a Jesus thought...
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)
a Godly thought...
Pioneers find new ground, and settlers build on it. Without the pioneers there would be no place to settle, and without the settlers the pioneers would never see their work bear fruit. (p180 Frost & Hirsch)
a leading thought...
A leader who speaks for the poor may well speak for God. (p153 Harris)
a Dave thought...
The APEPT (Apostles, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher) system is like a motor vehicle. There are two pedals on the floor and we need both to drive effectively. Healthy leadership teams do contain both. Accelerators are your APE-leadership types, while PT types are your brakes. We need to ensure that we keep our teams balanced at every level of our organisations. I have been on teams when we have had vision flying everywhere but no accountability or maturity and also on the opposite when trying to implement something new was never going to get through the 100 policies written by brake type people. So we do need each other but maybe boards and committees attract more brakes than accelerators?
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)
a Godly thought...
Pioneers find new ground, and settlers build on it. Without the pioneers there would be no place to settle, and without the settlers the pioneers would never see their work bear fruit. (p180 Frost & Hirsch)
a leading thought...
A leader who speaks for the poor may well speak for God. (p153 Harris)
a Dave thought...
The APEPT (Apostles, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, Teacher) system is like a motor vehicle. There are two pedals on the floor and we need both to drive effectively. Healthy leadership teams do contain both. Accelerators are your APE-leadership types, while PT types are your brakes. We need to ensure that we keep our teams balanced at every level of our organisations. I have been on teams when we have had vision flying everywhere but no accountability or maturity and also on the opposite when trying to implement something new was never going to get through the 100 policies written by brake type people. So we do need each other but maybe boards and committees attract more brakes than accelerators?
Lets make an effort to get some accelerators engaged in making decisions, after all if we designed cars with only brakes we would never actually go anywhere.
Just a thought.
4 comments:
What a brilliant illustration. It is very true and in some cases within it would be great if leaders could hand pick their own teams instead of having those that have been there forever or been appointed there for whatever reasons. Perhaps in this way it would be possible to choose a mix of the right types of people. I call them big picture and detail people we need the people with the vision and big picture but we also need the people that are able to fill in the details and work out how to get there and if this will actually work etc.
Love this post Dave
Thanks
TF
I assum you are talking about leadership here, if so then might we not say that Spirit lead leadership is to form and equip a people who demonstrate and announce the purpose and direction of God through Jesus Christ. Such leadership, through the agency of the Spirit create a people whose life is a witness to Christ. This seems to be Paul's point in Eph.4. His directions for leadership emerge from his understanding of the life and ministry of Jesus. Furthermore it is rooted in the Spirit's formation of the post-pentecost community. It reaches forward to the eschatological future of God's Kingdom that has already dawned with the outpouring of the Spirit and reaches back into the very nature of creation. Each of these biblical perspectives illustrates that the formation of a redeemed community is essential to the focus of missional leadership.
APEPT tends not to work in that 'teacher is actually a further description of 'pastor' also 1 Cor.12 only list three offices. APEPT tends to lead people in elitism while labelling people "brake type people' smacks of judgmentalism.
WJE
Hey Dave
I do love this analogy - it is about people with the right giftings working together to build gods kingdom. It is a matter of recognising everyone's different giftings and personality types and being tolerent of them - as you say unfortunately those who are good administrators are those who get promoted through the ranks however, whilst we need good administrators we also need pioneers and prophets and apostles to make the way. You are definately on the right track and I have worked with some great administrators who have a passion for minsitry who equip the pioneers and I have worked with some administrators who do the opposite - so definately on the right track.
Good One
Polly
Firstly, I need to say Happy Birthday. I was slack on that one, though we are behind here by nearly a day, by the time you read this, it'll be two days late!
I think a key here, is that leadership is a team. The more I learn about leadership and see it in place, the less I admire people who go out and do what they want when they want on their own (even if they claim to be Spirit led). i think this is dangerous. accountability should be a huge issue. and when this all comes together, it can be a beautiful thing.
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