Reflections on Leadership, Part II
THE JOY OF PURPOSE
By Rev. Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai and Eric Martin
When they finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” Simon replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Simon replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.” He asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was sad that Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” He replied, “Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21: 15-17, CEB)
What must Peter have thought? Perhaps he thought that Jesus did not trust his love. Perhaps he thought that Jesus was reminding him of the time when he denied Jesus and abandoned him to the mobs. Why else would Jesus ask him over and over again if he loved him?
“Peter was sad that Jesus asked him a third time, 'Do you love me?'” He replied, 'Jesus, you know I love you.'”
Each time Jesus asked Peter, and Peter affirmed his love, Jesus asked again. It was not enough for Peter to proclaim his love. It was not enough for Peter to express the emotion. Jesus called Peter to an expression of love beyond emotion. What Jesus wanted of Peter was action—or perhaps more than action. Jesus wanted of Peter a complete orientation of his life to service in the name of Christ. Jesus essentially gives the same direction three times, “Feed my lambs. Take care of my sheep. Feed my sheep.”
In this moment in the life of the church, we want to do something. Indeed, many of us are in a rush to shape legislation. We have convinced ourselves that the only way out of the dilemma in which we find ourselves lies in a ten-day event that has repeatedly disappointed. Certainly legislation will be needed. But legislation is a technical solution based on the exercise of authority. When rushed into prematurely or used exclusively, technical “authority-based” solutions can divert attention from the tough, but important, questions and processes that need more space to emerge. What if creating that space for emergence means slowing down, resisting the urge to rely on technical fixes alone and instead getting in touch with purpose and with our first love?
Kennetha remembers when she got in touch with that love:
At the time, I was a layperson attending a worship service with a group of United Methodist clergywomen of color. Two women were leading us in worship through liturgical dance. One woman was young, lithe, a lyrical dancer. The other woman was much older. Her movements were purposeful, but slower and more limited by age. Together, their intertwined bodies created a beautiful moment which touched me in ways that are beyond intellect and reason. I felt the presence of God and the melting away of hurts and resentments with which I struggled my whole life. I felt the call of God tugging at my heart, demanding of me a love lived out in the complete reorientation of my life. What I heard, experienced, felt was a call to direct my whole life toward that love. God’s direction for how I would do that was simple—“Feed my lambs. Take care of my sheep. Feed my sheep.”
Where I would do that was The United Methodist Church. Though I had grown up Baptist, I was attracted to the Wesleyan emphasis on grace that I found in Methodism. I resonated with our church’s linkage of personal piety and social holiness as a way of living out the Christian faith. Within Methodism, I had found a theological and spiritual home and a purpose for my life.
BRING THE MINISTRY!
For this resurrection moment to bear fruit in the church, God needs leaders who are willing to get in touch with divine purpose by bringing people back to their first love. This is most tangibly expressed when hearts are oriented toward God through an awareness of call and through acts of service. This means celebrating call and bringing the ministry!
At a recent event, a woman gave a testimony about how she had denied her call because she did not believe it would be affirmed by The United Methodist Church. She is a lesbian, but there she stood at the podium, crying, preaching, breaking the bread of life for all to see—living publicly into who God created and called her to be. She stood before the crowd and claimed her call and talked about the ministry that made her heart sing. The whole room stood in applause.
Leadership for resurrection recognizes call and brings the ministry by, with and on behalf of God’s people—including people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, liberals, centrists, conservatives and others. Bringing such ministry makes no distinction among persons but proclaims the ultimate power and utter freedom of God to use any and all of God’s people to create something new, wherever and whenever God wants.
That means that God can create something new through people in touch with purpose and call and enlivened for ministry, no matter what happens at General Conference. Tapping into that power of God and of God’s people could revolutionize the church.
For instance, what would happen if there were a revolution of new ministries started by young LGBTQIA+ clergy and laity who claimed their call to ministry no matter what? What would happen if there were a revolution of new ministries in Latinx, Filipino, Asian, Polynesian, Indigenous, African, European, African American and rural white communities in the U.S.? What would happen if there were a revolution of new ministries that cross racial, ethnic, class, cultural, tribal, economic, sexual orientation and gender identity divides, thereby getting at the deeper issues of change that are so needed in our world and our church?
The people called Methodists are already dreaming about and shaping those ministries and creating a new church that centers equity, justice and inclusion, even before the policies and procedures have been figured out. This is the joy of ultimate purpose—to rediscover one’s first love and to act out that love through ministry and service.
“Simon son of John, do you love me?” Simon replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.”
Rev. Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai is the Chief Connectional Ministries Officer of the Connectional Table.
Eric Martin specializes in leadership development and systems change with Adaptive Change Advisors. His recent work draws on the Adaptive Leadership framework developed by Harvard faculty Drs. Ron Heifetz and Marty Linsky.