By Jonathan Brenneman
How do you have Christian leadership without hierarchy? This is what Jesus taught, as I shared in my book I Am Persuaded: Christian Leadership As Taught By Jesus. But I’ve found many people simply cannot imagine how that would be possible. They insist that everything would fall apart. They think that no hierarchy means no leaders.
Some really good explanations of how Jesus’ radical teaching actually works. If you can’t imagine how the church could have leadership but no hierarchy, a flat “You are all brothers” as Jesus said, read “The Starfish and the Spider.”
It starts by describing how scientists had a hard time imagining how the brain could work and store memories without hierarchy. (Just like some people can’t imagine how the church could work without hierarchy.) But it wasn’t there.
When the internet was new, investors couldn’t comprehend how it was decentralized. They wanted to know, “Who is the president of the internet?”
The Starfish and the Spider is more of a business book, not religiously focused. It studies the advantages of decentralized organizations and leading with influence, not power. It’s just amazing how it meshes with Biblical church leadership. It demonstrates very well how Jesus’ teaching about Christian leadership makes the church much stronger, healthier, and more resilient, contrary to the suppositions of those who think anything with no hierarchy falls apart.
I found a 25-minute summary of the Starfish and the Spider on YouTube…or you can look for the book on Amazon. This is how many Christian movements thrive and grow in the face of persecution.
Another great resource that Christian churches should pay attention to is Simon Sinek’s talk “Why leaders should speak last.” Look it up on YouTube.
We actually see some of the principles of “The Starfish and the Spider” in the missions movement of my city. And it’s amazing to see how when much of the church is divided and one group against another, there’s such a unity among the evangelists and missionaries in my city, in which the “banner” you come under matters very little.