The leader, the phone and the wardrobe

We have gone through the wardrobe. We have fallen through the looking glass.

A lot has changed in 6 weeks. The world has changed. How we lead has changed. How we communicate has changed. We have changed.

For some, an exciting, new adventure has begun. Narnia is full of colour, pixels and pixies, new animals and online possibilities.

Some never want to go back through the wardrobe. This is a challenge they relish. 
For others there is a sense of loss, anxiety, ill-ease. Narnia is frightening. The future is frightening. “I am falling slowly through the looking glass…”

The move from the study to the studio is intimidating. Frames of reference are gone, normal patterns of leadership have been frozen by the ice-queen. “I am speaking to a screen, not real people. How do I get back inside the wardrobe?”

Where is my frame of reference?

You might say Jesus came through the ultimate wardrobe. The Incarnate Son of God left the glories of heaven to come through the dust and dirt and darkness of our wardrobe world. Christ learnt a new language. He relinquished the mystical tongues of heaven and learnt earth speak – the language of carpenter, farmer, shepherd, tax collector, prostitute.

God came online.

What of the apostle Paul? He left the language of Gamaliel, his super IQ friends with religious high talk and learnt to be “all things, to all men, in order to save some”. He learnt to proclaim, debate, teach in homes, write, sit in the dirt and sew.

Paul went online.

Some are anxious, outside their comfort zone, afraid of Mr Tumnus and the lamppost. Worried about the future. Worried about their future. The leadership bar is impossibly high. 
- Get Lucy, Peter, Susan and Edmund to help you. They are more agile in Narnia. And Peter has a sword.

The leader still has a role to play. You still have leadership. You still have the call. Same as it has always been. Make disciples. Raise up leaders for Narnia. In slightly different ways.

The goal is the same.

Aslan is still King.

There remains no substitute for love.