The last sabbatical I took (Y2K) was not quite as elaborate as this one. But it was memorable and productive. The best memories from the Y2K sabbatical centered around the drive from Houston to Washington, D.C. with Melinda and Jenna, stopping at every lighthouse along the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts. At the same time, UBC was beginning its “Lighthouses of Hope” theme for the summer. The worship center was being dismantled for remodeling and UBCers were meeting in homes, schools, parks, and even bars around the Clear Lake area. Groups met in 80 different locations over those weeks.
In July of 2000 I went to D.C. to visit the Bowen Family Center, to build on my novice status in family systems studies. I consulted with faculty there, attended conferences, and viewed hours of video tapes. My goal was to find a way to combine what I was learning in family systems theory with what I was learning and experiencing in spiritual formation and leadership. The result, a couple of years later, was a book I co-authored with two friends, Trisha Taylor and Jim Herrington. Jossey-Bass published it in its Leadership Network series as The Leader’s Journey.
The book captures several ideas that are important to me. One of my most deeply held convictions is that leadership is not manipulation and that it is not about techniques. It is ultimately about the life of the leader. It does not matter whether we are talking about leadership in the home, in the corporate world, in a school, or in the church. Leadership is about the life of the leader. Leaders who pay attention only to techniques in order to manipulate their way through life, lead people astray. The more difficult thing for any of us to do is to attend to our own lives. But that is the path the journey takes.
I am also convinced that God has created us, wired us up, in ways that can be understood. And I believe that when we understand some of those ways, we can live more effectively. Family systems theory helps me understand some of the ways in which we are wired up and wired together.
The practice of spiritual disciplines is the third part of the equation for me. When Paul speaks about struggles with “the flesh” in Romans 7, about doing the things he doesn’t want to do and not being able to stop, about not doing the things he knows he should, I think he is talking about the way we are wired up as a result of sin. Changing the wiring is not possible without the grace of Jesus Christ. But those changes do not occur automatically. That’s why you can know someone who has been a Christian for decades but who remains as mean as a snake. Or that’s why you and I can continue to struggle with a particular sin or way of relating to others. Change is not automatic. It requires effort.
But, as Dallas Willard says, grace is not opposed to effort, grace is opposed to earning. The practices of study, silence, solitude, prayer, meditation, journaling, confession, service, worship, and other disciplines become instruments in God’s hands to transform us gradually into his image. The disciplines do not earn us favor with God or get Heaven’s attention. They are simply means for giving God our attention. We cannot make the seed grow. Only God can. But we can till the soil. The disciplines help to break up our soul soil and ready us for the life God wants to give us.
I began presenting the Leader’s Journey material in Thailand this morning (Friday) and will continue through Monday, about an hour and a half each morning. About sixty Cooperative Baptist Fellowship missionaries in Asia are gathered here in Chiang Mai for renewal and strategy planning. The group meets like this about every three years. Our own Steve Johnson is part of the group. During the remainder of each day I am hanging out with them, listening, reading, writing, and resting.
Already I have enjoyed sharing meals, worship, and conversation with these men and women who are placing their lives on the line in service to the Kingdom of God in a variety of places in Asia. Money given from UBC to support the work of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship keeps these servants on the field in places where no other witness to Christ exists. Their mission of “being the presence of Christ in the world” is pursued with passion and effectiveness.
Please pray for me and for your missionaries as we gather to worship and to think. Pray for God to offer them a refreshing and renewal with his presence. Many of these will have been coming off of six months working in tsunami relief. They will be physically, emotionally, and spiritually weary. Pray that they may hear Jesus’ invitation to come and find rest.
Still On the Journey,
rrc
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