This past Saturday was spent in a leadership meeting like I’ve never experienced before.  I am a part of a group that has set its sights on seeing the whole city of Abilene reached for Jesus Christ; praying that each person will hear (and see) the Gospel in a way that makes sense to them.  For communities and organic churches that blossom out of such a dream, we are a resource team - helping cast vision and call out the giftings of Jesus followers here in this city.  It is a catalytic leadership - one that facilitates the emergence and development of vibrant families of Jesus without being used up in the process.

So what does an all-day retreat look like for such a group?  One might expect to see maps and charts of the city, strategies to touch the “non-churched”, and myriad other important ways to waste our time.  This past Saturday, we shared life stories, fears, dreams, and tears.  We took a walk, we went out for lunch…we described where God had placed us in the city, and what we felt we needed to do in response to that.  I felt relaxed and yet clear on what my next steps were.  I felt confident that living into these goals was possible, and not obligatory.  This was natural leadership, with a structure to still “get things done”.

Is it possible to live like this?  Is it possible that God may have a better plan for reaching the world than any of us?  Could it be that the best leadership happens through teams listening to Jesus, doing what he says, and helping others to do the same?  Can we finally set down our egos, and realize that “leaders” only do what they see the Son doing?  Anything beyond that is heresy.

There are some exciting things happening in the network here.  Its great seeing it all happen, even if I’m on the bleeding edge of the knife of innovation.  This in many ways will help people all over the country look on to see what missional leadership in the 21st Century looks like.  To me, it looks like modeling more than anything - a “Come, Follow me” kind of leadership - one that invites people out into the wild and unpredictable Kingdom.

Last 5 posts by Mark

• Chicago Spiritual Map: Hyde Park - August 28th, 2008
• Off the Blogger Bench - August 27th, 2008

This entry was posted on Monday, September 25th, 2006 at 1:08 pm and is filed under Christian Leadership, Missionary Research, Missions Resource Team, Simple Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.