Once in a Bible study we were discussing the beatitudes at length. We wondered whether the spirituality Jesus commanded could be the opposite of that of some in leadership today. The beatitudes may seem like a cryptic list of characteristics that Jesus alone could possess, but he based his universal Sermon on the Mount on them. If these characteristics are not normal for Christian leaders today, is it because they are attained only by the most spiritually mature? Why not all of us?
Once this came up, I asked the group how well the leaders of America’s 1,500 largest Protestant churches would match up with the Beatitudes. I got smiles. I’ve asked this question to others since then and saw broad smiles even before finishing the question. Am I trying to paint them as charlatans? I hope not. I’m at least struggling to explain leaders who have qualities that differ from the Beatitudes; qualities that make them successful ministry leaders.
A friend wondered if narcissism is at work here. He mentioned a mega church pastor diagnosed as a narcissist. On the other hand, when I asked another friend, a terrific people person, what he missed about being a large church pastor, he said he missed the preaching and the prep. I asked him about people, and he said that he loved people but did not feed on people. That was insightful.
Pastors who feed on people or draw their energy from their people may tend to pastor large churches because of the people drawn to them. It may be that the people, not the pastors, ultimately create the largest crowds. Erik Erikson’s daughter wrote an interesting article in The Atlantic about how fame changed her father, a pioneering child psychiatrist. She commented that fame is separate from accomplishment. Fame is not primarily what a famous person has but what people give to such an accomplished person. Her accomplished father was harmed by fame.
When the crowd bestows fame as a gift, it exacts a price. The honored person enjoys the fame; all famous people are affected by it, but the narcissist especially feeds on it. The adoring crowd demands that their hero live up to their ideals; something that a narcissistic person is willing to do. Even a mild narcissist will imagine that his gifts and abilities make him truly wonderful. Is that me?
This helps explain the blind loyalty to all the men named Jimmy who were disgraced in the 1990s or why, in another field, Judy Garland’s fans denied her drug problem, and were incensed by anyone who even mentioned it. They needed the ideal little girl, and they awarded Judy Garland the fame of being that person. But she paid a terrible price, as her fans would not allow her to grow up.
American Christians may need an ideal pastor to live the Christian life, to boldly lead, and to stand up to the culture. They award certain pastors the fame of being that person in their city. All good. But when the image that draws large numbers of people becomes more important than the beatitudes of Jesus, a spiritually healthy situation begins to fade. God help us to embrace the ideas and ideals of the beatitudes in our ministry and leadership.