leadership

I've thought a lot about how infatuated the Church has become about "leadership" in recent years. It's one of those sexy topics that are fun to blog and write books about. I was clicking around on Dallas Willard's website today and I found this three-part interview he did for Relvant Magazine. Here's a chunk of it:

[RM]: “So, are you saying we have a crisis of follower-ship rather than a crisis of leadership?"

DW]: “Now you’re going to get me in trouble. (Laughs) The fact of the matter is this leadership thing has just gone crazy. It is actually not from the Church, it’s a carry-over from the Culture and it’s one of the many ways that the modern church has bit and swallowed the contemporary culture whole. It is just shameless the way we go on about leaders and various kinds of figures. You’re absolutely right, it’s a crisis of ‘follower-ship’ and of leaders themselves living as disciples and inducting others into discipleship, not to them, but to Christ. It’s just heartbreaking to see this thing on leadership and how this has progressed. You remember Jesus saying, ‘Call no man Master, you have one Master.’ Don’t call anyone Teacher, don’t call anyone Leader or Doctor or whatever. We’ve got a leader, let’s follow Him!"