This iteration of Ministerial Musings is the culmination of thoughts and considerations about spiritual leadership I have given attention to for more than 50 years by reading and observing. I had initially contemplated titling this blog, “The USMC As A Pastoral Leadership Model? You Have Got To Be Kidding Me!” However, after the blowback I received from a recent posting from several men whose approach to investigation suggests that they think they can learn everything they need to know about an article from its title, I decided to go with a somewhat understated title.
A significant number of my contemporaries in the ministry employ a model of pastoral leadership that reflects principles learned and implemented from their military service or adopted from those they admire whose leadership model is along the lines used by the American military. Baptist preachers are notorious followers in this respect, owing to their pragmatism. Before I proceed, let me provide a bit of my background.
I decided on a career as a military professional when I was seven years old. My parents took us on vacation in 1957. Along the way, we visited the United States Air Force Academy outside Colorado Springs, Colorado. That was all I needed. My course was set. I spent the next ten years checking out every book in the school library related to military history, military weaponry, military leaders’ biographies, and warfare. I wrote every politician who could help, figuring to establish my name recognition for a future appointment. Then, while the student body practiced for high school graduation in the gymnasium, I was called to the principal’s office and informed of my appointment to USAFA. I was astonished none of my classmates was as excited as I was.
After a back injury resulted in my discharge from the Air Force Academy, I turned from my pursuit of a career in the military to engineering school and, after graduating, worked as a spacecraft design engineer for Hughes Aircraft Company, El Segundo, California. However, I never lost my interest in all things military, even after my conversion to Christ.
Let me list a few of the books I have read over the years to illustrate my interest in all things military. Skip this list if you have no interest in such reading material:
The Mask of Command by John Keegan
Dyess Story: The Eye Witness Account of the Death March From
Bataan and the Narrative of Experiences in Japanese Prison Camps and of
Eventual Escape by Lt. Col. William Dyess
Sherman, A Soldier’s Passion for Order by John F.
Marszalek
Patton – The Man Behind The Legend by Martin
Bloomenson
American Caesar by William Manchester
Fighter Pilot by Robin Olds
It Doesn’t Take A Hero by H. Norman Schwarzkopf
The Savior Generals by Victor Davis Hanson
The Real George Washington: The True Story of America’s Most
Indispensable Man
The Last Lion, volumes one and two, by William
Manchester
Churchill, A Life, two volumes, by Martin Gilbert
Stalin, volumes one and two, by Stephen Kotkin
Leaders by Richard Nixon
The Works Of Josephus by Flavius Josephus
The Persian Expedition by Xenophon
A History of Warfare by John Keegan
Battles of the Bible by Herzog and Gichon
God’s War by Christopher Tyerman
The Imperial Roman Army by Yann Le Bohec
The Face of Battle by John Keegan
Death March by Donald Knox
Guadalcanal by Richard B. Frank
Leadership In War by Andrew Roberts
Flyboys by James Bradley
Chosin by Eric Hamel
A Country Made By War by Jeffrey Perret
The Art Of War by Sun Tzu
On War by Clausewitz
The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides
Many ministry colleagues of my generation are veterans of the Armed Forces. Those who are students of God’s Word, as well as being thoughtful and insightful, recognize something. Despite the apparent similarities between the individual Christian’s lifestyle and our involvement in spiritual warfare, such as the appeal to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, Second Timothy 2.3, and the Apostle Paul’s comments about spiritual armor in Ephesians 6.10-18, there is no valid comparison between spiritual leadership as it is presented in the New Testament and the approach to leadership that is practiced in the United States Armed Forces.
Consider this matter of spiritual leadership in a Church congregation from four perspectives.
First, from the perspective of the Lord Jesus Christ’s contrast of His leadership style to the leadership style of the Gentiles.
Mark 10.42-45: “Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Christlike leadership of the flock should not be like the leadership style employed in the Gentile world (Would that not include any military organizations?).
Luke 22.26-26 echoes that sentiment: “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.”
The Savior had no desire that the leadership style of His apostles would parallel that of authority figures in the Gentile world. Does that not speak to the notion of pastors conducting their ministries using the leadership philosophies employed by corporate America or the United States Marine Corps? Sadly, because of poor study habits, many pastors have no concept of leadership beyond the style they were exposed to or employed while serving in the armed forces.
Second, from the perspective of and under the shepherd’s leadership of the flock in a biblical setting, versus a Western-style shepherd’s leadership of a flock of sheep in the Alps, in the Pyrenees, or the Scottish Highlands. Western-style shepherding makes use of a sheepdog to hound the sheep, sometimes nipping at their heels, and taking advantage of a sheep’s innate fear of sheepdogs to exert control over those timid animals. In the Bible and throughout the Middle East, shepherding was altogether different. The Savior referred to this different style when He commented that “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” Yet it is common in our day for pastoral ministries in many Baptist circles to employ associate pastors and other staff members whose conduct resembles Western-style sheepdogs who hound the flock than Middle Eastern style shepherds whose flocks follow them.
Third, consider the personal style of ministry employed by the Savior instead of that used by so many pastors in our day, whose Church members fear displeasing the pastor. Imagine a Christian being more fearful of disappointing his pastor than disappointing God. Why so? The ferocity so many ‘pastors’ display in their ‘ministries’ often the cause. However, what do we learn from the Bible about the Savior’s ministry style? In response to the Pharisees, the Savior turned to the multitudes, with Matthew inserting this Old Testament passage to describe his Lord’s pattern of ministry in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (Matthew 12.17-21):
17 That it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
18 Behold my
servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I
will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
19 He shall
not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.
