Intuitive Leadership (ēmersion: Emergent Village resources for communities of faith): Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor, and Chaos

by Tim Keel, Alan Roxburgh (Foreword)

As our culture shifts from modern to postmodern, pastors and church leaders are finding that old, rigid church leadership systems and structures no longer seem to work. Church leaders are searching for and discovering new, creative ways of leading--emphasizing intuition, creativity, narrative, and an embrace of the chaos and tension of our time.
Tim Keel, pastor of a thriving emergent church and a rising leader in the emergent church movement, offers a thought-provoking yet practical exploration of this new style he calls Intuitive Leadership. His fresh approach will be welcomed by pastors and lay leaders interested in the emergent conversation and how Christian mission should look in our rapidly changing culture.

Genres: Leadership, Christian, Theology, Nonfiction

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2007

About the author

Tim Keel is the founding pastor of Jacob's Well Church in Kansas City, Missouri. He is married to Mimi and together they have three kids: Mabry, Annie, and Blaise. Tim received a BFA in Design from the University of Kansas and a Masters of Divinity from Denver Seminary. Tim is an avid reader and loves to learn, write, and teach. He is passionate about creating spaces for people to connect to God, themselves and others. Tim is the author of Intuitive Leadership: Embracing a Paradigm of Narrative, Metaphor, and Chaos (Baker, 2007).

Reviews

[Karl Mueller · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the title of "Intuitive Leadership" one would assume this book was primarily about leadership. Instead it is partly the personal story of the author as he attempts to develop a community that is missional in a "post-modern" world. The greatest portion of the book is dedicated to a history of the church and the world since the time of Christ and into our "post-modern world". Since the book was written in 2007 it uses much of the language that was common among those in the "emerging church" movement. As such, it is quite dated, but if you are interested in the way younger Christian leaders thought and talked 10-15 years ago, this book gives you a great perspective. I did very much appreciate the final two chapters which were more directly related to leading in the world we live in. His 9 leadership "postures" are excellent and apply to leaders of all ages and generations. His final chapter, which touches on the idea of "intuition" is also very good. Having lived through the time when the emerging church was a big deal - and having worked in large churches, and been an advocate of much the "emerging church" movement stood for during that time - and having enabled the creation of environments that would have been defined as "missional" and "emerging" the book continuously reminded me of the positive impacts of that time and also some of the negative impacts - especially now that we have the opportunity to look at some of those days with a bit of history. I know I would have been enthralled with this book in 2007. Today, I found the first 8 chapters only mildly interesting or helpful. The last two almost make one keep the book - but I have read much of that material elsewhere.

[Rob Markley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am no friend of emergent church thinking or practice but it remains an valid experimental (albeit failed experiment) in Christian development and there are lessons to be learned herein that are valid and useful elsewhere

[John Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Keel’s Intuitive Leadership reveals his personal journey into the community of emerging church leaders. He describes his “nagging sense” that “whole sections of Scriptures, emotions, [and] a lot of [his] life and experience of reality” seemed to be left out of the modern approach in his ministry training and his twenty years of pastoral ministry. Keel received his MDiv from Denver Seminary and is founding pastor of Jacob’s Well, an emerging church in Kansas City.

The thesis of this book is that the church of the twenty-first century requires leadership with an “intuitive sense,” which will “apprehend” (173), in addition to comprehend, less through linguistic translation and more through conceptual translation, engaging “ideas, metaphors, frameworks, large-scale patterns, image, and symbols across multiple spectrums.” (162) Keel argues that poetic, affective, and emotional people often “intuit” (184) that there is no space for them in our current church structures (209), that God often seeks those who are on the margins of culture in times of transition (265), and that today’s church leaders would do well to seek God in those margins and “posture” (222) themselves, “leaning” into “ambiguity, mystery, and creativity so that we might be faithful to God’s work in the midst of a dynamic and ever-changing” world. (251)

The content of this book is presented in three sections, beginning with a beautiful exposition into the power of story, including Keel’s own journey. Keel argues that we need and must be faithful to the gospel story and the story of the creativity of God’s people. Modernity taught us that there is “no story” (39), because the oppressive story of Modernity’s addiction to power (97) “domesticated our imaginations.” (41) Keel went on to “demonstrate how the context of our world, particularly in the West, is undergoing profound transformation.” The second section offers a thorough understanding of our post-Modern, post-Enlightenment, and post-Christendom context. Finally, the third section offers a proposal for a new kind of leadership and church community, which is postured to engage today’s world. (188) Keel expresses how creativity and change is necessary, though dangerous, however he concludes that inaction is also dangerous. (227)

