Scot McKnight in a recent blog post comments on Joseph Hellerman's book, Embracing Shared Ministry.
McKnight first quotes Hellerman:
The volatile combination of (a) emotionally needy, narcissistic leaders appealing to (b) naively receptive followers {in} (c) corporate, institutional settings proves to be a set-up for the abuse of ministerial authority (256-257).
To which words McKnight adds his own thoughts:
Add to this an almost solo concept of power or authority, and add to this the fact that knowledge is power and pastors have knowledge (often unchallenged), and you’ve got the making of problems. And add to this the desire for people to come to church and hear a good sermon, so that the good sermon-maker rises to the top of a church and, bingo, you’ve got churches that are shaped not by the gospel but by something else. Churches need crosses at the front of their buildings to remind the congregation (and the pastors) that the Way of Jesus is the Way of the Cross. Rome had its throne, the church has its cross.
"Rome had its throne, the church has its cross." I'm pondering that line today as I consider contemporary church leadership (of which I am a part). We so often embrace the power and politics of secular institutions in the church. We apply good marketing theory to attract people to our "services" (could just as easily be "consumers" to our "goods."). We use best practices of corporate management theory to keep our churches running like well-oiled machines. When things get tricky, messy, and contentious, we subtly and shrewdly begin to pull on the levers of power to accomplish our clearly well-intentioned and good-hearted aims (at least in our minds) which are being opposed by clearly disturbed, shallow, disputatious congregation members who are in rebellion against our "spiritual" authority, as all good politicians have done for time immemorial.
Some of these things have benefits to be sure. Specifically we can of course learn about and apply good principles of efficiency and character-led management. The rub comes from our often uncritical adoption of corporate business theory without consideration of Biblical principles which supersede. The Kingdom has a King, and we are not him.