Some Fatherly Wisdom from a Church Father
Although the book I read was published in 2016 (1), the content of the book was authored some 1900 years earlier (sometime between 98-140 AD) by Ignatius. Perhaps the most famous ‘Ignatius’ is Ignatius of Loyola, but Ignatius of Theophorus had an equally significant historical impact on Christianity—being widely recognized as one of the three most influential church Fathers in the early church. A companion of Polycarp and a disciple of the Apostle John, Ignatius served as the Bishop of Antioch and was martyred for his faith in Rome after a long trip in chains from Syria. During this trip, Ignatius penned seven letters to seven different churches (2) and their leaders, and the collection became known as The Letters of Ignatius. Having never read these letters, I was curious to see what a legendary leader in the early church would share among his network of leaders and churches as he anticipates his imminent death. Here are two primary reflections after reading the seven letters:
First, people who have utopian ideas of a non-organized, Spirit-led early church that did amazing things before it got bound up by organizational structures and leadership hierarchy will be somewhat surprised to read about the structure and leadership that was already evident in the early church just 70-80 years after the death of Jesus. In fact, they might be downright offended with how strongly Ignatius speaks in favour of people submitting to their leaders:
To the Ephesians: “Chapter VI. – Have respect to the bishop as to Christ Himself…It is manifest, therefore, that we should look upon the bishop even as we would look upon the Lord Himself, standing, as he does, before the Lord.” (3)
To the Magnesians: “Chapter III. – Honour your youthful bishop…It is becoming, therefore, that ye also should be obedient to your bishop, and contradict him in nothing; for it is a fearful thing to contradict any such person.” (4)
To the Trallians: “Chapter II. – Be subject to the bishop, etc…Be ye subject to the bishop as to the Lord…” (5)
To the Smyrneans: Chapter IX. – Honour the bishops…Let the laity be subject to the deacons; the deacons to the presbyters; the presbyters to the bishop; the bishop to Christ, even as He is to the Father.” (6)
Some of the current ‘early church romantics’ want to talk about the church of Christ as a ‘movement’ rather than a ‘institution’ (used in the pejorative sense), but even movements need organization and structure, and you can’t have that without having leadership and some degree of hierarchy. We might want to rightly ask whether the current structures are serving the mission or protecting the leaders and examine what the leaders are doing with their positional authority within the hierarchy (are they serving in love or using it to their own advantage?), but those are important secondary questions that assume the necessity of organization, structure, leadership and hierarchy. These are not ‘bad things’, they are necessary things—the alternative is chaos and disorder—and we see such necessary structures in the early church. Might we even consider that one of the very things that facilitated the explosive growth of the early church was their organization and structure which could support the exponential growth that they experienced? Such a consideration does not diminish the primary role that the gifted Holy Spirit played in the empowerment of the early church, but it does subvert the ‘we should be a loosely connected, organizationally-flat, Spirit-led’ group who believe the current church would be more effective if we were ‘more like’ the early church—a church that may not have existed as they idealistically envision it.
Having said that, there are certainly good reasons to examine and scrutinize current leaders and churches in the ways they are organized, how they are leading, and the fruit they are producing—which leads me to my second reflection after reading the letters: Ignatius’ primary concern for Christian leaders.
A quick look at the conference offerings to Pastors in North American evangelicalism include multiple opportunities to learn how to develop leaders, strategic plan, increase impact, reach the next generation, unleash growth, develop compelling communication and social media, increase innovation, team building, evangelism (and increasingly popular over the past few years) tending to the leaders soul. None of these things are wrong—in fact, many of them are good and important. What strikes me is the absence of such encouragements to leaders in the letters from Ignatius (Granted, it’s not fair to expect Ignatius to give advice to churches on ensuring effective social media engagement!). What Ignatius does speak to repeatedly in his letters is not how to DO ministry (which is the topic of the vast majority of Christian church leaders conferences aside from the soul-care stream), but the importance of BEING holy.
To the Ephesians: “I pray that he [the Deacon of the church] may continue blameless for the honour of the church, and of your most blessed bishop…But ye, being full of the Holy Spirit, do nothing according to the flesh, but all things according to the Spirit.” (7)
To the Trallians: “[The Deacons are] servants of the Church of God. They are bound, therefore, to avoid all grounds of accusation [against them], as they would a burning fire. Let them, then, prove themselves to be such.” (8)
To the Romans (regarding his upcoming martyrdom): “Only request on my behalf both inward and outward strength, that I may not only speak, but [truly] will, so that I may not merely be called a Christian, but really found to be one…deemed faithful.” (9)
To Polycarp: “Maintain thy position with all care, both in the flesh and spirit…bear with all…give yourself to prayer…bear the infirmities of others…Let none of you be found to be a deserter. Let your baptism endure as your arms; your faith as your helmet; your love as your spear; your patience as a complete panoply.” (10)
While Ignatius’ letters certainly include things to do—maintaining unity and guarding against false teachers are two of his most prominent themes throughout the seven letters—so much of the instruction is related to the importance of remaining close to Christ and allowing the sanctifying work of the Spirit to grow us into maturity and make us holy.
I wonder how the practical ‘work’ of a Pastor’s week would shift if this was their primary concern? I wonder what sort of changes would take place in the ‘mega-church’ world if churches were more concerned about their leader’s character growth rather than their charisma on stage? I wonder how any church would change if the community emphasis moved from ‘doing’ to ‘being’…and then allowing any activity to grow up from a healthy, content, love-filled, transformed and set-apart heart?
