I am not much to look at. Pudgy, slightly balding, less-than-great teeth; I am pretty self-aware. And yet, despite all of that, I want to be a model. By “model” I mean an example. I want to be a model, an example, of what a healthy leadership transition should be. I have seen plenty of unhealthy models, and I have read a lot of the literature on leadership transitions. Some of the case studies were ugly; jealousy, resentment, plotting and scheming… just ugly.
As I began to move toward transitioning from the Senior Pastor role I studied Biblical transitions and draw from those examples. Short version: Jesus set in place a structure for those following him to take the mission he began and build upon it. He intended, as we often say, for his ceiling to become their floor. It was not because he was ineffective, or left anything undone; it was, instead, that he did exactly what he came to do, and part of that mission was to set in place the structure for future mission for his followers. He said, “whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12 NIV)
Moses was such a key figure in the old testament history of Israel he almost seemed irreplaceable. He was the one who answered God’s call to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. He was the one who challenged Pharaoh — literally the most powerful ruler in the world. He was the one who received the Ten Commandments atop Mount Sinai. He was the one who spoke with God face to face. When Moses knew it was necessary to plan for a successor, he prayed this way:
Moses said to the Lord, “May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” (Numbers 27:15-17 NIV)
God selected a successor for Moses, and then left the task of mentoring and preparing Joshua to Moses. Joshua accompanied Moses to collect the Ten Commandments and was with him when he smashed the tablets. Moses kept Joshua close to disciple him for his future role in leadership.
This type of leadership has been described with these principles:
“I do it — you are observing.”
“I do it — you are with me.”
“You do it — I’m in the background encouraging.”
I believe people are seeing that in practice currently at Reunion, as I have been very intentionally trying to platform a growing team of younger leaders. My role has been to serve as a sponsor-mentor, using my positional authority as Bishop to move them increasingly to the foreground, as I have moved gradually into more of an advisory, supportive background role.
We need healthy models like this in our organization. I have struggled the pastoral appointment system traditional to my denomination. In my opinion, it often treats local churches and pastors as interchangeable cogs in a big machine. Short-term pastorates are not uncommon as pastors get appointed by the area Bishop on two-year cycles. This discourages (in my personal opinion) the kind of healthy, biblical leadership transitions that produce continuity, mutual honor, and a sense of healthy family. Maybe it’s time for us to rethink that system and look to more biblical models of transition.