Monday Meanderings on Church and Leadership XIII

My young adult group at church has just kicked off a study for the summer on David Platt's book, "Radical".

There is certainly a tension between Jesus' version of discipleship and our American version of discipleship. This book is about that.

The phrase that is sticking with me from this first chapter is 'the cost of non-discipleship'.

Time and time again in the Gospels, Jesus refers to the cost of discipleship.

It's high. Read Luke 14:25-33. It causes you to

hate your family.
hate your own life.
carry a cross.
count the cost.

For many in our churches, the cost of discipleship is that it makes you spend an hour or two on your precious Sunday morning at a building, paying God His dues. For some, the cost of discipleship is when the church is behind financially, we put in a few extra bucks.

The cost of discipleship is more than that. It demands my very life. My affections, my relationships, my time, my money, my ambitions, dreams, hopes, everything.

But if Jesus is who he says he is and rejecting Him does what He says it does, then the Cost of Non-discipleship is even higher.

If you don't lose your life in small consistent ways now. You will lose your life in drastic, irreversible ways later.

He must increase, but I must decrease. John 3:30.


What has to die in you today?

Monday Meanderings on Church and Leadership XII

The Tension is Good.

Believe it or not, it is true. A body that is at rest tends to stay at rest.

So sometimes the tension is not only good, but neccessary in order for your organization, company or church to grow.

The difficult job of the leader is figuring out what tension is healthy and unresolvable and what tension needs irradicated.

Good tension leads to creativity, collaboration and momentum. The leaders around you will embrace and engage the tension and work together to break through to new growth and new possibilities.

Bad tension leads to staleness, independence and stagnancy. Generally this tension thrives on high negativity. If leaders shy away from addressing and resolving this type of tension it will become the parasite that debilitates or destroys your organization.

So, for some, this truth is liberating...you don't have to resolve every tension you encounter in leadership.

For others, it is a call to accountability...you're leading your organization toward irrelevance and you need to own up and act now before it is too late.

Are you being liberated or held accountable right now?

Leadership In the Church

"The Immune System is to the Body as Leadership is to the Church."

Heard this quote at a seminar by Doug Anderson and I love it.

Viruses are constantly seeking a host and when the immune system is weak, the body is more susceptible to illness and harm.

The viruses in your church are much the same. The virus of Negativity. The virus of Distrust. The virus of control. The virus of gossip. The list is a mile long and if the Leaders of your faith community are not prayed up and sold out to the Mission of Christ, they will latch on and begin draining the life out of your organism. It starts with pastors and paid servants in the center circle as they are called and employed to hone in on the mission, but if unpaid servant leaders allow the virus to grab hold of them, the staff becomes more and more vulnerable.

If the unpaid servants wear down the unpaid servant leaders, the unpaid servant leaders can wear down the paid servant leaders who can wear down the pastors which will wear down the Mission.

You're either causing the Mission to thrive or to die. I am too. And the daily, necessary decision to die to ourselves for the sake of the mission will either be made or rejected...

And everyone can tell what I've decided.

Monday Meanderings on Church and Leadership XI

Shaina and I went away for the weekend to New York. It was good to break routine. All in all the New York portion of the weekend was lousy. My buddies came to play rounds of golf on Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, Saturday was a perpetual drizzle, mixed with moments of downpour. We played, but my hands were so wet that at one point I swung a six iron on a par three tee, and lost the club on the downswing (the ball didn't move!) Sunday was even worse, terrential downpour. But, a bad weekend away is better than a weekend stuck in the grind.

Perhaps the best leadership lesson I know of came from a guy in seminary quoting Rick Warren. This is a mantra I desire to live by.

Divert Daily...I should be having my cup filled by Jesus in intentional ways every day...not out of obligation but out of desire and neccessity.

Withdraw Weekly...A sabbath day keeps the assylum away. You can't accomplish in 7 days on your own, what God can accomplish in you in 5 or 6 days. So disconnect. Have a day that is off limits that your email piles up...that your text messages go unanswered.

Quit Quarterly...Your Church or organization should not fall apart when you leave it for a weekend. If it does, you're failing as a leader. Your marriage needs a weekend away. Your soul needs a weekend away. Even if it rains!

