Warning Signs of Selfish Leadership?

Mark 12:38-40: As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respected title in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

We all know those churches and leaders that seem to lead out of their own selfish, ingenuine desires for fame or even fortune?   The growing national list of names of churches and Christian leaders over the last couple of years is downright disappointing. Leaders rose in popularity and prestige, with membership skyrocketing before the sudden crash.    They will write books speak at conferences, and other leaders will flock to follow them.    Good leaders, unfortunately, will be dazzled by the hope of being able to do the same thing with their church somehow if they just join the Association or be Related to their church, they too can make the list of the Fastest Growing Churches around.   It is not just ahead leadership problem; it will trickle down through the staff leadership and worship leaders, children’s leaders, and, yes, youth leaders!   It starts at the topmost often before it makes its way down.

There are warning signs to watch for leaders that have moved from Christ-centered, Bible-centered to self-centered. I have come across a few articles and some thoughts, but the most powerful list I think was created by Christ himself, as He addressed the religious leaders of His day.   Not surprisingly, the things Christ spoke of in his day match well with the churches, organizations, and leaders of today.

Here are the FIVE things He pointed out that we too must be aware of in our own leadership and as we choose who will lead and influence us as leaders and as churches… 

SKINNY JEANS & EXPENSIVE SHOES (*ROBES)

If you haven’t seen it yet, there is actually an Instagram account breaking the internet right now, inside and outside the church. It regularly posts pictures along with the prices of famous preacher’s sneakers. The account is causing some interesting discussion and debate around a pastor/preacher’s need to wear limited-edition sneakers costing thousands of dollars on stage.

Maybe in your setting, it is not thousand-dollar shoes or high-priced clothing. It is about the style or even fit what needs to be upfront in your setting.   Is there an idea or philosophy starting to ooze out about what leadership needs to wear or even look like?   Maybe it is even an age thing when it comes to ministry leaders? We, of course, joke about young hipsters in skinny jeans. There is a growing idea about “stage” appearance and putting people on stage that “look” or “dress” the part…whatever that might be.

What is at the heart of all of this? It comes back to what Jesus called “Flowing Robes,” leaders that value what they wear because it makes people look at them. A warning sign of selfish leadership is Expressing SELF-Importance. Leaders who wear things outwardly to draw attention express their inward hearts. Literally, clothing themselves so people will look at them and so they can feel relevant!? Let’s remember, “Man looks on the outward, God looks on the inward.” 

> LEADERSHIP QUESTION: Where is your value: people or material things? 

INFLUENCE & NAMES (*TITLES)

This is not new in leadership, even in the church, but it takes on new life in the continuing trend of “Christian celebrity.” Leaders seeking to build their “brand” and be “influencers.”    While the old-fashion calling a pastor “reverend” has slipped into the past, there are still plenty of leaders looking for what Jesus called “Respected Titles.”   Ironically and fittingly enough, Jesus also mentioned the “marketplace.”   A term that I have heard and read quite a bit over the last couple of years when it comes to church and leadership. I have attended conferences where there were breakouts about “marketing,” “branding,” “logos,” and “renaming,” all of which are fine but let’s continue to challenge ourselves to be careful of the whose behind it. Whose name are we promoting?

Beware of leaders or becoming a leader seeking to be a big name or a trending influencer in the marketplace.   While we need to run our churches and ministries with excellence, are we doing so to honor God’s name or find honor for our own name!?   Another warning sign of selfish leadership is Expecting SELF-Recognition.  Leadership can quickly become about us and not God if we are not careful. Let’s remember, “There is a name above every other name…” 

>LEADERSHIP QUESTION: Are you leveraging your influence for God’s name or your own name? 

POSITION & POWER (*SEATS & PLACES) 

I recently read an interesting piece about a nationally known church with a nationally known leader that “reportedly” requires the staff to stand and applaud in respect every time the leader enters the room. This may or may not be true, but there seems to be a growing trend as we read the news coming out over the last couple of years of disgraced nationally-known pastors.   There is a continued storyline of leadership formed around one person’s position of ultimate power in the church/organization.   There continues to be the same story, once again similar to what Jesus spoke of in his day, “...Having the Most Important Seat in the Synagogue”. Leaders with little or no accountability with the majority of the power in their position will ultimately fall.

