Bev, I was referring to the sudden, unCRC-like resignations of Jerry and Sandy - about which many of us in the trenches don't know the real behind-the-scene reasons/issues. Could it be this 'people of color' issue is aggravating leadership & political dynamics in our spiritual church body? Whatever the issue/s are, it's still regrettable to see these resignations occur so swiftly and so un-spiritually. (not sure if that's a correct adverbial form for it -:)
Am just wondering what's really behind the unCRC-like resignations at 2850 recently. Power play, personality clashes, or irreconcilable (aka, unChrist-like) differences of convictions about racial issues? If I were not thinking and praying properly, I would have ignored whatever it was and moved on elsewhere, that is outside the CRC. But the thing I'm most worried about is how these could be impacting our young adults, the next generation leaders. Instead of being inspired about a Christlike servant-leadership (Phil 2:6-10) among our leaders, they might be saying "so, the CRC is no different from what's happening outside the church, in government and private enterprises!" I still hope that even if this was their perception, they would instead be challenged and accept to focus and follow the pure servant-leadership example of the Lord Jesus. And that they would, instead of leaving the CRC, boldly step up and continue to be the kinds of next gen leaders the Lord wills them to be. Then of course, this should also apply to the adults among us many of whom may now have turned cynical, skeptical, or overly critical to the point of being insidiously destructive while remaining inside the church.
These may sound negative and defeatist. So let me close this by being reminded of what the Lord said, "I will build my church." Our beloved church family is the Lord's and He knows what's good, perfect and acceptable for all of us. I want to believe that our denominational leadership is being tested and purified by the Lord. And so I pray that all would humbly listen and follow the grace-driven voice of Him whose self-sacrifice redeemed us from and still teaching us how to deal with human-caused inequalities, His way.
(the end... before this turns into a 45-minute sermon, or longer -:)
George, if I sounded like playing the race card, then I apologize. That was not my intent, but just the result of wondering aloud what could have happened. If you see my post as not helpful on this forum, please flag and remove it. Perfectly alright with me. Thanks for your caution. Well received.
Hi Randy, your statement "Instead of casting a vision of how the CRC is going to make disciples..." caught my attention - and am very grateful you wrote it. I'm also thankful for the issues already raised here about the report before Synod 2011 for diversity in the CRC leadership. I agree with you that instead of us struggling over a quota and various ways of monitoring/achieving/administering such, I believe it would be more God-honoring and church-edifying if we focused our passion, unity, and resources towards intentionally making disciples of Jesus Christ in both majority- and minority-culture congregations and communities. In a nutshell, if we had more maturing and reproducing disciples of Jesus Christ in the CRC, we would have a large pool of Christlike servant leaders who could ably and humbly fill leadership roles in the CRC. For about three years, our Lord used His limited time on earth and worked out the strategy for building His Church: teach, train, motivate, rebuke, challenge, and assure a small group of very ordinary people turned disciples/servant-leaders. When those men and women got to intimately know the Lord's heart and purpose, they followed and committed to serve Him and His Church. The Lord made sure that they were first transformed and shaped in His likeness before the systems and procedures of governance and administration were set up for a growing number of 1st century believers.
I won't be surprised if any 'person of color' including those who already had served in classical and denominational tasks would feel uneasy (perhaps even negatively) to know they're selected to a leadership role ONLY because a quota needs to be filled - and not because of his/her heart, knowledge, and competencies. If we had droves of discipled servant-leaders of all colors, gender, and ages in the CRC family, a quota or any other well-meaninged and well-thought ways of institutionalizing diversity in leadership positions would be unnecessary. I pray that Synod 2011 and all of us in our beloved CRC will be enabled by the Holy Spirit to agree and follow how the Lord Jesus discipled and commissioned His start-up servant-leaders. They were a small start-up ragtag group, clearly imperfect and rejects in the world's standards. We know this now: Jesus discipled them. Their spiritual and leadership depth, maturity, unity, sacrifice, and pure commitment to Christ's purpose should jolt all of us from ideas and processes that tend to move us away from the Lord's simple yet powerful command: "Go and make disciples of all nations..."
