At a recent conference a speaker gave the exhortation to remember that "We have an eternity to perfect the journey of Christ-likeness and growth, but only a lifetime to testify about God to a world of lost people." It was, obviously, a charge to remember the imperative to never forsake the "as you go, therefore, everywhere be telling" of evangelism for a false dichotomy of "discipleship VS evangelism."
It reminds me of the parable Jesus spoke about the 3 people each given a free lump sum to "steward" for later collection, and how they were measured based upon the risk and diligence they applied towards maximizing what they had been given. The prudish individual ultimately reprimanded in the story buried the little money he was given to ensure it didn't depreciate in value...while his peers all risked for the gain of multiplying yields on the principle for the ultimate joy of the rich ruler. The story uses money as an object, but the lesson implied is much broader than finances - it encompasses all the things we are entrusted with to steward...money, skills, opportunities, relationships, knowledge, truth, and time.
However, I have spent considerable time over the past few weeks meeting with people who have been coasting in varying degrees of purpose-lessness for YEARS. Whether it's the guy who spent 30+ years working a job he loathed and robbed his joy, the couple whose marriage had been "not terrible" for 90% of their 10 years together (utterly miserable the other 10%), or the person stuck in a rat race of routine that has them tied up in knots but has no idea why they started or where they're going. There's a witty video clip put together by a pastor in TN that is attempting to address this very issue under the caption of "Dream Jobs: what you do matters."
Why do YOU do the things you do? Towards what end, for Whose pleasure, for what reason are you investing your time in...your job? your marriage? your parenting? your friendships? your hobbies? your ministry service? your...?
What values are reflected by your portfolio of time and energy investments? What silent sermon is your life preaching to your kids, spouse, siblings, neighbors, co-workers? Are you going somewhere...on purpose?
The stock market hits a speed bump and all of the inflationary wealth is shattered leaving only real assets with remaining value. The benefactor of the parable returns and eventually calls in the accounts for a reckoning. Crisis hits and suddenly the mustard of our life is tested for what it is. Wise is the person who assesses their investments for value prior to a crash, their situation before a crisis, their trajectory before the wall of destination.
Thursday, October 16th was a unique day - Grace Point pioneered into a new space of impact events with the hosting of a National Boss Day Luncheon (aka "Boss's Day"). 2 great guest speakers made up the faculty for this moderated affair, complimented by a superb lunch nicely catered with Hilton supervision.
Do you have milk with your OODA Loops? Does your workplace or team setting have a value of embracing fierce conversations about truth? Have you decided your non-negotiables and true north from which to face uncertainty? Do you have any clue what I'm talking about?
If not, you can check out a unique discussion thread making a splash at the Change Leadership Forum.
You can view pictures from the event at this depot of pictures.
Nelson Mandela recently shared in an article written for Time Magazine 8 life lessons for leadership. Here they are in brief:
1 Courage is not the absence of fear — it’s inspiring others to move beyond it
2 Lead from the front — but don’t leave your base behind
3 Lead from the back — and let others believe they are in front
4 Know your enemy — and learn about his favorite sport
5 Keep your friends close — and your rivals even closer
6 Appearances matter — and remember to smile
7 Nothing is black or white
8 Quitting is leading too
What do you think about these principles?
Some reactions:
1. isn't leadership more effective when transparent enough to acknowledge the opposing factors, but blaze ahead from overpowering confidence, boldness, conviction?
2. can't lead where you haven't gone or going...I've said that a number of times in the context of discipleship
3. see nobility
4. wise as serpent, gentle as doves...
5. propensity for us to allow differences and even adversarial realities to create distance can actually isolate us from insights and increase our vulnerability.
6. stumbling block concept is always valid - image is worth something.
7. one of my favorite-to-pounce conundrums: false dichotomies. Often times we back ourselves into an A or B mindset, when A and B are 2 of 12 legitimate options and a spectrum of hues in between!
8. not letting quitting be equal to utter defeat, not letting it compromise character...in so many ways knowing when to quit can be the trademark of executive prudence, and how to quit of wisdom
What are your reactions to any of these?
