Paul calls leaders not merely to be humble and self-effacing but to be desperate and honest. It is not enough to be self-revealing, authentic, and transparent. Our calling goes far beyond that. We are called to be reluctant, limping, chief-sinner leaders, and even more, to be stories. The word that Paul uses is that a leader is to be an 'example,' but what that implies is more than a figure on a flannel board. He calls us to be a living portrayal of the very gospel we beseech others to believe. And that requires a leader to see himself as being equally prone to deceive as he is to tell the truth, to manipulate as he is to bless, to cower as he is to be bold. A leader is both a hero and a fool, a saint and a felon.
We are both and to pretend otherwise is to be disingenuous. The leader who fails to face [his] darkness must live with fear and hypocrisy. The result will be a defensiveness that places saving face and controlling others as higher goods than blessing others and doing good work. Clearly, the biblical model of leadership is odd, inverted, and deeply troubling. It is so troubling that most churches, seminaries, and other religious organizations would never hire a 'chief sinner.' The only one who thinks to do so is God.
Dan Allender in Leading With A Limp, p 57.
We are both and to pretend otherwise is to be disingenuous. The leader who fails to face [his] darkness must live with fear and hypocrisy. The result will be a defensiveness that places saving face and controlling others as higher goods than blessing others and doing good work. Clearly, the biblical model of leadership is odd, inverted, and deeply troubling. It is so troubling that most churches, seminaries, and other religious organizations would never hire a 'chief sinner.' The only one who thinks to do so is God.
Dan Allender in Leading With A Limp, p 57.
Yeah, everyone was talking about this at thye A29 bootcamp in STL. Darrin's talk on "reluctant leadership" was great. I need to pick up this book. Thanks for the quote man.
Posted by: Joe Thorn | 11/19/2008 at 01:37 PM
Great, quote Steve thanks for sharing. It makes me think in no small way of Nouwen's 'The Wounded Healer.' I have gone from youth pastor of a what seemed to be a healthy, thriving church to the only staff member left at a church that is desperate need of realizing its own flaws and short-comings.
In that setting, I see that constant struggle within me between defensiveness & control or having to choose blessing others & being faithful to do that which God has called me to.
Thanks Steve, on your blog I mostly lurk (read), listen (check out the great music you bring to the table) and pray (for you, molly and the kids.) But it is constant resource to me all the time.
Posted by: michaelmcminn | 11/19/2008 at 04:17 PM
It's late where I am, and I have had a busy day, but this quote has me confused. I have read, re-read and re-re-read it...but still I am struggling to see where he is going.
I agree with the first sentence.
But surely the reference to Paul being chief of sinners is to his life pre-conversion and not his present day life, as evangelist/missionary/teacher/leader.
(If not, then which part of Paul's present Christian life is he referring to when he talks of him as chief-sinner?)
How could Paul call us to follow his example if he considered himself a "present day chief-sinner"?!
(Was Paul then calling us to follow him in his sins?!)
How does Allender interpret Paul when he talks of God being witness to his holy, righteous, blameless conduct toward those who believe ( 1 Thes. 2.10)
....or his telling Timothy that he competed well in the race...finishing the course.
To me, this is a worrying quote, that a leader with "moral" failures could easily use to justify staying in a position of authority and leadership.
Yes - there are times I agree that I cower rather than being bold.
there are times as leader, that as I face a difficult confrontation, I say to myself - i really DON'T want to say this!! - but I do, because that is my role as leader, and the correct action to take in the given situation. Regardless of how difficult it may be.
Specifically, what does Allender mean that a leader is a "felon"?
If it means that leaders e.g. deceive( "prone to deceive"), then that would mean that they are no longer " above reproach" ( 1 Tim 3:2).
If that were the case, then they should not be in leadership at all!!.
Personally, I have been through a very difficult situation, when a leader continually lied and then claimed that he should be allowed to continue in a leadership role. His argument sounded very like Allenders.
I can only hope that I have totally misunderstood ( in my tiredness) Allender's argument.
