What Kind of Christian Leaders Will We Become?
When I was a teenager, I used to think that people outside of Christianity saw Christianity with only one face, namely, as a religion full of goodness. In the mind of a teenager like me at that time, I felt great pride because I believed that many people must think that Christianity is noble. After all, the central core of Christian teachings is love. However, as I went through my teenage years, where my social circle and information references increased, I found that Christianity did not only have one face. There were other faces that I had just heard, read, and accepted at that time. These faces were internal conflicts and power struggles. Another face was the colonization carried out by people who were Christians, including what our nation had experienced for centuries. Today, we are faced with so many different faces of Christianity; some are moderate, embracing, and empowering, but some are exclusive and overly fanatic. I also found that there are so many different views from other people about Christianity itself.
When I read this final reading of the semester and the concluding piece for the entire program, Tom Holland presented a piece on Christianity that he said was very challenging to write. He describes, “Christianity may be the most enduring and influential legacy of the ancient world, and its emergence the single most transformative development in Western history, but it is also the most challenging for a historian to write about.”[1] Holland shows how Christianity influences Western thinking and brings positive changes in his book. However, he also shows the faces of Christianity in the form of violence, oppression, and exploitation. Holland tries to be as objective as possible when writing this book. However, he also admits that the influence of the teachings and traditions of Christian values and morals is also on him, which he also uses in assessing Christianity itself from within.[2]
Through his research, Holland shows the face of Christianity that has a positive and constructive impact on world civilization, especially in Western society. Holland describes Christianity as the first to demonstrate universal and inclusive love, which embraces anyone based on faith regardless of social status and background.[3] This made Christianity seem more attractive than other very exclusive and particular communities. Another exciting thing that Holland explains in his book is how the Christian value of giving to the poor also had a revolutionary positive influence on the creation of laws later on that emphasized human rights. Holland explains, “That the rich had a duty to give to the poor was, of course, a principle as old as Christianity itself. What no one had thought to argue before, though, was a matching principle: that the poor had an entitlement to the necessities of life. It was – in a formulation increasingly deployed by canon lawyers – a human ‘right’.”[4]
Furthermore, Holland also shows that what makes Christianity have such a significant influence throughout history on the change of Western society and a just world is the teaching of divine love that is so pervasive in Christians and transmitted to the people around them. Holland insists, “The knowledge of what constituted a just society was written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on human hearts. Love, and do as you will. It was – as the entire course of Christian history so vividly demonstrated – a formula for revolution.”[5] This reminds me of Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York. In his 2020 Annual Borderlands Lecture, he articulates, “The power to keep on loving when everyone else is full of wrath and hatred is the greatest power of all. It is the only way that hatred is defeated. It is the pattern of Christian discipleship and therefore the pattern for the Church’s leadership. But it also has something vital to say today to all leaders.”[6]
From Holland’s abundant notes on the positive impact and influence of Christianity on Western society and the world, he also shows the ironic opposite face of Christianity. One thing that caught my attention was Holland’s explanation of the colonization of Westerners on other continents, such as Africa, which would undoubtedly question the concept of justice and love in Christianity, which colonized other nations. Holland describes, “How were Africans to believe talk of a god who cared for the oppressed and the poor when the whites, the very people who worshipped him, had seized their lands, and plundered them for diamonds, and ivory, and rubber?”[7] This situation is similar to what the Indonesian people experienced when several Christian countries colonized us for centuries in the past.
Holland also emphasizes the practices of hierarchy and subordination carried out by the colonizers, which contradict the principles of equality and justice taught by Christ. Holland writes, “A colonial hierarchy in which blacks were deemed inferior had seemed a peculiar and bitter mockery of the missionaries’ insistence that Christ had died for all of humanity.”[8] This calls me to Yascha Mounk’s research. He unveiled a historical pattern indicating the latent propensity for humans to inflict cruelty upon individuals possessing divergent identities. He writes, “In dealing with people whom they think of as members of an outside group, they are capable of frightening cruelty and callousness. This tendency to favor the in-group over the out-group helps to explain much of what is noble and most of what is vile in human history.”[9] Holland then added, “As I read more and more about the great sweep of Christian history, about crusades, and inquisitions, and religious wars, about popes with fat, jewelled fingers and Puritans with stern, beetling frowns, and about all the great shocks and convulsions that Christianity had brought to the world.”[10] I then probed further, do Christians also have the concept that Fukuyama calls megalothymia, which refers to the desire when a person or group of people is dominated by the desire to be superior?[11]
I appreciate Holland’s honesty in showing the two sides of Christianity, the positive and constructive influence on one side and the harmful and destructive impact on the other, which often appear together. Indeed, we cannot cover up or erase the dark history. However, it challenges me as a Christian leader to fight and ensure that things like that do not happen again in the present and the future. Christianity have to spread love and peace in the world. In the book Jesus and The Powers, Wright and Bird wrote, “Christians in a pluralistic and multicultural setting need to find unity in diversity, practice hospitality as a political discipline, and build for the kingdom by contributing to the common good of all.”[12]
However, after finishing this book, I reflected deeply on why it was presented as the final reading for this semester and even for the entire series of this program as well. I suppose that our Lead Mentor intended to guide our cohort, at least myself, toward engaging in discernment. The reflection I mean is, after going through the long process of this lecture program (with various inspiring reading books and stimulating discussions), will each of us, or I, continue the dark history of Christianity by becoming a Christian leader who brings harmful and destructive impacts or, each of us, or I, will become a Christian leader who brings positive and constructive change by practicing the values of the kingdom of God that Christ taught?
