What a great night. We get to be with these two folks, John and Tara, that we love and that have meant so much to this community. We get to worship, which seems appropriate as well- since both John and Tara have led worship, Tara has provided music leadership dozens and dozens of times, John has taught and preached. And we get to be in this place…the exact same ground on which John was baptized in 2001 and where John and Tara were married in 2008…and now we get to gather here for John’s ordination service. It’s my privilege to be in the scripture with you this evening. Please Stand.

Reading: I Corinthians 2:1-5

When we read a letter like I Corinthians, we’re reading someone else’s mail. It has a context. In this case, a letter from the Apostle Paul to a beloved congregation in Corinth, Greece. Now, the culture in Corinth was clearly not Christian. And frankly, things were not going so well for the young church there. There were a number of embarrassing problems and questions. So if we think that the New Testament will give us a picture of a perfect church that we should use as a blueprint…we’d better not read any further in this letter.

What could this ancient letter, from halfway around the world, addressed to a specific congregation…possibly have to do with us, here, in 2010? Well, for some reason, this is what God has chosen to do. To use the scriptures to speak to us and to shape us. Listen to Paul’s words again: “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”

What Paul is doing in this letter is reminding the Corinthians that when they became followers of Jesus, everything changed. That the cross of Christ changed absolutely everything. It was not about just putting a thin layer of Christian veneer on an old life, but a new life. Everything had to be revisited by looking through the lens of the cross of Christ: What is wisdom, in light of the cross? What is power about, in light of the cross? What is wealth, in light of the cross. What is leadership, in light of the cross?

Tonight it’s that last one I want to talk a little about- leadership in the community of faith. It’s one of my favorite topics. And while I certainly think it has applicability to John becoming a pastor, this sermon is not for him. He can listen. But it’s for all of us. Christians in leadership in all walks of life. Christians who are leaders in the church, or will be. And for all of us who are sometimes led by others.

I spent 11 years in the business world after college. And we spent a whole lot of hours drawing and re-drawing the “organizational chart.” It was very important. And it was pretty darned vertical. The higher you were on the chart, the better leader you must be.

I love to read. I love bookstores. When I go into a large bookstore now, like Barnes and Noble, and go to the Self-Development or Business sections, there are literally hundreds of books on leadership. Everyone has a theory. Everyone who has succeeded in some profession (which usually means becoming famous or making a pile of money) feels the need to write about leadership. Mostly, they are about power- how to get it, and how to keep it.

In the Church, we are just as obsessed. I get 5-6 invitations every week in my mailbox to go to leadership conferences. It is absolutely amazing how many experts there are in leadership! I could spend all of my time going to leadership conferences and never lead anything! And it’s interesting, isn’t it, that with all this attention, the church today is dying for good leadership.

In the church, the evaluation of leadership always seems to come down to numbers. How many in the congregation, how big of a building, how large the budget…the bigger the numbers, the more successful the leader must be. We’re in a boomtime in the U.S. right now for megachurches…churches with 10,000 or even 20,000 members! (And it just so happens that everyone inviting me to a leadership conference happens to be the leader of one of these churches!)

The pattern is this: a church grows, the pastor is more recognized and well-known, he writes a book, starts holding leadership conferences and soon is larger than life. We think that a successful Christian leader is therefore the most well-known, the most gifted, the most brilliant, the most articulate one.

I just want to tell you today…that I don’t believe this. It’s not true, nor do I think it is biblical. In fact, I think we’d better downsize our concept of what a leader is and does, or our expectations…or we are going to be in big trouble. I don’t mean at all that leadership is not important, but what does it look like? IN LIGHT OF THE CROSS? We don’t need leaders that are larger than life. We need leaders that can point us to Life.

In this letter of I Corinthians, the Apostle Paul is dealing with some outsiders who had come in and talked Paul down, and talked themselves up. They were apparently quite eloquent and dynamic. Smooth talkers were highly valued in that culture. Surely these were the type of people who should lead the young church! But listen to Paul:

“When I came to you…I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified…My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power…”

Hmm. Maybe we need to take another look at leadership. So let’s look at 3 components of good leadership: vision, empowerment and servanthood.

