The document discusses the challenges of leadership in the 21st century. It notes that leaders today face (1) an explosion of information from various sources, increased technology and social media use, and a shift to an action-oriented lifestyle. (2) Society has shifted from theocratic to democratic governance and from communal to capitalistic economies. (3) Leaders must address issues like biblical illiteracy, distractions from technology, compartmentalization of life, boredom, distrust of authority, and debates around gender and sexuality. Effective 21st century leaders should (4) communicate God's word, focus on mission, provide growth opportunities, delegate responsibility, and be innovators.

1. Challenges in Leadership in
21st Century
KSCF Westlands Sub-County Leadership Training at Nairobi School
11 May 2019
Thaimuta Z.
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2. Characterization of the century
• Information explosion
– A lot of information everywhere (fake and real)
– Any info on anything is available
• Technology and internet
– Global village; leading to uncontrolled benchmarking e.g. sex
orientation
– Social media; introducing strangers, uncontrolled personality bargain
– Increased internet accessibility (controlled and uncontrolled content)
• Celebrity: idolatry
• Actioned lifestyle: shift from real to action
• Increased outreach
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3. Life is Phased
History perception
• Evolution……Stone age: homo habilis, homo erectus, homo
sapiens, homo sapiens sapiens
• Hunters and gatherers
• Agrarian revolution
• Industrial revolution
• Trade and exchange
• Industrialization
• Technology
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4. God and technology
• Colossians 1:15-17 “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things
in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or
powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through
him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold
together.
• Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God,
but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that
we may follow all the words of this law.”
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5. Society organization shift
Society Governance Pillars
Pillar Before 21st C In 21st C
Political Theocratic Democratic
Economic Communal Capitalistic
Social Virtuous Humanistic
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6. The Challenges in Church Leadership in 21st
Century
• Biblical Illiteracy:
–“God helps those who help themselves,” is a Bible verse
–God the Father having a son He must be having a wife
• Presence:
– Christians ought to be people of presence, connected to God
and to one another through the inhabiting, unifying power of
the Holy Spirit
–The 21st century world busies our lives and distracts us so
that every moment pulls us away from presence
–The Church vocation is presenters of God’s presence in the world
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7. • Disembodied Tendencies:
–The trajectory of technology is away from incarnational
presence and toward disembodied experience
–We live our lives via screens, streams, apps, phones
–Our relationships are digital
–This exacerbates existing Gnostic tendencies (a cerebral
rather than embodied faith) and subtly deemphasizes the
crucial physicality of the church, the “body of Christ” in the
material and not just theoretical sense
The Challenges in Church Leadership in 21st
Century
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8. • Compartmentalization:
–Life is via windows and boxes; we chat with multiple people
at a time, post one fragment of our lives here and another
there, consume visual media in one window and read the
Bible in another
–Integral of this makes it easier to fracture our lived
experience into disconnected compartments, a process that
wreaks havoc on our spiritual formation
–Integrity is wholeness (integer = whole number), all parts of
our lives integrated and reflective of the Lordship of Christ
The Challenges in Church Leadership in 21st
Century
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9. • Boredom:
• Everything is fast-paced and harried; we can hardly
remember what we loved last month (no trail)
• We have short attention spans and get bored easily, and
this poses a huge challenge to the church
• The values of routine, tradition and stability that define the
church are distasteful in our fidgety age
• The tricky task of the church in the 21st century is to lead
people to awe, wonder and worship without watering
things down or constantly reinventing the wheel
The Challenges in Church Leadership in 21st
Century
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10. • Temptation to Reinvent the Wheel:
• The boredom challenge leads to this challenge, to “rethink”
church every couple years
• Scores of books that come out every year that provide a new
paradigm or prescription for a revived church
• Complexity: Related to our temptation to reinvent the wheel is
the temptation to complicate Christianity and church life
• The “Authenticity = Brokenness” Fallacy:
• Claims of “this is just who I am” essentialism and
immutability.
The Challenges in Church Leadership in 21st
Century
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11. • The Idol of Autonomy:
• The “be and do whatever feels right to you” philosophy of
expressive individualism is fundamentally at odds with
Christianity, which calls us to bow to the lordship of Christ
• Gender and Sexuality:
• Encompases a wide range of things (homosexuality, gender
identity, marriage, divorce, egalitarian vs.
complementarian gender roles, pornography, etc.)
The Challenges in Church Leadership in 21st
Century
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12. • Distrust of Authority:
• For many (very valid) reasons, younger generations today
have a real distrust of authority
• This makes church inherently challenging for them, not
only because they have a hard time trusting leaders but
(more importantly) they struggle with submitting fully to
the authority of Christ and the authority of Scripture
The Challenges in Church Leadership in 21st
Century
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13. The Leader in the 21st
Century
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14. 21st Century Leader
1. The leader (CU) is the spiritual leader of
the Christian Union, which means:
• Communicating the Word of God well: what God is
saying is and will be
• Calling the followers to spiritual disciplines,
individually & collectively
• Protecting God’s reputation in the conduct of in the
governance
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15. 2. The leader is to minister cross-culturally as a
missionary, which means:
• Focusing the congregation on the Mission
• Leading the followers to focus on others
• Helping the followers target the
community
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16. 2. The leader is to minister cross-culturally as a
missionary, which means:
• Creating urgency and casting vision continually
• Letting followers feel the need
• Focusing on a changed community
• Speaking positively (giving hope)
• Addressing what the group can do
NO. 1 AND 2: SERVICE TO GOD
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17. 2 Kings 18: 4 - 8
He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father
David had done. 4 He removed the high places, smashed the sacred
stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the
bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had
been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.
5 Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one
like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.
6 He held fast to the LORD and did not stop following him; he kept the
commands the LORD had given Moses. 7 And the LORD was with him;
he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the
king of Assyria and did not serve him. 8 From watchtower to fortified
city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory.
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18. 3. The leader provides growth to the
followers through:
•Bible reading
•Evangelism
•Prayer
•Discipleship
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19. 4. The leader places responsibility on the
followers:
• Giving
• Delegation
• Challenge
• Benchmarking
• Fellowshipping
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20. 5. Leader is an innovator
• God loves innovation
• The greatest leader who touched God’s heart was an
innovator
• 2 stories;
• The Temple
• Goliath battle
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21. Concept of God’s Temple
2 Sam. 7: 1-3 “After the king was settled in his palace and the
LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 he
said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of
cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”
3 Nathan replied to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go
ahead and do it, for the LORD is with you.”
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22. God’s Reaction
4 But that night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying:
5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD says: Are you the one to
build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not dwelt in a house from the day I
brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from
place to place with a tent as my dwelling. 7 Wherever I have moved with all the
Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd
my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’
8 “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I
took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over
my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have
cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like
the names of the greatest men on earth.
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23. God’s Reaction
10 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can
have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress
them anymore, as they did at the beginning 11 and have done ever since the time I
appointed leaders[a] over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your
enemies.
“‘The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you:
12 When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your
offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom.
13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of
his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong,
I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands.
15 But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I
removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before
me; your throne will be established forever.’”
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24. 6. Strategist 1 Chro. 12:2
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25. Shalom
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