Unacceptable

I'd like to return for another post to my class last Thursday on leadership and the example provided by Sir Ernest Shackleton.

Here's a link to Wikipedia's page to give some biographical information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Shackleton

We watched movie excerpts detailing Shackleton's leadership and his interaction with his men.  It was a fascinating study not only in human endurance and survival, but also in human dynamics in the midst of a crisis.

Shackleton actually faced some mutiny along the journey.  Some felt their attempt to cross sea ice dragging lifeboats was a waste of time and energy.  A few believed they were simply prolonging their inevitable deaths.  These folks would simply be satisfied to sit and use up their supplies until death eventually took them.  One particular crewman challenged Shackleton to his face regarding this position.

In the movie, Shackleton had it out with this crewman.  In no uncertain terms, Shackleton looked him in the eye and said, "I am responsible for your life and for the lives of every man here.  I will not let them die!"  The movie apparently took some poetic license at this point, but my instructor shared that at this point in the journals, Shackleton looked at the disgruntled crew member and turned his back on him and headed back to leading his men toward survival.  Shackleton would have left him standing there on his own, if this crew member chose to remain, but he wouldn't have been happy about it.  Shackleton was bound and determined to bring his men through this ordeal, and nothing was going to stop him.  His vision of his responsibility was that clear.  Anything else would have been unacceptable.

But, it must be duly noted that Shackleton's leadership did not mean that he was somehow above the rest of the crew.  Most of the time, he was up early making hot tea for his men.  He labored as hard or harder than anyone else when it came to pulling their life boats across the ice and snow.  He sacrificed his comfort for the comfort of his men.  He learned from them when faced with doing something he had never done before.  Not only did Shackleton lead, he shared the situation with his men.  He was not above it.

My instructor asked our class to draw parallels to leadership in the church.

As most pastors will do, the compassionate side of Shackleton was raised immediately--his sacrifice of himself and his comfort for his men.  But all too often, church leaders sacrifice themselves to death so that everyone else can be comfortable.  Shackleton didn't just sacrifice for the comfort of others; he sacrificed to show everyone else he wasn't going to absolve himself of the dirty work of survival.  Everyone would share the hardship.  Everyone would share the reward.

I wonder how many of us who are church leaders offer to do the same thing?  I wonder how many of us church leaders are willing to do the "dirty work" of the church?  How many of us are willing to get our hands dirty during a building project and shovel dirt and drive nails?  How many of us are willing to walk around and greet as many people as possible on a Sunday morning--modeling hospitality?  How many of us are willing to share our successes and failures in trying to share our faith with strangers?  How many of us are willing to wash dishes after a church pot luck?  How many of us are willing to cook Lenten suppers for our flocks?  How many of us are willing to say to our congregation members, "I won't ask you to do anything I'm not willing to do myself."?  That's sharing with, if you ask my opinion.

And, a further parallel, how many of us clergy take responsibility for the growth or lack of it in our congregations?  How many of us are so consumed by the vision of making disciples of all nations and bearing witness to Jesus Christ, that we are willing to passionately say, "I'm responsible for getting this congregation to reach out.  I will not let it die!"?  How many of us are willing to put our tail end's on the line in such a manner?  How many of us look at declining congregations and declining denominations and (rather than trying to sugar coat it with various excuses) and say, "This is completely unacceptable."?  And how many of us are willing to push not only ourselves but our congregation members to make a difference and reach out to others to stem decline?

As far as I am concerned, what I have seen happening in many churches and in my larger denomination is unacceptable.  A church striving to follow Jesus Christ shouldn't decline.  A church striving to make a difference in the lives of individuals and in communities shouldn't have problems attracting those in need and those who want to make a difference.

No more excuses.

No more waffling.

It's time to be who we are called to be.

It's time to venture out.

Anything else is unacceptable.