So, You Want Some Respect?
The difference between the love of authority and the authority of love.
[ posted 6/14/2012 10:22AM ]
It was my first call as head pastor. Before coming to this Sacramento church, I had ably served another as youth pastor, but like many young men, I had been itching for my own command. When I interviewed for the position, I remember saying brash things ...
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Maurice Smith
Mark, I think you handled Stanley in exactly the correct way. What I hear you saying is that not everyone is a Stanley. I agree. An old mentor of mine, Harold O.J. Brown, once told a class of 300 eager Campus Crusade students (I was Joe's teaching assistant that summer), "Authority is the ability to command voluntary obedience". After all these years I've never fogotten Joe's words. A genuinely Christ-like example gives leaders the "authority" to "command" the voluntary obedience of those around us. And for the Stanley's of the Church, there's still the direct approach.
Caleb Fitting
Insightful stuff.
Pax Paws
Mark, pls hear my gentle voice: Are you basically saying that a lot of Pastors out there who feel unloved, & thus are fearful of confronting their people & are feeling bullied by their Boards? In all honesty, I saw your straight-forward dialogue with Stanley as effective, loving, and instructive. You said that the discussion was fear-based, but perhaps it was just normal nerves when one addresses another about a perceived wrong. Stanley certainly respected your directness, it appears. But this really isn't about you, or Stanley. If church families that have poor ways of handling disputes or disagreements... if we have church families where a leader feels disrespected, or ANY MEMBER feels disrespected... we have serious need of changing the way we do things. If we are indeed listening to HIM, there will be no power plays by any, at any cost. Perhaps we need to re-examine the authority we were ALL purposed to have to build mature disciples... and stop feeding Churchianity.