Thanks Ted! You are right, we have both local and global discussions. I have had Lausanne on my mind when I responded with on Diaspora from reading excellent book Scatttered and Gathered. Any thought on Pickleball illustrations on Leadership? Here is one to get the discussion going. I resisted playing Pickleball for years because I thought if I played it meant I had passed my sell by date. I thought pickleball was for retired people. Now I am honored to play pickleball so I must have reached my sell by date...
We live in a world with an aging global demographic. The US is no different than many other countries in this regard. The only think keeping us younger are immigrants. Pickleball is made for an older world. Expect it to grow by leaps and bounds. I was in Egypt in last month and saw a pickleball court there. No fences, though... they will be doing a lot of ball chasing until they put in some fences.
I am not sure how to apply that to leadership, other than to say that I know of very few organizations that do ministry to older people. The future world will be older. These are people who will watch soccer, but not play it. We need to figure out how to continue a next generation focus while also realizing that the next generation will be smaller and less influential than younger generations of the past century.
Thank you for how you help us apply the four movements of God’s story of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration to leadership.
My context is to train multiethnic church planters in the diaspora and here are a few thoughts on your leadership comments…
1. Franklin Foer wrote a fun book on culture called How Football Explains the World. As an African World cup missionary let me qualify your western world view on football (America calls soccer) as a limited worldview of our American leadership culture. America is wrestling through changing demographics in leadership as a similarity to how America wrestles with Global football and American Football. See last chapter of Foer on American Exceptionalism and Globalization.
2. Tim Keller spoke of a third way in leadership beyond the blaze or builders that we will just call the Barnabas factor (credit given to JD Payne book). The Acts 13 model of leadership needs leaders today in America who lead by encouraging others from outside of their culture to lead. Gene Wilson calls this leadership outside catalyst leaders in his book emerging movements.
3. So as a uefa football coach and multiethnic church planter we seek to apply Barnabas leadership style as outside catalysts to mission in our changing demographic of diaspora. The Global football comparison with American football can help us see our cultural views of leadership. Our american football structure has limited layers in both college and professional. Maybe the new pickleball culture has better cultural illustrations for training leaders? Our changing demographic of polycentric mission from everywhere to everywhere is requiring the Barnabas factor of acts 13 leadership in global and American mission. I agree Ted We must innovate new leadership paradigms as we walk the diaspora road to disciple polycentric leaders. Yet like Barnabas we need sons of encouragement to encourage leaders to lead with the character of the beatitudes as salt and light by loving the sojourner as leaders.
Brad, great thoughts. I intended this to be more of a personal reflection on leadership rather than placing it in a global discussion. However, the global discussion mirrors the need for healthy transitions across the board, both locally and in the world.
Thanks Ted! You are right, we have both local and global discussions. I have had Lausanne on my mind when I responded with on Diaspora from reading excellent book Scatttered and Gathered. Any thought on Pickleball illustrations on Leadership? Here is one to get the discussion going. I resisted playing Pickleball for years because I thought if I played it meant I had passed my sell by date. I thought pickleball was for retired people. Now I am honored to play pickleball so I must have reached my sell by date...
We live in a world with an aging global demographic. The US is no different than many other countries in this regard. The only think keeping us younger are immigrants. Pickleball is made for an older world. Expect it to grow by leaps and bounds. I was in Egypt in last month and saw a pickleball court there. No fences, though... they will be doing a lot of ball chasing until they put in some fences.
I am not sure how to apply that to leadership, other than to say that I know of very few organizations that do ministry to older people. The future world will be older. These are people who will watch soccer, but not play it. We need to figure out how to continue a next generation focus while also realizing that the next generation will be smaller and less influential than younger generations of the past century.
Love the discussion Ted!
Thank you for how you help us apply the four movements of God’s story of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration to leadership.
My context is to train multiethnic church planters in the diaspora and here are a few thoughts on your leadership comments…
1. Franklin Foer wrote a fun book on culture called How Football Explains the World. As an African World cup missionary let me qualify your western world view on football (America calls soccer) as a limited worldview of our American leadership culture. America is wrestling through changing demographics in leadership as a similarity to how America wrestles with Global football and American Football. See last chapter of Foer on American Exceptionalism and Globalization.
2. Tim Keller spoke of a third way in leadership beyond the blaze or builders that we will just call the Barnabas factor (credit given to JD Payne book). The Acts 13 model of leadership needs leaders today in America who lead by encouraging others from outside of their culture to lead. Gene Wilson calls this leadership outside catalyst leaders in his book emerging movements.
3. So as a uefa football coach and multiethnic church planter we seek to apply Barnabas leadership style as outside catalysts to mission in our changing demographic of diaspora. The Global football comparison with American football can help us see our cultural views of leadership. Our american football structure has limited layers in both college and professional. Maybe the new pickleball culture has better cultural illustrations for training leaders? Our changing demographic of polycentric mission from everywhere to everywhere is requiring the Barnabas factor of acts 13 leadership in global and American mission. I agree Ted We must innovate new leadership paradigms as we walk the diaspora road to disciple polycentric leaders. Yet like Barnabas we need sons of encouragement to encourage leaders to lead with the character of the beatitudes as salt and light by loving the sojourner as leaders.
Brad, great thoughts. I intended this to be more of a personal reflection on leadership rather than placing it in a global discussion. However, the global discussion mirrors the need for healthy transitions across the board, both locally and in the world.