20 A bruised
reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send
forth judgment unto victory.
21 And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.
How can verse 20 be interpreted as the Savior not being gentle with the humble? Yet so many pastors are pretty harsh with their flock, with others cultivating a climate of fear among the congregation. “Be careful! The pastor won’t like that!” The Savior was not only the Master Teacher but also the consummate leader. Yet those who followed Him were never scared of Him the way so many are scared of their pastors in our era.
Fourth, there is the Apostle Paul’s comment to the Corinthian congregation, in First Corinthians 12.4–6:
4 Now there are diversities of
gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of
administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
I understand and appreciate the need for a military organization to insist upon behavioral conformity and the top-down imposition of tactics and strategies designed to win skirmishes, battles, campaigns, and wars. The concept might best be described as uniformity. However, that top-down approach necessary in military organizations and civilian corporations is the opposite of God’s plan for New Testament Church leadership, as evidenced by the three verses immediately above. Unity, so crucial to the Christian faith and congregational life, is not uniformity! Let me explain.
Setting aside any discussion of how many spiritual gifts there are, we can agree that spiritual gifts are given at the time of one’s conversion to Christ and the simultaneous indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believer. Thus, no Christian or Christian leader’s decision can alter what gift or gifts are possessed by the child of God since he or she has trusted Christ. As well, Paul’s comment suggests that a Church member’s place in a congregational ministry (meaning administrations) is supposed to be the Lord’s doing. Verse six refers to operations, which some take to be the magnitude of the ministry the believer is engaged in. God has decided to give some men more extensive ministries than other men. To illustrate, friends tell me Jerry Falwell’s first Junior High School Sunday School class numbered in the hundreds.
What does this add up to? With the permutations and combinations arising from these three parameters, it is impossible to impose a top-down approach to ministry leadership while, at the same time, allowing for the discovery of individual gifts and the flourishing of individual believers in various ministries. It is not possible! Therefore, the controlling pastor forsakes the discovery of spiritual gifts and the flourishing of individual believers by replacing it with a commitment to lock-step conformity and uniformity at the expense of spiritual growth and the cultivation of genuine unity of minds and hearts.
Granted, from time to time, problems arise that require decisions to be made by leaders, such as in Acts 6.1-7, providing for the widows, and the critical meeting in Acts 15.1-21. However, New Testament pastoral leadership is assigned the responsibility of equipping the saints for ministry, Ephesians 4.12, not micromanaging the details of every aspect of a Christian’s life.
Allow me to illustrate: I remember being invited to preach at a Church. Following my message, the congregation settled in a large dining room to watch a movie before enjoying a meal. During the movie showing, the pastor was involved in an important meeting and instructed his staff members not to disturb him. I sat outside the pastor’s office during that time. When a deacon and the pastor’s wife entered the reception area to inform the senior staff member that the movie had ended, the congregation was setting in the dark dining room; no one knew what to do. I watched in astonishment as three adult Church members stood there with furtive expressions on their faces, not knowing what to do and afraid to act. Should they decide to turn on the lights? Should they choose to begin serving food? For upwards of 15 minutes, the entire congregation sat in a dark room before one of them dared to risk the wrath of the pastor by knocking on his door.
This type of thing occurs to varying degrees in Churches all over America. Everything about such Church’s ministries is imposed on the congregation by pastoral leadership using a top-down philosophy of ministry. Such an approach stifles personal initiative, crushes any entrepreneurial attitude that might develop in a nurturing environment, and employs a cookie-cutter mentality, to not only demand that the lost be evangelized according to a single pattern, but also to eliminate any possibility that Christians will be allowed to discover their spiritual gifts and exhibit creativity in establishing and developing their ministries within the congregation. These are classic examples of insisting on pounding square pegs into round holes.
In a military environment, such an approach is necessary. In corporate America, this is usually, but not always, necessary. But in the Church of Jesus Christ, not only is this not necessary, it is patently unscriptural and stifling to the spiritual growth and blossoming of Church members. Soldiers are not believer priests. Corporate employees are not believer priests. But Christians are believer priests possessing the soul liberty characteristic of Baptists (or is supposed to be).
We have 16 distinct ministries at Calvary Road Baptist Church, each one leader by a competent and committed Church member who seeks to glorify God and reach the lost. Additionally, we have many Church members involved in both discipling others and being discipled by others. Praise God! We had a Church choir and a Christian school when I arrived 35 years ago. But it has been my absolute delight over the years for Church members to approach me, asking if they could start and lead a ministry. After discussing what they planned to do and how they planned to do it, I gave them the go-ahead. Have I been burned? Yes! But to gain all, you must risk all, and Gospel ministry is not for the faint of heart and should not be about risk aversion.
I would never surrender our Church’s biblical approach to Christian ministry. I delight in encouraging the development of spiritual gifts and wisdom using this concept of ministry. Church members are making decisions about their ministries. It’s great!
I do not miss a control-oriented, military-style, top-down imposed approach to ministry, which bears a resemblance to a Soviet-style command and control system. Such a commonly seen ministry style is foreign to the Christian faith. I opt for the leadership style employed by the Savior, advocated by the Apostle Paul, and described in the New Testament.
I praise
God for the beneficial impact military service has had on men serving in the
Gospel ministry. Many such men became men while serving in the armed forces.
But it is terrible and stifling to the Holy Spirit to make the mistake of
employing a military-style leadership anywhere in a Church ministry.
