“As go the leaders, so goes the church.” (or organization in general)
I’ve been thinking about the podcast ‘The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill’ in relation to the book I’ve written (Wolves Among Us). But I’ve also picked up a book about spiritual health (The Elimination of Hurry) and found a crossover quote:
“in America you can be a success as a pastor and a failure as an apprentice of Jesus; you can gain a church and lose your soul.” – John Mark Comer
That is also applicable in a business sense – you can build a monetarily successful organization on a twisted ethical base and end by destroying the business and yourself (Enron, or Theranos).
Mike Cosper (host of the #ChristianityToday podcast) repeatedly emphasized the speed of growth at Mars Hill – from meetings in living rooms to household name (good and bad) to shattering fall in 15 years. It shattered a lot of people. Some recovered; some remained broken.
Speed in growth can be good and necessary- babies’ fast growth often helps them recover from illness – or in saving a life. Speed promoted as a way of life can be draining, and sometimes debilitating – removing something good from life. Recent marketplace discussions about #mentalhealth can often be attributed to burnout and depression, sometimes as symptoms of an unhealthy emphasis on speed as a life goal.
Instead of building with speed to impress, shouldn’t we be building with care to last?
Source: The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. Episode 1 “Who Killed Mars Hill?” by Christianity Today
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