The Future Global New Christian Leaders. A missiological reflection on the nature and ethos of global mission leadership - by Dr. K. Rajendran
Global Christian Leadership and Global Christian Leaders
A New Day: In the history of Christianity, there have been many different eras of change. Today, the churches and missions are at a brink of a new road. Historically, the churches and missions are at post-colonial, post-modern, post-European and at the post-European mission endeavours. Now, there are numerically more non-Western Christians than ever. In the post-colonial era, with all the visa restrictions, rise of national religions, communalism and non-tolerance, those who received Christianity in many of the 2/3rd world are now active in bringing the Gospel to their own and to others across the world.
Some of these issues are new and some are old. All of them need answers some need new answers. If new answers are not given, the Christian world will lose the cutting edge and the momentum in addressing Christ’s solutions to world needs.
In this historical juncture there is a great need for leadership who think clear, articulate well, disciple/mentor many, create a momentum with relevance and will positively address the nations with the Gospel. Finding and creating people with such caliber, wider outlook, ability to relate to a variety of places, people, issues, theologies, missiologies, biblical but able to relate to the real contemporary world and above all spiritually minded is a challenge. That has to become a major mandate of the church and missions. Just dependency in the theological institututions and monasteries to create such leaders will only give a certain type of leaders. Therefore, the evangelical world has quite a task in preparing such leaders to face the new world order to clearly and unashamedly introduce Christ to individual salvation and corporate communities to follow Christ and His ethos as the solution to community harmony, eradication of poverty and other social evils of the world without thrusting Judaistic Europeanism or Africanism or Latinism or Koreanism or Singapore-ianism or any other -isms. Get on your knees and ask God to help!
How do the Global New Leaders Look-like?
The following are some of the leadership qualities for the contemporary leadership if missions have to go forward.
1. Relate to a Big God:
Global Christian Leadership and Global Christian Leaders
The new leader must relate to the God, the Creator and continue to practice His design and ethos in life with out being culturally biased and blind. Often, great leaders make the mistake of portraying God as the local deities and give an impression of God being like the American or African or Indian or Koreans or others depending upon where the persons come from. God is above all nations, all colors, all races and all known and unknown creatures. His creation is vast. All that we know are what we see on this earth including the endangered and extinct animals and the creatures explained in the book like Revelation in the Bible. The leader must continually learn the attributes of the biblical God revealed personally in Christ through whom comes salvation and redemption from sin. Following and committing to that biblical God who is continuing to make a new community of His own with different ethos than the situational ethics practiced by the godless world.
2. Relate to the Big Global Picture - Broad thinkers:
Global Christian Leadership and Global Christian Leaders
The new leader has to think broadly with out majoring in micro issues but constantly have a perspective of the bigger picture. Often, in the Christian circles, there is a tendency to minutely sidetrack into micro issues than macro issues ending up in minor doctrinal or personal flaws (such as, should a mission leader have a long hair or watch a movie etc into super “holiness” track). The leader must able to relate with broad spectrum of denominations, personalities, and genders and be able to see a bigger picture to guide and mentor people for a broader cause, including to be able to dialogue with not-so Christians, NGOs, Government civilians and politicians. Only a macro man could fit many micro things in perspective for a bigger impact of the nations. Thus he must be able to see the bigger picture of what the Lord is trying to do in the world.
3. Relate to all Peoples - Neutral - unprejudiced – unbiased – just:
Global Christian Leadership and Global Christian Leaders
In the globalised phenomena of the world, there is no place for Christian leaders to be biased or prejudiced about peoples’ origin, color or even the denomination (unless cultic). There is a tendency to lean on known world in developing the new leadership. This has to be worked very consciously in our world especially among the Christians. Just like Jesus was able to relate to the poor, rich, thinkers, simpletons, the new leader must able to relate from the grassroots to the top of the societies.
4. Relate to all Cultures:
Global Christian Leadership and Global Christian Leaders
The new global leaders have to recognise that people formed all cultures and countries for particular people, location and circumstance. Therefore, there is no absolute culture and habits. The only absolute habits are what have been explained in the Bible as absolute rules to follow such as the Ten Commandments. Even in that, the Sabbath is interpreted as Friday, Saturday and Sunday depending upon where we are.
Some countries may be economically poor but may have rich cultures more closer to the Bible than the so-called “Christian countries”. Especially when the leadership becomes global, there has to an attitude and commitment to be unbiased and not influenced and pressured by lobbies and threat to confirm to certain known habits and interpretations of theology instead of dwelling in the broad biblical basis. As leaders must learn to discern the unction of God on people to lead global phenomena of being engaged in the Great Commission of Christ with out being biased of color or origins.
In many globalised developing nations for economic and other reasons people from other nations migrate and thus all cultures are in their doorsteps. Today’s world is not like the days of William Carey, David Livingstone and C. T Studd when they had to go far distant to find people of other cultures and learn languages and cultures to effectively communicate the Gospel. So, in the days of David Livingstone - when he was in Africa, some friends wrote to him, “We would like to send other men to you. Have you found a good road into your area yet?” Dr Livingstone sent this reply "If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road
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