I had the opportunity to see my old lieutenant – now a major – take command of our old unit. Being back at Fort Drum and amongst my brothers and sisters in arms reminded me of just how different military leadership is. In every way it is superior to what I’ve found in the Church.

I find Army leadership more Christlike than what I find at my Christian employer or in most churches.

Why? Our model of leadership in the Church is, if you’ll pardon the phrase, ass backward. Rather than a “royal priesthood” we are a flock of obedient sheep under the lordship of our human leaders.

What happened? It all started 1,700 years ago when the Emperor of Rome decided to institutionalize Christianity. Out went the royal priesthood and in came the structures of control. The point of adopting Christianity was to unify the empire, after all. We’ve been stuck with that abusive structure ever since.

The result is we are told to not complain, trust our leaders, and as we say in the army “take all commands from the tower.”

In short, we are taught to be abused in the Church.

The fix isn’t to blame the lettuce (the victim) or look to the sheep for change. It’s time for Christian leaders to start acting like Christ. They need to relinquish their power, apologize, and re-learn what it means to be a servant and a leader.