George Hunsberger argues that those who lead well lead
missionally. Leadership is not about personal charisma. He
argues, It does not have to do with surgical, technological
precision. Rather, it has to do with being on the leading edge
of a missional response to the calling and sending God.
George suggests that missional leaders possess certain
characteristics. In the list below, wrestle with George’s unique
descriptions of these qualities. Do you understand his point
in each description? Do you possess that quality? How could
you begin to develop each characteristic?
1. Leaders who know what time it is. They are people who
possess a discerning historical memory and an expectant
future perspective.
2. Leaders who read well. Along with hermeneutical skills
for reading texts (especially biblical texts), and for reading
traditions (their own particular Christian tradition as well as
other traditions), they are readers of culture (and cultures), of
social systems, and of the human person.
3. Leaders with vision. They size up where things are and
where they are heading if left unattended. They possess
dreams for the future that are infectious. They are able to see
paths from the present to the approximations of dreams that
are possible under the Holy Spirit.
4. Leaders who en-vision. They are people who see new
opportunities to forge pictures of an alternate future which
the gospel poses in our cultural settings.
5. Leaders full of spirit. They have a wide and generous
spirit, with a far ranging ecumenical urge for the unity
of the church across confessional, structural, and cultural
lines that work to divide. They are deeply passionate for
the peace, justice and joy of the reign of God. They care
without bounds for persons as made in God’s image and for
all the created world as made for God’s joy.
6. Leaders with a deeply-rooted curriculum. Their
vision for the essential ingredients of Christian growth
and maturity is a pervasive influence on the personal care
of souls, the nurture of discipleship, etc. Grand curricula
such as Paul’s faith, hope and love or the covenantal
structure of dependence on God’s care and loyalty to
God’s rule will guide them.
7. Leaders who believe. They are people who believe
God with, and sometimes for, the people of God. They
demonstrate and nurture the ability to believe within a
secularized environment and nourish fresh ways of holding
and commending belief in a pluralist social context. They
nourish faith into the warp and woof of daily life and
vocation.