Dux Reformatus et Semper Reformandus Secundum Verbum Dei
Our denomination is part of the worldwide reformed churches. As is known, the motto of the reformed churches always reminds us to be willing to make changes and renewals based on the truth of God’s word from day to day. The goal is that God’s name will always be glorified, and many people will experience God’s love through our fellowship, service, and testimony. However, making changes and renewals is not as easy as saying it. Two main factors hinder it. The first is the fear of doing new things due to change and renewal. The second is the reluctance to leave the comfort zone and the status quo.
Our denomination uses the phrase “intergenerational church” in its annual theme from 2021-2025. This is done so that major changes and renewals occur in our denomination. The phrase intergenerational church aims to emphasize to all people, especially pastors and church leaders, to make the church a common home where all generations are embraced, valued, and given the same space to synergize, collaborate, and contribute. For decades, our denomination and its local churches have tended to be viewed as churches where seniors are “in charge” and have the most say in everything. It is no wonder that many of our young people have moved to church denominations that they feel are more fluid in responding to the needs of the younger generation. Through the spirit of the intergenerational church that we have built, it is hoped that our church will truly become a home for the growth of the spirituality of Christ’s love that radiates to the world. All of that will truly be realized when the spirit of change and renewal is consciously owned by all parties without exception, including its leaders.
Margaret Wheatley creatively applies scientific principles to leadership. What caught my attention from the beginning was when Wheatley emphasized the relational principle in her book. She explains, “In the quantum world, relationship is the key determiner of everything. Subatomic particles come into form and are observed only as they are in relationship to something else.”[1] Effective leadership will exemplify building relationships and collaboration to achieve common goals. Optimal leadership is well aware that life is interconnected with one another. Wheatley says, “The new science keeps reminding us that in this participative universe, nothing living lives alone. Everything comes into form because of relationship. We are constantly called to be in relationship—to information, people, events, ideas, life.”[2] So truly enlightened leadership will avoid attitudes such as, “To impose control through rigid structures, or have their hands into everything, controlling every decision, person, and moment, a treadmill of frantic efforts that end up destroying our individual and collective vitality.”[3]
Wheatley reminds us that organizations, including churches, are living systems. She asserts, “All living systems have the capacity to self-organize, to sustain themselves and move toward greater complexity and order as needed. They can respond intelligently to the need for change. They organize (and then reorganize) themselves into adaptive patterns and structures without any externally imposed plan or direction. Self-organizing systems have what all leaders crave: the capacity to respond continuously to change. In these systems, change is the organizing force, not a problematic intrusion.”[4] Because any organization, including the church, is a living system, every leader needs to have a heart willing to listen to others. It will make everyone feel recognized, accepted, and treated humanely, thus strengthening unity. Wheatly argues, “Listening is such a simple act. It requires us to be present, and that takes practice, but we don’t have to do anything else. We don’t have to advise, or coach, or sound wise. We just have to be willing to sit there and listen. If we can do that, we create moments in which real healing is available.”[5] Listening creates a friendly atmosphere so that the organization becomes healthier. Wheatly insists, “The health, wholeness, holiness of a new relationship forming. When we listen, we don’t have to like the story or even the person telling their story. But listening creates a relationship. We move closer to one another.”[6] The humility of leaders is an important key in this. In their book, Humble Leadership, Edgar and Peter Schein proclaim, “Humble Leadership will therefore require the creation of personal relationships that will make others feel safe enough to be open and trusting with their leaders and with the other members of the team that is striving to create something new and better.[7]”
Wheatley also shows that wise leadership will create a healthy, strong organization that can face sudden changes and critical situations. She asserts, “As we strive to make our organizations and communities work decently in these difficult times, if we are to find true solutions to the problems that afflict us, it is essential that we understand the price we pay for our aggressive methods. If we are to work together more intelligently, we will need to choose processes that evoke our curiosity, humility, generosity, and wisdom. The ultimate benefit is that we learn that it is good, once again, to work together.”[8]
