The Minister as Maestro - Christianity Today

Lately I've noticed in Christian leadership material an increasing emphasis on the pastor as chief executive officer, similar to the head of a corporation. I see a danger in this model.

One pastor recently wrote me, "Would Jesus be a CEO?"

I wonder. The church is not a business corporation and should not be managed as one. Most corporations are for profit; churches are not. The corporation manufactures and distributes products; the healthy church deals in relationships. Since the central aims of the corporation and the church are not the same, pastors taking on the role of CEO can develop a metallic, mechanical quality in their ministry. An effective executive with integrity can lead a religious organization but not necessarily pastor a church.

Any time pastors become too oriented to figures, they are failing to recognize that the Scriptures do not express Christian maturity and effectiveness in figures. Figures are the language of business, though not always the subject. Figures often make us competitive. Many Monday-morning pastors' conferences lack spiritual vitality because the talk centers too much on figures.

One soap company can take another's customers. That's the way the competitive system works. When one car company takes another's customers, the marketing executives are praised. Churches, however, aren't instructed in Scripture to proselytize one another's members but rather to grow by conversions, renewal, and new life. These come through warm relationships and spiritual power, not mathematics.

Business has legal restrictions on "collusion," but there is no scriptural limitation on pastoral cooperation.

The great pastors I have known are natural shepherds. The church leader needs a pastoring heart and can't be a "hard-nosed" executive, hiring and firing, for the church just doesn't work that way. Most church work is done by volunteers.

True, the church needs effective leadership, and the pastor can use many of the tools of good management, but a church that too closely patterns itself after successful business may have a short-term gain but a long-term loss.

Any useful model must focus on what a pastor does. And the pastor's primary responsibility is to lead people in reaching a lost world, developing maturity, and functioning in spiritual fellowship-not simply to run an efficient organization. I'd like to suggest that we exchange the CEO model for one I feel more clearly defines the role of pastor.

A New Model: Conductor

Let me offer a new model: the symphony conductor. As a corporate executive, I studied the methods of conductor George Szell of the Cleveland Symphony, with great profit. Now that I'm in contact with so many pastors, I see the conductor's role more nearly approximates the pastor's.

The conductor, like a pastor, is involved with culture, with art, with the emotional nuances-the "soft" facts of life such as love, faith, and relationships. The "hard" facts-budgets, authority, constraints, facility maintenance-require attention, but over the long term, the soft facts dominate, just as water eventually controls the rocks and the riverbank. So, too, a spiritual leader must be a person interested more in the soft facts than the hard.

Recently I was brought back to the analogy of pastor as conductor when I heard an interview on PBS with two first-chair players of the New York Philharmonic. The interviewer asked, "What makes the orchestra respect a conductor?"

"Number one," they replied, "he must have a reverence for the composer. Second, he must have intimate knowledge of the score." Those two characteristics apply directly to pastors.

Reverence for the Composer

For the church, there is only one composer: God. Symphony conductors can choose among many, but Christians ultimately have only one. As the conductor must hold the composer in utmost respect, so the pastor must constantly radiate the awe of God.

This awe for the composer is necessary before a pastor can fully understand his score, the Bible.

Recently conductor Gerard Schwarz was criticizing some young musicians who were trying to play one or two pieces of Mozart without having learned the whole repertoire. He said, "Mozart can't be known in one or two pieces."

If a pastor weakens in devotion and awe toward God, correctly interpreting the Scripture is impossible. This reverence isn't something picked up in a seminary class. It is the core of the pastor's being, an inseparable and authentic oneness. Yet this relationship is constantly at risk, for as pastors get pressured, one of the first things to go, they tell me, is their prayer and study life. They are in danger of not being God's person but rather functioning as a church person.

Knowledge of the Score

An intimate knowledge of the score is the second prerequisite for a great conductor. Intimate knowledge gives one the understanding of what the composer is saying. This requires a gift for understanding and an ability to get others to understand it.

The greatest enemy of intimately understanding the score is a separate agenda of one's own. For example, I was listening to an Easter sermon by a leader who interpreted Easter as the new beginning of his movement and the ultimate resurrection of his cause. This is not the story of Easter but was extrapolated onto the story, destroying its meaning.

Intimate knowledge requires not only a natural gift but also diligence. On a coast-to-coast flight, I sat next to the conductor of a major symphony, and during the entire time he studied one score. I realized that no conductor is endowed with a knowledge of the music; he must arrive at it by hard work.

