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December 18, 2009

Lead Like...the Amish?

by by Caryn Rivadeneira

A month or so ago, Suzanne Woods Fisher sent me a copy of her new book, Amish Peace, with a note that said, “The chapter called ‘For the Good of the Community’ might have some leadership applications for GFL.”

Although I was a bit skeptical on what a book about the Amish and peace might have to say about women in ministry leadership, since I' love Suzanne's writing and since all things Amish are pretty “hot” right now (at least in the publishing world) I cracked the book open—maybe there was an Amish leadership angle after all.

And lo and behold, at the end of this little chapter were some words that struck me—and have stayed with me since I read them. I think there is indeed some application—especially for us leaders who tend to fall in the “comparison/competition” camp more than the “cooperative” one. But I’ll share what I read and then we can discuss.

Here’s an excerpt from Suzanne Woods Fisher’s Amish Peace:

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Cooperation is a cornerstone for the Amish way of life. It is a value that is ingrained at home, reinforced in school, and illustrated in the community. As cooperation is encouraged, competition is equally discouraged. Even on the playground.

Matthew is a thirteen-year-old Amish boy who loves softball. Maybe a little too much, worries his teacher. “Just the other day,” said Lydia, Matthew’s grandmother, “Matthew told us that he was playing softball during recess and yelled to his team to get some hits. He was frustrated because his team was losing. The teacher chided him. Said he shouldn’t be so concerned about winning.”

The problem with winning is … it requires someone to lose.

Comparison, like competition, are discouraged by the Amish. For example, an Amish teacher would never grade on a curve. During so would mean that one’s child good grade depends on another child’s poor grade. The children encourage one another’s good performance so that the whole class or school may do well. Differences in learning are acknowledged and respected by the teacher and the children. “Hard learners probably have an easier time of it here than if they were in the public education,” said Susie, mother of six. “They’re still ‘in the conversation.’” She means that an individual is valued, even if he learns at a slower pace and can’t keep up with his peers. To the Amish point of view, there is a place and a purpose for each person, like pieces of a pie. Each person is part of the whole.

The very nature of competition seeks to extol an individual by crowding out rivals, causing them to fail. To lose. In the upside down world of the Amish, they seek to build community by helping all individuals succeed. Everyone wins.

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I’ve continued mulling what it means for me as a ministry leader to embody a true spirit of cooperation. Honestly, I’m not hugely competitive, but I do spend too much energy comparing my life, my efforts, and my ministry with others’—which is awfully close to unhealthy competition.

So, I’d just like to know from you how the whole competition vs. cooperation thing plays out in your ministry. How might a little bit of Amish attitude help you as a leader? How might it just not work—because maybe being driven by competition isn’t so bad…?

Posted by Caryn Rivadeneira on December 18, 2009 6:07 PM

Related Tags: Amish

Comments

Remember the movie "A Beautiful Mind" with Russell Crowe? I think it had the same concept that Crowe was trying to develop as a business model...a "win-win." Not just an Amish point of view! ~Suzanne

Posted By: suzanne woods fisher | December 18, 2009 9:25 PM

It seems to me that many of the hot church leaders in evangelical conversation are young men who are "winning" with huge churches. I often get the impression they are elevated because they win - have a big audience - and thus those who have small audiences are considered to have lost, and have nothing to say to us. How refreshing to think that God's ways are different from our ways, and that God may not view things that way at all! So, is competition a cultural value, or does it come from within?

Posted By: Sue | December 23, 2009 10:31 AM

Seems competition might be part of our sinful nature? Cain and Abel -- one brought a good offering and the other did not and then felt inferior. Also, that verse about the woman "desiring" her husband in Genesis... I have heard this verse can be translated that she desires his position moreso than desiring him. Sounds pretty competitive to me! Maybe competition is not such a good thing, UNLESS we are competing against our own sinful nature to be faithful in letting God win others to Him through us! That's the kind of "winning" we need more of...

