Not sure I see a paradox, but I do see the need for a different frame.. so how's this..

Faith communities that don't utilize team leadership aren't really "communities" but corporations, with hierarchical structure. No wonder growth is numerical (crop rotation) rather than by conversion, transformation, and going deeper (organicly.. deeper roots, internal growth).

But where there is a team, and where there is true community as well as real mission, we have something more in line with Eph.4. And notice the context of Eph4, a passage where we usually talk about gifts and leadership, is community. I think Pauls real message here is often neglected.. it is the wholeness of the body that is in view, and not a map for leadership. But hey. if we leader types are self-focused, what's new?

Here is a nugget from Jim Wallis 20 years back showing the dynamic of nurture and vision.

"Both vision and nurture are key to community. Without nurture, a community will soon exhaust itself in pursuit of the vision. WIthout vision, a community will become stuck in self-preoccupation and travel in circles. With only vision, a community soon loses any quality of love. With only nurture, the community soon forgets what its love is for.."