What If Something’s Not Quite Aligned?

A few weeks ago my bike’s rear derailleur got slightly out of adjustment.

It wasn’t bad enough to make the bike unrideable, but you could tell something was a tiny bit off. You couldn’t see anything wrong, but the chain just didn’t quite feel right. It took about a quarter-turn of an adjustment screw to get everything back in alignment.

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Last week Becky and I attended Global Leadership Summit 2015–two overwhelming days of information, inspiration, motivation from incredible speakers. It’s the sort of experience where you know you miss a lot because there’s simply too much coming at you to absorb.

And yet…I couldn’t escape the nagging feeling that, for me, something was perhaps a quarter-turn out of adjustment. Like my bike’s derailleur, I could feel that for me something in all of this amazing leadership guidance seemed a tiny bit off.

I couldn’t identify the problem, so I kept listening, taking notes, wondering if the bike was fine and I was sensing a nonexistent problem. Then, toward the end of Day 2, Sam Adeyemi talked about Crushing The Power Chasm. He said:

Most leaders think about their success or the success of their organizations.

Jesus thinks about the success of His followers.

Click! Sam turned the screw and clicked everything into alignment for me.

For two days I heard research about organizational success. I listened as leaders described how they started and built incredibly successful organizations based on sound leadership principles. No question–these leaders and their organizations have accomplished incredible things.

But Jesus didn’t lead an organization. He established a movement. 

I’m reminded of a quote: Christianity began in Jerusalem as a movement. It moved to Rome and became an institution. It moved to Europe and became a culture. It moved to America and became an enterprise.

None of this is intended as criticism. As I said earlier, well-lead organizations can accomplish great things. But it’s also a fact that any organization, once established, devotes a certain amount of its effort and resources to its own preservation and growth.

Christ-centered leaders walk a fine line, building strong organizations that aren’t overly focused on their own success.

That requires courage. And faith.

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