The Worship Curator, instead of prescribing how worship should happen, fascilitates it, as emereging from a community.

The Community Curator, likewise, allows that community to shape itsself.

We can curate ideas, and ultimately even light - that which we don’t lay claim to, but participate in. The Light Curator lets light reflect. They will affect it, in all ways, but the burden of origination is relieved.

The Curator trusts and reflects.

Of course any supernatural being could do anything he darn well wanted to. And that’s the problem. If scientists tried doing experiments and kept getting different puzzling results, they would suspect devine interference. But when they don’t get different results, they assume that there is no interference from a supernatural being.

I have found that leadership doesn’t have to be filled with anxiety or fear as long as I know He’s the one leading me and not me trying to lead on my own. That’s when fear and anxiousness can side-track what God has in mind.
Leadership isn’t just being a figure at the front of a group of people, it’s also being an example to others. How we live, how we talk, how we touch people one-on-one. I think some people have a misconception that leadership is only being the central figure-head. I don’t think it is. I think it’s taking time to understand and soak in God’s Word, then applying it to our lives and in so doing, influencing others by our example. I think we can all be classified as leaders in that sense, whether we are teachers or preachers or just that one person who listens and understands without judging or trying to ‘fix’ people, but just being who God needs us to be at that moment. And who obeys when God prompts us to step out of our comfort zone and do what He tells us to do without hesitation, like Abraham.

Marieke, you are very kind and encouraging!

I think that has been the biggest influence. I see how you sacrifice yourself for others, how you are open to change and influence from God and the people around you, and it encourages me to strive towards that in my own life.

At the same time, I do wrestle with what it means to be a leader to those around me, both “officially” (at work) and unofficially (with the people around me). In Acts, it seems like there are both types of leaders as well…those in specific, named positions (ie: Philip and the others chosen specifically to organize the provisions for the widows and orphans, Timothy as a pastor), as well as unnamed (those who hosted meetings in their homes, or simply ministered to those around them).

At the same time, I’m currently wrestling with my thoughts on the institutional church in general (particularly as it’s expressed in Western culture), so it’s all tied in.

I swear sometimes we must share a brain because I roll things around in my head till it starts to hurt too! I don’t know if I’ve made much sense, but there’s my stream of consciousness on the subject

John Maxwell once defined leadership as “influence.” In my opinion, this may help resolve some of your anxiety over leadership because it moves the question of leadership from hierarchy and structure to results and relationships. A leader, in other words, is not a person with a title or a slot on an org chart but a person with people who willingly follow him (or her). It also helps us realize that a church has multiple leaders precisely because it has multiple influencers.

Your anxiety over leadership probably stems from the unfortunate fact that many people who hold positions of leadership are not persons of influence. There’s a great scene in Tom Sawyer that illustrates the difference. Aunt Polly commands Tom Sawyer to whitewash the fence. He hems, haws, and drags his feet to accomplish the task. But then he lights on an idea. He finds a way (admittedly devious) to get his friends to whitewash the fence by trading trinkets with them for the privilege. In the end, they choose to whitewash the fence because they think it is a personally valuable exercise. Too many pastors try to lead by command rather than by finding what motivates followers to choose to do the right thing. Command-leadership can lead to authoritarianism. Choice-leadership is real influence.

Of course, there are moments in the leader’s life when he (or she) has to rely on command. In some situations, there is an asymmetry of knowledge and a shortage of time. The leader simply does not have time to explain and motivate his (or her) followers. A good example of this is a lieutinant leading troops in battle. But, of course, most troops will only follow such a lieutinant because he has given them reason to think he is worth following when they are not in the heat of battle.

So, authentic leadership is the ability to influence personal choice, with a concession that sometimes (rarely?) command is necessary.

George