But our knowledge of the score is not simply an end in itself. Earlier this year I gave the dedication message for a new church in Oklahoma. Afterward, a woman came to me, held my hand, and said with deep emotion, "You can't know what this has meant to me." She had brought to that meeting a problem that had been solved by something she heard. She choked up and turned and walked away, giving me one of the great compliments I think any speaker can get. Our intimate knowledge of the scriptural score must be related to people's needs.

The orchestra conductor has one advantage in that he has professional critics who tell him how well he has done. This is a two-edged sword, but pastors also need those who will tell them what their interpretation of the score has meant to them. This reflection helps pastors continually interpret better.

At a seminar for pastors, I was speaking on communication, and one participant said to me, "I explain the general principles of Scripture, but I don't do the hard thinking of then applying them one, two, three, like I should. In the future, I'm going to do that." He had decided to become more intimate with the score as it relates to his people.

Superior Conducting Ability

Other musicians have related, in print or interview, three qualities of a superior conductor that I see also apply to a good pastor.

First, the conductor must set a meaningful beat-not just a rhythmic beat but an interpretive beat. A skilled conductor sets a beat that tells the orchestra what he expects in terms of rhythm, volume, intensity, and interpretation. A church needs that same direction from its pastor.

The other day I talked with a California business executive who's active in a new church that meets in a school. I asked, "Who is your church trying to reach?"

"I don't know," he admitted.

As we talked, it became clear that the church hadn't done its homework in identifying the needs of the community or the methods most appropriate to reach that neighborhood. This key lay leader didn't know how the church planned to staff or locate or build. His church needs a clear beat from its pastor.

On the other hand, I have spoken in a church in the East that offers a ministry specifically for young families with children, and they're coming. People know exactly what that church's emphasis is. That minister sets a clear beat they can follow.

The second thing the musicians said was, "Great conductors make you play better than you can; when you get through, you're surprised at how well you played." This is the reason the same orchestra sounds different under different conductors.

When Leonard Bernstein conducts, some of the orchestra members memorize their scores so they can watch him. Why? They love Bernstein's ability to let them see him enjoy their music. They know he is a great musician who doesn't enjoy mediocre music. If he is to enjoy it, they have to make it superior. But when they see his enjoyment, it lifts them and brings out their best.

Like Bernstein, the fine pastor will let the people know when they are doing well. He demands much of them, and when they come through, he lets them share his enjoyment. That's when the best comes out of people.

In Tennessee I once met with a small group in a school with a young pastor in his first assignment. Almost immediately I knew it would be a great church because that pastor was a great leader. His enjoyment of his people's ministry to one another and to the community was obvious.

I've known pastors to take churches with low self-esteem, perhaps as a result of a split or a plant closing, and lead them to accomplish something in community service, missions, or evangelism that they never knew they had in them. God has implanted so many gifts and abilities in every congregation, but it takes a good conductor/pastor to coax them out.

The third trait given by the orchestra members was this: A great conductor anticipates and avoids mistakes even before a player makes them. Toscanini, for example, was so sensitive to individual players in the orchestra that he could keep mistakes from happening.

How did he do it? He realized a feeling precedes a fact-"a mule balks in his head before he balks with his feet." And people are the same; their acts follow their feelings. Therefore, if a conductor understands the feelings of the orchestra, any hesitance or lack of concentration can be headed off before it becomes a mistake. That was Toscanini's brilliance.

Don't let me mislead you into thinking this is a mysterious quality. It isn't. Before my father was a pastor, he was a blacksmith, and he had this ability. He'd say to me, "Fred, you're laying up for a licking." He could see my tendency was leading toward a punishable offense, and he wanted me to straighten up before he had to apply discipline. He was interpreting my attitude before it became an offensive action.

Pastors also can develop this kind of anticipation. They watch for the feelings that precede the fact. Discontent starts showing up in attitudes. Poor relationships don't happen all of a sudden. Often a conversation can shed light on that feeling before it becomes a troublesome behavior.

Ability to Build the Orchestra

A great orchestra is the result of a great conductor. The conductor must have a clear vision of what type orchestra he wants, a realistic evaluation of what kind he can have, and a strong sense of how soon it's possible. It involves knowing the members of the orchestra-what they are capable of performing-and then moving them through their "comfort zones" to the place they ought to be.

Stretching is a gradual process, and a conductor cannot plan beyond the musicians' abilities, but he must plan up to their possibilities.

