Crossing A Line October 21, 2012 Twenty Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B Mark 10.35-45

            I don’t like the title “senior pastor.” Rather, I do, but only if we give it to the right person. The New Testament only uses the term once, in 1 Peter 5.4 where “chief Shepherd” translates a Greek word that is almost literally “senior pastor.” It refers to Jesus. The rest of us are just helpers, a sort of sheep-shepherd hybrid on our best days.

            We do our best leading from amongst of our followers – even from beneath them.

            Every good Texan knows the story of how William Barrett Travis assembled the outgunned garrison of the Alamo and warned them that General Sam Houston could send no help. He told the men they had fought bravely and were free to depart with honor or stay and buy every hour they could for the young Texian army. Then, with his saber, Colonel Travis scratched a line in the dust of the courtyard and invited those willing to remain – and die – to step across.

            In the crowd that day was the legendary Jim Bowie. Unlike the arriviste Travis, he was a tested leader whom the men knew and respected. Pneumonia had left him bedridden and the story goes that, as the soldiers hesitated, Bowie, coughing blood, gasped, “Boys, I’m too weak to walk across, but if some of you would carry me, I’d be obliged.” The four who bore him stayed with him. The stampede was on: all the complement but one man crossed to Travis’ side.

            Sometimes leadership simply means being the first follower.

            Paul gave pastors a different title in 1 Corinthians 4.1: servants. The word literally means “under-rowers” and described the poor schleps on the bottom tier of a three-banked Roman battleship. Nearest to the water and farthest from the deck, they pulled harder and drowned sooner than anyone on board.

            The cross of Christ etches a line across the Via Dolorosa and invites believers to come and die. Most of us don’t know Jesus well enough to be sure we dare take that deal. At that moment we don’t need a “senior pastor” to give us orders; we need an under-rower to give us an example. We need a follower who can show us how to follow.

            James and John thought leadership determined where you sat. Jesus said it determined where you knelt, and even how you died. In the Kingdom of Heaven the best leader is not always the strongest or the smartest or the one with the fanciest title; instead, the best leader is the one who puts her weakness at the disposal of God’s call.

Remember the Alamo!

Doug