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I read On the Old Testament earlier, and that was my intro to Mark Driscoll’s new series of Re:Lit “Books you’ll actually read.” Like the OT book, On Church Leadership runs about a hundred pages and can be read in about an hour.

A quick look at LibraryThing statistics revealed that, as I suspected, the Leadership book, which deals with the biblical perspective on “elders,” “deacons,” and “pastors,” as well as women leading in the church, is the most widely-owned book in the imprint to date. Makes perfect sense, since this is one of the most widely-debated issues in the church today.

I’ll come right out and say I’m a fan of the Complementarian Driscoll champions, which has strong biblical warrant. Aside from helpful clarity on the women in ministry question—”This chapter should include a wick because it is connected to a powder keg of controversial theological debates”—Driscoll also deals with stuff like elder qualifications, the roles of elders vs. deacons, leadership teams, and something you don’t see in most books on leadership: the essential role of church members as leaders in their spheres.

On Church Leadership features Mark Driscoll’s trademark directness dosed with more stand-up moments than I found in On the Old Testament. (”When the Bible tells us not to kill innocent people it does not mean that God wants us to kill innocent people, even if a “scholar” has more degrees than Fahrenheit, know Greek, and published a book explaining it based upon drawings on the wall of a cave in upper Mesopotamia.”)

I’m not someone who feels ripped off if I smile while reading a theology book, so I enjoyed this one thoroughly and definitely recommend it.

In Water from a Deep Well, Gerald Sittser makes the following suggestion:

Never before has the church had such opportunities for influence. The biggest problem it faces is its own complacency and worldliness. Here church leaders must take charge, not by doing more but by doing less. They must surrender all desire for political, economic, social and cultural influence in larger society to devote their energies to enabling the church to become a community of belonging. Church leaders are called to serve the church; the church in turn is called to serve the world. (emphasis mine)

I agree with the main drift of Sittser’s thought here. Leaders in today’s churches will usually be better served by slowing down to speed up, cutting programs and expenditures in order to do a few things well. In the sentence I italicized, I don’t think many people would question Sittzer’s first two entries–political and economic influence. In fact, decrying Christian Republicanism (equating Christianity with Conservative values) and Corporate Christianity (running the church for profit, like a business, with the lead pastor as CEO) is commonplace these days, and rightly so.

However, there’s currently a groundswell of interest in the church exerting cultural and social influence. Consider the social/cultural agendas of guys like Donald Miller and Shane Claiborne, the popularity of Relevant Magazine (and various similar publications), and books like Andy Crouch’s Culture Making. Renewing culture and transforming society are rallying cries in many circles right now–and I’m usually one of the guys yelling.

I think the church does have a mandate to live in such a way that there’s an outward ripple effect. But Sittser’s comment, which I hope he elaborates on, does make me pause. Twenty years from now, will people be shaking their heads at the way the Western church became obsessed with becoming new monastics and finger painters for Jesus? Kind of like the way we shake our heads now at the way an earlier generation became obsessed with politics and successful business models?

We need to remember that whatever effects an honest Christian life has on the surrounding people and culture, our primary job is spiritual transformation. Love and service are the hallmarks of Christian community. To the extent that that job description is embraced, new artistry and social justice will emerge. Jesus changes lives and heals sinners before he transforms society and stirs creative juices.

An anemic artistic subculture and the lack of involvement in social causes are signs of a deficient church. But the New Testament doesn’t equate vibrant Christianity with a Web 2.0 Renaissance or New Urbanism. We have to be careful not to make secondary effects like Art and Activism the primary goal.

Anyone else have thoughts on this?

More from Acts for Everyone Part One by N.T. Wright. I’ve quoted and referenced Wright so much that when I actually post a review of this book, it may be redundant. Here he talks about Dorcas, the resurrected widow-heroine from Acts 9. Unfortunate name, but what a story and what a take-away:

Dorcas…stands as it were for all those unsung heroines who have got on with what they can do best and have done it to the glory of God. Had it not been for Peter, she might never have made it into the pages of the New Testament, and we have to assume that there were dozens in the early years, and thousands in later years, who, like her, lived their lives in faith and hope, bearing the sorrows of life no doubt as well as celebrating its joys, and finding in the small acts of service to others a fulfillment of the gospel within their own sphere, using traditional skills to the glory of God.

Luke is right to draw out eyes down to the small-scale and immediate, in case we should ever forget that these are the people who form the heart of the church, while the apostles and evangelists go about making important decisions, getting locked up, stoned or shipwrecked, preaching great sermons, writing great letters, and generally being great and good all over the place. I am privileged to know plenty of Dorcases… When I meet such people I greet them as what they are, the beating heart of the people of God. - N.T. Wright, Acts for Everyone Part One

Leaders get the limelight, the book deals, and the wide-eyed acolytes, but the kingdom of God is innervated by unsung heroes. Anyone serious about seeing new churches grow would give his right arm for people like Dorcas.

N.T. Wright makes the point that all God’s people are called to pray but apostolic leaders more so than the rest. He derives this from the passage in Acts where Peter, James, John, etc., appointed new leaders so that they, the apostles, could devote themselves to prayer and the teaching of God’s word.

This makes perfect sense. It’s an almost glaringly obvious assumption, like connecting two dots when they are the only ones on the page, they are gigantic, and they and are framed by flashing neon arrows. Blink, blink, blink: Apostles devote themselves to prayer -> That means prayer is a huge priority.

These days, church planters are often described in apostolic terms, as the dudes who will start new movements of people toward Jesus by preaching (and praying) in regions where the gospel previously made as much sense as a Burger King breakfast commercial.

This is sort of disquieting for a guy whose best prayer often seems to be, “GOD HELP US!”

Nevertheless, I am trying to work prayer into my life more, similar to the way you work chalk into your palms to get a better grip on your climbing surface, or spray Stickum Grip Spray on your hands so that you can throw down a really sick dunk. Prayer has a great deal to do with our ability to navigate reality accurately and find traction–conversing with God has this calming, gracious, strengthening effect.

Not to mention that, should he want to, God can answer our petitions with dramatic and immediate results, such as when he allowed KU to win the national championship.

So when I hit a patch of silence, I let it be for awhile and pray, rather than immediately blasting Shai Linne or Josh Ritter. Lindsay and I are taking a running start at praying together every night, and while we don’t have an unbroken record by any means, praying together has been immediately healthy and good. I also think it increases the likelihood that we’ll make out.

Ultimately, I’m trying to become a man who is open and sensitive to God’s spirit, aware of what’s going on in my heart–as opposed to an ignorant and cocky dude. For anyone called to plant a church, this seems like a biblical mandate.

If you’re not familiar with Lark News, this might be a good introduction. The secret of Lark News’ stories is that you can frequently just almost see them happening.