Submission

I'm only three days into my new ministry role and I'm starting to wonder why church leadership looks a lot more like a wrestling match (where the goal is forcing others into submission) rather than the stuff Jesus talked about (for example, loving God and loving our neighbours)?

I don't think we should stop using the discipline of submission. Maybe we need to start practicing it on ourselves instead of forcing it on others.

This evening I read the chapter on submission out of Richard Foster's classic book, Celebration of Discipline. Here's what Foster says about leadership and authority, "The most radical social teaching of Jesus was his total reversal of the contemporary notion of greatness. Leadership is found in becoming the servant of all. Power is discovered in submission."

I wish I could lead more like Jesus and less like the guy on the mat.