Leadership

13
Nov
2012

A Different Perspective on Excellence.

I ran across this quote from Rev. Thomas Fuller from the 17th century and thought I would add this for context when talking about excellence. I’ve spoken here before of my definition of excellence which is: To offer the best I have, something above and beyond or different from the norm. Something costly.

Please consider this as an example:

Lord, my voice is by nature harsh and untunable, and it is vain to lavish any art to better it. Can my singing of psalms be pleasing to thy ears, which is unpleasant to my own? Yet though I cannot chant with the nightingale, or chirp with the blackbird, I had rather chatter with the swallow, yea, rather croak with the raven, than be altogether silent. Hadst though given me a better voice, I would have praised thee with a better voice. Now what my music wants in sweetness, let it have in sense, singing praises with understanding. Yea, Lord, create in me a new heart (therein to make melody), and I will be contented with my old voice, until in thy due time, being admitted into the choir of heaven, I have another more harmonious bestowed upon me.

Granted if his voice is harsh and untunable we probably don’t want him “leading” worship but I hope this provides a little balance to the Excellence conversation.

What are your thoughts?

Posted by Gary in Discipleship, Leadership, Worship
06
Nov
2012

The Power of a Thank You

Proverbs 3:27 says:
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so.

I served for 10 years in the Nebraska National Guard and was honorably discharged as a platoon sargent. It was a great experience where I learned invaluable lessons about many things.

I have never been deployed, never served outside the continental United States and have no idea what it feels like to fear for my life.

When Veterans Day comes around or when I happen to be in a place where Veterans are honored I never stand. Not for any real reason. I guess mostly because I don’t think of myself as a Veteran. My father in law who was in the Battle of The Bulge and is a real hero are the people I think of as veterans.

Stick with me here.

About 5 years ago on Veterans Day I got a text message from someone I worked with that said. Thank you for your service to our country. I was touched very deeply that someone thought of me and took the time to reach out and say Thank You in the simplest way.

I’m not asking you to text me next Vets Day. What I’m saying is if you know someone serving faithfully or someone who deserves a thank you would you give them one today.

It will make their day and yours.

Posted by Gary in Leadership, Practical
23
Oct
2012

How To “Cause” Growth Of The Body

Over several years I have spoken with dozens of church leaders about how to measure growth in the church and it is universally agreed among them numbers are a poor reflection of health and growth. Don’t misunderstand I think numbers are important but how do we really know if the body is growing?

Did you know the Bible tells us exactly what we need to be doing in order to “cause” growth of the body?

In economics we know exactly what happens when we institute certain policies. A baker knows exactly what will happen when he adds a certain ingredient to bread. The same is true in the church.

Evangelism is one of the purposes of the church but I’ve noticed something; when we make evangelism the end rather than the beginning and make everyone an evangelist we de-emphasize the other gifts. Ephesians 4:11 says He gave some to be evangelists. I’m not saying only those with the gift of evangelism should share the gospel. We must always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in us. I have no problem sharing my faith or leading someone to faith in Christ but my primary gifting is not evangelism. What I’m saying is we must recognize all the gifting entrusted to the church.

One of my closest friends thinks he’s a policeman. His vocation is policeman but he’s really an evangelist. Every time I talk to him he tells me about someone he has talked with about faith in Jesus. When we go into a coffee shop he starts looking around for who he might share the gospel with. It’s natural for him like breathing.

I remember feeling guilty when missionaries would come to our church and say things like “you’re either called to go or you’re called to send”. Their passion is admirable but my reading of the New Testament lists 16-18 gifts, depending how you read them. Giving and evangelism are only two. It’s critical that we recognize and value the other 14-16 gifts.

Ephesians 4:15-16 says when we all grow up in:

 “Christ who is the head from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”

Emphasis mine.

Paraphrase: When we are all walking in the fullness of our gifts and calling the church will grow.

It’s not magic. It’s recognizing, calling out, equipping, and releasing gifting back into the body that causes the church to grow. This is a leadership principle. We cannot blame the sheep for not walking in their gifting. We must create a culture where all the gifts can flourish.

As always leave your comments below. What do you think?

Posted by Gary in Church Growth, Discipleship, Leadership
18
Oct
2012

The Power of an Apology

Over the last several weeks, some would argue longer than that, I’ve been a little difficult to be around.

I won’t go into detail as to why, I guess the reasons are arguable as well, suffice it to say I’ve been grumpy and disagreeable.

Though it was not my intention; I was rude to a couple of my closest friends recently. Thankfully the Holy Spirit pointed it out to me and I made two phone calls.

