A perfect ending
I’m sitting alone at my computer, shaking my head, and laughing.
After 2 years of inspectionally reading books, I’m staring at a thick and dense volume that virtually defies me to engage it with the efficient approach I learned in this program.
We’re not ending our semester—and our whole series of lead mentor classes—with a breezy book like Pressfield’s The War of Art, Kleon’s Steal Like An Artist, or even Wilder’s RARE Leadership.
I thought we might have finished the program by reading another brief but important book, such as Max DuPree’s Leadership is an Art.
(By the way, If you haven’t read that book, I think it’s a must for leaders).
No, we’re wrapping this thing up with an honest-to-goodness doctoral-level read.
As it probably should be.
Tom Holland’s Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind is a perfect book to conclude our time together. We signed up for a seminary program to become more attuned to understanding and expressing leadership from a global perspective. Dominion tackles the Christian faith, history, power and influence, social structures, and cultures, approaching them not from a US point of view but from a global one.
There is so much I could write about this weighty book.
I could wrestle with Holland’s clear Western frame of reference. Though I just lauded the book’s global, not US, perspective, it still comes from a place grounded in Western thought. That is a limitation of the book but not a condemnation; every book has a framework that includes boundaries for what it is and is not.
I could also camp out on how Christianity, with its emphasis on love of the enemy and care for the weak, came to replace the pagan values of dominance and power, and how when Christianity embraced those pagan principles, it didn’t manifest Jesus’ intentions for it.
Or I could admit that I had never heard of the writer Tom Holland until lately. Up until about a year ago, when people talked about this book or Holland’s podcast, I honestly thought they were referencing the guy who played Spider-Man (and I’m not kidding).
But for the end of our program (or at least this part of the program), I want to keep my comments simple.
My coffee table analysis of Dominion is that so much of our Western worldview, including our values (such as the inherent worth of all humans, individual rights, and compassion for the hurting), is not only influenced by Christianity but is directly attributed to it, even though the explicit connection has been downplayed in a postmodern secular society.
That’s quite a mouthful for a brief synopsis, but did I mention this is a big book?
Though the book is thick, the pace is quick. Holland doesn’t bog us down with facts and figures but is adept at expressing narrative in a way that draws the reader in. Compelling stories about key Christian figures, as well as unknown ones, are all over this book and illustrate his points.
One of those points is that throughout history, the Church has been both a victim of persecution and a perpetrator of it. I appreciate that Holland doesn’t shy away from criticism, and he exposes Christianity’s significant failures in history.
However, he uses those failures to build a strong argument for Christianity’s influence. We see those failures AS failures because our faith teaches us a moral framework that allows us to recognize when wrong is done.
John Fehlen shared something with me that Tim Keller had pointed out, “Christianity has such an enduring, pervasive influence that we cannot condemn the church for its failures without invoking Christian teaching and beliefs in order to do so.” [1]
I accept Holland’s thesis and I think it’s compelling. But I do have a critical question: Is it possible that some of the moral values that he attributes to Christianity are instead part of the ethical framework the God of Christianity instilled into every person?
In other words, when we engage cultures that have no connection to Christianity but that embrace the moral precepts Christianity teaches, perhaps we are encountering basic God-given human archetypes we learned about when we read Campbell or that we read about in Romans 2. “when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law… they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts”(Romans 2:12-15).
That doesn’t ruin the book for me. I will go back and read it more carefully (because, despite my initial intimidation, I did “inspect” this). It looks like a fascinating cover-to-cover read, and I would like to do our final assigned book justice.
And finally, there’s this:
In the book I recommended, Leadership Is An Art, Max DuPree famously wrote, “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality, and the last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor.”
So, I want to thank you, my classmates, for your encouragement, challenge, and friendship. This cohort has changed my life; I am a better leader and a different person because of you.
And I also want to thank Jason, who has shepherded us through these four semesters so well. I’m grateful for the books we were told to read and how we were led to critically engage with them. I can’t imagine a better leader to shape us through this process.
[1] https://gospelinlife.com/article/tom-hollands-dominion-a-review/
About the Author
Tim Clark
I'm on a lifelong journey of discovering the person God has created me to be and aligning that with the purpose God has created me for. I've been pressing hard after Jesus for 40 years, and I currently serve Him as the lead pastor of vision and voice at The Church On The Way in Los Angeles. I live with my wife and 3 kids in Burbank California.10 responses to “A perfect ending”
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Hi Tim,
First, thank you for the book recommendation. I will get my hands on a copy of Dupree’s Leadership is an Art!
Secondly, thank you for bringing up Holland’s Western frame of reference. I do get that it’s his framework, but I also wonder how Christian’s in the rest of the world would relate to his perspective. And to your point about other cultures, and even other faith traditions who hold the same or similar values, do they not have God’s law written on their hearts as well? Can we give credit to others without diminishing our Christian faith or diminishing those who believe differently? I guess I didn’t make a point, just wondering with you! 🙂
I’ve enjoyed your posts and learning from you. I look forward to hearing more about your project and reading it!