As we all learned in middle school history class, “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” A leader’s sense of morality seems to lessen as their power increases. A warning sign of selfish leadership that continues to be ignored for some reason in recent years is those Embracing Self-Promotion. There is a word for religious organizations that someone leads with all the power and position that promote only themselves- “cult.” It happens in youth ministry, too, be very careful to find a team of leaders and good accountability so that your whole ministry doesn’t revolve around you.

> LEADERSHIP QUESTION: Are you humbly building up others or are you pridefully seeking others to build you up? 

MONEY & MATERIAL (*WIDOW’S HOUSES)

I was rather shocked and appalled by a recent video I saw of a church that shot a building campaign video in a dying man’s hospital room.   The point of the video was to have the man talk about his unchurched friends that he would bring to church and that the new building would be a place for more unchurched people to come. The video was shot only days before this man passed away, all to what would seem to be a way to get an emotional reaction to get people to give more money.   We hear stories all the time about churches and leaders telling people to send their last few dollars to their ministry, and God will return it to them with an overwhelming blessing if they just have faith. I heard a leader at a church growth training not long ago talking about giving to God faithfully, and his son’s autism was healed. The stories can go on, but it comes back once again to what Jesus was talking about when it comes to the selfish leaders of His day, “Devouring Widows Homes,” for their own gain.

Selfish leadership takes advantage of others for their own purposes and plans. If we are not careful, selfish leadership ends up Exploiting Self-Interests, for monetary or material gain. Godly stewardship and giving to God and His work is a great thing and spiritual act of worship, but self-centered leadership can easily slip into something else. 

>LEADERSHIP QUESTION: Are your ideas of stewardship about Godly giving or human manipulative demands? 

STAGE & LIGHTS (*THE SHOW) 

How much money and time is spent each year on the newest and latest gear for church stages and production. One of the fastest-growing places to sell lighting, fog machines, and technology is not clubs and concert venues; churches. Once again, I attended a church conference with my previous church’s staff team. We drove a long distance (15+ hours on a bus) to participate in this conference at a well-known church.   The halls were lined with booths and vendors.    Besides a few curricula, missions trips, and t-shirt companies, the majority were production, technology, and staging vendors. We would gather in the auditorium for the “big show” throughout the conference before a well-known speaker from a similar style church would come up and share their thoughts. The final evening the church put on an overdone dance party on the main lawn with full lights, smoke, and even a middle-aged Sr. Pastor who also had a side hustle as a DJ.   Mind you, once again, this was NOT a youth conference; this was an adult church leadership conference.

What we hear more and more about church growth is not about how to disciple people or teach them how to go deeper in their faith.   It is actually about how to light the room just right, set the mood with smoke, and work the emotions for a drawn-out closing prayer and alter call.   Jesus talked about this when He talked about when the Pharisees “For a Show Make Lengthy Prayers.”. 

Selfish leadership Engages in SELF-Piety.  Leaders that stand in the spotlight, surrounded by just the perfect puff of holy smoke, work the room’s emotions.   Instead of leaders humbly seeking God in powerful private prayer life, we have leaders making a show of how spiritual they are publically. Be careful as youth leaders; we don’t get sucked into doing the same things because there will be plenty of students that would rather have the quick emotional high of the show than the day-to-day, real-world life of a disciple.

> LEADERSHIP QUESTION: Are your prayers seeking personal holiness or a public persona?

Mark 12:38-40 was followed up by a story.   After Jesus had challenged the religious leaders of the day, spelling out five signs of selfish spiritual leadership, He sat down and watched the church offering. He watched the big-giver church members come and go. Then the ultimate example of unselfish leadership slips in quietly,  a widow giving ALL of what she had to God.

What is real leadership? Is it about…God gave to us? or is it us giving to God? We know the answer but do we, our churches, our leaders, and the influencers of our live show the answer?