{"id":41178,"date":"2025-03-13T21:38:36","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T04:38:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=41178"},"modified":"2025-04-23T07:23:06","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T14:23:06","slug":"the-power-of-being-undefended","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-power-of-being-undefended\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Being Undefended"},"content":{"rendered":"

Edwin Friedman says differentiated leaders should expect sabotage.[1]<\/a> That does not sound encouraging. Over the past weeks, several members of the DLGP04 cohort have shared stories where their leadership efforts had resulted in undeserved personal attacks. The hurt is enough to prompt a now familiar question of whether accepting a role is worth the effort.<\/p>\n

A recent poll from Barna shows evidence that protestant pastors are feeling more confident in their leadership.[2]<\/a> While that banner sounds optimistic, the upturn is with respect to 2020-2022, a period defined by Covid-19 and social disruption. Furthermore, the improvement is back to the level where only half of the pastors are questioning their call to ministry. Is the call to church leadership worth the emotional stress?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In Leading out of Who You Are<\/em>, Simon Walker says that idealization, idealism, and unmet emotional needs turn leadership into a lonely pursuit.[3]<\/a> Idealization is the expectation that a leader is flawless. Idealism chases the perfect outcome regardless of reality. Unmet emotional needs often comes when the leader neglects their own wellbeing in service of others. These three dangers were common in the life of a pastor between 2020 and 2022. Pastors were pushed into understanding and navigating a range of social and political disputes. Congregants voted with their attendance. There were at least two sides to every issue and no answer was satisfactory. It is remarkable that only two out of three pastors questioned their calling.<\/p>\n

Walker describes a series of potential defenses against this dangerous combination of expectations. The first is managing a private life separate from the public presence, something that Erving Goffman described in terms of a front stage presence versus a back stage presence.[4]<\/a> By itself, the two stages are neutral. The back stage can be used for healthy purposes like recharging or it can be used to conceal vices. The second defense is power. It can be used for good, like defending the marginalized. Power can also be used to elevate oneself while oppressing others. The third defense is control. This can be good, like self-control or preventing children from running out into a busy street. As a defense, control can offer the illusion of escape where the leader surrounds themself with a world in their own image.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

Walker calls for undefended leadership. This is leading through the freedom of felt approval, removing the need to act defensively.[6]<\/a> \u00a0It is seeing life as a gift worth giving generously to others rather than life as a possession to be hoarded.[7]<\/a> It is enabling others to lead.<\/p>\n

Reflections<\/strong><\/p>\n

The focal passage from Sunday\u2019s sermon was 2 Corinthians 12:9-10:<\/p>\n

9\u00a0<\/sup><\/em><\/strong>But he said to me,\u00a0\u201cMy grace is sufficient for you, for\u00a0my power is made perfect in weakness.\u201d\u00a0Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that\u00a0the power of Christ may rest upon me.\u00a010\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>For the sake of Christ, then,\u00a0I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For\u00a0when I am weak, then I am strong.<\/em> (ESV)<\/p>\n

I meditated on the passage Sunday and led a small group discussion on it Monday night. In between, I read Walker\u2019s book. Not surprisingly, his chapter on power drew my attention. He highlighted several different kinds of power. I am in danger of exercising experience<\/em>, expert<\/em>, and positional power<\/em>.[8]<\/a> \u00a0If I am honest, it feels good to tell the war stories, to be the guy that figured it all out long ago, to be the title on my business card. I worked hard to get here, and they are lucky to have me!<\/p>\n

Really? I am God\u2019s gift to humanity? In fact, the passage says the opposite. My grace<\/em>\u2014God\u2019s undeserved gift\u2014is sufficient<\/em>. When I am busy using my so-called power to defend against insults and calamities, then I leave no room for the life-changing power of Christ.<\/p>\n

Do I believe that he is a God of abundance? Or am I content to lead in a manner that testifies to scarcity. \u201cHe must increase, but I must decrease.\u201d[9]<\/a><\/p>\n

This is not a call to withdraw. Walker\u2019s book is about undefended leaders, not passive bystanders. I have been entrusted with experience, expertise, and position not for my good but to improve the lives of those around me. It is perspective: serving others from the security of God\u2019s grace rather than the insecurity of idealization, idealism, and unmet emotional needs.<\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> Edwin H. Friedman. A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix<\/em>, ed. Margaret M. Treadwell and Edward W. Beal, rev. ed. (New York: Church Publishing, 2017), 262.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> \u201cNew Data Shows Hopeful Increases in Pastors\u2019 Confidence & Satisfaction,\u201d Church: Leadership, Barna Group, March 6, 2024. https:\/\/www.barna.com\/research\/hopeful-increases-pastors\/.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Simon P. Walker. Leading out of Who You Are: Discovering the Secret of Undefended Leadership<\/em>. (Carlisle, UK: Piquant, 2007), 19.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Walker, 24.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Walker, 43.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Walker, 103.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Walker, 119-120.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Walker, 36-37.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> John 3:30. John the Baptist said this about Jesus rather than lean into his positional authority.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Edwin Friedman says differentiated leaders should expect sabotage.[1] That does not sound encouraging. Over the past weeks, several members of the DLGP04 cohort have shared stories where their leadership efforts had resulted in undeserved personal attacks. The hurt is enough to prompt a now familiar question of whether accepting a role is worth the effort. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":219,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3397,1718],"class_list":["post-41178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp04","tag-walker","cohort-dlgp04"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/219"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41178"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41785,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41178\/revisions\/41785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}