Abandon Annually...Vacation. No phone calls. No emails. Just complete, unapologetic disconnection. Sometimes this can be hiding out in your home. Sometimes...you have to get out of dodge. Your mind needs to shut off. Whenever I have vacation, I pick up some book to read that is fictional flub. It won't help my leadership. It won't solve systems problems. Its just something I can mindlessly fall into in order to stop thinking/dreaming/processing.

Looking at the big picture of 2011. Which of these four steps is toughest for you? For me, I am feeling the pressures of ministry and see my time being gobbled up on a daily basis. So diverting daily has been irregular lately.

With that said, I'm going to get a shave and a shower, grab a Bible and head to the coffee shop for a bit before our leadership seminar this afternoon.

Life Lesson

Heard this at Catalyst last October, but just thought about it last night.

Find someone that is 2 or 3 steps ahead of where you are at currently and connect with them to find out how they are thinking (not what they are doing).

I heard this in the context of church/organizational growth. But I'm convinced it is true for your personal life too. You are not a spiritual guru. So find someone that is a couple steps ahead of you in spiritual disciplines like prayer, Bible Reading or leadership and find out what makes them tick.

The key of the above statement though is to pick their brain not mimic their schedule. If role model dude 1 prays for an hour every morning, chances are, I'm not going to be able to simply flip a switch and go from 10 minutes of prayer a day to an hour just because dude does it. But if I learn dude's heart for God, what he thinks and why he values communion with God, then suddenly I have a direction to begin to participate in.

Personal and Organizational fear and autonomy will drive you to the grave. Others have been where you are at. Embrace it and let them teach you how to grow.

Delight the Audience

"When you focus on delighting an audience you care about, you strip the masses of their power."

This line of Seth Godin's post on popularity today crushed me.

It is so easy to concern ourselves with the opinion of the many. It is so tempting to adjust our sails to avoid the choppy water of negativity or the stinging rain of criticism. And the many delight in being appeased.

Godin is talking about popularity, business, culture...but what struck me is that my audience can, should and must be ONLY ONE. And when I focus on delighting the One...the opinions, criticisms, jabs, negativity and persecution don't just matter less, they become irrelevant.

Church leaders who compromise the ONE for the many are a dime a dozen. And their churches, though the privileged insiders feel like they are getting what they want,will die of attrition and die of a lack of God's Breath in their midst.

Preacher, speak truth even when that family threatens to leave. Speak hope, when the masses claim despair. Lead into uncharted waters, even when the masses are fearful and without maps. You are responsible not primarily for the flock, but for being the best undershepherd you can be...listening, obeying, following the ONLY ONE who matters.

It's a bit of a hokey sounding song, but the heart of it is right on.

Attitude Reflects Leadership?

I think this was a line from the movie "Remember the Titans".

Popped in my head this week in some thinking on leadership.

The idea behind this is that the people you lead will be positive or negative in their attitudes and actions based on how, where and why you lead. So if you lead them in the wilderness for an extended period when they desperately wanted to be led to the Promised Land, the negativity may be fierce.

But the inversion of this might be just as true and just as helpful.

Leadership Reflects Attitude.

If the people are a stubborn, stiff-necked, resistant people, who resist change, squelch faith and grumble about their church more than they pray for their church, then Leadership will be exhausted trying to constantly battle this.

Joshua 1 is a good model of leadership.

The Leader (Joshua) is called and anointed by God to take over for Moses as leader of Israel. He then casts the vision God has given him to the people, standing on the shoulders of those who led before him, and then the people affirm him and follow him.

Appointed Leaders cast Anointed Visions and are followed by A Committed people.

Attitude check...you spend more time focused on 'back in Egypt' or more time looking to the future with potential and promise?

Monday Meanderings on Church and Leadership X

One of the most important paradigm shifts that you can make in any organization, but specifically and particularly a church is something I heard from Craig Groeschel.

It is the shift from saying "our people won't _______" to "we haven't led them to ______"

Our people won't worship? No, we haven't led them to worship! Our people won't give generously? No, we haven't led them to give generously! Our people won't serve? No, we haven't led them to serve.

Many churches, businesses and organizations find themselves in tight financial straights right now. Whether you need more generosity for your not-for-profit to function or you have to cut expenses in your business by reducing wages/salaries, good leaders model it before they implement it.

If you're a multi-staffed church, are you joining together around the table saying that it's time to count the cost? If your organization is evidence that 20% of the people do 80% of the work, then how can you model sharing the responsibility? How can you model sacrificial living?

