This guest post is by J. D. Greear, the pastor of The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, NC, and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Greear posts about leading his church staff through the question of power and weakness by reading 鈥淭he Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb鈥� by Jamin Goggin and Talbot School of Theology professor Kyle Strobel, whose second edition has just been released.

鈥淪o I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.鈥� 鈥� 1 Peter 5:1-4 ESV

    Recently our staff team read through a challenging and prophetic book 鈥� . The authors, Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobel talk about a dangerous trend in churches like ours 鈥� a trend toward focusing less on the humility, weakness and servanthood of sacrifice, instead prioritizing the triumph, power and boasting of success. They say, 鈥淲ith the decreasing emphasis on the pastor-shepherd, we have seen the rise of the leader. 鈥� We are often looking more for a dragon than a lamb. These pastors are much like the shepherds in Ezekiel 34, who were fixated on feeding themselves and disinterested in actually feeding the flock鈥� (pp. 117-119).

    In contrast to the self-interested shepherds of Ezekiel 14, Goggin and Strobel point to Peter鈥檚 epistle. The word Peter uses for those of us in ministry is partaker (1 Peter 5:1). As they write, 鈥淲e are invited to partake in [Jesus鈥橾 way. We become shepherds who serve in hiddenness and are surprised when recognition comes. We become shepherds who are committ