It is most important that every leader in general and pastors in particular be able to define “culture” and understand the culture in which they lead and minister, according to Aubrey Malphurs in his book Look Before You Lead: How to Discern and Shape Your Church Culture. Just as we exegete the Scriptures to better understand the Bible, so we exegete a culture to better understand it, shape it, and move it toward accomplishing God’s mission and vision for his church.
The author defines a church’s congregations culture as “the unique expression of the interaction of the church’s shared beliefs and its values, which explain its behaviour in general and display its unique identity in particular”. In my opinion this is a helpful definition because it highlights the importance of beliefs and values in the make-up of a culture, rather than simply concentrating on behaviours as other writers often do.
Most people understand that culture exists, but find it difficult to understand and describe an organization’s culture in precise terms. The book provides helpful ways to read a church’s culture, and corresponding ways to read a pastor’s culture to see if the two are a good fit. The appendixes provide a number of tools that are helpful in this regard, including audits for behaviours, core values and beliefs.
The last part of the book discusses ways of shaping congregational culture. Most people who sign up to become pastors have no idea that they are signing up to become cultural architects and change agents, but the ability to shape a congregation’s culture to correspond with God’s vision for the church is critical for successful church leadership. The author provides a depressingly long list of personal attributes that successful turnaround pastors should have. In my view, while personality profiles can be helpful to point out weaknesses which need to be compensated for, they should never be used to limit the work that God can do in and through you.