Have a wonderful Christmas!
Oh man, that Tim Keller quote hits the nail on the head. “Christianity has such an enduring, pervasive influence that we cannot condemn the church for its failures without invoking Christian teaching and beliefs in order to do so.” I see that so frequently in my context, people around me condemning the church for its moral failures (which have been significant, I get it) and preaching humanism instead. In a way, it’s ironic because humanism is based on the concept of an innate sense of morality, which is itself a Biblical idea – exactly what you reference by bringing up Romans 2.
Thanks for this great post, and for all your thoughtful engagement over the past couple of years. I’ve learned a lot from you, Tim, and appreciate you.
Hi Tim,
You wrote, “In the book I recommended, Leadership Is An Art, Max DuPree famously wrote, “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality, and the last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor.”
I really do need to read the book. As I shape the leadership network for Ukraine and Kenya, all the lessons (the one I remember) are impacting the future of our organization in those countries.
Thanks for adding ANOTHER book to my list of things to do.
Shalom, Shalom,…(sigh Calamari)
Crazy that this is our last post, and yes we ended on a humdinger. When I talk about it to people I have to say, “No, not the guy who played Spider-man!” lol I lucked out and started reading through this a while back for my project, it would be hard to dive deep into this in a week. The biggest thing it really nailed home for me is the moral footing we are all seem to be standing on in the West. Fascinating stuff and complicates things a bit in a good way.
I will have to check your book recommendation out. I respect you and your leadership so if it helped shape you then I’m in. Appreciate your post and I agree with your ending statements. This has been a life changing program because of both Jason and our amazing cohort. So glad I jumped in when I did! Appreciate the time I’ve had to get to know you my friend. Praying the best as you finish up!
I thinks it’s only fitting that your last blog post quotes me, oh, and Tim Keller. We’re pretty much the same people. Ha!
What a joy (albeit full of suffering) journey this has been Tim. Undergrad. Masters. Now Doctorate.
What’s next? (said with a hint of President Bartlett).
Tim, I like you, also thought our last book would be a breezy volume that we could just sort of flip through easily, yet Holland was a pretty hefty read! I also wanted to work Campbell into my post, but I just ran out of space. In an interview with Holland, I heard him reference that “everything comes from something” when talking about the early myths, and it did make me think about the complexity of the “greatest story ever told.” Isn’t it the case that those Greco-Roman gods were really just a reflection of our own sin-like nature?
I am going to miss working through these questions with you, Tim. I have enjoyed learning about your approach to ministry. Thanks for your transparency as we’ve moved though compelling conversations over the past few terms! See you in May!
This quote makes me want to read the book “In the book I recommended, Leadership Is An Art, Max DuPree famously wrote, “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality, and the last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor.”
Tim, your humility and honesty is so refreshing. So grateful to have been in this journey with you!
Tim,
There is so much about the history of Christianity that I am learning and this book definitely shares the failures and influences. I resonated with the question your raised, “Is it possible that some of the moral values that Holland attributes to Christianity are instead part of the ethical framework the God of Christianity instilled into every person?” As a part of a moral compass designed within each person regardless of whether or not they know Jesus and follow Him? So much to think about. . .
When I think about my experience in this program, I don’t know where to begin in sharing all of the joy I have experienced doing this together with you and our peer group. The laughter, tears, encouragement, prayers, memories, grace. . . I could go on and on. From eating gadsby sandwiches late at night on the hood of a white BMW in Capetown to Segwaying our way around DC, we have had made so many memories and I have gained three brothers and a sister in Christ. (I can’t even type because the tears are clouding my ability to see the screen). God, the giver of all good gifts, made this possible and I am in awe. Thanks my Friend. I look forward to seeing everyone in May. Blessings to you as you shepherd the flock in your area.
Dear Pastor Tim,
Your insightful post has guided me to see the perspectives emerging in Holland’s writing on how Christianity has influenced the Western world. It is a very inspiring post, which shows that you are one of those who inspire others, including me.
You wrote, “So, I want to thank you, my classmates, for your encouragement, challenge, and friendship. This cohort has changed my life; I am a better leader and a different person because of you.”
I would like to respond to that part as well. I am so grateful that God introduced me to you. I found a mature and caring pastor. You welcome and embrace others with sincerity. You also demonstrate the characteristics of a humble and dignified Christian leader. I am so blessed to have friends like you in our peer group and cohort. May God always be with you and bless you and your family.
Tim,
Thank you for being the person in our cohort who listened and read well and then brought an unspoken truth up from the bottom of the well. That’s often what I saw in your posts and what you said in our group chats. As I pray for you now, I think of Galatians 6:1-5 as a true pastor to the people, a culture. May you carry your leadership mantel anew now that we’ve had three years of academic and spiritual conversations. I consider you a friend and a brother!