If we are going to find out the answers to such questions, it’s incumbent on the Pastoral leaders to lead the charge in shifting our evangelical priorities from effectiveness, growth and success to obedience, abiding and holiness, for as a leader goes, the church goes: (Ignatius to the Church) “Wherefore it is fitting that ye also should run together in accordance with the will of the bishop who by God’s appointment rules over you…for your presbytery…is fitted as exactly to the bishop as the strings are to the harp.” (11)
As I read that quote, I can’t help but think about the cascading influence of Pastoral leadership in a church—as they/we go (ie. what we prioritize, celebrate and strive after) so goes the church.
God, before we’re strategic or charismatic, creative or compelling…help us be holy. For our own good, for your glory, for the sake of your church and the sake of the world. AMEN.
(1) St. Ignatius, The Letters of Ignatius (Orlando, USA: GodSounds, Inc., 2016)
(2) The seven letters were, technically, written to six congregations (Ephesians, Trallians, Romans, Philadelphians, Romans, Smyrneans) and one to Polycarp.
(3) St. Ignatius, The Letters of Ignatius (Orlando, USA: GodSounds, Inc., 2016) 7.
(4) St. Ignatius, The Letters of Ignatius (Orlando, USA: GodSounds, Inc., 2016) 19.
(5) St. Ignatius, The Letters of Ignatius (Orlando, USA: GodSounds, Inc., 2016) 28.
(6) St. Ignatius, The Letters of Ignatius (Orlando, USA: GodSounds, Inc., 2016) 58.
(7) St. Ignatius, The Letters of Ignatius (Orlando, USA: GodSounds, Inc., 2016) 4,8.
(8) St. Ignatius, The Letters of Ignatius (Orlando, USA: GodSounds, Inc., 2016) 28.
(9) St. Ignatius, The Letters of Ignatius (Orlando, USA: GodSounds, Inc., 2016) 39.
(10) St. Ignatius, The Letters of Ignatius (Orlando, USA: GodSounds, Inc., 2016) 63-68.
(11) St. Ignatius, The Letters of Ignatius (Orlando, USA: GodSounds, Inc., 2016) 5.
About the Author
Scott Dickie
6 responses to “Some Fatherly Wisdom from a Church Father”
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I genuinely enjoyed reading your post. Your reflections on the leadership structure in the early church was a helpful perspective, and not one I’ve given much thought to previously. Plus you get bonus points for making me look up the meaning of a word – panoply!
In the second half of your post, you argue for a shift away from pastors focusing on external measures of success and concentrating primarily on intimacy with God (my summary, I hope I’m not misrepresenting your thoughts). My question is how to accord the two themes of your post: How should institutional leadership promote/ensure pastors are being continually transformed spiritually and growing closer to Christ? Perhaps more specifically, are there any practices or policies that your denomination (or perhaps another organization that you’ve seen) has effectively put into place?
I had to look it up too, Kim!
Great question: Our denomination seeks to do this in a few different ways: an annual retreat that focuses on being rather than doing, a monthly newsletter that will have articles related to spiritual formation, occassional learning opportunities to deepen our emotional/spiritual depth…so it is not totally absent in my tribe.
However, we know that lots of values of an organization are caught and not taught…so equally important to consider is what the organization (in this case denomination) is celebrating, what it promotes, the stories it tells, and what it either implicitly or explicitly communicates as ‘the ideal.’ This, I think is often more impacting than structures they might set up to assist in pastoral spiritual formation…why do that if it isn’t valued?
Just a few initial thoughts…
You make a great point, and one that I often forget to be intentional about in my own leadership. The stories we tell and the way we talk about events reflect the values we celebrate. I guess both the “caught” and the “taught” aspects can be helpful.
Hi Scott,
I really appreciate your post and the questions you posed toward the end. Your summarizing statement of Ignatius of Theophorus stood out to me, ” –so much of the instruction is related to the importance of remaining close to Christ and allowing the sanctifying work of the Spirit to grow us into maturity and make us holy.” That is the leadership, pastoral, and congregational goal of the church. How would you answer the questions you posed?
Thanks Jenny. There are likely lots of ways a Pastor’s leadership would change if we prized holiness and being above effectiveness and growth (which so often typifies evangelical churches). Rather than give you my own thoughts…I’ll quote a Anglican Priest up in Canada who posted these words on his social media. I read them and responded with a hearty, “Yes! This describes it perfectly!” So I’ll let someone better with words than I am say it:
The difficulty with a church growth strategy is precisely that it feels so intuitive. I mean do we want the opposite of that? A stunted or withered church? So we aim at ‘growth’ and ‘expanded reach’ almost from a sense of necessity—this is how we further God’s Kingdom in the world.
Interestingly, though, Jesus emphasizes small, hidden, seemingly insignificant things when it comes to church and Kingdom. A tiny seed; yeast; a single Pearl; hidden treasure…
And why?
It’s not simply the size of the object. I mean, seeds grow into trees, yeast pervades the dough, etc.
In good part, it’s about the nature of our participation. The analogy of small things involves us in a way that is entirely different than when we are aiming at big things.
We are encouraged to pay close attention rather than make things happen. We are encouraged to appreciate and receive rather than intervene. We are encouraged to steward what’s given rather than fill a void.
This is what we often miss when we aim at ‘growth’ and try to ‘increase our reach’ in strategic, quantifiable ways.
We become less open and responsive and more possessive and controlling. We start building our own kingdoms rather than noticing, appreciating, and taking part in God’s Kingdom.
Hey Scott. As usual, I loved your blog. thought provoking about leadership and how you are seeking to ask the best questions to cause change and a positive influence. In fact, what one area do you see yourself actually influencing your denomination?