Some of the executives reported that they learned a great deal about themselves, as others saw them, but that the honesty of the caricature was brutal at times. The caricature below was drawn and given to me by a talented young woman named Beth Crawford in 1986. I have always treasured this cartoon, but over time I have found that my thinking about the cartoon has changed significantly.

First reaction

Beth drew and gave my wife, Susie, and me the cartoon as an expression of appreciation for all the various ways in which we served the congregation. I was proud of that cartoon and displayed it prominently on the desk depicted in the drawing. I really was trying my best to be that person, and it made me feel validated that I was perceived to be that much of a servant leader. We loved that congregation and would never do anything to harm them.

Second reaction

Over the last 10 years my role has increasingly involved pastoring pastors rather than congregations. I have studied leadership from as many perspectives as possible and have learned to value results rather than activity. The cartoon had gone from a place of prominent display to an honored place in a desk drawer. Instead of laughing at the cauliflower ear, the sermon in the oven or the flat tire on the car, I began to be aware that this was depicting a one-man show.

Increasingly, I was faced with the downside of what that cartoon depicted. We had (and still have) a desperate need for additional leaders at the congregation and sub-congregational levels. I was finding far too frequently that the leaders I was relying on to produce additional leaders were such good servants that they couldn’t see that their service was hurting the congregation.

They had neither the time nor the energy to develop true leadership in others, because they could see leadership only in terms of their service. Developing leadership was seen as giving others a part in what they were doing. It was during this time that the term omni-competent pastor came into vogue. Of course, this is an oxymoron. There is no such thing as a truly omni-competent pastor. If the omni increases, then the competence decreases, and vice versa.

The penny drops

Two weeks ago I was at the Christian Stewardship Institute, in a seminar on giving. The instructor was trying to get us to shed some toxic paradigms about Christian giving. At one point he said something that caused the lights to come on for me. Let me share it with you.

Giving is not about members giving to the church so that God’s work can be done by the church. Neither is it Christ’s will that everyone just do whatever they feel led to do. The instructor said that the church’s job is to provide an effective means for individual people to effectively respond to the way Christ is working in their lives. It’s a spiritual matter—it’s about the sovereign work Christ is doing in each of our lives. He places us in his Body as he sees fit, and invites us to participate with him in his ministry.

He spreads the talents and resources widely among us so that the only way we can fulfill his ministry is by each member truly being unique, but also part of a body that functions as a unit. The church focuses the common resources on a given point at a particular time and place.

This principle applies to Christian leadership and ministry. The real purpose of Christian leaders is to be stewards of Christ who create and maintain an atmosphere wherein the people of God can become all that Christ wants them to be, and accomplish all that he intends for them to do. A Christian leader should not be known for how many different hats he or she can wear; a leader should be known for helping others find the right hat, and helping them learn to wear it well.

How would your cartoon look?

I just have another concern, and it concerns you. If a cartoon depicted the way you respond to Christ, what would it look like? When I look at my cartoon now, I sometimes cringe a little as I ask myself, What effect has the style of leadership depicted in the cartoon had on those I led?

What are the chances that people who have been "served" in this manner for many years would come to the point where they lost sight of their real purpose in the work of God as well? Is there any chance that you have become a co-dependent to an omni-competent pastor? Is there any chance that if your formerly omni-competent pastor seeks to change, that you might view it negatively? Are you really ready for Christ to make you all that he wants you to be, in his time and in his way?

For every action there tends to be an equal and opposite reaction. If I was the way this cartoon depicts, what is the logical opposite reaction? If you have ever been "blessed" with an effective, well-intentioned and loveable omni-competent pastor, what might you have to unlearn, for you as a unit, to really come together in such a way that Christ can work his ministry through you in the most effective way possible?