I guarantee that if you will make this paradigm shift and start addressing the Leadership problems instead of the people problems, you will see breakthroughs.

What is the one thing you've been saying about the people of your company or your church that needs to be said about your leadership and/or the leaders around you?

Bump Him

I was talking with someone who shared a story about a pastor of a large church who had a time each week for the staff members to play basketball. It was sort've an unrequired required ritual.

Any time a new staff person would come in, this pastor would instruct other staff members to 'bump him'. In other words, foul him, agitate him, foul him again. The point was that the pastor wanted to see what spilled out when he got bumped. Was it Grace? Retalliation? Quit? The idea was that what was on the inside, would only come out noticably under pressure.

From time to time, this pastor would take it upon himself that if he knew a staff member was stressed or struggling or out of balance, he would bump him, himself to see what poured out.

It's no coincidence that Jesus tends to have a Bump Him strategy as well. Jesus indicted pharisees about cleaning the outside of their cup while the inside festered with mold and filth from neglect.

It's not about polishing your image. It's about redeeming your heart.

So maybe God's been bumping you lately so that what is on the inside will become known on the outside, so that the cross of Christ can do its magnificent work.

The terrifying thing is that the further down inside we bury the secrets, the shame, the despised things, the wicked things...the harder the bumps will be.

And the One that is doing the bumping is the one who is showing me that the Foul is on (and in) me.

24 Hours, Chazown, Sun Stand Still and 1 Peter

I'm reading a bunch of different books right now: Adam Hamilton's "24 Hours That Changed the World"...Craig Groeschel's "Chazown" (which is the Hebrew word for 'Vision' and 'Revelation'), Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick and 1 Peter...by...well Peter.

I'm convinced that Good Leaders must be Good Readers.

So, I've made a couple of my goals for 2011 to read 11 books and exegete (dig deeply into) 11 books of the Bible.

I'm on a good pace at this point.

Help me out. What book have you read that is a MUST READ?

Antioch Moments

I was referred by a friend to John Piper's most recent message at his church in Minnesota. He preached out of Acts 13:1-3

He used the phrase "Antioch Moments" to reference this moment that had to be absolutely painful for the Church in Antioch. As they were fasting and worshipping, God prompted them to commission their two most influential leaders, Paul and Barnabas.

Antioch had other capable leaders, but this had to be a crisis moment for them. Really God? Two of the most influential Christians of our era (and actually of all time?!)

Antioch Moments are crossroads moments...where obedience is often costly...where decisions are often counterintuitive.

But the church in Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas out. And it was on that missionary journey that Asia Minor would receive the gospel and later, that Europe would receive the Gospel.

And, lest we think that Antioch had to fall on the sword and die in order for this to happen, it is good to recall that the Antioch Church remained strong for centuries and produced some other Christian juggernauts like Ignatius and Chrysostom.

Listen, you or your church may be at or on the brink of an Antioch Crossroads. Will you have the courage to do what God is laying on your heart? The short term pain...though it is ever so painful, leads to long term gain when it God ordained.

But, if you don't spend the time worshipping, fasting and praying...you will merely resort to logic and sensibility in making any life and leadership decisions. Fortunately for you...you will never be called to do anything of substance in the Kingdom of God if this is how you operate. Rarely does God depend on us deeming Him call logical or sensible.

So kill the tv. Quit the 80 hour work week and SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM!...if you dare.

Hmm

Loved this post by Seth Godin. Thought I'd share it with ya!

Perfect vs. interesting There are two jobs available to most of us:

You can be the person or the organization that's perfect. The one that always ships on time, without typos, that delivers flawlessly and dots every i. You can be the hosting company or the doctor that might be boring, but is always right.
Or you can be the person or the organization that's interesting. The thing about being interesting, making a ruckus, creating remarkable products and being magnetic is that you only have to be that way once in a while. No one is expected to be interesting all the time.

Fedex vs. Playwrights Horizons.

When an interesting person is momentarily not-interesting, I wait patiently. When a perfect organization, the boring one that's constantly using its policies to dumb things down, is imperfect, I get annoyed. Because perfect has to be perfect all the time.
***************************
So...in the context of church...do you expect (or demand) Perfect? Or Interesting? Or Neither?

