By Steve R. Brown
MASTER IMAGES
The postmodern world is an image-driven world. The flow of images across our brain is training our minds to think more in images than in words. If this is true then images, more than words, are the tools that affect how we think and, in turn, order the world around us and define our human communities.
According to Lawrence Hoffman, in different cultural contexts, different images of God have served as master images. They have an affect on how we think about relationships and community—although we are often unconscious of it. He describes the master image as:
A master image must be congruent with the cultural backdrop it expresses…. The “master image” of Romeo and Juliet (the picture you would expect to see… as typifying the play’s content) is the balcony scene; the reason it fits so well however, is not that there is something innately striking about balconies. Its success as a master image of the play is largely due to the fact that the physical distance between Juliet on the balcony and Romeo in the garden is symbolic of the play as a whole, whose theme is the unconquerable gulf between the two warring families of which Romeo and Juliet are members (p. 168).
What is the master image of the book of Exodus? It is Moses and the Hebrew people marching down a path with a wall of water on either side of them.
What is the master image for Judaism? It is the Star of David.
What is the master image for Christianity? The cross.
Master images can and do have a profound, though sometimes subtle, affect on how we perceive reality.
Is there a master image that could better enable us to function more effectively as church leaders? What biblical master image could we hang on the wall of our minds to guide and shape our thoughts about leading church teams?
Postmoderns, for the most part, want to be involved and they want to be significantly connected in whatever they are involved. That peculiarity is no different where the church is concerned. Post moderns are not interested in pew-warming. They desire to participate in the life and spirituality of the congregation, even before they have a personal, life alternating encounter with God.
The traditional model for church participation and thinking is best described as linear. Linear is structured and logical. A familiar paradigm is the symbol for the “We Build People”—the baseball diamond. You begin at home plate (salvation) and then progress around the diamond in a counter-clockwise direction, going to first base (membership), then second (ministry), and third (mission) until you once again reach home plate.
Perhaps the best way to describe postmodern thinking processes is circular. Leonard Sweet often uses the term loopy. They prefer circular thinking and favor picking their own direction and tempo (remember the circle dance). From “home plate” they may wander down to third base and hang around for a time. They may then choose to wander to first base and then to second base and finally the pitcher’s mound before deciding, “This is home” and move to the plate (salvation).
What I am trying to say is that church leadership must be prepared to make some major adjustments if we intend to significantly impact this postmodern generation. The postmodern era calls for new leadership structures and the New Testament provides better examples of leadership than our traditional forms. The picture of divine community as expressed in the trinity provides a supportive metaphor and model for human community that reflects a similar kind of love and intimacy as there is within the Godhead.
In top-down leadership models we rarely see one another. Those at the top are busy managing affairs and keeping everything “down line” decent and in order. Those down line seldom see those at the top unless there is a crisis, a problem, or someone or something is out of order. Opportunities for developing community are rare.
One advantage of the circle leadership model we can all see one another. Everyone on the team comes to the table. Everyone at the table has an opportunity to participate by using their gifts, talents, abilities, and experience to contribute to the effort whether it is problem solving or vision casting. No one is left out. We are all interconnected. We hold each other up and are accountable to one another.
Can the perichoretic image of the Trinity teach us something about the possibility for the success of a circle leadership model in a postmodern world? I believe the answer is a resounding YES! Using the model God Himself demonstrates as perichoretic community, we can derive seven key attributes of church leadership teams that are both spiritually meaningful and practically effective for ministry in a postmodern world.
I will share these keys next time.