February 3, 2003
Lead the church out of institutional captivity, student leaders urged
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___BELTON--God may be calling a new Moses today from a university campus, leadership consultant Reggie McNeal told the Christian Association of Student Leaders.
___"Consider that you may have been put on the planet to lead the church out of the captivity of institutionalism," said McNeal, director of leadership development for the South Carolina Baptist Convention.
___Christianity grows increasingly vibrant in parts of the world where it is a "movement in the streets," but in the United States, the church largely remains bound by institutional structures, he said.
"The way we live our lives, we are building somebody's past. Our decisions create the past others draw from."
--Reggie McNeal |
___"In North America, we have shrink-wrapped the energy of the gospel of Jesus Christ into real estate, programs and people processes. We are desperate for people like you to come along and recapture the energy," he told the student leaders.
___McNeal, author of "A Work of Heart: Understanding How God Shapes Spiritual Leaders," was keynote speaker at the fifth annual Christian Association of Student Leaders conference Jan. 23-25 at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton.
___More than 200 leaders of student government, university ministries, fraternities, sororities and other aspects of campus life attended the conference, co-sponsored by the Baptist General Convention of Texas Institutional Ministries Section and the Texas Baptist Leadership Center.
___God uses at least four things to shape the heart of a Christian leader, McNeal told the students:
___ Culture. Current student leaders are "amphibians," born in the modern era but having come of age in a postmodern world, he explained. They not only understand the emerging culture and the challenge of multi-culturalism, but also have roots in the old way of being. As a result, Christian leaders on college campuses can help churches move "out of the institution and into the streets."
___"You are a special breed of leader God put on this planet for just such a time as this," he said. "It takes enormous courage to lead in transition times."
___Instead of inviting people to "become like us in order to join the club," churches must "go open up shop where people already hang out," McNeal said. "We cannot afford to think and act like club members. We have to think and act like missionaries who know how to penetrate the culture, not just manage activities for club members."
___ Community. Leaders are shaped by their families of origin --their original communities--and by the people they lead. Because they are leaders, they shape the lives of others within their communities.
___"The way we live our lives, we are building somebody's past," he said. "Our decisions create the past others draw from."
___ Communion. Christian leaders critically need real "face time with God," McNeal said, not just time spent filling in the blanks of a discipleship workbook.
___"You are shaped through communion. Listen, hang out and get to know God. Don't settle for anything less than a relationship," McNeal urged.
___ Conflict. Leaders must realize that "conflict goes with the territory of leadership," he said.
___Some critics are helpful teachers who should be heeded; some are "saboteurs" who must be dealt with decisively; and some are just "gnats" who need to be ignored, McNeal advised. Young Christian leaders need the direction of Scripture and the counsel of wise, godly friends to discern the difference, he added.
___Leaders understand that reconciliation with every enemy may be impossible, because reconciliation demands the cooperation of all parties in a conflict, he added. But forgiveness is a unilateral decision that always is possible.
___"Forgiveness will keep conflict from scarring your soul. When we don't forgive, we put ourselves in a jail, inside a cell that opens from the inside."
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