Change is an inevitable phenomenon in life. Annabel Beerel once reminded us of this in another writing. She says, “Modern physics teaches us that little is certain or predictable. Instead, the world moves within ambiguity, uncertainty, and infinite possibility. New possibilities not previously imagined are continuously emerging.”[9] Therefore, sensitive and adaptive leadership is needed to bring the organization through the flow of change. Visionary leadership knows the right direction because of the availability of a clear vision, sincere communication, and deep collaboration. We are gifted with the capacity to make changes within ourselves. According to Wheatley, “As we learn to live and work in this process world, we become gentler people. We become more curious about differences, more respectful of one another, more open to life’s surprises. It’s not that we become either more hopeful or pessimistic, but we do become more patient and accepting. Life is a good partner. Its demands are not unreasonable. A great capacity for change lives in every one of us.”[10]
I appreciate Wheatley’s thoughts, which helped me do deep reflection and guided me in the discernment process regarding my duties and responsibilities as a leader. Organizations will grow, develop, and be strong in any situation when their leaders are always willing to learn and experience change and renewal humbly. In the book The Sound of Leadership, Glanzer calls it the willingness and ability to observe as God sees the situation. He writes, “Attempt to see the situation the way God sees it. Observing the who, what, when, where, and why of a situation provides the leader with a healthy view of the perceived reality.”[11] That is the spirituality of leadership. Leadership willing to change and be renewed will always be sensitive to the voice of God, who speaks through learning and results in expanding horizons, enlightenment of thought, and improvement of relationships. This means the willingness to hear and follow the will of Christ, the Great Leader. Woodward, in the book Scandal of Leadership, writes, “If we imitate the desires of Christ, it will result in true missional leadership, evidenced by others-centeredness, humility, and a kenotic (self-emptying) approach to leadership.”[12] The entire series of this week’s deep reflections and discernment led me to the conclusion that the motto “Dux Reformatus et Semper Reformandus Secundum Verbum Dei” (a renewed leader, continually giving himself to be renewed through the word of God) must truly be the soul and breath that colors the entire leadership of a leader in the living systems of the organization she/he leads.
[1] Margaret J. Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World, 3rd ed. (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2006), 11.
[2] Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science, 145.
[3] Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science, 25.
[4] Margaret J. Wheatley, Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2007), 33.
[5] Wheatley, Finding Our Way, 218.
[6] Wheatley, Finding Our Way, 218.
[7] Edgar H. Schein and Peter A. Schein, Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust, 2nd ed. (Oakland: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2023), 12.
[8] Wheatley, Finding Our Way, 197.
[9] Annabel Beerel, Rethinking Leadership: A Critique of Contemporary Theories, 1st edition (London; New York: Routledge, 2021), 14.
[10] Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science, 155.
[11] Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership: Kingdom Notes to Fine Tune Your Life and Influence (Plano, TX: Invite Press, 2023), Scribd Version, page 39 of 230.
[12] J.R. Woodward, The Scandal of Leadership: Unmasking the Powers of Domination in the Church (Cody, WY: 100 Movements Publishing, an Imprint of Movement Leaders Collective, 2023), xxxvi.
About the Author
Dinka Utomo
Dinka Nehemia Utomo is an ordained pastor of the Protestant Church in the Western part of Indonesia (Gereja Protestan di Indonesia bagian Barat or GPIB). He has served for more than 15 years. The first five years of his ministry were in the remote area of East Kalimantan, including people from the indigenous Dayak tribe in the small villages in the middle of the forest, frequently reached using small boats down the river. For more than 15 years, Dinka has served several GPIB congregations in several cities in Indonesia. He has always had a passion for equipping Christian families, teaching and guiding them to build equal relations between husband and wife, maintaining commitment, love, and loyalty, creating a healthy and constructive Christian family atmosphere, and rejecting all forms of violence and sexual violence. Dinka's beloved wife, Verra, is also a GPIB pastor. They have two blessed children. Dinka and his wife and children love to spend quality family time, such as lunch or dinner, and vacation to exotic places.6 responses to “Dux Reformatus et Semper Reformandus Secundum Verbum Dei”
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Dinka, great post and great job bringing in other authors like Schein and Glanzer. You quoted early in your post, “Subatomic particles come into form and are observed only as they are in relationship to something else.” That made me think again about my definition of leadership and how it really only exists and can be observed as we (leaders) are in relationship to others. Without followers and organizations to lead, we aren’t really leaders. Thanks, Dinka!
