Jones, L GregoryTan, Kim HuatSudharman, Joshua Shaam2020-05-152020-05-152020https://hdl.handle.net/10161/20641<p>Pastors, especially senior pastors of churches with larger congregations and staff</p><p>teams, have to provide leadership, not only in the typical pastoral sense of</p><p>preaching/teaching and counseling/caring, but also in terms of direction and management.</p><p>Yet pastors tend to receive inadequate equipping in this third area, and sometimes</p><p>flounder when faced with the complexities of their role.</p><p>Lee Kuan Yew was an extraordinary political leader and manager, leading the</p><p>severely disadvantaged fledgling nation of Singapore from Third World status to First</p><p>World in a few decades. Underlying the question of what pastors can learn from Lee,</p><p>given that he never professed Christian faith himself, is the principle of discernment</p><p>anchored in humility and healthy skepticism: humility to realize non-Christians may be</p><p>wiser than Christians in the way they manage their institutional affairs, and skepticism to</p><p>know that not everything that “works” in the world is going to likewise succeed in God’s</p><p>church.</p><p>The first step in discerning what aspects of Lee’s leadership have relevance for</p><p>pastors was to construct a biblical/ theological grid by which to evaluate Lee’s leadership.</p><p>Shaped by the data available on Lee, this grid had four components - formation,</p><p>shepherding, excellence and power – and a broad theological understanding of each of</p><p>these themes was outlined so as to serve as a set of criteria in evaluating the applicability</p><p>of key aspects of Lee’s leadership.</p><p>Lee’s life was examined both in terms of his pre-leadership years and his time in</p><p>leadership. The formative experiences of Lee’s life from childhood through to early</p><p>adulthood evoke reflections on how one’s own personal history has a shaping influence</p><p>on one’s leadership, and where there might be strengths yet to be harnessed, or shadows</p><p>yet to be confronted. Lee’s positive leadership traits - as described by himself and others</p><p>– are worthy of thoughtful appropriation insofar as they are deemed compatible with</p><p>Christian values as identified in the biblical grid. Some features of Lee’s leadership,</p><p>which were heavily critiqued by many and are at odds with the principles in the biblical</p><p>grid are also identified for reflection.</p><p>To deepen and personalize the above leadership reflections, several interviews</p><p>with Christians who held significant leadership roles and knew Lee first-hand were cited.</p><p>A fictional narrative of an interview with Lee was also incorporated in the final chapter,</p><p>which offered the space for imaginatively extending Lee’s leadership in a more</p><p>theological vein. In summary, Lee’s complex legacy provides rich material for leadership</p><p>reflections by pastors, and the overlap zone between Christian and secular leadership</p><p>merits further study and exploration.</p>ClergyLeadershipLee Kuan YewManagementNarrativePoliticsSenior PastorDissertation