By Amy Butler
Seems like everybody likes to use the phrase “prophetic leadership” when it comes to the church. It sounds deeply theological and also a little daring, don’t you think?
Pastor search committees have a tendency to use the phrase early on in their work (then inevitably use the phrase “be careful what you wish for” very soon after), and pastors especially have a bad habit of bandying the phrase about in their efforts to impress each other.
I admit that if I were talking with a seminary class about my work I would say that prophetic leadership is a critical piece of pastoral life. But let’s be honest: Outside the classroom, who wants to actually do it? Putting words into action seems to be the place where everything begins to fall apart.
It’s understandable. I mean, it’s a barren patch of land at the intersection of leadership and prophecy — which is a nice way of saying that it’s really not pleasant in the least to be a leader who takes unpopular positions for the sake of what’s right.
It would be lovely, of course, if the churches we serve were to sit us down and say things to us like: “Dear Pastor, whom we love and respect, we want to ask you to pray and think and study and listen hard for the voice of God leading us to be radical witnesses of the love of Jesus in this world. Please lead us into expressions of that love and welcome that make us feel extremely unsure and uncomfortable, that incite heated conversations around our dinner tables, and that invite others to either accuse us of heresy or, at the very least, pray for our souls.” I don’t know how many of my colleagues have actually heard words of this nature, but I know I myself am still waiting.
An easy gospel is just not the reality of the pastoral role, and frankly I cannot imagine why we ever thought it would be. Jesus was forever getting into trouble, saying things that made everyone squirm, living out on the edge of social acceptability. Why would things be any different for us?
I imagine that most of us church leaders would claim that we’re committed to being prophetic leaders; I myself would love to claim that distinction in the abstract. After all, we responded to our calls from God because we had fire in our bellies — the firm conviction that the gospel is transformational in its very essence. That conviction sustained us through our training and first years of ministry but, strangely enough, for many of us it slowly began to fade.
Why?
Well, life in the church is hard. It can kill our transformational dreams and gospel imaginations. And because the very compelling dream that first drew us to leadership in the church seems more and more distant with each passing committee meeting, not too many of us are willing to risk the pain of prophecy.
I suspect, however, that whether we prefer to be prophetic or not, leading the Church of Jesus Christ demands not one ounce less than our full hearts, totally engaged in a radical gospel expression.
I’m afraid there’s just no way around it.
And we pastors aren’t the only ones on the spot here. Anybody who has the audacity to say she wants to follow Jesus has taken on life in its most radical expression.
I think it’s time for all of us who say we want to follow Jesus to ask ourselves again if we’re willing to go out on the limb of prophetic gospel witness. If we’re not, we may likely end up spending our lives creating and sustaining a beautiful illusion — an institution intended to embody the truest representation of Jesus Christ, but in reality as flimsy and unsubstantial as a Vacation Bible School cardboard-cutout prop.
If we are willing, well, we’d better hang on tight. Judging by Jesus’ experience, it won’t be a rose-strewn path.
Is it worth the pain? Can we risk it? Will we have the courage? I hope so. I hope the dreams we dreamed so long ago become reality again; I hope empty words take on meaning and substance one more time; I hope we can summon the courage to be prophetic leaders. I hope so — no matter the cost.