VISION. You hear that word a lot these days. Vision usually means that a leader is to come up with a good idea and then convince everybody to follow him or her. I remember my very first day at Bethany, first day over eleven years ago, and someone said “So Dan, tell me your vision! What’s the 5-year plan for Bethany? What’s the 10-year plan?” I had to say I had no idea. You see, I had to be here, live here, see what God was already doing. God actually wasn’t just waiting for me to show up before acting in this community! I needed to look and see where the Spirit was at work. Because I wanted my vision, our vision to be God’s vision. In order to discover that VISION, two things have to happen:

a) a leader must be a follower first. I love the stories in scripture where Jesus calls the disciples. He doesn’t offer big contracts or fame or signing bonuses. He simply says “Follow me.” Remember? He goes by the lakeshore picking them up: Peter, Andrew, James, John. “Follow me.” Jesus doesn’t pick the most powerful or popular or educated people for leadership. That surprises us, I think. Eugene Peterson says “God does not look around to see who will best suit his purposes and then single them out because he is pretty sure that the will do a good job.” He calls those who will follow him. God’s vision comes to followers.

b) a leader must look for what God is doing. When I was in Kenya a few years ago, one of the amazing things about the city ( Nairobi) was the driving. Incredible! First, they drive on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car. Then the roads have potholes…about as big as this sanctuary. There are thousands of people walking on both sides of the road, no sidewalks. And they use those big “roundabout” intersections, where 5-6 streets all meet, and people have to merge and get to the other side. But I was in Kenya for 2 weeks, and I never saw a wreck! It’s like there’s a law that says “Do anything you want, but don’t hit anybody.”

Now, I didn’t drive. But the people who drove us around were amazing. They had to be absolutely focused, watching where they were going. If they became distracted for even a moment, by the pedestrians or the other cars or my pestering questions from the passenger seat, it was all over. Pay attention. A leader has to focus to see what God is doing. The vision we want is the ability to see what God is up to.

EMPOWERMENT. A leader empowers the people around him/her. Contrary to popular opinion, good leaders do not act alone. A good leader knows they need others. I love the story of Moses and the Amalekites in Exodus 17. Remember it? Moses takes the staff of God up on top of a mountain as the battle begins. Moses’ part is to simply lift his hands…to pray! As long as his arms are up, Israel wins! Piece of cake! Just keep his arms up, it’s done!

But have you ever tried lifting your arms for hours at a time? Moses grew tired. His arms fell. Israel started to lose. Raised his arms, they won. But tiring out, Israel loses. And so two others, Aaron and Hur, come alongside and lift Moses’ arms for him. Israel wins. Now…Moses was a great, great leader. But he couldn’t do it alone, he needed others. But good leaders not only know they need others, they empower others. It’s why God put us all in community.

Jesus spent three years with mainly 12 people. He trained them up, and sent them out to do ministry. Now, Jesus didn’t need to do that! He could have done anything they did…better! But God has chosen to work through people. And so a leader looks for gifts in others, encourages them, gives them a chance to practice.

I’ve always wondered what Jesus saw in Peter. Peter was a bull in a china shop. He had a big mouth. Always talking when he should be quiet, always doing when he should be waiting. Yet Jesus said of Peter “On this rock I will build my church!” He encouraged him, empowered him. Jesus knew he was leaving, knew he had to leave his ministry in the hands of others. And he did.

SERVANT. A leader serves others. On the last night Jesus had on earth with his followers, what did he find important to leave them with? A mission statement? A plan? A book? No. Jesus left them…with a wet towel. Remember the story from John 13? Jesus went down on his knees to wash the feet of his disciples. He didn’t have to do that! Jesus was a respected leader, a teacher, this footwashing stuff was for the lowest servant. He didn’t have to do that! But the memory his followers would have etched forever in their minds…was of their Lord on the floor, serving. Jesus spent more time praying, healing and being with people than he ever did preaching.

Jesus washed feet, honored his disciples, humbled himself, laid his ego aside to serve. And ultimately to serve us…you and me, by giving his very life for our sakes. That is a different kind of leader, teaching a different kind of leadership. It’s what Paul learned. It’s why he can say “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Totally different.

All around us, business corporations, non-profits, companies are “downsizing.” They are changing their ideas of workforces, saying in effect “we actually need something different than what we’ve been getting.”

I think that in the church, we need to downsize our ideas of leadership. We need something different than what we’ve been getting. We need to quit looking for glitz and polish and big personalities and academic degrees. We need people who will watch for Jesus, empower others and serve. The gospel, Paul says, has changed everything. It all has to be re-examined in light of the cross. “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”

Let us pray.