Transforming Biblical Leadership in a Postmodern Culture.

[Alonzo E Thornton, D.Min.]

Transforming Biblical Leadership in a Postmodern Culture.

Harry Lee Poe, writer of the article, “The Gospel in a Postmodern Culture” firmly believes that there is a Postmodern era, and he asserts that Christendom may had played some major roles in aiding post modernity to have a strong foothold in our present culture.[1]

In his article, Lee list four major areas of concern in which post modernity has stated this major strong foothold, yet I will only briefly highlight these and later comment on these and others major challenges that Biblical leaders will have to contend with. Lee list that within a postmodern culture, it is:

Personally Focused

a. Relationships- High values in relationships, yet post-modernist are self-absorbed.

b. Pluralism- A self-defense mechanism to minimize the anxieties associated with conflict.

c. Wholeness- One of the most evident features of modernity is the fragmentation of the human soul. (This writer’s assessment/and or analysis)

Politically Alienated

The Political alienation of the postmodern generation has its manifestation as a result of a rejection of authority and the rejection of ideology.

Philosophically Confused

A feature of post modernity that modernists find maddening is the comfort with which they can hold multiple contradictory notions in their minds apparently without experiencing cognitive dissonance. The Enlightenment embraced rationalism and empiricism, but post modernity rejects them both as find arbiters of the truth.

Theologically ignorant

Post modernity is Biblically illiterate. The postmodern generation is a neglected group whose parents said that they were not going to push their religion on their children.

Though these are just a very small list of concerns from one individual, they are very much on target based upon my analysis. These issues and others will in fact be very challenging for any leader in the Body of Christ who is committed to pleasing God as a faithful servant. What extrinsic influence(s) has this post modern culture imparted upon the individuals and the institutional structure of the Church in our society?

In a very well article by Earnest White, he historically lists the most common models of leadership within the church during the modern era[2]:

Organization man/Bureaucratic Leadership that grew out of the World War II era. This model was characterized by a multiplication of positions and two actions are at work in this leadership: (1) An official wants to multiply subordinates, not rivals and (2) Officials make-work for each other[3].

The next leadership model to emerge took the shape of the:

CEO (Chief Executive Officer) Leader.This model was a natural evolution of the organization leader model from which it sprang. The CEO Leader grew out of the endemic competition in organization life during the 1970’s. (As noted by Michael Maccoby in his book, The Gamesman: The New Corporate Leaders)

The third and most emerging model of leadership is the:

Media Marketing Merchant. The media gives the power to be present and communicate with the masses in widely scattered locations.

In an attempt at processing the above-mentioned data, the follower-leader in this current age must mirror the lifestyle and personal ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. He faced the same struggles and cultural challenges that we face. By using Luke 4:1-13 as an illustration, (1) Jesus refused to make selfish use of the power at His command. [Man shall not live by bread alone.”] (2) Jesus refused idolatry when He was offered the CEO position of “All the Kingdom of the World.” (3) Jesus rejected the opportunity to become an instant star or hero by jumping from the temple pinnacle.

All in all, Jesus displayed obedience to His Father’s Will by refusing to be seduced into misusing His power and authority for any other reason than that for which He had been sent.[4] Our model Jesus clearly exhibits the needed behavior for our current and future leaders within and outside the Body of Christ. Our author, Fitzmyer and others rightly suggest that Jesus of Nazareth is demonstrating moral and ethical responsibility in leadership. In support of Poe’s claim, this is very much where the Church has failed, in publicly demonstrating this moral and ethical aspect of leadership for the world, and not the other way around.

Biblical leadership possesses the commitment to human worth. The use of leadership’s power is always controlled by its effect on persons and personal relationships. Leadership that is Biblical, shares with God the ability to create, build, and expand the potential of the “Being and the Doing” of individuals and groups. All of which is made possible through the act of divine redemption. Redemption is the creative process of restoring life and wholeness to lives or social entities where destruction and fragmentation of the soul has occurred. This matter of redemption renders the miracle of reconciliation and restoration. We who are life-long learners of the Way, must see our own exchanged lives from death, sin and shame, to that of transformational souls who under the power of the Holy Spirit of God, is capable of transcending this post-modern trends to that of dynamic leaders who are followers of Messiah.

As stated by James Burns, transforming leadership is dynamic leadership in the sense that leaders throw themselves into relationship with followers who feel “elevated” by it and often become more active themselves, thereby crating new cadres of leaders.

[5]

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[1] Harry Lee Poe, The Gospel in a Postmodern Culture. Journal: Review and Expositor, Vol: REVEXP 101:3 (Summer 2004).

[2] Ernest White, The Crisis in Christian Leadership, Journal: Review and Expositor, Vol. REVEXP 083:4 (Fall 1986)

[3] C. Northcole Parkinson, “Parkinson’s Law or the Rising Pyramid,” in Classics of Organization Theory, ed. Jay M. Shafritz and Philip W. Whitbeck (Oak Park, Ill, Moore Publishing Co., 1978), p.133.

[4] Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke I-IX, The Anchor Bible (Garden City, NY: Doubleday Co., 1981), p.509.

[5] James Macgregor Burns, Leadership (New York: Harper and Row, 1978), p. 41.

[Alonzo E Thornton, D.Min.]

For those who are interested: below are the references that were used for this article. May God the Father continue to bless and keep each of you.
Grace and Peace
Alonzoe' Thornton, Minister
Harry Lee Poe, The Gospel in a Postmodern Culture. Journal: Review and Expositor, Vol: REVEXP 101:3 (Summer 2004).

Ernest White, The Crisis in Christian Leadership, Journal: Review and Expositor, Vol. REVEXP 083:4 (Fall 1986)
C. Northcole Parkinson, “Parkinson’s Law or the Rising Pyramid,” in Classics of Organization Theory, ed. Jay M. Shafritz and Philip W. Whitbeck (Oak Park, Ill, Moore Publishing Co., 1978), p.133.

Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Gospel According to Luke I-IX, The Anchor Bible (Garden City, NY: Doubleday Co., 1981), p.509.
James Macgregor Burns, Leadership (New York: Harper and Row, 1978), p. 41.