Introduction
I felt my pulse quicken and my temperature rise. On the one hand, the stakes were low because I was surrounded by friends. I knew they would let me off the hook. On the other hand, the stakes couldnât have been higher because I was among friends. I knew these men and I wanted to be in their company, to impress them, and to serve them. The five of us were huddled around a slick-topped, paper place-matted table in a Greek diner in Johnson City, New York, a manufacturing town keen on knowing what to do next.
Situated just outside Binghamton, New York, with its university of growing repute, Johnson City had an air of academic life, though none of us were specifically academics (although I hurry to add that one was Harvard educated and several had advanced degrees). There were four managersâvariously from manufacturing, health care, aerospace engineering, and the energy sectorâand me, assistant pastor at their church and the groupâs convener. I had learned from each of these friendsâabout leadership , faithfulness , parenting, encouragement, hard work âand respected their learning through MBAs, hard knocks, and diligent reflection. So, I couldnât think of a better group with whom to journey through a technical leadership textbook.
Which brings me to my rising temp and elevated heart rate. I was sitting there, expected to lead discussion, but grossly unprepared. I knew the jig was up. These friends came prepared to be led deeper into reflection, discussion, and analysis only to have the leader falter.
Have you ever been in that setting? Iâm sure your situation is different, but you might know what itâs like to have eyes on you, expecting that you see something clearly that others only see dimly. To have ears tuned into what wisdom you have to share , the fruit of reflection, analysis, and synthesis of various viewpoints. To have feet ready to move if only you can make the destination clear and compelling.
I help to train pastors. I like training pastors because they are often some of the most courageous men and women I encounter. They often lead stubborn, struggling people with only a few resources. Inevitably somewhere along the lineâwhether in class or at lunch, over Facebook or on the phoneâwe reflect together whether this is what they really want to be doing because at some point they have sat at the table, among friends, wondering if they are letting down those gathered around them. One of the earliest Christian leaders, Gregory of Nazianzus, Archbishop of Constantinople in the fourth century, warned people not to take up leadership in the church if they hadnât applied or learned to speak the wisdom of God . If these would-be leaders didnât see themselves in the community of the church or submit to the demands of Jesus of his followers, then they would wisely avoid leading in the church . Why? Because leadership without godly wisdom , both learned and proclaimed, might lead to success and then utter failure. For Gregory, leadership without theology was an extreme danger (Nazianzen, n.d.).
I donât know if you are a pastor or not. I like being around leaders of all sorts, so if youâve picked up this book, I expect Iâd like to sit down at a slick-topped table with you and talk about what youâre reading. I like leaders because, whether or not they are pastors, true leaders get the stakes of leadership . Leaders get Gregoryâs warning, have heard it in the words of their own mentors and have said it to others under their influence. Regardless of the field in which youâre leading, I want to help introduce you to Gregoryâs warning from his own perspective. I want to talk to you about theology and leadership . Which might invite this question.
Whatâs Theology Have to Do with Leadership ?
Thatâs the question, isnât it? Theology is about God and the implications for thinking right, believing right, and aiming right, but less concerned with getting things doneâŚright? Isnât leadership about getting things done, getting people on board, getting systems designed, getting processes implemented, holding teams and individuals accountable? So, what does theology have to do with leadership ? And what does leadership have to do with theology ?
This kind of questionââWhat does theology have to do with _________?ââhas been asked for a long time. Tertullian (c. 155âc. 240), an early Christian leader and theologian asked it like this: âWhat has Athens to do with Jerusalem?â Tertullian was asking what philosophy (represented by Athens) has to do with theology (represented by Jerusalem). Donât they seek to know different things?1
I expect that drawing together theologians with leadership practitioners and thinkers might prove to be tough. But I like leading, and leaders work at getting the right people speaking with each other. I also like theology and I canât have a conversation without it. So, letâs see if we can get theology and leadership into a mutually beneficial conversation .
Tertullian was asking what philosophy and theology have to do with one another, yet asking what leadership has to do with theology is even tougher because leadership is hard to define and narrow as a field (Yukl 2002, 2â7). Leadership Quarterly, one of the leading journals of leadership research, champions various disciplines in leadership studies including economics, organizational behavior, management, sociology , history, anthropology , and various psychologies. Leadership reaches into many fields, but does it stretch to include theology ? If leadership researchers and practitioners, interested in all potential avenues of leadership research, are asking the question, maybe they should also ask:
- âWhat do Washington, Beijing, Ottawa, Brasilia, and Moscowâand other political centers of the worldâhave to do with Jerusalem?â In other words, what does theology have to do with politics ?
- âWhat do New York, London, Amsterdam, and Hong Kongâand other financial centers of the worldâhave to do with Jerusalem?â In other words, what does theology have to do with business?
- âWhat do Hollywood, Bollywood, Kallywood, and Nollywoodâand other cinema centers of the worldâhave to do with Jerusalem?â In other words, what does theology have to do with entertainment?
Politics , business, and entertainment: three areas where leadership is alive and well, but what does theology have to do with them?
I can hear the theologians answering the question loud and clear, âEverything! Theology has everything to do with those cities and questions and issues! Theology is already at work in Washington, London, and Bollywood. Itâs not whether thereâs a theology at work in those places, but what theology and how good a theology is present. And we can help.â
So, why does theology matter? Because everyone has beliefs about God . Everyone is a theologian! Even if a person does not believe in God , they still have beliefs about what they are not believing in or what others believe when they use the word âGod .â The sum total of oneâs beliefs about God is the content of their theology . Theology can be simple (âGod is love â) or complex (âJesus Christ is one person with two naturesâdivine and human...