{"id":33065,"date":"2023-09-15T03:42:27","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T10:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=33065"},"modified":"2023-09-15T03:42:27","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T10:42:27","slug":"leading-from-your-scars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/leading-from-your-scars\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading from Your Scars"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this sequel to \u201cLeading Out of Who You Are\u201d by Simon Walker, the author summarizes his second of three books, \u201cLeading with Nothing to Lose,\u201d by writing, \u201cWe will look at the key elements of power, the particular forces involved in any transaction. Then, having established the basic elements, we will go on to look at how they combine to form patterns of power\u2026we will use the image of an ecology of power, because the forces in play are social and the structure being built is not physical but social and emotional. Once we have understood how the ecology of power is put together from its basic elements, it then becomes possible for the leader to learn how to combine these forces strategically.\u201d [1] <\/a>Walker goes on to describe eight different combinations of \u201cpower\u201d and how it can be used in particular situations to successfully provide leadership. He writes, \u201cThe book ends by considering how leaders can progress from using perhaps one or two of these strategies to the freedom and mobility to use them all. We will explore the idea that, while to some extent this freedom can be achieved by practice, more fundamentally it is concerned with the freedom to \u2018lead with nothing to lose\u2019.[2]<\/a> Walker then lays out the eight different combinations of power and likens being able to use them to riding a bicycle, \u201ca cyclist must learn to do all three of these things at the same time and must understand how each relates to the others.\u201d[3]<\/a> To be honest, I spent most of my time reading this book, skimming through the combinations of power, thinking, \u201cI will never be able to actually remember these combinations!\u201d And I know there are some for whom remembering them is important, but I am taking what Walker said, about being able to use these combinations with freedom and mobility stemming from one\u2019s ability to be undefended, or to lead with nothing to lose, not from one\u2019s ability to be able to regurgitate the exact combinations.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Walker\u2019s two books have left me thinking about the advice I received from Lutheran pastor and author, Nadia Bolz-Weber, \u201cPreach from your scars.\u201d<\/strong> Bolz-Weber, is a self-described \u201cpreacher who reveals things about herself,\u201d because, she continues, \u201cit\u2019s that I always try to preach from my scars and not my wounds.\u201d[4]<\/a> Having read most of Bolz-Webers public sermons and books and having hosted her to speak at a college conference I directed, I can attest to the truth of her statement. She preaches with incredible vulnerability and yet, I never feel uncomfortable about what she is admitting. Instead, I am able to say, \u201cYou too? I thought I was the only one!\u201d This is because Bolz-Weber has worked on herself, gone to therapy, AND because she is undefended. Bolz-Weber has a deep trust in resurrection, that \u201cOur scars and sorrows will always be part of our story but they will never be the conclusion of our story.\u201d[5]<\/a> She knows who she is and Whose she is. She belongs to a God who is \u201cnot in the sin-accounting business\u201d but who \u201cchose to reveal God\u2019s self even in Jesus\u2019 wounds.\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

The caveat here though is that \u201cscars are like the metabolized remains of our wounds\u201d[7]<\/a> and when leading people, preaching to a congregation, we don\u2019t want to bleed all over them. Doing so would gross them out and make them too uncomfortable to listen well. Instead, with God, with our therapist, with those we love and trust, we do the work of healing our wounds, letting them scab up, a scar to form, and then, like Jesus, when he met the disciples after the resurrection, we show them to people, especially when they are having a difficult time trusting any good will come of their own wounds.<\/p>\n

\n

I don\u2019t know what combinations of power Bolz-Weber uses in her daily leadership. What I do know is that I have grown in faith because at least in her \u201cfront stage\u201d leadership she shows a lot of \u201cweakness\u201d.[8]<\/a> Her power, not coming from herself but from her rootedness in a God who \u201csimply keeps reaching down into the dirt of humanity and resurrecting us from the graves we dig for ourselves through our violence, our lies, our selfishness, our arrogance, and our addictions. And God keeps loving us back to life over and over.\u201d[9]<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

At the end of his book, Walker writes, \u201cat its heart, leadership is really most a matter of being a host.\u201d[10]<\/a> In other words, leadership is not about being a \u201chero, strong, capable, brave\u201d nor about simply being a \u201cservant leader.\u201d[11]<\/a> I think this is why Bolz-Weber\u2019s leadership has had such a profound influence on my own. She acts as a host, setting the table for all of us, no matter how deep and varied our wounds and scars, inviting and welcoming all of us \u2013 everyone and every part of us.<\/p>\n

\n

She does this, because, though, far from perfect, she is able to admit vulnerabilities, her mistakes, show us her scars, lead from an undefended place, knowing she is rooted in a God who loves her unconditionally. I hope my own leadership and preaching can do the same.<\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> Simon Walker, Leading with Nothing to Lose, location 181 out of 2753, Kindle<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Simon Walker, Leading with Nothing to Lose, location 181 out of 2753, Kindle<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Simon Walker, Leading with Nothing to Lose, location 537 out of 2753, Kindle<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Nadia Bolz-Weber, Interview with Krista Tippett, accessed on September 14, 2023, https:\/\/onbeing.org\/programs\/nadia-bolz-weber-seeing-the-underside-and-seeing-god-tattoos-tradition-and-grace\/<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Nadia Bolz-Weber, Resurrection is Messy, A Short Sermon From Inside a Men\u2019s Prison, accessed September 14, 2023, https:\/\/thecorners.substack.com\/p\/resurrection-is-messy?selection=2fc39cfa-c7f1-4ae0-9662-c5c5825544fd#.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Nadia Bolz-Weber, Resurrection is Messy, A Short Sermon From Inside a Men\u2019s Prison, accessed September 14, 2023, https:\/\/thecorners.substack.com\/p\/resurrection-is-messy?selection=2fc39cfa-c7f1-4ae0-9662-c5c5825544fd#.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Nadia Bolz-Weber, Resurrection is Messy, A Short Sermon From Inside a Men\u2019s Prison, accessed September 14, 2023, https:\/\/thecorners.substack.com\/p\/resurrection-is-messy?selection=2fc39cfa-c7f1-4ae0-9662-c5c5825544fd#.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Simon Walker, Leading with Nothing to Lose, location 316 of 2753.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Nadia Bolz-Weber, Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint<\/strong><\/a>, Jericho Books, 2013.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Simon Walker, Leading with Nothing to Lose, location 2508 of 2753, Kindle.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Simon Walker, Leading with Nothing to Lose, location 2508 of 2753, Kindle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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