Learning from the Church Bulls
January 1, 1995
According to the politics of an elk herd, there is room for only one bull in a harem of cows--especially during the rut. It is, of course, the biggest and the baddest bull who gets the harem. The lesser males are consigned to drift together in small herds or to operate on the fringe of the main herd or to wander aimlessly looking for a harem of their own.
In the universe of elk, there can be only one lead bull.
But what happens when you've been hired to be the lead bull, and you're only a spike? When several other bulls in the herd are bigger than you?
RIVALS INSTEAD OF ALLIES
Seminaries train pastors more to be craftsmen than to be leaders. No doubt pastors are the best skilled in their congregation at the technical side of ministry: preparing sermons, giving pastoral care, administering the sacraments. But being a pastor is more than applying a set of skills; it also includes leadership.
Here's the problem: many pastors bump up against lay people who are better leaders than they are. These individuals have both leadership gifts and leadership experience (often from the marketplace) that the pastor lacks.
That's when the politics of elk take over. The spike bull (read: pastor) tries to lead his herd (read: congregation) in which he is not the biggest bull (read: the strongest leader). An invisible competition creeps into church relationships, which most lay leaders feel.
I've heard business executives complain how disenfranchised they feel because not only is their leadership at church not fully exercised, it also creates competition between them and their pastor. The strong leaders become a threat to the spike bull. Our lay leaders become rivals rather than allies.
MENTORING IN THE SPECIFICS
But it doesn't have to be that way.
What ...
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