This article appears courtesy of Rev Magazine.

Holy Man or Businessman?
by Dan Kimball

Several months ago, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, came to the Bay area.

His visit constantly made the news as he spoke to sold-out crowds numbering in the tens of thousands. I watched elementary-age children interviewed on television tell how excited they were about his visit because “the Dalai Lama is such a man of love and peace.” I read the comments of some local college students who were attending his lectures because “he is such a wise and holy man.” And I read how parents were bringing their children to see “one of the last living symbols of purity and goodness.” There was such an overwhelming attraction to these qualities from people of all ages.

Along the same lines, Os Guinness recently wrote of an international businessman who said that whenever he meets a Buddhist leader, he feels he meets a “holy man.” But whenever he meets a Christian leader, he feels he meets a “manager.”

A manager? Hmmm...interesting. I guess I wouldn’t blame him, as so many of us really do dress and act like CEOs. As pastors we talk of our busy schedules, and proudly carry our cell phones, Palm Pilots, and laptops, often using modern business lingo to describe church ministry.

And we sure do like using business titles to describe our pastoral roles—such as “executive pastor,” “senior pastor,” “associate pastor,” and “director of ministries.”

The responses to Buddhist figures and values made me stop and think. Maybe we could learn something from the Dalai Lama—not in terms of his religious beliefs, but in terms of what the emerging culture and generations are looking for and admiring in their “spiritual leaders.” And as pastors who follow Jesus, not the Dalai Lama, what words do people use to describe us?

Would their descriptive words be categorized with “wise, pure, loving,” or would they be at the other end of the spectrum of “manager or businessman?”