Jesus Didn't Use a Heavenly Megaphone

I love practicing incarnational and contextual leadership in Homewood. I have studied both leadership styles in depth, and both are proving to be very effective in being more of a transformational leader. That is the point, isn't it? To see individual lives and communities transformed through the love of Christ? God works through me because he is a God of purpose. He is a God who is constantly on mission.

So how do these styles of leadership play out? I have built many relationships with kids in the community over the years. I am practicing the art of presence, which means that those relationships are fostered much more effectively when I am in close proximity to the kids. I have conversations when I am standing on their front porches, in their living rooms, or in their schools. On their turf. I have conversations with them about life in my kitchen, which is on their turf. Believe me, their turf can be very messy, but leadership does not often happen in steril conditions. When something good or bad happens in the community, I feel it, too. In many ways, I can relate.

Leadership cannot be done effectively from afar. Leadership cannot be done effectively without the actual presence of the leaders in the midst of the context. I know people who will argue with me on those points, but they argue with me because they are not willing to dive into the areas they lead with everything they have. They want to lead from a comfortable distance. They are partially in, not all in. I am not saying that those who spend time with kids in Homewood must move to Homewood. That is not the point. But, if you are going to impact kids in Homewood, you must be willing to spend a significant amount of time on their turf.

You cannot lead a church, or a school, or a business, or a family from afar. What message does a pastor send to a church when he is not willing to live near the church because of brokenness in the community? What message does a school principal send to the students and their families when he or she won't live in that community? What about business owners who lead from afar? Many individuals and businesses own rental properties in Homewood. Many are slum lords who don't live in the community, they don't take care of their properties, they harm the community with their irresponsible business practices, and then they probably go to church on Sunday somewhere close to the nice cushy neighborhoods they live in and thank God for the "blessings" he has given them. Do they not see how truly messed up that is? And how can husbands and fathers be effective leaders of their families when they are gone for weeks at a time on sales calls? It can't be done. It's not worth it. It may be a needed sacrifice for a period of time, but no amount of money is worth sacrificing a marriage or straining relationships with your children. Men are much more than paychecks.

Peter Kuzmic sums all of this up well: Evangelicals emphasize the text of God's word, the Bible, as authoritative for belief and practice. Ministers of the gospel must be competent interpreters of Scripture. The text is, however, neither proclaimed nor practised in a vacuum but always in a concrete situation or context. All of Christian life and mission is a two-way street with constant traffic between the text and the context, between God's holy word and God's alienated world. If we ignore the world, we betray the word because the word sends us into the world. If we ignore the word, like some of our liberal friends, we will have nothing to bring to the world. People need a message of hope and life for situations of despair and death. We have learned that there is no authentic mission from a safe distance. Mission with integrity does not take place in antiseptic conditions. I have frequently struggled with the question of how to evangelize in painful situations without appearing to exploit human suffering. Entering the context is of crucial importance. Jesus did not pick up a heavenly megaphone to shout down to the inhabitants of Planet Earth: 'Repent!' He entered human history and human flesh. He was hungry. He was thirsty. He became a refugee. Contextualization is not just knowledge of the other context, but being willing to identify yourself with the context and become vulnerable." - From the book "Justice, Mercy, and Humilty: Integral Mission and the Poor"

Has God given you a passion for inner city kids? Go there! What about older adults? Go there! What about orphans? Go there! Enter their context. Enter their struggle. Make it your context. Make it your struggle. God calls us all to a life of purpose, and it is most definitely not for you to have made it through life safely and comfortably. Don't bury your talents. And, don't try to use your talents from afar. Instead, follow the example that Jesus gave us with the only perfect life that was ever lived.