Years ago, as I began preparing to leave Jakarta to move to South Sulawesi, an Indonesia friend and member of our church told me she had been watching me. I panicked a little, wondering what she observed. I secretly prayed it was something good. I was keenly aware that my every move was a curiosity and carried weight and meaning that could be easily misunderstood. What she shared surprised me. She had noticed that I talked to my baby all the time, even though my infant daughter could not talk back. I was puzzled at first and then she said, \u201cI thought to myself, if Jenny talks to her baby, then it must be the \u201cChristian\u201d thing to do!\u201d She explained to me how she locked herself in her bedroom and practiced talking to her baby until she felt comfortable. Thankfully, it was a mutually satisfying experience for her and her child.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not sure talking to an infant is a \u201cChristian\u201d thing to do, but it helps mothers and babies attach and attune! While this young Indonesian mother was imitating me, her baby was learning to engage with and imitate her. For better or worse all humans are born imitators. Through imitation we are attuning and attaching to others and to the systems of our world. This has both positive and negative effects on our identity, relationships, and leadership.<\/p>\n
JR Woodward in The Scandal of Leadership: Unmasking the Powers of Domination in the Church<\/em> writes, \u201cEach of us is a model to someone.\u201d[1]<\/a> That is a rather heavy responsibility. One that we need to take seriously as leaders. Each of us also looks for role models to imitate, it\u2019s our nature, and how we learn to do life in a confusing and unfamiliar world. Additionally, imitation serves the purpose of helping to form our identity. In terms of leadership in the church, Woodward states, \u201cThe self-identity of the leader is foundational.\u201d[2]<\/a> The continuing identity formation of the leader is crucial to the health of the church. We do not discover our identities on our own or in a vacuum. Our relationships with others and our environment play a significant role. Woodward isolated two key stressors that impair the identity formation of the pastor. First, congregations putting the pastor on a high pedestal, and second, the pastor\u2019s own sense of inadequacy.[3]<\/a> I find connection to how Peter G. Northouse linked the roles of leader and follower as being inter-related and leadership as a co-created process.[4]<\/a> It seems leader and follower both play a role in the demise and success of leaders.<\/p>\n Seeking a diagnosis for the epidemic of fallen leaders, Woodward identifies the influences of fallen Powers that have their roots in selfish ambition, envy, and pride.[5]<\/a> These Powers are both spiritual and<\/em> economic, social, and political. Citing Walter Wink, Woodward notes the Powers are good because they were created by God, though fallen, and therefore capable of evil misuse. More importantly, the Powers are redeemable.[6]<\/a> This hints at the goal of missional leadership to follow Christ and his mission to redeem the world and the Powers within it. This requires us to follow and imitate our leader, Jesus, and be cognizant of the influences that lead to death, while actively pursuing what leads to abundant life in Christ.<\/p>\n Woodward also a seeks a remedy that can potentially prevent leaders from falling. He highlights one goal of an imitation-based framework is to help leaders, \u201c\u2026become aware of our desires, the way the Powers seek to distort them, and how fully imitating Christ through embodied practices can reshape the telos of our desires toward God, his kingdom, and his righteousness.\u201d[7]<\/a> Furthermore, as Christians we are given an entirely new identity as beloved children of God and connected to others through the love of Christ. This identity is at odds with the world. Therefore, as leaders we need practices, models, and relationships that encourage our identity in Christ, draw us nearer to Him, and bring life and participation in the Kingdom of God to those we lead. Woodward suggests kenotic spirituality and leadership, which take on the attitudes and mindset of Christ \u201cto die daily\u201d and in turn reshape our desires.[8]<\/a> He notes three pathways in which leaders can emulate Jesus by \u201crefusing to exploit our status; regularly empty ourselves; and revolutionary humble obedience.\u201d[9]<\/a><\/p>\n Similarly, Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder highlighted imitation, intimacy, and identity as key factors within the R.A.R.E. leadership model.[10]<\/a> This model is implemented in the context of relationships using identity groups. Christian leaders need places of belonging in which they are seen, heard, known, loved, and encouraged to lead and live like Jesus. It is my observation that when leaders fall isolation is a contributing factor. This speaks to my NPO in which a core fear of my stakeholders is burnout due to high expectations and the need for safe connection. There is much to glean from Woodward\u2019s research and the self-emptying spirituality he suggests.<\/p>\n The models I choose to imitate can have a positive or negative impact on my life, leadership, and ministry calling. All Christians are called to community and to a self-emptying way of being with others and God. I\u2019m simultaneously a leader and a follower, a role model and an imitator. In each case, I’m invited to be an imitator of Christ.<\/p>\n Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Ephesians 5:1-2 NASB<\/p>\n Woodward opened his introduction with these words, \u201cLife is a paradox. We are all a mix of good and bad; we are beautiful and broken. We often have mixed motives.\u201d[11]<\/a> He pointed out we can either be the scandal by imitating the Powers of this world or imitate the scandalizing ways of Jesus, which is the \u201cChristian\u201d thing to do. I want to be that beloved child who watches, learns, and imitates all He does.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> JR Woodward, The Scandal of Leadership: Unmasking the Powers of Domination in the Church<\/em> (Cody, WY: 100 Movements Publishing, 2023), 109.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> JR Woodward, The Scandal of Leadership<\/em>, 29.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Ibid., xxxiii.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Ninth Edition <\/em>(Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, 2022), 364.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> James 3:16-17, Philippians 2:3.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Woodward, The Scandal of Leadership, <\/em>83-84.<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Ibid., 49.<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> Ibid., 259.<\/p>\n [9]<\/a> Ibid., 262-263.<\/p>\n