Issue 40 AI and the churchBlog | Mentoring matters: Why Christian leaders need resilience
Mentoring matters: Why Christian leaders need resilience
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 13.09.24
ART TWO IN A SERIES OF ARTICLES FROM RICK ABOUT RESILIENCE
In Part One of this series, I considered the nature of resilience and argued that it’s our best strategy for handling adversity. While adversity is common for all, Christian leaders experience a special set of stressors because of their vocation, which require resilience. In Part Two I explore six areas of stress for those who lead Christian organisations.
Demands
When physical materials are resilient, they are able to withstand repeated flexing and movement yet still remain strong. Christian leaders require this sort of resilience because their responsibilities tend to be quite varied and demand a high degree of flexibility. Our minds and hearts experience strain when we repeatedly move between the very different modes of private study, public speaking, praying with a person who responds to our preaching, leading a new believer to Christ and other tasks associated with our role.
This is amplified for those who are involved in ministry bi-vocationally. At the same time, other people within the organisation will have differing expectations of how the leader should allocate their time between these tasks, and differing ideas about which strategic outcomes should take priority. They must also satisfy the human authority over them, and have a deeper sense of accountability to Christ. The expectations of these two authorities may not always align. In addition, the Christian paradigm of servant leadership requires leaders to take seriously the expectations of those they lead, and these may be so varied and contradictory that the leader is placed in an impossible situation.
The weight and diversity of all these demands are not easy to bear. Few leadership roles are so intimately entwined with deeply held spiritual values, sense of identity and eternal destiny. Christian leaders care so profoundly about the work they do that the inevitable consequences of not being able to meet every demand are serious. Without resilience, this stressor alone can end an effective ministry.