[1] Tom Holland, Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind (London: Little, Brown, 2019), chap. Acknowledgment.
[2] Holland, Dominion, chap. 21.
[3] Holland, Dominion, chap. 4.
[4] Holland, Dominion, chap. 9.
[5] Holland, Dominion, chap. 20.
[6] Stephen Cottrell, Undefended Authenticity: A Christian Understanding of Power and its Relevance for How Power and Leadership is Exercised in All Organisations, The Annual Borderlands Lecture 2020. https://www.archbishopofyork.org/speaking-and-writing/sermons/keynote-address-annual-borderlands-lecture Accessed September 13, 2023.
[7] Holland, Dominion, chap. 20.
[8] Holland, Dominion, chap. 20.
[9] Yascha Mounk, The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time (New York: Penguin Press, 2023), 191.
[10] Holland, Dominion, chap. 21.
[11] Francis Fukuyama, Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment, (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2018), xiii.
[12] N.T. Wright and Michael F. Bird, Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies (London: SPCK Publishing, 2024), 170.
19 responses to “What Kind of Christian Leaders Will We Become?”
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Hi Dinka,
Great post.
You wrote, “Will I become a Christian leader who brings positive and constructive change by practicing the values of the kingdom of God that Christ taught?”
I am certain that the answer is yes. While impacted by the past, your NPO is focused on the future. A Christian future.
All of our NPOs are HIS work. I believe that we are responding to Satell’s Cascade…creating ripples of change.
On Thursday, I am speaking about immigration (probably to a hostile audience). I hope to lead with scripture (it is a Bible study) and then discuss the personal actions I have taken to contribute to the immigration process. (My NPO is interlinkt.org)
My hope is that my actions will speak louder than words.
I lack the eloquence to convince anyone, but my desire is that my NPO will demonstrate how big problems do start with small solutions.
At the end of it all, I am willing to let them be wrong.
Shalom.
Hi Russel,
Thank you for your response and comments. I appreciate it. I agree that our NPO speaks of the future in which the Light and truth of God’s word resounds.
My brother, one of our cohorts with a special NPO, is you. You give your whole heart and mind to help and empower many people. Often, something big starts with something small first. But with persistence and consistency, plus God’s blessing, indeed, everything will be made beautiful in His time. Proud of you. Blessings.
Hi Dinka,
You did such an excellent job of making connections with other authors we have read. Your quotes from Yascha Mounk were very insightful. I kept thinking there was a link there but I didn’t bring that book with me. The concept of in-groups and out-groups is steadily represented in our history. In your context in Indonesia, are their out-groups that concern you that you would like to move closer to in some way? Who has the church in general forgotten about or under-served in your region?
I have enjoyed your posts. You have a deeply reflective, elegant, and intelligent writing style. You have given me much to consider!
Have a wonderful Christmas!
Hi Jenny,
Thank you for your response and encouragement. I appreciate it.
Regarding out-groups, often those included are marginalized groups, such as people experiencing poverty, victims of injustice, and victims of violence. They all have difficulty accessing help and empowerment. Indeed, now there is a growing awareness among churches about embracing them. However, that is still not enough because many churches still limit their services only to their own circles.
Have a wonderful Christmas season. Blessings.
Dinka,
Thank you for your thought-provoking post. As we read the pages of history, we all tend to shake our heads and say “how could people who were Christians have acted the way they did?” However, you posed the question at the end of your post to all of us. How will we move forward? Somehow I think, we all have the potential to damage the name of Christ by promoting self or continuing in our biases. It is easy to do at times. I pray for the discernment of the Holy Spirit to help me remain close to God’s heart so I can see when I am veering off track.
Thank you for the reminder to do so.
Hi Esther,
Thank you for your response and encouragement. I appreciate it.
