So What?

A few months ago, in the spring of 2009, the Christian Leadership Center approached me with the request to take over the editorship of the Journal. I accepted this call with some excitement about the possibilities to engage Christian leaders and scholars in a forward looking dialogue about faith and leadership. If this dialogue is to become a reality both sides of the dialogue must be encouraged to speak. And here is where I discovered a hurdle for the journal that we are still working on in the editorial team.

Let me explain. The first thing I noticed was that during the short years of its existence, the Journal of Applied Christian Leadership has developed a following among Christian leaders in over 100 countries. Many of them are Christian leaders serving Christian communities and a variety of organizations in different capacities. In conversation I discovered that they were looking to the journal for food for thought that could nourish their hectic and sometimes lonely lives as leaders. They were being asked in these economically turbulent times to do more with less, to aim higher while being stretched thinner, provide answers to problems not encountered before, and lead change in a messy environment. To them the neat bundles of scholarly logic and consistency seemed at times out of touch with their world on the edge of chaos. Their lives resembled more a pulse-raising dash across a fast-moving New York street, while the journal seemed to describe a contemplative walk through Central Park where traffic is no more than the humming background noise.

As articles started to come in I read them in the light of these conversations. It was an eye-opening process. There were several manuscripts that came in, complete with title pages for courses from Christian universities, with little effort to write for a readership other than their professor.  Other manuscripts could be classified as empirical research studies containing the statistical analysis sections common in good social science research and expertly written with the typical obscure language researchers use to communicate their findings to a select audience of other researchers. I also read Biblical and theological studies that looked at Biblical passages with great detail and sometimes dogmatic persuasion.

But putting myself into the shoes of our readers I found myself often puzzled.  I often lacked the necessary context to understand where the writer was coming from. Occasionally I wished to know how the hero of the study was related to the daily grind of down-to-earth problems. And in the end I was often left with a big question mark: So what? How will the insight of this manuscript inspire, or at least help, Christian leaders to serve better? How can this finding be applied by Christian leaders?

These were not just rhetorical questions. For me they have become the guiding questions to define the mission of the Journal. Leadership is such a complex phenomenon that it defies any simple description or certainty. Servant leadership as a contemporary concept arose out of the cry for leaders who would take seriously the question: Do those served grow as persons? Are their highest priority needs being served with integrity? If we take this question seriously, would it be acceptable to insist that the Journal defines one of its priorities as publishing articles that are readable by leaders of a broad spectrum of organizations, not just theological seminaries, or social science research classrooms? Can a publication like the Journal of Applied Christian Leadership be a peer-reviewed journal with integrity while speaking the language of the leader immersed in the daily dance of leadership life? Can we say it in a way that preserves the precision of careful thought while using words that are common even to those leaders not familiar with the peculiarities of research jargon?

This issue is an attempt to answer this question with a clear “yes.” And I hope you will agree or send us pieces that exemplify that goal. Kevin Wiley’s reflection on “Playing Second Trombone” reminds us that leadership happens even if it is from behind rather than out in front. In fact, executive coach Marshall Goldsmith reminds us that if forget how much we owe to those second rows of supporting leaders we may just delude ourselves.

Don’t put seniors on the shelf but realize that they may be a great source of leadership and service, is one of Rhonda Whitney’s insights in her article “Surprised by Joy.” Her findings agree with several national publications that have recently suggested that “not retiring” may be one of the secrets of longevity.  On the other side, Miguel Nunez and Sylvia Gonzalez remind us that even Christian leaders may sometimes use their power to set up environments that resemble more the ghettoes of hell rather than cathedrals of grace. Some of our readers may not yet familiar with the term “mobbing” which is used increasingly to describe abusive behavior in organizations, including Christian organizations, which several countries now prosecute as criminal conduct.  This study will help you get acquainted with this problem and spark some ideas what to do about it.

Each issue we feature a Christian leader that has impacted the world in some remarkable way. If you ever have heard the term “10/40 window” or “hidden people” you have encountered the genius of Ralph Winter, one of the most influential mission leaders and strategists of our times who passed away this summer. Russell Staples, a friend and admirer of Ralph Winter, shares with us the astonishing legacy of this servant leader.

Did we achieve a balance between scholarly integrity and insightful application to your world as a Christian leader? You are the judge. I hope that you will let us know and the leaders of the Christian institutions in your realm of influence who should become subscribing partners in this conversation. You can contact us directly at jacl@andrews.edu, write to the editor, or find some other way as you browse our new website at www.andrews.edu/services/jacl.