I’m still a total Twitter newbie (despite my total Twitter avalanche – Twit-alanche? — from The Idea Camp).  And yet, I already find my writing being Twitter-ized… 140 characters or less!  So, here are my bullet-pointed, tweetified notes from the panel discussion on leadership with Eugene Cho, Scott Hodge and Dave Gibbons.

What is leadership?

  • Dave Gibbons: leadership is servanthood; servanthood is building trust and bearing pain
  • Eugene Cho: simply a leader is someone who leads, but the key question is really how do you lead?

Can you share what contrarian church leadership looks like?

  • David Gibbons: typically, structure is hierarchical
  • Usually focus on strengths, giftedness, passion – end up with consumeristic perspective on a person
  • Look at what is their weakness and pain instead – listen to metanarratives of a person’s life to find out who they really are
  • Important to search out obedience – so how do you promote obedience?

What is the Third Culture mindset and will?

  • Dave Gibbons: Third Culture in a word, “Adaptation”; in two words, “painful adaptation”
  • It is a supernatural thing to love someone not like you

Rhythm of rest and leadership – understand yourself

  • Who energizes/de-energizes me?  What energizes/de-energizes me?
  • It’s not about cutting out people who are de-energizing, but just undestanding ourselves

Balancing family life – Eugene’s wife said, “I don’t want to share you with the church” — so when he’s home, really be there

How do you know if you’re called to be a leader?

  • Are people willing to follow you?
  • How do you know you’re called into full-time ministry?  People he respected affirmed that
  • Dave Gibbons: goes back to definition of leader — if define as servant, then all of us are called; comes down to occupation or role

How do you work with someone’s painful metanarrative and make it into a platform to make a difference?

  • Dave Gibbons: Your pain will guide you — activities based upon insecurities
  • You pain can be the thing that connects us to humanity
  • Pain also gives you a platform to speak into people’s lives — everyone understands pain; people can understand theology of suffering
  • Eugene Cho: Pain is not the final song of the world; we serve a God of redemption

Eugene: Leadership = influence, how are you stewarding, balancing your influence

Dave Gibbons: Be a great listener (ask people closest to you if you’re a good listener); be a great learner, ask great questions

  • Hang out with other kinds of leaders — a business person or artist
  • Esp. pastors — we need to listen to women; worldwide, women & children are the most oppressed people
  • Best learning is happening in fringe movements

Eugene: at local Christian college, often the kids with most unique perspective are MKs — we need to develop third culture perspective

Eugene: Important not to be defined just by who shows up on Sundays — Mondays through Saturdays are important parts of expression and ecclesiology as well

Balance between global impact and work of their local church

  • Dave Gibbons: Knows who he is, buffer of friends & family helps him discern, rhythm of the church (e.g., spring/fall are important to stick around)
  • In early years, needed to show stable presence for group that needed it
  • Scott: Understand different kinds of invitations (e.g., not taking invitation to speak on marriage because not passionate on teaching about that), learn to say no
  • Eugene: he has to honor his schedule that he makes with his board of elders, don’t minimize church or pastors in terms of larger world

What is the role of blessing?

  • Dave Gibbons: How many people in your church feel they have been listened to, seen?  It’s a lifestyle — you’re an amazing person and I’d love to hang out with you
  • But there’s another element because ritual matters – pastor who prayed for him, told him he would do great things and touch many lives, with tears in his eyes — so standing up there today, he still feels his hands on his shoulder, knows he doesn’t stand alone