Posted By: kim | December 23, 2009 9:16 PM

I believe it takes a lot of strength and maturity to recognize the competition in your own soul. I know it does for me. I have seen pastors minimize other great leaders in their own churches-due to their insecurity. I have seen church leaders say it is a good thing for certain people to leave their church because "'there is only one senior leader". Because pastors and leaders are held in such high esteem in the evanglical church-there is competition for their friendship. You are "in" so to speak if those people spend time with you. In certain church leadership is elevated to an ungodly level-promoting great disharmony in the church. I truly have not experienced the Amish way described above in any church-but I am definitely going to thinking about my own issues in this area for a while.

Posted By: trisha | December 24, 2009 3:35 PM

My wife is from Amish background and has many relatives in the religion. It is not totally about cooperation, is is mostly about control.We are working with some who have left. There are no perfect people or organizations on earth, everyone needs Jesus Christ and his saving grace. Do not present any group as superior to another. There are wolves in sheeps clothing. Look to Christ for your guidance.

Posted By: Al Wayne | December 25, 2009 1:50 PM

In the ministry I am in it is difficult to have any kind of competitive attitude, yet, it exists. One patient may prefer a certain chaplain over another and each time they come to the hospital they request that particular one. This should not be seen as competitive but as an opportunity to once again provide ministry that ministers to the person. As ministers we cannot touch everyone as the same intensity levels, so lets rejoice with one another that lives are being touched, no matter who God is using at the moment.

Posted By: Peggy | December 29, 2009 12:37 PM

Paul exhorts the Corinthians (1 Cor. 9:24) to "run as to win." That sounds competitive. But then he goes on to preach self-control in the verses that follow. This suggests that moderation may be the healthy approach to the competition/ cooperation question.

Posted By: Mark | December 29, 2009 1:14 PM

Actually, Paul's exhortation in 1 Cor. 9:24 is not about competing with other believers to win. The crown Paul is talking about winning is the ultimate "prize", which is eternal life (1 Cor. 9:27 - also see verses 19-23 beforehand when he talks about winning others to Christ by every means possible).

I believe I get the jist of the argument. I think competition between believers is always an indication of our sinful nature rearing it's ugly head and is usually driven by a number of motives - insecurity, jealousy, envy, strife, etc. which are works of the flesh. God does call us to unity, and in order to have true unity there must be a spirit of cooperation in the heart of everyone involved - otherwise we can't have true unity.

Good article - thanks for posting.

Posted By: Gloria | December 30, 2009 11:09 AM

Caryn, you said, “Honestly, I’m not hugely competitive, but I do spend too much energy comparing my life, my efforts, and my ministry with others’—which is awfully close to unhealthy competition.”

Unfortunately, many of us do the same thing until we learn our true identity in Christ. Being unique means I’m one of a kind – there is no one else like me. So comparing is ridiculous. One of the synonyms for unique is “incomparable”. The other synonyms are “exceptional, distinctive, irreplaceable, matchless, and rare. If we truly saw ourselves as unique we would know that we should not compare.

While we are unique we are complimentary as Pauls tells us in Romans 12: 4-6 “…Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. …So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't.”

I don’t believe there is any room for competition in ministry if we are all working to fulfill Christ’s command to “Go, make disciples.” God places different gifts, desires and passions in each of us to help fulfill this command and I must follow the ones He’s placed in me; not you or another person in leadership.

Posted By: Angela C | January 3, 2010 4:36 PM

Oh, I love this. I am competitive by nature, but have worked very hard to curb that to match my personal philosophy of valuing every contribution and every human being as well as to match the biblical model of servanthood. Jesus didn't compete. Ever, that I can think of. Though I disagree with some of their philosophies, I think the Amish have some good things going for them!

Posted By: Robyn | January 4, 2010 11:34 AM

Oh, and there is also no competition in the body. My nose does not compete with my liver. All the parts work together in harmony, ideally. Yet another reason I am wary of hierarchical structures in the church.

Posted By: Robyn | January 4, 2010 11:36 AM

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