You are right. We must be aware of all the potentials in ourselves that are not in accordance with God’s will. I like the idea that you honestly and sincerely express your desire always to ask God for wisdom so that you can stay close to His heart. Christian leaders need to have This scarce form of humility.
Blessings.
Dinka, I really resonate with your thoughts about the many different faces of Christianity and your question at the end: which face will we present to the worlld? I hope it’s the one that represents the love of Jesus and His Kingdom principles.
I’ve really enjoyed having you in my peer group and life. I think you are a very good pastor and a deep thinker. I’ve learned a lot from you over the last couple of years and I hope to stay connected with you.
I’ll see you next semester in our peer group calls…then at GRADUATION!!!
Dear Pastor Tim,
Thank you for your response. I appreciate it.
My concern regarding our reading book is that the various faces of Christianity that have emerged in history have the potential to be repeated. Hopefully not. Moreover, it should not be because we are the image of God, who should only show one kind of face, the face of Christ.
Tim, you are one of the friends in our cohort who inspires me to serve God and love others, even though we have different nationalities. May our friendship continue in the future.
Blessings.
Dinka. you are an incredible thinker, communicator and follower of Jesus. I have grown so much just being in your circle of influence. Thank you for your kindness and generous spirit.
I consider you a friend.
Grace & Peace.
Dear Pastor John,
Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words. I appreciate it. Knowing that God has used me to influence other’s journeys positively means a lot to me. Your presence and growth equally bless me. It inspires me as well. All glory to Him who makes all things possible!
Blessings.
Dinka,
Thank you for pointing us back to reflecting on Who we represent to the world. God has a great work in store for the many marriages that will be impacted by your NPO work in your cultural context.
From Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” Thank you for being a part of the “sharpening” process in me these last three years (almost). Thankful for your friendship and the many laughs and fun times we have shared in our peed group. I will never forget the picture of your face drenched in sweat and experiencing your first coney dog in DC, the vulnerability shared on a hilltop in Capetown and the fun we had punting in Oxford. Blessings to you, your family and ministry.
Hi Cathy,
Thank you for your response and encouragement regarding my NPO. I appreciate it.
Thank you for the memories you shared that we have experienced and gone through together with our peer group. All are sweet, pleasant to hear, and beautiful to remember, things that God allows to happen, forming each of us into global Christian leaders who are interconnected in His plan and love.
Blessings to you and your family always.
Dinka, great last paragraph! May we all do as you prayed! Be leader of integrity.
Dinka, so grateful to have been on this journey with you.
Hi Jana,
Thank you for your encouraging words. They genuinely resonate with me. Walking this journey alongside you and our peer group has been an incredible blessing, as well as learning and growing together. Your encouragement and shared commitment to integrity remind me of our higher calling as leaders. May we continue to lead with humility, wisdom, and grace, continually reflecting the love and truth of Christ in our role as leaders.
Blessings.
Nice post bringing Yascha Mounk and Fukuyama into the discussion about Dominion.
Dinka, I’m so grateful that you’ve been part of our cohort these past three years. I love your sense of humor, and I admire the way you love and care for the people you lead. May God bless you and your ministry as you continue to walk with Him.
Hi Kim,
Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words. I appreciate it.
It has been such a blessing to journey alongside you and everyone in this cohort. I admire your faith, resilience, and the dedication you and your husband pour into the ministry God has entrusted to you. Your example of steadfastness amidst challenges is truly inspiring. May God continue to strengthen and guide you both, blessing the work of your hands as you faithfully serve Him and His people..
Blessings.
Hey Dinka. You definitely saved your best post for last. Brilliant!. “This situation is similar to what the Indonesian people experienced when several Christian countries colonized us for centuries in the past.” I had no idea this happened and I am so sorry to hear this. And to see you are a Christian and not bitter is a testament to you.
Dinka, I have really enjoyed learning from you my friend and I look forward to seeing you in May. Continue to keep pressing forward. You’re awesome man.
Hi Todd,
Thank you for your comment and encouragement. I appreciate it.
I am so profoundly grateful to have learned about compassion, sincerity, and humility from you. You are a man of God. You are a gift from God in our cohort. You carry out your role to motivate and strengthen others very well. Many people have been, are, and will always be blessed through your ministry.
See you in May.
Blessings.
Dinka~ You wrote: “will each of us, or I, continue the dark history of Christianity by becoming a Christian leader who brings harmful and destructive impacts or, each of us, or I, will become a Christian leader who brings positive and constructive change by practicing the values of the kingdom of God that Christ taught?”
Thank you for taking the depth of Holland’s work and making application for our final Zoom chat tomorrow. I am praying Hebrews 13:7-8 for you! I have such a respect, joy and renewed courage from meeting you. I only wish we had more time for conversation. Merry Christmas and enjoy your family! See you in Newberg May 2025!