I know people who get bent out of shape when the words on the screen aren't in the right order or on time or someone spelled it your instead of you're. I know people who get perterbed when the song is too fast or too slow or too loud or too soft. I know people that check out when the preacher uses 'umm' or 'like' more than two times in a message. (I am these people sometimes!)

But maybe my hope is that there can be a combination of some degree of perfection and some degree of intrigue mixed together? I digress.

Lesson on Leadership

Chances are, you're not Moses. Forgive me for stating the seemingly obvious, but it needs to be said. No, you're not likely to lead the people out of captivity to the cusp of a New Beginning, but you're also not likely the local leader of a local people (a local Moses). Very few are called to this ministry and it can be at times fulfilling and at times exasperating.

No. You're probably not Moses...but many of you are called to be Aarons and Hurs.

8 Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men for us and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” 10 So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. 12 But Moses’ hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until the sun set. 13 And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the sword.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a reminder in a book and recite it in the hearing of Joshua: I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” 15 And Moses built an altar and called it, The Lord is my banner.

To be a good Aaron or Hur is to intercede constantly for your leader...To cheer him on when he is going for it and stepping out in faith (while also keeping him grounded that if there is success it's probably in spite of his efforts)...But it is also to step in when the battle is raging fiercest and provide support and encouragement and strength when the leader begins to falter.

If you're called to be an Aaron or a Hur and you don't have a Moses you are advocating for (a.k.a. if you grumble more about going back to Egypt than you trust God and trust/pray for the leadership above you), then you might want to check yourself before you wreck yourself.

And if you're a Moses without an Aaron or a Hur, you will struggle all the more to finish the race well.

I have no clue what I'm doing

I was thinking about this yesterday. I can feel the baby kicking in Shaina now...That and the biweekly pilgrimage to Babies R Us this week have made it clear that I have absolutely no idea what i'm doing. No manual is going to prepare me for this. No 5 steps to parenting book is going to unleash my fathering skills. We looked at cloth diapers which is what we plan to use primarily. We're gonna use the 'G Diapers', which are pretty cool, environmentally friendly and more cost effect. However, I've never changed a diaper. i envision something like this taking place.



Then I think about Jesus and the call he has on my life and yours. And we have no idea what we're doing there either. It's the funniest thing...we have huge conferences where we parade speakers who have no idea what they're doing in front of the masses and they tell you the 3 keys to duplicating their movement in your church. They have no idea how they got there. God just happened to bless their ministry and now they're 'experts'. The reality is in ministry and in life, we have no idea what we're doing! And the quicker that drives us to humility and dependence on God and on others, the better it will go for us.

Your competence and skillset are not nearly as high as you think they are. And that is the best news ever.

Staff Retreat Day

New Beginnings.

That's the theme of our staff retreat today. With a new pastor on the horizon, we need a day to join him in looking at where we've been, where we are, and discern where we will be going in future months.

It's going to be a fun day. But also an important day.

Pray for clarity...I mean...God's presence so tangible that there's no doubt He is leading us kind of clarity.

We leave for Bucyrus at 9 a.m.


Then tonight at 8 p.m. begins my team's run for legacy and fame. Rittman Rec League tournament starts tonight. We are the 1 seed matched up against the 8 seed. Not gonna let this be a trap game! haha

Imagination Redeemed

I think that for many Jesus followers, the most difficult part of life to be redeemed is the imagination. To dream in a world that thrives on nay-saying, practicality, and cynicism can be a pretty lonely place.

But when the people of God start to color outside the lines and trust a big G God for big G God things, it is an amazing thing to watch.

And yes, sometimes the dreams are scrapped. Sometimes they don't pan out quite how we thought. But I'd rather fail big for the kingdom of God than play it safe and waste my one chance to proclaim Jesus.

God, would you redeem our imaginations and let us dream and envision what you are calling us to next. Let us listen to the seemingly unattainable 'what if's'. And let us risk it all for your fame. Amen.

Monday Meanderings on Church and Leadership VIIII

The Bible says that God's Word is a lamp unto our feet, not a floodlight beaming to our destination.-Steven Furtick, 'Sun Stand Still'

Why do we think God is going to concern himself with our lives 3, 5, 10 or 20 years from now if we won't seek to be faithful and obedient with where He wants us to go in the next 3, 5, 10 or 20 days?

