Our families are the single most critical "incubator" for the way we develop into adults. Every one of us starts out with the same basic identity: the imago Dei - the image of God. Every person you've ever met shares this trait with you and I; God made us in His image, and therefore, every person has value. Our value isn't reduced or increased in any way by our life circumstances, but our ability to function in society is deeply driven by the way we grow up and who takes part in our development in our family of origin.
Leaders, of course, come from families. Duh. :) But what if, as a leader, you and I look a close look at the ways in which we were raised, the language and culture surrounding us when we were kids, and also looked back at our family history and could see patterns of relationships played out across generations? What if we could grow and develop as leaders by looking at who we are in Christ through this lens?
This, in essence, is what I got to do at a 4-day conference this past month. I'm still toiling over my notes and scribbles from the conference, but in a word, it was a rich experience. One of the main voices in our conversation came from the late Edwin Friedman, a psychologist and social scientist. I've found his books to be deep and complex (in other words, I got lost in just a few pages). The following video does a good job of expressing several facets of his work on family systems theory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgdcljNV-Ew
Based on this video, what does it mean to be a differentiated person? A differentiated leader? How might this be applied to the life and ministry of FPC? Leave a comment below and let's see where the conversation goes.
Solo Dei gloria,
Travis
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