When surveying the landscape and mining the data around what is happening to people in positions of mission and ministry leadership, several trends become apparent. Among them are:
- leaders abusing their power and position
- leaders lacking integrity in areas of basic moral, ethical, relational, and financial matters
- leaders collapsing under the weight of the stress and pressures of the work
- leaders whose lives with God have been reduced to listening to a few inspirational podcasts while driving
- leaders who are no longer actual real-life followers of the person they have chosen to serve—Jesus Christ.
While social science research gives us a laundry list of heed-worthy reasons why there is such a crisis in leadership happening today, Gordon MacDonald’s recent book, Building Below the Waterline, has shined a light on ground zero of the malaise.
In his insightful introduction, he quotes from David McCullough’s book, The Great Bridge. McCullough tells the story of the building of the Brooklyn Bridge in the latter half of the 1800’s. This engineering marvel of its day took 17 years to build. After the first four years of construction, the citizens of Brooklyn complained to the chief engineer, Washington Roebling, asking why they could not see any construction. Where was their bridge?
Roebling’s answer was epic. During the previous four years, the most important work was being done where no one could see it, below the waterline. Daring construction workers were putting their lives at risk to do the hard work of building the foundation. He said that if this important work was not done with excellence below the waterline, what was built above the waterline would not stand the test of time. Brilliant!
Regrettably, far too many leaders in ministry, church, mission agency, and the marketplace have spent the majority of their time building above the waterline. They are building wonderful “bridges” of ministry while forgetting the most important and strategic work—constructing the foundation. It is here, below the waterline, where the most daring and courageous work occurs: knowing God and knowing ourselves.
Centuries before the Brooklyn Bridge, at the conclusion of his most famous sermon, Jesus unequivocally taught the necessity of building one’s life foundation on faithful responsiveness to His word. The one who does “will be like a wise person who built their house on rock” (Matthew 7:24-27) and that house can withstand any storm because of the strength of its foundation. However, the one who neglects to follow Jesus’ teachings will be like a fool who builds on sand, only to see their house destroyed by external forces. Jesus, as the master teacher, gives profound wisdom on the nature of life through the vivid illustration of a house and its foundation. The house is our life—and the foundation is what it is built on.
Let me tease out the contrast inherent in the illustration: ministry is a fine house, but a lousy foundation; family is a beautiful house, but an insufficient foundation; the approval and acceptance of others is a pleasant house, but a shaky foundation; even faithful religious devotion can be a wonderful house, but a fragile foundation.
So what is building below the waterline? What is the foundation built on the rock? The apostle Paul states it simply, “No one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 3:11). There is only one genuine and eternal foundation for our lives: being with Jesus to become like Him. That is our one and only job, mission, and calling. All else, every bridge or house, is built on that. How? Dallas Willard states it clearly and simply, “You must arrange your days so that you are experiencing deep contentment, joy, and confidence in your everyday life with God.” That’s it and that’s all!
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Howard has served and taught at Denver Seminary in areas of spiritual formation and spiritual direction from 1995 to the present, and has devoted his life to ministry with Young Life, Denver Rescue Mission, and an array of seminaries and formation programs. He’s also written and contributed to several books, including Soul Keeping and The One True Thing. Being husband to Janis, a father and father-in-law to his children, and Papa to his grandchildren is his great joy.
