look like? Is it a private, mystical process?

In this, as in all matters of faith, we shouldn’t spiritualize the experience of the Spirit’s leading to such an extent that we leave the intellect barren. The risks are too many. God has given us our intellects and our capacities to understand, and He expects us to use them even in matters of the Spirit, so we can find safe ground to stand on. The Spirit and the mind don’t occupy two different worlds. They belong together, and a leader owes it to God and to his people to make every effort to hold them together. …

Private prayer, meditation, and study are indeed absolutely critical, but when it comes to identifying the Spirit’s leading, wise leaders will also reach out for the counsel of their colleagues. …

5. Outstanding Adventist leaders can handle change.

…People who can’t understand the implications of change and deal with it within our church’s framework of unchanging values and truths cannot lead. Nothing stands still, whether within the dynamics of a local church or across the grand sweep of our twenty-five-million-strong family. If we’re breathing, we’re experiencing change in some form or other. …

6. Outstanding Adventist leaders realize they’re not always right. No church pastor of administrator knows or understands everything. …

Every leader, no matter how broad his or her background and experience, will eventually encounter a challenge or proposal or opportunity they know little about. At this point, mature leaders, who have a fair idea of their own limits, will reach out for more information and seek counsel widely, and they will be genuinely open to new and different ways of thinking.

7. Outstanding Adventist leaders are faithful.

…I know of no criteria more important in an Adventist leader than humility and faithfulness. Nothing—education, professional skills, speaking skills, “pedigree,” or anything else—will compensate for the lack of these two. Some people will be disqualified by their arrogance, their insensitivity and harshness, their lack of compassion for the frailty of the human condition, their inclination to sit in hasty judgment on the spirituality of some of their fellow travelers, their inability to love people with multiple shortcomings, their gone-astray theology, or—the list has virtually no end.

But when we submit in humility to the trust and choice of those who have elected us, and we vow to remain faithful to God, we’ve met the most basic qualifications for church leadership.

From pages 74 and 75:

When it comes to creating an environment that draws out the best in our colleagues, I believe there are two values of critical importance: trust and freedom.

You might ask, “What about loyalty? Shouldn’t this value also be included?

I think not. In the unique environment of church leadership, the crucial question is loyalty to whom and to what? In the business world, the leadership team is tied to the chief executive officer (CEO), who determines the direction, calls the shots, and is the one everyone expects will set the pace. But the church is not a business, and elected leaders in the church are not CEOs. The memberships of executive committees and boards collectively take that role. Elected church leaders are, quite simply, the servants of the Lord and His people. They have accepted a trust and a privilege, not a right or an entitlement. Church leaders who forget this basic truth and who expect personal loyalty from their associates are misguided and can’t be trusted to lead.

Let me be clear: I’m not suggesting that we’re justified in undermining those who’ve been given leadership assignments. I’m saying, instead, that when we talk about loyalty, we should all understand that the church is the body of Christ, and our allegiance and devotion belongs wholly to Him. …

A wise teacher cautioned me as a young theology professor, “Beware of gathering disciples unto yourself.” He was right. It’s a profoundly risky business in the ministries of the church to establish very close personal attachments, which in turn can so easily lead to intellectual and spiritual dependence that can border on idolatry. …

If you’ve reached the point where you both supply and evaluate the thoughts, ideas, and values of your associates, you’ve gone far beyond the boundaries of appropriate leadership. You must change. Should your convictions or personality not let you do that, you should, for the good of the church and the honor of Christ, step aside and let someone else take the lead.