Yes God takes us to the Promised Land, but He also spends 400 years with his people enslaved and 40 years with his people in fear, in order to shape them to be ready for the day they cross the Jordan.

Your journey is more important than your destination...and God help us if we're in the wildnerness.

What's the thing you need to be faithful with now to be entrusted with a next step later? Forgiving someone? Stopping the lazy, self-indulgent life? Going back to church regularly? Tithing? Reading your Bible regularly? Caring for the single mom on your street? Answer God's nudge to a specific ministry?

Monday Meanderings on Church and Leadership VIII

Read this post by Tony Morgan and thought it was interesting.

I've been in the process of writing about how big churches are continuing to get bigger and highlighting some of the reasons why I believe that's happening. In this post, I'd like to talk about the leadership factor.

I'm in the camp that believes leadership is a spiritual gift. Romans 12:8 tells us, "If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously." One of the distinctives of large, growing churches is that they value leadership development. That's not the case in small, declining churches.

In small churches, leaders are controlled. This typically happens through the way churches are structured. Instead of giving pastors and other ministry leaders the freedom to make decisions and make ministry happen, churches will add layers of boards and committees, rules and processes to prevent leaders from doing just about anything on their own. The smaller the church, typically, the more complex the structure.

In growing churches, what I usually find is that leaders have been released to lead. Boundaries are established to create a framework for decisions and actions, but within those boundaries is the freedom for leaders to leverage their spiritual gifts. Unfortunately, many churches are willing to embrace shepherds, teachers and pastors, but they're unwilling to embrace leaders.

Churches who understand the leadership factor share these characteristics:

* They are staff-led and not committee-controlled.
* They empower the senior pastor and the spiritual authority of that position.
* They see leadership as critical not only at the very top of the organization but in every layer of the ministry.
* They know that leadership is a gift, and it must be developed.
* They understand that not everyone is a leader and they're intentional about moving people into ministry that best fits their gifts.
* They embrace both staff and volunteer leaders. Paid staff are not the only people with the leadership gift.
* They recognize leadership isn't just for men over the age of 40.
* They are careful to prioritize the character over the skill of a leader.

The bottom line is that it's impossible to grow a healthy church and have an environment that values control over empowerment.

Sun Stand Still

Reading a book by Steven Furtick called Sun Stand Still. Furtick takes us through some scenes in the book of Joshua and appeals to all Christians to offer up our 'natural' to God's 'super' and watch what happens.

Here's a couple quotes from reading this morning.

"There are certain phrases I'd like to see permanently banned from our Christian vocabulary. The one that sets me off the most is 'full time ministry'. I know what it's supposed to mean, but I vehemently disagree with its implications. To say that someone is called to full-time ministry suggests that others are permitted to do part-time ministry. But Jesus didn't die on a part-time cross. He doesn't love us with a part-time love. He doesn't cover us with a part-time pardon for sins. There's no such thing as a part-time Christian, and there's no such thing as part-time ministry."


"And when God's super collides with your natural, sparks will fly: God may allow you to receive a negative report from the doctor. Ordinary. But you trust him in a way that causes all of your close friends to see Christ clearly through your response. Extraordinary. God may call you to serve as an unsung youth pastor of fifteen kids, leading meetings in a modly basement, with an Atari for entertainment. Ordinary. But he may also be providing you with the opportunity to pour your life into one of those teenagers who will go on to preach the gospel in a thousand places you'll never go. Extraordinary. God maylead you to stay at home with your young children, foreiting a second income. Ordinary. But along with diapers, dishes, and naps, you receive the gift of time--to model discipline, instill values, and speak life into your kids. They could grow up to be Joshuas in their own generation. Extraordinary."

There have been some timely sections of this book for me personally. Good stuff!

Messiah Complex

Churches get new pastors all the time.

The danger is a two way street.

People in churches will say and think, "The next pastor better ________."

Even with good intentions and a godly mindset, these ultimatums, expectations and demands that we put on future leaders will kill momentum.

Maybe equally as debilitating is when the pastor comes in and thinks that its up to him or her to lead or rescue a church. The pastor is not the messiah. Jesus is.

If you are part of a church awaiting a new pastor, do yourself, your pastor and God a favor and let Him lead your church and let your pastor operate not out of accomodating your expectations, but out of their gifts, passion and calling.

If you're a pastor going into a new station, be authentic to who you are and to the gospel you're called to proclaim.