Articles
Leadership Beyond 40
After being suitably honoured to receive an invitation to offer some reflections for the Arrow Alumni, I found myself - for honesty's sake - writing back to Arrow HQ to clarify the title above. Due to my relative youthfulness (I just look old!) I'm yet to reach that auspicious milestone, and hence wondered if I was disqualified from comment. Alternatively, I suggested I could write with utmost integrity on the topic 'Leading Beyond 100kg' as I passed that milestone quite a way back.
Clearly we've gone with the former and so now to the task at hand. There is certainly one issue that has become increasingly foundational to not just my leadership role, but my journey of faith.
Over the last 3 years, I've invested a great deal of time and reflection into understanding the ubiquitous phrase 'call of God'. It's been fuelled by observing the alarming number of friends in ministry 'flame out' and walk away from ministry, marriage, God or a combination all of the above. I've got more than a sneaking suspicion that the understanding of 'the call' - or lack thereof - forms for many an unstable platform for ministry and leadership.
Biblically the primary words rendered as call - particularly when God is the caller - are Qara (Hebrew) and Kaleo (Greek). Both these words are used in the text to convey similar meaning. As I understand the use of these two words, the biblical call of God is akin to "Graham come closer to me - I want to be with you" and/or "Graham- this is who you are". It occurs to me the way we often use it in a ministry/ leadership context is more like "Graham - go over there and do a job for me".
Even more simply, my true calling is primarily my identity in God, not my role in ministry. It's the old being /doing dichotomy. Not that I believe that the doing is unimportant, it's just that biblically the word call is laden with identity, not function. Check out the pattern in Exodus 3 with Moses - "Hey Moses, stop sulking out here in the desert because you think you've failed. Come closer to me so I can restore your sense of true identity in relationship to me. Right - now I'm sending you to pharaoh..." Moses wasn't called to lead the Israelites out of Egypt - he was sent from a place of restored and renewed identity (calling) in God.
In fact the "Calling of the 12" in Luke 5 (so named in the extra-biblical heading in my bible) contains no role description for ministry function at all, but rather a mysterious and vague exhortation to follow (be with) Jesus. Jesus certainly gets on to the doing bit later in Luke 9 and 10 when he sends them on a mission trip. But note the language - first he calls them to himself - then sends them out on their Kingdom assignment.
Here's the rub - if I get calling mixed up with sending (assignment) I start thinking my identity is geographical, circumstantial and performance based. Again, those things are not unimportant, but they are issues related to my assignment, not my call. As a Gen X'er educated in the latter part of the 20th century if there is one thing I know about assignments it's that, even if you fail, you always get another shot at it. And isn't that infinitely more true of the God of grace' In short, I can afford to fail assignments (I've actually pretty good at it).
But calling - that's different. My true identity is conferred upon me from my Creator - God and God alone. It's what He sees when He looks at me...always...eternally. (Rom 11:29) When he looks at me He sees a son, He sees the husband of Christy, the father of Jonah, Daisy and Micah. He's sees one who has been created with the gifting, personality and desire to develop and release others into their God-potential. It's seems wherever I go, I can't stop being these things, and that's the way He intends it to be into eternity. I'm created to live from a place of deep security, knowing that when it comes to God's calling - I can't fail!
When I'm confident and secure in this calling, I truly feel like I'm a better man and leader - released to be bold and courageous in my present Kingdom assignment here in Geelong. Don't tell my church this but seriously - what's the worst that can happen' Be a trainwreck as Senior Leader of a church' Well for starters that's been done before, and for seconds that's my assignment, not my call. I can bounce back. That's also been done before. But if I get my calling and my assignment mixed up, then I may actually believe I've failed my very identity in God - that's a dark place that I don't intend to visit.
There's too much at stake to get calling confused with sending (assignment). As I move beyond 40, I know I need to remember that.
Graham Clarke
Arrow 6
Senior Pastor
Barrabool Hills Baptist Church
www.barraboolhills.com.au
Graham took on the role of Senior Pastor in mid 2007 at Barrabool Hills Baptist Church in Geelong, coming down from the Sunshine State.
