Leading Across the Divide
I'm with you, I really am.
As you know, it's a very difficult climate to lead in these days...I'd say the hardest in my 15 year run of leadership without question. Over the past 10 weeks, I've experienced moments of defeat and moments of victory. Moments when my arms have been raised in triumph, moments when I've felt like both of my arms are being pulled off via partisan tension.
Many of these days I've begged Jesus to give me wisdom on how to lead His Church toward a path of unity amidst such great divide...and it's not even the fall yet! 🤦♂️
Recently I got an article on nuance, Brett McCracken writes:
"We live in an un-nuanced age. The economic model of the media (built on clicks and views) works against nuance. Advertisers know nuance doesn’t sell. Politicians know it too. We shouldn’t be surprised by how rare it is for someone to hold humble, complicated, “both/and” views in today’s hyper-partisan, media-catechized world. But if churches are going to emerge from this crisis with unity and fellowship intact, we must embrace the countercultural path of nuance. It’s the path that avoids ALL CAPS hysteria of every extreme sort, recognizing that truth is rarely as simple and shrill as Twitter would have us think. It’s the path that prizes both courage and prudence, and avoids both pollyannaish and doomsday responses. It means we can be skeptical of some aspects of the lockdown without resorting to outrageous conspiracy theories, and we can honor governing authorities (Rom. 13) while engaging them in civil pushback when necessary. Countercultural nuance avoids thinking the worst of people and concedes that the other side of a debate is sometimes right, just as we are sometimes wrong. Nuance often results when humility and patience combine." -Brett McCracken
Jesus is giving me the daily breadcrumb trail of His Word, timely texts from friends, books and blogs. I hope this post is a crumb on your breadcrumb trail as you lead others across the divide.
Stay connected, stay the course!