Indian Voices in the Wilderness

Reflections on How Indians Can Lead in the Local Church

Photo by Ricky Singh

I know.

It’s a very specific title and topic. But there aren’t many resources that help Indians navigate the unique challenges they face as leaders in the local church.

I’ve been in ministry for over 20 years as a musician, as an itinerant evangelist, chaplain of a college in India, pastor for the second generation Indian Americans in an Indian church — affectionately known as “the youths,” — staff member of a predominantly white church, lead pastor of said church, and church planter and pastor of a multicultural church in Harlem.

Every single one of those ministry contexts posed a different leadership challenge, not simply because they are different ministries, but also because I was culturally different than the other leaders in those settings. We perceived and experienced the world differently. We faced the same walls but didn’t scale them the same. And more times than not, I had to adjust how I led based on these cultural differences. Here is an example of these cultural differences at play:

Leaders in the Indian immigrant church need permission to lead even after they’ve been knighted. The desire to pick up the mantle and lead is restrained by the stronger desire to honor the senior leaders in the church and not act in a way that undermines their authority. Leaders in a predominantly white church also need permission to lead, but unlike immigrant churches, initiative is greatly rewarded. The desire to honor senior leaders may be noble but isn’t as critical to the leader’s effectiveness as it is for leaders in the Indian church.

So what would happen if they traded places? If an Indian was asked to lead in a white church, and a white person was asked to lead in an Indian church?

They would be mischaracterized. The Indian’s desire to defer to senior leaders would be mischaracterized as passivity, while the white person’s initiative would be mischaracterized as presumption. Their cultures not only affect how they lead, but also how their leadership is perceived.

This post, and the one that follows, is an attempt to help Indian Americans navigate leadership challenges in their local Indian and American church.

Of course, not all Indian churches are the same. Leaders in a Marthomite church face a different set of challenges than leaders in a Jacobite church. Similarly, not all American churches are the same either. They vary denominationally, geographically, and by ethnicity. You will undoubtedly notice things that do not apply to your specific context. However, despite all the nuances, I’m going to assume that this much is true: you love your church and have a conviction that God has called you to be a leader in that community.

But how do you navigate the cultural challenges you experience every time you lead?

LEADING IN THE INDIAN CHURCH

Young Indian leaders are often conflicted about staying in the Indian church. Some consider leaving because the church does not meet their stylistic preferences, while others no longer agree with the church’s doctrinal positions. The reasons vary and aren’t equally valid. But there are those who are conflicted because they genuinely love their community and consider leaving because they aren’t sure how to effectively lead change.

Here are three questions to consider:

What kind of authority do you have?

In his leadership podcast, Craig Groeschel notes that if we want to develop leaders, we must delegate authority, not tasks. If we tell someone to pick up refreshments every week on the way to church, we have delegated a task. But if we tell that person to be responsible for crafting the culture of hospitality through food every week, and give him the freedom to decide what we eat, we have delegated authority. The difference is in defining the win, helping him see his role in achieving that win, and then giving him the authority to create.

My experience pastoring in an Indian church in Houston helped me see the tremendous possibility for change when young leaders are not simply given tasks, but are given authority to lead in ways that craft the spiritual culture of the church. So if you aren’t sure how to effectively lead change, it may be worth asking what kind of authority you have.

• Are you a part of a team, board, or committee with decision making power — from planning small groups to sermon series?

• What authority do you have to mentor individuals and groups?

• How does your unique involvement help shape the organizational and spiritual culture of the church?

• Do you have a platform to instruct others?

• Are you in a position to help form practices for others to follow?

• Have you been asked to raise up other leaders in any capacity?

If you can clearly identify the authority delegated to you — whether formally or informally — you can enact meaningful change within that sphere of influence. Now, it may be true that some people simply do not have any authority to lead. However, I am sure that most people mistakenly assume they were given a task when they were actually given authority.

Photo by Markus Spiske

For example, when a song leader is asked to select songs and lead the congregation in singing, she isn’t simply given a task. She is given the authority to decide what the gathered church sings that day. The truths that unite their disconnected hearts. The promises that the weary will remember when they can barely lift their heads. The songs that express their grief. The truths that lead them to repent. The realities about God that lead them to rejoice. She can craft a set that takes the a church through a progression of themes and disciples the church through singing. If she assumes her ministry is a task, she will fail to see the incredible authority, responsibility, and opportunity she has to lead.