Another part of building an orchestra is supplementing the current players with others of better and different talents. The place to start is with the first-chair players.

Every orchestra, no matter how small, has a first-chair player for each section-the oligarchy. The strength of any organization depends largely on the strength of its oligarchy. Jesus had Peter, James, and John. It's interesting how these men's qualities worked in synergy. Peter was aggressive-do it now. James was works oriented-get it done right. John's strength was love- let's stay together. Put those three together and you've got a good little team. Organizational theory says that to amplify your power through an organization, you choose superior-quality people to be closest to you.

Choral conductor Robert Shaw understands this principle. He loves working with amateurs because, he said, "You can light their eyes when they sing well." But he sprinkles throughout his outstanding chorale a few professional and semiprofessional singers. He knows the value of employing the skills of the gifted.

All this applies to the pastor who needs to fill the church's "first chairs." Such key leaders must be picked with three traits in mind: First, they need the requisite technical skills, the talent-they've got to be good at what they do. Second, they must fit into the harmony of the organization-they can't always play solo. And third, they've got to be able to follow the leader's direction.

A pastor once told me, "An outstanding young staff member leads one of our departments. He is exceptionally good at what he does, but he will not play on the team. What should I do with him?"

"What would you do," I asked, "if you were leading an orchestra and the drummer decided he'd beat the drum whenever he liked and as loud as he wanted? First you'd determine if musicianship were his problem. But if it were character rather than musicianship, you'd remove him. So first, I'd talk seriously to your staffer. Second, if talking didn't take care of it, I'd release him." He saw the comparison.

Most disloyalty is based in character. A first chair has to feel responsible to play in the orchestra, not dominate it, and to be the right example for those in his section.

Conductors of integrity don't pick their principal players for political reasons or for personal security. A conductor can't say, "He's awful on the French horn, but at least I can count on him to support me." That makes for sick music. Instead, the conductor challenges the best person to occupy the chair.

Good players must be given a way up. I was in one of the fastest growing churches in our country and asked the pastor, "What's your secret?"

He said, "Name me another big church where the chairman of the board is 34 years old."

"What do you mean?"

"Here," he explained, "we give young people opportunity. In most big churches, you're 60 years old before you get halfway up the ladder. The people in this church are upwardly mobile in everything they do, and they want to move up spiritually, just as they do in their social and business worlds. We're utilizing these people on the move."

Recently I read an article describing a threat to great orchestras. It was the conductor who had become a celebrity and began to itinerate rather than be a resident conductor. It takes a conductor dedicated to his orchestra, not to his own reputation, to build an orchestra that plays great music. I occasionally see pastors who are inclined to spend too much time away from their churches becoming conference or denominational celebrities. Meanwhile their churches are not becoming what they could be. This is always a temptation.

On the other hand, just yesterday I had lunch with a gifted young leader who is beginning to receive national recognition. Yet I knew he was sincere when he said, "Fred, I want to avoid this Christian celebrity syndrome. I just want to do my job, the one I'm called to do."

Selecting a Repertoire

The successful conductor knows how to balance the repertoire so the orchestra is challenged to do its best but also so the audience will enjoy the concerts.

Some conductors have failed because they wanted to force their taste on the audience without bringing them along. The audience must leave a concert thinking, I enjoyed that-there was something special in it for me. Getting that mix is important; all major segments of the audience must be taken into consideration.

In selecting repertoire, any knowledgeable conductor starts with his responsibility to the audience. The pastor has a like responsibility. The pastor's primary role is to help the congregation, not himself. It's wise to start with the people's needs, not the staff's tastes.

I'm not saying a repertoire should only coddle listeners. Some audiences need broadening. The expert conductor does this by introducing some selections the audience doesn't already know but might find interesting.

One of the Dallas radio stations has just done Wagner's Ring cycle as instrumental music-an Opera without the words-and it received tremendous response. People hadn't heard it before outside its operatic setting. It stretched the audience.

Likewise, many congregations need some stretching. A constant diet of only evangelism or social action or discipleship does not feed the whole person. When one kind of sermon is preached Sunday after Sunday, a church becomes narrow-more like a parachurch society than a church.

A good repertoire educates people and feeds their desire for tradition while establishing broader boundaries. A good conductor-or pastor-tailors the repertoire for growth and appreciation.

Operating within Financial Limitations

The conductor must operate within set financial realities. Some symphony conductors have been forced out because they spent more money than was in the budget. Even the best knowledge of music cannot save the conductor with no regard for elementary financial constraints.

