February 2008 Archives
"In a world where success is the measure and justification of all things, the figure of him who was sentenced and crucified remains a stranger." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
From Backyard Missionary:
Was Jesus really the CEO of his followers?…
Was Paul the CEO of the early church?…
Were there any CEOs in scripture at all?…
Chief executive officer… Chief executive officer… Chief executive officer… say it out loud and hear how dumb it sounds when placed alongside ‘body of Christ’… ‘priesthood of all believers’… ‘the family of faith’ Is the person leading a church really supposed to be a CEO?…
What’s frightening is that in so many places we have stopped questioning this form and accepted it as normal in a 21st century western church. Its now considered one ‘valid’ expression of leadership, if not the dominant form.
I don’t believe it is. I don’t believe the CEO has any place in the ‘family’ of God. When was the last time your family appointed a CEO to keep it on track? Where does a ‘chief executive officer’ fit into a family? Find me one metaphor or description of the church as business/corporation anywhere in the Bible and I will walk naked up the aisle of your church this Sunday with an annual report in my bumcrack.
Ok, I’m a bit mad again.
I am convinced that the more we seek to model ourselves on business paradigms the less chance we have of being the people Jesus calls us to be.
