Listening as Ministry | By Seth Bate

Kansas Windfarm by Eye of the Storm Photography

I read Lael’s post on the heels of reading The Missional Leader, by Alan Roxburgh and Fred Romanuk, which views storytelling as a leadership skill. The authors propose--and I’m inclined to agree--that people must be able to articulate their own narrative but also the narrative of the community around them.

Listening to and then telling the story of the community may be the hard work, but it is critical. People and communities who cannot name the way their worlds are changing have less power with which to engage, understand or confront the change. The authors suggest that those who cannot name the deeper sources of their anxiety focus on the symbols of the change rather than what’s beneath those symbols. An example in the book is Christian parents who focus on getting Harry Potter books out of a school library when they are really worried about a much broader question: how “do we form a cohesive community of identity and belonging that shapes our children within the narrative of Christian life?” Deep attentiveness may be a way to draw out and shape these stories.

For Christians, there is also much to be learned from viewing our stories and the stories of our community through the story of Scripture. The Missional Leader makes this sound like the most natural thing in the world. After all, the Bible takes great pains to describe the ordinariness of the people chosen to God’s work.

I see this attentiveness modeled in the life of Jesus, who began with the lived experience of the people he encountered. He started where they were. As The Missional Leader puts it, “he enters those experiences weaving God’s story through their lived stories.”

After reading Lael’s post and this book, it seems to me that storytelling (and listening) may be an act of peer support. It may be an act of leadership. And it may be an act of ministry.

If you would like to explore the impact of missional leadership on your faith-based organization, join us for a free Compassion Kansas workshop  "The Missional Faith-Based Organization" on September 20, 2011. Call 316-978-3843 to register.