Editorial: Who is leading? Who should lead?

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In uncertain times, leadership is spotlighted and scrutinized. We can be certain these are uncertain times. One clue is the intense scrutiny of leadership. We do well during such times to face the uncertainty and to ask: Who is leading us, and who should lead us?

These questions—which may seem to have uncertain answers themselves—are being asked everywhere, including in state and local elections. The question of leadership isn’t limited to secular politics, however. It is a question for the church, as well.

Many are concerned about the future of the American church. They mourn declines in attendance and giving. They worry about the weakened influence of churches and their pastors. Things look uncertain for the American church—locally and nationally—leading some to wonder if we need different leadership.

We can regain some certainty by asking: Who is leading us, and who should lead us?—worthy questions if we will accept honest answers.

The SBC as a leadership case study

Following departures of several high-profile Southern Baptist leaders, Bob Smietana, national reporter for Religion News Service, wondered if anyone can lead the SBC forward.

Matt Henslee—former pastor of a rural church in New Mexico, current president of the SBC Pastors’ Conference, and newly elected leader of the Collin Baptist Association in North Texas—quickly responded to Smietana, confidently asserting Southern Baptist messengers are leading the convention forward just fine.

Smietana’s article spotlighted another concern among religious leaders, Southern Baptist or otherwise. The concern is captured in his quote from James Merritt—lead pastor of a Georgia megachurch, former SBC president and SBC Executive Committee chair, and chair of the 2021 SBC Resolutions Committee.

“I do believe that SBC is at a crossroads in many ways,” Merritt said. “We are going to have to make some very strategic and difficult decisions … in a … postmodern age, where being a pastor of a church, or the leader of a denomination does not carry anywhere the cultural cache or influence that it once did.”

Insert sound of scratching record. The church and its leaders never were supposed to be concerned with “cultural cache or influence.” Haven’t they read—and preached—the temptations of Christ? As soon as we bow to the god of influence, we might as well fling ourselves off the roof of the temple.


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In that same article, Smietana quoted Floyd suggesting his own “cache or influence”—or “what was desired to be leveraged,” in Floyd’s words—in some way eventuated in him becoming the CEO of the Executive Committee.

We’ve given influence—often measured by church size, position and celebrity—pride of place, but such concern for influence rightly needs to be shelved.

Merritt recognizes religious clout isn’t what it used to be. Religious groups would do well to pay close attention to this and, rather than mourn it as a loss, figure out how to “leverage” it as a gain.

Knowing who should lead us

The loss of clout may be a grace, a release from the bondage of seeking the world and its splendor. Even if it is judgment and not grace, it is a moment for us to return to singular devotion to Christ and to lead from there.

In Christ, the loss or absence of clout is a gain, even if such a position puts us among the last, the lowest, the servants. Even if it is to put on the towel of the foot washer more than the tailored suit of the court official.

To know who is leading us, we need to look at more than names and titles. We need to look at character and spiritual qualifications. The ability to influence isn’t a qualifier. Who have we promoted or elected to leadership based on influence? We may have done them, ourselves and the church a disservice.

To know who should lead us requires us to take seriously the life and teaching of Jesus and to rely on the leadership of the Holy Spirit. When we do both, we will find who should lead us is not answered by a person’s age, sex, position, charisma, leadership style, influence, accomplishments, celebrity or looks.

We will find who should lead us is a matter of calling—God’s, not ours. Has God called a particular person—or group of people—to lead us? Are we listening to God’s call, and will we obey God’s call—even if we end up with what, by all appearances, looks like a dud?

The biblical record indicates the answer to the first question almost always is yes; the answer to the second all too often is no. We are like Samuel assuming the prominence of Jesse’s eldest son assured his kingship, when in reality God intended the least likely to be king (1 Samuel 16:1-12).

Like Samuel looking for certainty during the uncertainty of Saul’s reign, we reach for the expected, the known, the comfortable, the influential to lead us. And sometimes, we get just as little as we ask for.

If only Samuel had known just what that young boy David was capable of. He didn’t, but God did. And so do we. May we trust God knows who should lead us and seek God’s direction.

Eric Black is the executive director, publisher and editor of the Baptist Standard. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @EricBlackBSP.


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