Christian Org Charts

Man, I have been suffering from severe "blog-block" combined with extreme time demands. Just when I was committed to finding "rhythm" in my life, I was knocked over by a giant wave of urgency and out of control activity. Now that I have my head above water again, I am going to swim parallel to the shore for a while to get free from the rip tide.

This is not the subject of this blog, just an explanation, ok, excuse for my absence over the past week. I have still been reading some other stuff that is really great. Check out Perry on criticism and Troy on rhythm and discipline (rhythm was back on January 31). "Stuff Worth Your Time" (on the right sidebar of this blog) is just that. Click a few and you'll be challenged and blessed. Here goes the blog topic:

As a leadership development guy I am becoming increasing intrigued with the dynamics between structure and vitality, or maybe form and freedom. We certainly need structure. Imagine your body without bones. You would be a blob. "Hey, I want you to meet my pastor, Blob Jones." (Sorry, pretty corny. One of those days.) By the same measure if our bones become rigid we are unable to move. Meet Rigor Mortis, our pastor of finance.

The Body of Christ, i.e. the church, can suffer from the same problems. Movement can be impeded by stiff, cumbersome structure and can be impossible without the organization and leadership that structure provides.

Recently Clay suggested we turn our org chart upside down. His vision is that we serve the people under us, not vice versa. God's work, the church, is at the top. God's servants, us, are at the bottom. This is a great concept but I am having a hard time making the intention of our organization show up in the structural diagram.

One way to understand the chart is to see that when God designs His org chart He puts the responibility of service on the one who higher up on the visual org chart. In the home, His org chart flows: Husband, wife, children. You certainly don't want to invert that! But look at the role of the husband. It's all about the wife and in chapter six, the children, too.

The Corinthians misread their org chart and functioned like the Gentiles who saw leadership as lordship. The person above someone else on a Christian org chart has been placed there to enable the person below them to reach their full potential and assist them in accomplishing what God has called them to do.

Hey, guy at the top, when you look up, what do you need from the people or person over you? The people below you need the same thing.

Just thinking.