My daily reading came across this short piece by St. Bede in which he describes such legendary Celtic church leaders as Aidan and Finan. It made me think, “That’s the kind of religious leader I’d like to see in every organization.” Here’s what he wrote:
St. Bede, by J.D. Penrose,
“The sole concern of the teachers of those days was to serve God, not the world, and to feed the soul, not the belly. The religious habit, therefore, was held in great respect at the time, so that whenever a cleric or monk appeared he was welcomed gladly by everyone as a servant of God … The priests and clerics themselves visited the villages for no other reason than to preach, baptize, visit the sick and, in sum, to care for souls; and so free were they from any taint or avarice that none accepted grants of land and estates for building monasteries …”
I know a lot of pastors and religious leaders who model this. They are good men and women who are doing their best. They have good hearts.
But there is a persistent trait that worries me. Some of the religious leaders (not all, but enough for me to bring this up) love to talk about their plans for growing their ministry. Maybe it’s just me. As a businessman myself, perhaps I draw out the part of them that is business focused. Maybe they open up more to me about leadership methods, budgets, land, organizational structure, marketing, programs, efficiency, expansion, etc. Whatever the reasons, they often seem more focused on leadership disciplines than they are on nurturing others.
Perhaps there is nothing particularly bad about that. It’s the age we live in. I’m certainly guilty of it, so I choose to encounter such people with grace. I understand how important a lot of those topics are. And I’m thankful that these leaders work hard to utilize best practices in their work.
But it isn’t especially uplifting. There is a tired worldliness about it.
Perhaps we need to be reminded that, like meeting Aidan and Finan in a previous era, it is pure joy to encounter a religious leader who is focused more on caring for souls than creating a movement or building an organization. Or said another way, it’s pure joy to meet a religious leader who is more like Jesus than a CEO.