Let It Grow: How to Develop a Gospel-Shaped CultureSample

Culture Priority #3— Resist Elevation with Relatable Leadership

If Jesus was anything, He was relatable. But pastors often find it difficult to drop their guard and be approachable. On the contrary, some intentionally foster a sense of superiority as we’ve discussed. Why?

Ministry makes an easy mistress. The natural gravity of the good hearts of God’s people is to elevate (the Bible word is “esteem”) their leader, and the natural gravity of the leader’s flesh is the inordinate desire for admiration. Scripture profiles this many times over—from ancient Israel demanding a king to the Corinthians arguing over associations with Paul or Apollos.

When God’s people make Jesus preeminent, they can extend appropriate esteem (1 Thess. 5:13; Heb. 13:7) without forgetting their pastor’s humanity. And a spiritually grounded leader can appropriate that esteem wisely by stewarding influence and serving by example. But when the leader’s heart inordinately desires and fosters dominion (1 Peter 5:1–6) or cultivates a fear-based culture, things quickly go south.

Pastors aren’t celebrities or authorities unto themselves; they are growing Christians called to be examples and to provide caring, spiritual oversight. They are to do so with a spirit of humility (v. 5), in submission to God’s Word (v. 2), in teams (vv. 1, 5), and in accountable, exemplary ways (v. 3). It shouldn’t be lost to us that this admonition was given by the aged and well-seasoned version of Jesus’ most renegade, impetuous, and flagrant disciple—Peter.

We are a weak lot, and we make poor lords—and we know it. Biblical leadership refuses to see people as useful. It values relationships as the priority, and it cannot lead by man-centered fear tactics or intimidation. We lead by serving, not by bullying.

We lead sheep; we don’t drive them. As much as the church needs us, the church also needs to be protected from us—at least from our flesh. The culture of our leadership should elevate Jesus in the eyes of His bride, realizing she belongs to Him and He deserves her purest and highest devotion.

When we selfishly and privately seek her allegiance, we cross into dangerous territory. Truly, in the heart of the bride, He must increase, and we must decrease (John 3:30).

Do you relish celebrity or cultivate an air of superiority? Does your demeanor ostracize people as being beneath you, or does it put them at ease as peers and highly esteemed friends? In short, are you relatable?

The pathway of celebrity leadership and authoritarianism is strewn with self-destruction, battered sheep, and broken business-model churches. The slow and steady road of relational, relatable leadership is a good road—it’s the Jesus road. The gradual cultivation of a meek and humble soul, a close-knit family, and a joyfully relational church family is a good work worthy of your life investment. The pastor committed to this long, steady walk with Jesus will be fruitful.