Keel’s Intuitive Leadership has awakened in me what I had always intuitively known, but struggled to put into words. I have never considered myself to be artistic or creative, however I have often wondered how my prophetic gift can serve a community in the midst of the modern-postmodern shift occurring in our world. Rather than merely confronting Modernity’s mistakes and the institutional structures of today’s churches, Keel encourages me to hope for a harmonic chord that resonates and complements current leadership with new creative roles. Rather than merely dream of an ideal community and criticize my own, Keel echoes Bonhoeffer’s warning that we must “be” that community. (167) Rather than offer another way to do ministry, and therefore perpetuate my own tendency to idolize ministry (219), Keel has affirmed the “particular, intuitive, imaginative, poetic, and creative” ways of relating with God and in community. (43)

Reiterating Newbigin’s theory of interpretation, Keel declares, “The visible church is not the message bearer, but the message itself.” (156) Our church community in Madison, Wisconsin is experiencing deep change, requiring new leadership gifts with a more adaptive approach to our changing environment. (156) Lake City Church is very committed to missions and missionaries, which indicates that if we are to change as a church, we will need to re-examine our mission commitments. Keel explains that “to be missiological in post-Christendom is not to be more committed to programs of mission, but to hold resolutely to an ecclesiology that is incomprehensible apart from mission.” (156)
The shift in the Church in the Madison Area will require a leadership, which listens to feedback from many voices allowing values to shape a creative identity. Henri Nouwen describes a new kind of leader, one who is the “articulator of interior events,” leading people spiritually “from the inside out.” (264) Though maintaining a healthy regard for operations and structures is still required, plans and programs are becoming less important. However, Keel warns that “creatives should not merely be used to achieve a leader’s or a church’s vision.” (214) Rather, “Leaders should become environmentalists,” Keel adds, “creating and shaping cultures of trust that respond and adapt creatively to their location and what God is doing.” (202)

Keel’s book reminds me that, “Discernment, accountability, and wisdom are integral aspects of listening personally and collectively for the voice of God revealed in the Scriptures, through history, and within ourselves.” The change we are experiencing in the Church, though very significant, is not one that will eliminate “previous understandings of revelation and ways of knowing truth…Reason is as much a gift of the Spirit as intuitive ways of knowing.” (263)

[P Teall Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating overview of postmodernism and its effect on the evangelical church today. Keel is a clear and energetic writer with significant experience in this subculture; he sees keenly and expresses well the struggle going on now between believers from modern and postmodern worldviews.

This book helped me understand more distinctly not only the Christian environment in the States in these days but the more general change in world perception across the country. It was a good thing for me, having been out of the country for so long, to realize that what I go back to is not what I left 13 years ago. And Keel gives hope to the ideas that the church is becoming once again relevant in the world and that the postmodern mind has valid and life-giving aspects to it.

Not just for those interested in the life of the church, but also for anyone looking to understand how younger Americans truly view the world and metaphysics.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm slightly torn on what to think of this book. On one hand, it's a fine book that describes (in a lively and readable manner) the shift from modernity to postmodernity and how that has given rise to the phenomenon sometimes described as the emerging church. On the other hand, most of this was repetition for me. Interesting, well-written repetion but nevertheless...
In fact, I find the title slightly misleading inasmuch as I grabbed the book and started reading it thinking that it was primarily a book on leadership. It isn't ... primarily. Section 3 (from p 213 onwards) is in reality the only part of the book that talks specifically about leadership. Sections 1 & 2 describe the paradigm shifts that, in Keel's view, necessitates new approaches to leadership. But if you're well versed in those paradigm shifts, you could skip to page 213 without missing much. That said, the book is overall well-written and interesting.

[Bonnie Grove]

Just started this. I got hung up on a part in the introduction where he reduced art to the feeling level and not much more. Which is ironic for a book about embracing a more robust outlook. Still, I'm forging ahead. This book is part of my husband's required reading for his Doctorate of Ministry. He enjoyed it, and passed it on to me.
I'll update this as I move ahead in the book.

[Brett Myer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was dense. Loaded with wonderful insight and inspiration. I especially enjoyed the notes on inserting more creativity and imagination into Christian churches. The final notes on learning to trust our intuition are also valuable standouts.

[Nathan Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

so far this has been a very helpful book on understanding the "ok-ness" of trusting your gut (not only or indefinitely, but definitely in balance with external leadings and wisdom) when you make decisions in leadership - whether that be self leadership or leading others.

[Sherrie]

This book is helping me gain insight into my own leadership.

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

found it repetitive and his story is not that interesting. . .was hoping more a nuanced, creative treatment of the "paradigm of narrative, metaphor and chaos", but I didn't find one.

[Bobbie Foster harper]

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