Last night at Barnes and Noble, I picked up a book that I am as excited about as any church book I’ve read in a long time, Leonard Sweet’s I Am a Follower. Although I haven’t finished it yet, I love his thesis: we aren’t called to be leaders, but followers of Jesus Christ. In his critique of the church leadership movement, he points out that pastors’ bookshelves (including mine) are lined with business management books. Now that the economic recession has proved many of the Good to Great companies to be flawed, the church is having to come to terms with the weaknesses of many principles they had co-opted. Sweet points out that Willow Creek Church, the source of much of modern church leadership practices, has now led the way in repenting of this infatuation with the business model. What if what we clergy need to do most is not become better leaders, but to make sure that we are genuine followers?
This week has been a challenging one in terms of losses. Usually I love the abundance of relationships and opportunities that this itinerant clergy lifestyle provides. This week, however, there have been deaths of some people significant to me in previous phases of my ministry. It has felt like a multiplication of losses. I was reading Roger Hermann’s obituary today, and it captured him perfectly. “He was a lifelong member of the Trinity United Methodist Church. The church was the center of Roger's life. If the doors were open he was there. He volunteered every Saturday taking care of anything that might be needed to prepare for the next day's service: sharpening pencils, preparing the gifts for service, making sure the pastor had water, etc.” As soon as I read those words, I pictured Roger carrying a brown tray with two small glasses of water each week- one for the pulpit, and one for the lectern. I don’t know that I ever sipped the water that he brought (I’m a dedicated hot tea drinker when I’m preaching), but it was always there. I have a hunch that, if I had sipped it, it might have tasted something like the wine of Cana.
In thinking about the life of this servant of Christ and others that I have been blessed to know, I am certain that Leonard Sweet is on to something. It’s not about leading, it’s about following and serving.