So consider your current role and ask if the senior leaders have delegated a task or authority to you. Do you have the ability to create, craft, and shape the spiritual culture of the church in your specific sphere of influence? Once you gain clarity, you can lead in that area and thereby impact the larger spiritual climate of the church.

Can you find peace in fulfilling your ministry?

As a leader, you see where the church needs to go and desire to lead them there. The problem, however, is that after assessing your authority it’s become clear that you do not possess the authority to lead them in all the changes that you think are necessary.

You have the authority to lead songs but not the small groups. You can change discipleship practices but not doctrine. You can provide family counsel in the church but not financial counsel to the church. It’s easy to become frustrated when you realize the limits of your authority. Of course, you could always share your ideas with senior leaders of the church, but in the event that they do not share your concerns, you must ask yourself, “Can I find peace in simply fulfilling my ministry?”

In one of the churches I led, I wanted to see changes implemented in the church’s governmental structure. Many Indian churches are congregational and I had hoped that the church would be led by elders. But facilitating this change was simply not my calling.

I still remember when the Lord made it clear to me that my primary call to this particular church was to faithfully preach the Gospel every week to those who have never heard it or misunderstood it. This meant that I had to accept my limits and relinquish the need to change everything according to my desires and in my time. I had to remember that Jesus builds his church, not me, and loves her more than I do, and that he would raise up the leaders needed to enact the change he wills. In other words, I had to find peace in simply fulfilling my ministry to the church.

Your ability to perceive changes that need to be made are likely a gift for your Indian community. And in several cases, the senior leaders may give you the authority to spearhead the changes you want to see. However, when they don’t, will you trust that God will bring those changes, but perhaps not through you and in your time? Can you find peace in fulfilling your ministry?

Can you remain a voice in the wilderness?

I sat with a gifted Indian leader who was tired of having to fight for the smallest changes. He didn’t understand why implementing a children’s ministry that hadn’t yet existed in his church was such a contentious issue. He had labored in that church for years and had been successful in implementing changes in the past. But he was exhausted. He had finally had enough and considered leaving his church. But throughout our conversation it became clear that this would not satisfy him.

The reason?

Photo by Shaun Alum

He had a prophet temperament.

By prophetic, I don’t mean the spiritual gift of comforting, strengthening, and encouraging the church through a timely word from the Lord. I mean that no matter where he goes, and what he does, he finds himself being a voice in the wilderness who calls people to change. He has an eye for a better future, and like a prophet, calls people to turn from what they are doing to the better future he can see.

At his worst, a person with this temperament is always dissatisfied, constantly a contrarian, filled with angst, never able to rejoice in what the Lord has accomplished because he is always upset with what is left undone. At his best, this person is a gift, makes prophetic calls with pastoral sensibilities, not only declares what he sees but also humbly relies on the sight of others. He depends on the Lord to bring about the change that is outside his control because he knows that any progress in him, any growth, any insight that he has is a gracious gift from the Lord for which he cannot boast.

Leaders like this would feel miserable in a church where everything was perfect, their influence wasn’t needed, and there was little reason to call others to change. As a result, they gravitate to the wilderness. It’s a love hate relationship, really. They don’t like the lifelessness of the wilderness. Who does?

But despite the challenges, this is where they love best. This is where they sense the Lord’s power as they rely upon him to do the work that only he can do in the hearts of others. This is where God does not merely use them to transform his church, but in their labor of love, God uses the church to transform them to be more like Christ.

When I asked the leader if he would be satisfied in a church that met all of his expectations and desires, (as if that exists), he smiled and answered no. So what was he supposed to do next?

Well, he could, as Eugene Peterson says, remember that the church that he expects can be the enemy of the church he has been given. He can accept his prophetic wiring, the fact that he is drawn to the wilderness, and as a result, normalize that such conditions will always be a part of his ministry. He doesn’t have to normalize dysfunction, but can normalize his total dependence upon the Lord for this call. He can find support structures that provide some of the things that is currently lacking in his community. His prophetic calls for change can be seasoned by love and childlike trust, and not pride and angst.

And whenever he hits a wall, he can commit himself to the Lord, lead with the authority he does have, find peace in fulfilling his ministry, and remain a voice in the wilderness because this is where he loves best among the community that he loves most.