Leadership Summit 2008 was excellent. The faculty delivered a series of powerful punches that struck me and thousands of other leaders in a number of ways...some of which I'm still unpacking. One resounding theme across the speakers was courageous, uninhibited, relentless, risky, consuming pursuit in faith of the things God put before them. Whether a pastor pursuing laser-focus on the mission, a teacher to stand against the wind of educational demise in urban areas, a business-woman diving into a holy discontent for prison recidivism trends or a lawyer selling the farm to address injustice across the globe - each story contained brilliant brushstrokes of radical risk in commitment. Jeopardy was a given, failure a real possibility but quitting, safety and partial investment ruled out.These themes were heard like a punch in the gut. The Bible commands followers of Christ to not quench the Spirit (1 Thess 5:19). It's a passage that has always troubled me. So many times we talk about desiring to hear God's voice, see His leading, know His will - but this passage suggests we would intentionally douse the flame of God's consuming presence. Surely not! How crazy! It makes you feel like Peter, so confidently guffawing when Jesus suggested someone would betray him (Judas) and one who loved Him would even deny Him (Pete) multiple times. Surely we would never push God away, right?
Yet, I confess, it is my most perpetual act of disobedience. I want closeness with God, but at the depth I'm comfortable swimming, at the pace I can still steer, at a temperature I can control.
This fear is well founded. Indeed, the Bible even attests to the nature of God dramatically, using terms like a "consuming fire." It's the same problem the Rich Young Ruler had with Jesus...the utter and complete consumption of being God desires. There's a terrifying reality of truly being consumed by God as you draw near to Him and He begins to fully invade your life and take you places only He is adequate to sustain. There's a tipping point of the soul that I so often pull back from.
I'm guilty of teaching instead of leading, of offering instead of exhorting, of dabbling instead of diving, praying silently instead of intervening intercessently, hinting at hope instead of proclaiming incredibly good news, being content with status quo or slightly "better" practice instead of running into frontiers where God has called me to...of pouring water onto the very flame of the Spirit of God to subdue it back to a controlled burn...running at a pace I can endure and sustain without overly depleting my own reserve rather than
abandoning myself in His race...reducing His message to tolerable bites for concern of how I'll be perceived or what doorways it might thrust me through...James 5:16 says confession is healing. Next comes obedience in response.
How are you quenching the Spirit? In what ways do you pander God by minimizing calls He has in your life? How are you dialing down the intensity and vibrancy of God's movement in and through you?
Here are the 2 main teaching sessions from the 08 Advance Round Table event this past weekend:
Audio Recording of Session One - the Strategic Inflection Point of Change and Redefining Risk Within Our CommunityAudio Recording of Session Two - Avoiding False Dichotomies & the Art of Asking and Raising Spiritually Qualified Leaders
For the GP leaders who experienced the Advance Round Table this past weekend, here are your favorite "Mike Drawings." In a previous life I called this my future competitive sport: whiteboarding!
Still to come: the false dichotomy trap and some spiritual growth continuum diagrams!
I met with a lady this past weekend who was a missionary kid. Her parents spent 30+ years as missionaries across Latin America. Her aunts and uncles were all missionaries in Africa. Her cousins have all chosen to remain as missionaries in places like Congo, Ghana and the interior of Africa. Her sisters were missionaries. She herself was highly involved in local church ministry plus multiple trips a year to do women's ministry abroad and help foreign missionaries. What a legacy her family has in the Kingdom! How blessed to be the great-grandparent in that family, looking at a series of generations all obediently sold out to Christ! To see God use your "children to bless the nations" is truly a mighty legacy for any leader to behold.
Yesterday we had a gathering of area pastors to welcome a new guy to town. It drew high profile guys, new guys just starting churches, pastors of struggling churches and some "patriarchs" who had been icons of regional church leadership for decades. With many generations represented at the gathering, there was a remarkable distinction in how various generations tended to establish their legacy.
