Introduction
Leadership in church, as well as change, are two things that require individuals who are committed to serving others. The two depend on one another in the sense that in order for change to happen, good leaders need to be present. A good leader is characterized by the ability to use a common language that unites every individual, facilitates and encourages sharing as well as strengthens the members’ narrative intelligence. This paper looks at the three.
Using A Common Language
Leadership requires that an individual with the aim or intention of guiding others be one that can speak in a language that everyone understands. Using a single language does not mean literally but communicating an agenda that resonates with every person. People will only have a path or a certain direction if they believe that it is the path they should follow. For instance, at a Christian youth camp, the agenda might be transforming the lives of young people by teaching the ways of Jesus Christ. The main language in that camp is a transformation that shows that common language or agenda unites people and helps in ensuring collaboration thus effectiveness.
Facilitating Sharing
Facilitative style of leadership concerns maximizing other people’s contributions. There are various behavior traits that represent such a leader. For instance, he or she is active in listening as well as seeking to comprehend. This consists of things such as listening intently to church members and paraphrasing what they have said. Another trait of such leaders is offering clarity as well as purpose. A facilitative leader identifies the issue that needs a solution by asking plus seeking responses and acting accordingly. Through this, the members are able to realize the objective of what they are doing, for instance, why they are tackling a certain task.
A facilitative leader is able to connect the dots, which means he or she makes sense of every piece of a task and brings together all the participants. For instance, in the Bible, Jesus Christ was able to bring different people from various backgrounds to work with Him to help spread the gospel. These are the individuals that were later known as the disciples. A good leader follows this example and ensures that every individual on a team is allowed to share their ideas and opinions. He or she is able to let these individuals brainstorm, thus connecting them through creative thinking. ‘
A facilitative leader supports as well as promotes collaboration which means bringing all the members to accomplish a particular task together. For instance, in the scriptures, there is a narration about Jesus Christ feeding five thousand people. He did not do this alone despite being the Son of God but needed other people, such as the one with the fish and loaves of bread. Collaboration in the church encourages love, kindness, and unity as people interact with one another more often.
Strengthening Your Members’ Narrative Intelligence
Narrative intelligence refers to a transformational concept in leadership that aims to improve people’s comprehension of why things work out less effectively than expected. It also targets reconfiguring the thinking process so that it supports goals, aspirations as well as well-being better, plus for reorienting individuals to be more productive when interacting with others regarding leadership. It starts with understanding that many individuals run an inside commentary on anything that is happening in their lives.
Leaders who have a strong narrative intelligence know that individuals act more from personal and deep truths than from objective, testable ones. They are created by bringing together pieces of data from lived experience. The data are chosen, plus the ones overlooked, are established by core values as well as other psychological models. Then, a person constructs the meaning of an experience in the means of a narrative, and it becomes the story they tell themselves. It mainly draws on vital people as well as events causes, plus the effect they hold on whatever unfolds.
The form taken by the narratives directly affects their capacity to impact results as well as subsequent developments. There may be some correlation between what happens and people’s belief in understanding it. This phenomenon is transformational for leadership since it forges a new scheme that allows leaders to break through. It allows them to realize that most of the obstacles they encounter start with them, plus their assumptions, hunches, blind spots, and perspectives. Many leadership courses and books claim that leadership is grounded fundamentally in styles, behaviors, or character traits.
Leading while equipped with narrative intelligence makes a leader avoid focusing on the how and what and now looks at the who. Genuine leadership concerns how to positively influence others in a manner it excites, inspires, and engages them. When loopholes arise between what the leaders claim to stand for and what other people observe in their behavior, credibility, and trust erode. This prompts members and other colleagues to start not being committed. Those with a strong narrative intelligence will not only recognize the narratives constructed concerning themselves and address the issues.
Understanding of Change and What It Means to Lead Change
In theology, leadership has various meanings, but all have their foundation in Christ. All leaders aspire to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and lead others to redemption. For instance, they chose individuals who did not believe they could lead and made them disciples. After his death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven, the disciples were tasked with spreading the word to different places. This is the same thing that happens in various churches of today. Individuals serve under other preachers, and then after some time, they are allowed to start their own branches of the church where they are encouraged to continue with the message of God. This has led to many churches being formed even in places that people could not believe one would be established. Leadership is not about one person gaining or controlling everything but using others, through guidance, to reach out to sections one cannot.
Despite all the good that comes from the church, there have been some wrongdoings that do not indicate the love of Jesus Christ to all human beings. The church has been used to spread social injustice in American society. Through various scriptures in the Bible, preachers have continued to try to prove why people of color do not deserve the same treatment as their white counterparts. There are churches that do not allow black ministers to serve on their pulpits. This is very wrong and should not be allowed in the church. Jesus Christ allowed and embraced people from various backgrounds and even told stories about them.
This brings up the issue of change and what needs to be done to accomplish that. It is not easy to break the rules or go against ideas that have lasted for many years, but it is worth it. It is reported that there were missionaries in the slavery era that had slaves and still viewed themselves as good Christians. This is the same kind of behavior that Jesus was preaching against. For instance, He used the story of a Pharisee who goes to church to pray and claim before God that he is more worthy of His forgiveness than a tax collector alongside. The missionaries act like the Pharisees since they do not view other people as equals and yet claim to be of God.
The church is supposed to help make things better in society and not worse. Jesus showed this clearly in the New Testament when He rescued a woman from being stoned to death by a mob of angry people who saw her sins and failed to see theirs. The woman was a prostitute, and thus, they wanted to kill her. Jesus intervened by asking whoever felt they had never sinned to be the first person to throw a stone, and they did not, and thus, He forgave the woman and let her walk free. What is happening concerning social injustice is contrary to what He taught and needs to change. A few individuals are still held up in the idea that people of color are cursed.
Change in such a society is ensuring that all people are allowed to participate in church activities as others. It also means that the church is at the forefront of seeking justice for the afflicted. For instance, in 2020, many people worldwide were enraged over the cold blood murder of an African American male by a white police officer. The video went viral on social media and led many people in the state of Minneapolis to protest. It is important that the church be outspoken about such incidents because it is easier for the local, state, or federal government to listen to them since they help them in solving other issues.
There are cases whereby the perpetrators have been deemed innocent by judges who are also part of the wicked system. Getting involved means more pressure on law enforcement to find justice for the victims and their families. Leading such change means that the leaders are no longer selfish and think about other people who have been and continue to be affected by such injustices. Being able to stand against the ideas that have been part of someone for a long time and deciding to choose the welfare of others.
Conclusion
Leadership requires dedication and commitment to the people one is leading and their needs. This means that when someone is referred to as a leader then, they have to ignore their issues and deal with the members first. Theology teaches that Jesus Christ was a good leader and always catered for others. For instance, there are many acts that He performed that showed His love for others. For example, seeing the grief on Lazarus’ sisters after his death, he chose to resurrect him. At a wedding, when wine was finished, He used His powers to create a wine which shows He utilized His authority not for personal gains but for others to be happy.
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