Posted in: People of Color in Leadership Positions
Bev, I was referring to the sudden, unCRC-like resignations of Jerry and Sandy - about which many of us in the trenches don't know the real behind-the-scene reasons/issues. Could it be this 'people of color' issue is aggravating leadership & political dynamics in our spiritual church body? Whatever the issue/s are, it's still regrettable to see these resignations occur so swiftly and so un-spiritually. (not sure if that's a correct adverbial form for it -:)
Posted in: People of Color in Leadership Positions
Am just wondering what's really behind the unCRC-like resignations at 2850 recently. Power play, personality clashes, or irreconcilable (aka, unChrist-like) differences of convictions about racial issues? If I were not thinking and praying properly, I would have ignored whatever it was and moved on elsewhere, that is outside the CRC. But the thing I'm most worried about is how these could be impacting our young adults, the next generation leaders. Instead of being inspired about a Christlike servant-leadership (Phil 2:6-10) among our leaders, they might be saying "so, the CRC is no different from what's happening outside the church, in government and private enterprises!" I still hope that even if this was their perception, they would instead be challenged and accept to focus and follow the pure servant-leadership example of the Lord Jesus. And that they would, instead of leaving the CRC, boldly step up and continue to be the kinds of next gen leaders the Lord wills them to be. Then of course, this should also apply to the adults among us many of whom may now have turned cynical, skeptical, or overly critical to the point of being insidiously destructive while remaining inside the church.
These may sound negative and defeatist. So let me close this by being reminded of what the Lord said, "I will build my church." Our beloved church family is the Lord's and He knows what's good, perfect and acceptable for all of us. I want to believe that our denominational leadership is being tested and purified by the Lord. And so I pray that all would humbly listen and follow the grace-driven voice of Him whose self-sacrifice redeemed us from and still teaching us how to deal with human-caused inequalities, His way.
(the end... before this turns into a 45-minute sermon, or longer -:)
Posted in: People of Color in Leadership Positions
George, if I sounded like playing the race card, then I apologize. That was not my intent, but just the result of wondering aloud what could have happened. If you see my post as not helpful on this forum, please flag and remove it. Perfectly alright with me. Thanks for your caution. Well received.
Posted in: People of Color in Leadership Positions
Hi Randy, your statement "Instead of casting a vision of how the CRC is going to make disciples..." caught my attention - and am very grateful you wrote it. I'm also thankful for the issues already raised here about the report before Synod 2011 for diversity in the CRC leadership. I agree with you that instead of us struggling over a quota and various ways of monitoring/achieving/administering such, I believe it would be more God-honoring and church-edifying if we focused our passion, unity, and resources towards intentionally making disciples of Jesus Christ in both majority- and minority-culture congregations and communities. In a nutshell, if we had more maturing and reproducing disciples of Jesus Christ in the CRC, we would have a large pool of Christlike servant leaders who could ably and humbly fill leadership roles in the CRC. For about three years, our Lord used His limited time on earth and worked out the strategy for building His Church: teach, train, motivate, rebuke, challenge, and assure a small group of very ordinary people turned disciples/servant-leaders. When those men and women got to intimately know the Lord's heart and purpose, they followed and committed to serve Him and His Church. The Lord made sure that they were first transformed and shaped in His likeness before the systems and procedures of governance and administration were set up for a growing number of 1st century believers.
I won't be surprised if any 'person of color' including those who already had served in classical and denominational tasks would feel uneasy (perhaps even negatively) to know they're selected to a leadership role ONLY because a quota needs to be filled - and not because of his/her heart, knowledge, and competencies. If we had droves of discipled servant-leaders of all colors, gender, and ages in the CRC family, a quota or any other well-meaninged and well-thought ways of institutionalizing diversity in leadership positions would be unnecessary. I pray that Synod 2011 and all of us in our beloved CRC will be enabled by the Holy Spirit to agree and follow how the Lord Jesus discipled and commissioned His start-up servant-leaders. They were a small start-up ragtag group, clearly imperfect and rejects in the world's standards. We know this now: Jesus discipled them. Their spiritual and leadership depth, maturity, unity, sacrifice, and pure commitment to Christ's purpose should jolt all of us from ideas and processes that tend to move us away from the Lord's simple yet powerful command: "Go and make disciples of all nations..."