Leadership South: The Absence of God

Saturday, March 29, 2008

The Absence of God

My researches have brought me to the “absence of God” in the Global North leadership literature. This is by no means a universal feature of the literature, but it is a common one. Here are some examples: Paul D. Stanley and J. Robert Clinton (1992:130) consider that Numbers 27 describes “Moses’ sponsorship of Joshua”. Yet the Scriptural emphasis is absent: “So the Lord said to Moses, ‘Take Joshua the son of Nun ...'” J. Oswald Sanders (1994:73) considers that Joshua “used wonderful tact” in dividing up the Promised Land. Yet the Biblical perspective is missing: “So the Israelites divided the land, just as the Lord had commanded ...” Viv Thomas (1999:33) considers that David found his strength through “organic friendship”. Again he fails to note the Scriptural theme: “David found strength in the Lord his God.” Doug Murren (1997:200) states that Jeremiah was “a biblical change agent”. Again the Biblical perspective is missing: “The word of the Lord came to him.” Ted W. Engstrom (1976:34) comments on Nehemiah’s leadership ability: “How great he was ...” And again the Biblical emphasis is absent: “The God of heaven [gave him] success”. Myles Munroe (2005:106) considers that, when Jesus sent out the Seventy, He was excited because “he saw humanity exercising power”. Yet he omits the Scriptural theme: “in your [Christ’s] name”. Similar examples cover several pages of my thesis. While some such examples might be dismissed as being overly critical, the “weight of evidence” is considerable. QUESTION: Why this “absence of God”? What does it signify? What implications does this have for Christian leadership theory? The photo shows Ted W. Engstrom’s classic, The Making of a Christian Leader.

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Welcome

Again and again I have heard that access to Christian leadership thinking in the Global South is awkward. Not only is it hard to obtain the materials, but they are relatively few, and often they are published in languages other than English. Often, also, seminaries in the Global South will not use home-grown materials, but will import books from the Global North, teaching them in the context of their own Global South ethos. But apart from this, there is a real problem of parochialism in the Global North. If you are a seminary student in the Global North, take a look at your required reading. It is likely that 90-100% originates in the Global North.

I have served in leadership at local, regional, national, and international levels, with varied experience. I recently completed an MTh at the South African Theological Seminary in Johannesburg, and an MA at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California -- both in the fields of Christian leadership. When I started this blog, I considered that, being in the middle of my research, I could share some of the ideas and issues I am working through -- and perhaps engender some discussion.

In my experience, I would consider that the views of this blog are typically Global South. I consider that my colleagues in ministry would share many of these views. However, it stands to reason that this will not be so in every case.

I have used abbreviated references in some posts (e.g. Jinkins M 2002:23), which refers to the author, initial(s), year of publication, and page. In most cases, this should be sufficient for readers to locate the source.