October 09, 2006
How To Attain Power--48 Laws At Work In the Protestant World--No. 1 "Never Outshine Your Boss"
"And now the end is near. . ."--Old Blue Eyes
Following "the meeting" (after months of trying to make it happen, whew!) last week with GenX leaders (church, parachurch, etc.) and after hearing more disaster and disillusioned encounters with their "leadership" I was reminded that organizational structures in broad Protestant institutions, in essence, function no different than those "in the world." Sigh. I picked up a book I bought a while back, but never read, titled Power. Over the next few weeks I'll post these laws and I dare anyone to prove that these pagan and evil laws are NOT alive and well in your broad Protestant organizations, tribes, etc. (haha) Sad. Guys at "the meeting" thanks for the stories, by the way. Sad.
Power Law 1: Never Outshine The Master
"Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite--inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power." (pg. 1)
I found this out the hard way in a church several years ago (I had to eventually leave the church). You guys at "the meeting" (and others, I can only imagine) know how this works in your respective "Christian" cultures and sub-cultures. Sad but true. Very sad.
Fellas, any thoughts on Law 1? You're welcome to post your disaster story encountering this law?
I'm including conservative evangelicals under the Protestant umbrella.
Posted by anthony at October 9, 2006 10:48 AM | TrackBackSorry to be the fly in the proverbial ointment in comment #1, but I'm blessed to serve under a bishop who doesn't care at all about Power Law #1.
I'm not saying he publicly disavows it. I'm saying he truly avoids it and recognises it as spiritual poison.
I'm not boasting, either-- because there are things that need correcting in our Church, just like any other denom.
Of course, I'm not the specific genus of Protestant you're talking about. There's a real sense in Anglicanism, where bishops are supposed to be "fathers in God" rather than theological guides, and where bishops are not always theologians but should be, that in order to succeed in the organisation one must be able to run circles around at least a couple of them.
In humility, of course.
Posted by: wyclif at October 7, 2006 06:45 PMYeah, wyclif you are blessed. This is good to hear.
Posted by: anthony Bradley at October 9, 2006 12:53 PMAnthony, I'm blessed to find myself in much the situation Wyclif describes--among those who are very happy to let others shine, and make a point of helping them do so.
Dunno why some do fall into that trap, but maybe that's an interesting question to pursue here? Is it the result of assuming scarcity (or manufacturing it) even among the riches of His goodness?
Posted by: Robert Perry at October 9, 2006 01:03 PMOrganizations being organizations, people being people, and power being power, law #1 to not outshine the top guy applies to many churches of all kinds, not only Protestant churches. (You probably know that, but thought I'd just say it out loud, for the record.)
I know it's soooo surprising for many of us who work in Christian organizations expecting the work environment to be different than the secular world, in terms of attitudes at work, more gracious relationships, careful stewardship, collegial collaboration, less favoritism, etc, and it is rather disillusioning to find that in many cases, things aren't different and sometimes even worse.
Posted by: djchuang at October 10, 2006 10:41 AMShould we even be talking about how to acquire power? If we truly hold to a blessed Truth that tells us that he who would be first must be the servant of all, it is at the very least counter-intuitive that we ought to be orienting our lives after the pursuit of power.
Which would indicate that my previous note--and perhaps Wyclif's as well--is not completely pertinent to the original point.
Posted by: Robert Perry at October 11, 2006 02:06 PMdj, yep, you're totally on point here!!!
Posted by: anthony Bradley at October 12, 2006 11:28 AMThis first law is very much alive in Guatemala, especially in non-denominational churches in which the pastor basically owns the church (buildings, etc.). A very prominent pastor here is toying with the idea of running for president (HC - El Shaddai), and apparently, there is little room for dissent, especially as the inner circle appears to be closing and tightening.
Posted by: Juan Callejas at October 12, 2006 08:58 PM