Pastors operate under financial constraints, too, but the picture is muddied by an often-misused word: faith. Faith should not be used to conjure up financial strength a church doesn't have. Certainly, "The Lord will provide" what he wants to provide, but not necessarily what we want him to provide. A pastor can get trapped into a "faith position" that has little to do with faith and a lot to do with foolishness. Normally we need some reason to believe a budget will be better this year than last.

I resent the rash of "emergency" solicitations from various organizations that tell me if I don't give, the Lord's work is going under immediately. In the first place, I don't believe it. In the second, if that is true, then they have done a poor job of leadership.

In Dallas, for example, because of the difficult economic climate, businesses are finding budget growth difficult. Survival has become a worthy goal for many enterprises.

A preacher who pushes through an unrealistic budget or fails to stay within budget abuses rather than uses faith.

Looking to the Future

A great conductor also has a mind geared toward the constant development of future patrons and players. To put this mindset in business terms, wise leaders expand the market rather than just divide what now exists.

Recently I was speaking to a booksellers' convention and challenged them to expand the market rather than divide it. For example, we know that most bookstore customers are women. What a difference it would make if men became the customers that women are! That's the challenge of genuine growth.

Stock brokers have encouraged small investors to enter the market, and so the market has expanded.

Once I was a director of a company making eyeglasses when it was unusual for anyone to have more than one pair. Then they found a way to bring fashion to eyewear, and now people purchase several pairs.

Market expansion is a necessity in the symphony business-and in the church. Remember how Leonard Bernstein got on television on Saturday mornings to present youth programs, explaining the use of the instruments? He enlarged the market. Now symphonies show up in malls and parks and school auditoriums to build their potential audience.

One of the sad churches I know is one where the pastor has lost his appeal to young people, and so the church is fast becoming an old folks' home. The obituary column will decrease any audience that isn't expanding.

One of the big changes in churches in the last couple of decades is that more parents are following children to church rather than children following parents. These days, parents are so happy to have kids who will go to church that they'll accommodate themselves to what the children want. I hear all the time: "Our kids love it here with all their school friends; that's why we're at this church."

Pastors who are thriving have, like Bernstein, invested themselves in opening new markets for the message of the church. They're saying to themselves, How can we touch people who never hear us now?

I know of two churches that hold additional services on Saturday evening for those who cannot attend on Sunday. This is expanding the market. Many singles groups are meeting in restaurants and theaters to reach those who would be uncomfortable in church. This is taking the music to the mall.

Directing the Rehearsal

Rehearsal, for any orchestra, is terribly important. You can't have an excellent orchestra without adequate rehearsal time.

To me, any time the pastor meets with staff or lay leaders, it corresponds to the rehearsal. The quality of these meetings in large part determines the caliber of ministry in the church. Here are three aspects of good rehearsals that apply equally well to leadership meetings:

First, a rehearsal is best when the orchestra practices specifically. A good orchestra doesn't practice pieces; it concentrates on the next concert. The well-prepared conductor works them through the pieces the group will need to know immediately.

During the Second World War, when vast numbers of people needed quick training in technical fields, we found one basic truth: People learn only what they're going to use immediately. When we were teaching women to weld for the first time, we had to impart just one part of the skill at a time and let them use it right then.

After speaking for forty years, I'm still amazed that people pick up from a speech only what applies to a current situation. Teachers listen for things they can teach; preachers listen for what they will preach; lay people listen for things they can use on Monday.

A second necessity for a good rehearsal is a time limit. That puts urgency into what we do. It also cuts down on the tendency to spend too much time on minor details.

Once I joined the board of a Christian organization that customarily held two-day meetings simply because the officers didn't prepare for a shorter one. We cut the meetings to half a day-and got better attendance and more done.

Finally, rehearsals should maintain an environment of responsibility and dignity, giving a sense that what we're doing is worthwhile. People want to be involved in something that's important. Leadership meetings are the place to reinforce that. This is not the place to air personal feelings about the shortcomings of the audience.

Likewise, these sessions ought to be more than simple business meetings with a brief Scripture reading and a perfunctory prayer serving as spiritual bookends. The leader's job is to provide a sense of the grandeur of the task and the presence of God.

Peter Drucker, perhaps the best thinker on organizational behavior, once said to a group of ministers, "Remember, the task is the reward."

I've never heard it said better-for ministers or maestros.