Posted by: 68guns | 11/19/2008 at 04:53 PM
@68guns: Yes, Paul was referring to his present self, speaking in self-aware humility. To be sure, he was speaking in the present tense: "...of whom I AM the foremost." (1 Tim 1:15 ESV, emphasis mine). Verses 12-15 is primarily about "the grace of our Lord overflowed for me [Paul]", but he does not say that this grace was amazing because he "was" the foremost sinner, but he speaks in the present tense. He is speaking out of humility, literally practicing Philippians 2:3: "... in humility consider others better than yourselves." Paul knew his present wretchedness (Romans 7:13-24, all in active present tense) and thus dared not consider thinking or speaking of anyone as beneath him, but rather the other way around -- Paul, in his mind and speech, considered other better than himself. Anything else would have been to succumb to the very pride of which Allender warns.
As for prone to deception, we all are. I would shudder than any man who thinks himself so in love with his own infallibility would slip into leadership. In fact, not even the Pope quite claims that for himself, though some of today's self-titled "Apostles" do. The solution, of course, is to admit our fallibility, which is what Allender is saying.
Posted by: Eloquorius | 11/19/2008 at 08:11 PM
Great post, I have heard of the book (love the title) but haven't read it. Now I want to!
Posted by: Mark | 11/19/2008 at 10:06 PM
@Eloquorios
sorry, but i disagree with you.
1 Tim 1:15 may be in the present tense , but that does not necessarily mean that Paul was referring to the very day that he wrote the letter. Rather he is referring to a constant realization of the abounding grace of God to a sinner like him. ( see I H Marshall "The Pastoral Epistles")
Rom 7 - I would also argue refers again to Paul's pre-conversion life, in that as a Jew the good that he wanted to do, he was unable to do. Obviously without the Holy Spirit living within him, it is impossible to resist sin. ( see Moo "Romans")
So I still do not see what Allender is referring to as Paul being a present day "chief sinner" or what "felony" he is presently committing, or indeed why Paul is a "fool".
And as a result applying this to leaders in the church today!?
I wonder what interpretation or value Allender places on 1 Tim 3?!
Why a list of qualifications for elders/deacons if we can bypass them by talking of "chief-sinner" leaders.
PRONE TO deceive is totally different from DECEIVING.
Just as temptation is not sin.
All leaders are tempted - but that does not make them present day "chief sinners".
We must be honest with ourselves and others, but surely the greatest deception is to think that you can be a present day "chief sinner", "felon" and "fool" and still maintain our role in leadership.
Posted by: 68guns | 11/20/2008 at 02:12 AM
dude.
Posted by: Matt Redmond | 11/20/2008 at 11:49 AM
I have not read Mr. Allender's book, and I have no idea what he is saying, good, bad or ugly, but based on the conversation here, I think maybe our problem here is with what it means to be a "chief-sinner." I don't think anyone is contending that Paul was living an overtly riotous, murdering lifestyle while conducting his missionary journeys. But I think the scripture in question is a clear recognition by Paul that he's just not that good. One place to start determining who a "chief sinner" is would be James 2:8-12, which makes it clear that even if our only sin is to feel like we are better, less sinful, or more sanctified than those around us, we have just hit "chief sinner" status. In that sense, we are all felons, every day, because we all sin, regardless of whether we think our sin is "minor" or "major." It is mercy that triumphs over judgment, not our "goodness." Paul's call to us to follow his example includes a call to view ourselves and our sin with the humility of those saved by grace, not merit.
Every one of us fights a battle against sin every day. In "leadership" a person may look good to those around him, but frankly, a leader who thinks he is not a "chief sinner" is actually looking a lot like the publican and not much like the tax-collector. And I fear that defense of our own "leadership" role or status simply makes that worse. In "leadership,"we have to view ourselves exactly as Paul did - as "chief sinners" and "followers of Christ" and most of all as fellow-servants with our brothers and sisters. Its exactly when we start to view ourselves as leaders that we get in trouble. There is no true justification to be found in apparent outward sinlessness, and I think Paul understood this deeply.
-- It might also pay to take a look at I John 1:8-10.
Posted by: Jeremy | 11/21/2008 at 01:33 AM
Jeremy - great post. totally agree.
my only point is that Allender should have used verses like you have quoted to justify his argument.
I can't see ANY verse in his quoted.
However, i do, like you give him the benefit of the doubt, as I have not read the book and am only going on a half page quote!
Posted by: 68guns | 11/21/2008 at 01:52 AM