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Don Miller: Who Should Lead the Church–Plumbers or Scholars?

I wonder what they would have done if they had been professional scholars? My guess is they would have talked the command into a tailspin, dissected it into a million pieces, then divided themselves into different intellectual camps, and built a bunch of schools to teach their various interpretations.

So maybe if you’re a doctor or a plumber or a carpenter, you should lead the church. Maybe the church needs some of you who don’t write and speak and teach for a living to step up and put some action to our faith.

I wonder what your churches would look like? Maybe you could meet in homes, appoint some elders, pray for each other, read the Bible to each other, and then just serve your communities and each other in love. Maybe you wouldn’t need a classroom at all. Go ahead, lead. You’re qualified. You’ll have a guide. You’ve graduated.

Whenever I write a post like this, I encounter dualism, people who think I’m saying if Jesus didn’t choose educators then Bible College is wrong. We really have to stop thinking in either/or. There is no path; there is only a guide. There are a million right ways to be the church.

Let me ask you this: Aren’t you a little tired of scholars and pseudo-scholars fighting about doctrine?

Is it worth it that you are divided against other denominations because scholars picked up their ball and stomped off the playground? If you are tired, then be the church. I’m not kidding; you don’t know everything, but you know enough. Be the church and be united. Let the academics go to an island and fight about the things that matter to them, and we will be united based on the things that matter to us.  

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donaldmiller@churchleaders.com'
Don’s most recent book is called A Million Miles in a Thousand Years and it’s about how the elements of a great story can help us understand the elements of a great life. That book also hit the New York Times Bestsellers List, and inspired corporations to work with Don to improve employee engagement in their corporate vision, and customer understanding of the corporations overall narrative. Don has appeared on a diversity of television programs including NPR’s Tavis Smiley and Fox News’ The Strategy Room and has spoken for a variety of venues including the Veritas Forum at Harvard and national corporate conferences for brands such as Chic-fil-a. Don lives and works in Portland, Oregon.