George Harris and Buckner Fanning were looked up to by half the guys in the room because so many of them had been mentored, encouraged, supported, and commissioned by those guys early on in their Christian walk. They saw them as patriarchs of their own ministry journey. The legacy of George and Buckner was that their leadership was beyond themselves - they freely and whole-heartedly invested in raising up others who went on to lead with great independence from them. CBC and BRCC are not "church plants" by either of these guys, yet both pastors were mentored and supported by George.
There was a free loving investment in others by that generation of leaders that stood out as exceptional to the present norm. It's so easy for a church, an organization, a team or any group to only invest by addition - to recruit the best for their own effort and want to grow their team superior to everyone else by "drafting" top talent. Contrast that with how these elder statesmen sent out leaders to go and flourish for the Kingdom without any strings attached.
How do you measure legacy of leadership? Personal reign, personal accomplishment, or the beyond-self passing on of Godly love, counsel, discipling, instruction and wisdom that bears fruit outside the fences of your territory?
How would your leadership legacy be measured today? How will it be in 10 years?
When Jesus was asked by John the Baptist's followers if He was truly the Christ, Jesus pointed at His track record in the lives of people - "the blind now see, the lame walk, and captives are set free."
The internet has rocked the way the world communicates. First we had antique-feeling dial-up to access our Juno/AOL/Netscape email. Then faster connections made email a common thing. Then chat rooms replaced coffee shop social gathering. Faster connections and familiarity gave way to instant messaging. Now it's crazy to not have 2-5 email addresses, a personal homepage, a profile on "social networks" (facebook, myspace, etc.), to share pictures and videos via the web and to communicate into the void of humanity with things like Blogs, Vlogs, Twitter or whatever comes next.
The question is always: does the medium or mode of communication get the job done. Is it truly improving our progress towards relational or general goals, or is it just adding more "stuff" we do? It's the same question we have to wrestle with as Christian leaders: do the programs and things we spend time, money, hours and mental energy on truly fulfill the commission of the Church (big C)? If not...why are we doing it?
So, my "bluzzle." It's a new term I'm copyrighting. That and it's root form, Bloguzzle. Combining "Blog" + "Puzzle." Blogs are a puzzle to me. Sometimes blogs start grassroot movements across normal borders - triggering daily "hits," countless "comments," and facilitating a dynamic discussion of ideas without the hindrances of time and location. Others become little more than a person talking to themselves, letting faint echoes register as conversation.
Which brings me to the Bloguzzle of this particular site. To date there have been about 1,400 "hits" or visits to this site. People from over 14 countries and more than 10 states have perused the content. Pretty cool, right? Sure, it sounds good. But, there are really about 5-10 people who frequently touch base and see what's happening. Yet, while there are 1,400 visits, less than 50 "comments" have been made. More than a dozen major postings, but little actual conversation. The cyber crickets are beginning to drowned out even the delusional echoes so common to blog sites.
The Bloguzzle begs a question: is a "blog" and this particular expression of a blog effective for our purpose of pursuing discipleship? Does the content truly help you in our joint cause? Does the format truly facilitate helpful exchanges of ideas? Is this addressing a need effectively...or, is it a worthwhile experiment that has failed to have results justifying its continuation?
In the Love & Respect marriage study we're doing right now at Grace Point, Dr. Eggerichs describes how "crazy" it would be for a person to stand at a wall flipping a switch up and down endlessly when the lights are obviously not coming on. He describes the lunacy of that scenario as an illustration of the craziness we often times live out in relationships and efforts - doing the same thing over and over expecting results that are obviously not coming. Is this bloguzzle a sign of the wrong light switch or just some other issue?
YOU are the litmus papers of this lab study. Pink or blue? Good or bad? Valuable or just "okay"? Let me know.
Paul says in Hebrews to loosen yourself from the "sins that so easily ensnare you" so that we can run more fully and freely towards Christ. Sometimes it's not just "sin" we have to loosen ourselves from, but less than effective investments of time and energy. It's a healthy leadership practice: to periodically run inventory on how you're stewarding the time God has given you for the purpose and life He calls you to.
Thanks,
Mike
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