Hi Kim,
Thanks for your response. I appreciate it.
I cannot agree more with you. Authentic leaders are always humble, willing to listen, and build positive and constructive relationships with all parts of the organization she/he leads. Leadership is a mandate and a noble responsibility that God has bestowed, and it must be carried out as well as possible for His glory.
Blessings.
Dinka, you make some great syntopical connections in your post. I am intrigued to learn a bit more about your denomination. What kind of organizational structure does your denomination (or the churches within your denomination) have?
You mentioned how Wheatley shows the connection between organizations and living systems, and the way that living systems tend to self-organize. As I read that, I’m thinking about the way that living systems — like churches — “self-organize” in a fallen and broken world. The wonderful thing about the Church is that she is able to adapt and grow, even (especially?) in the face of great persecution. At the same time, because we live in a fallen world, the “self-organizing” factor can create an unhealthy tribalism, where “insiders” take the posture of us-against-them, even us-against-others in our tribe. I’ve seen this in my own denomination. We self-organize into little factions. This is part of what I am addressing in my NPO project.
Hi Travis,
Thanks for your response and question. I appreciate it.
Regarding my denomination, our denomination is Protestant, Reformed, and Calvinist (or, more precisely, Calvinism). Our church government system is “presbyterial-synodal.” There is an institution called the Synod Assembly, which is elected every five years through a General Assembly. The Synod Assembly coordinates the local churches (we have about 350 local churches and 290 branches in remote and isolated areas that serve local Indigenous tribes).
The themes and programs, including our daily and weekly Bible readings, are centralized, preached, and delivered simultaneously in all local churches. The Synod Assembly sends pastors to local churches and must move every 5 years. The origin of our denomination is not from an evangelistic body but rather a legacy of the VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische and Compagnie, which means the Dutch East India Company), which makes our denominational culture different from most churches in Indonesia, which is the result of evangelistic bodies in Europe.
Regarding the church system, in my opinion, nothing is perfect. Including what Wheatley emphasized, self-organization is a balance of the system where everything is centralized. Based on your response, a balanced and proportional blend may be the best alternative. However, whatever the system, in my understanding, it is the task and responsibility of the leaders to guide all people to follow Christ’s example in building a life together as a church, regardless of denomination and government system, as the apostle Paul advised in Philippians 2.
Good luck for your NPO project.
Blessings.
Hi Dinka,
You wrote, “that is the spirituality of leadership. Leadership willing to change and be renewed will always be sensitive to the voice of God, who speaks through learning and results in expanding horizons, enlightenment of thought, and improvement of relationships. This means the willingness to hear and follow the will of Christ, the Great Leader.
Woodward, in the book Scandal of Leadership, writes, “If we imitate the desires of Christ, it will result in true missional leadership, evidenced by others-centeredness, humility, and a kenotic (self-emptying) approach to leadership.”
Wow this is so profound. I have to say that you post allowed me to see Wheatley’s book in a different light.
Thanks and Shalom.
Thanks Dinka….great post! I appreciate how you linked Wheatley’s book and change management (or permission for renewal) that is necessary for each church community. As you point out in your post, though continued change/renewal is necessary for all organisms, including the church, it can often be hard for us to do it in healthy and church-strengthening ways. What I appreciated most about your post was the importance of the leader in this dynamic–our posture (one of humility) and our process (collaborative listening) have a huge impact on the people’s experience of change. May we all continue to lead God’s people in love with servant’s hearts!