An apology is a very powerful thing. I’m not talking about the politician non-apology, apology. The “I’m sorry if you were offended” apology. I’m talking about taking responsibility for your actions and asking for forgiveness. It’s the “I behaved in an incorrect manner and I’m sorry”. As the Australians would say “Full Stop”. No qualification, no justification just a flat-out I’m sorry for the way I treated you. This is a principle I have tried to live by even to the extent of several times as the boys were growing up I would be on the edge of their bed saying “I’m sorry for the way I treated you today”.

A few days ago someone told me they were sorry for something that happened and I was reminded how powerful it is to be on the receiving end as well as the giving end.

Right now, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you if you need to call someone and restore relationship and when He points it out to you. Make the call immediately. You’ll be glad you did.

Romans 12:18 NKJV says “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men”. We all know it doesn’t completely depend on you. But make sure you’ve done all you can.

Posted by Gary in Intimacy W/God, Leadership, Personal
11
Oct
2012

Who Should Lead Your Teams

You don’t have to look far to see how the church is losing its respect and priority in people’s lives. Just this morning two articles came into my news aggregator.

“19 Numbers Which Prove That America is Turning Away From Christianity”
“The Inevitable Collapse of Organized Religion in America”

I see articles like this every day. A couple of weeks ago I asked the question
“What Happened?”
There is no silver bullet but I would like to begin answering that question today from my perspective.

The church is dead, dying, and irrelevant partly because we have promoted high capacity doers over equippers.

Let me explain by using a football analogy.

We’ll use football, mostly because I love it, but also because stats are easy to get and evaluate.

After a very quick Google search I found:

There are just over 1 million high school football players in America.
About 67,000 of them go on to play in college.
There are currently 1,696 players in the NFL.
.166% of high school players will go on to play in the NFL.
.003% of high school players will go on to be head coaches in the NFL.

These 32 coaches must be pretty talented football players right? Let’s take a look.

Of the 32 coaches only 9 played in the NFL. The top 15 have a winning percentage over .500 and only 3 of them played a single snap in the NFL and only 5 played at a division one level. The old adage “if you can’t play coach” is true but for different reasons than we thought.

Leading/equipping and doing are different skillsets. There are a very few who can do both. Art Shell and Mike Ditka are among the 100 greatest football players of all time and were also pretty good coaches but they are the only two in the top 100.

When you’re looking for leaders do you go looking for the best “doers” or the best “equippers”? Do you look for Tom Brady or Bill Belichick? We definitely want Tom Brady on our staff but we want Bill Belichick to lead the team.

More on this later but today I leave you with this.

If we want the church to become vibrant again there are many things we need to focus on however; from a leadership perspective a top priority must be to put equippers in places of leadership.

Your thoughts?

Posted by Gary in Church Growth, Discipleship, Leadership
02
Oct
2012

Seek out from “Among You”

Where did the idea of search committees come from?

I understand in some instances it works; however it shouldn’t be the norm.

The closest thing to a search committee I see in the New Testament is Acts 6:3 where it says;

“Seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom”.

We pour over resumes’ until we find the qualifications we’re looking for and hope the person we choose is of good character and will catch our heart, vision, and culture once they arrive.

What would our church’s look like if we were to create an environment where we prayerfully evaluate those who’ve been entrusted to us, recognize their gifting, call out those gifts, encourage them, equip them, and release them? Giving them permission to operate in their gift?

We are called to be world changers. Our leaders must be equippers not just the best doers. (more on this next time)

Leaders must equip. We are given a ministry for the purpose of stewardship until we pass it on to the one we have raised up. We need to build leaders who go to their leaders and say “ I’ve worked myself out of a job. What else do you have for me?”

Is your organization a safe place for leaders to tell you they’ve worked themselves out of a job? Are you prayerfully recognizing, calling out, equipping, and releasing the gifting entrusted to you? It’s a slower process but grows deep roots.

As always would love to hear your thoughts.

Posted by Gary
20
Sep
2012

The Sheep Are Not At Fault

The sheep are getting a bad rap. Articles and conversations everywhere talk about a lack of commitment from church people.

Recently a friend called and said “I’ve been asked to sign a contract to be on the worship team”. A conversation on a social networking site was titled “How do I get commitment from my worship team?” One solution was to “fire” them and make them re-audition every year.

The sheep are accused of not having the proper priorities or they don’t have a heart for the lost or they’re too materialistic or have a consumer mentality. Though these things may be true on some level please consider this:

We have the church we’ve planted.

I believe every problem on earth is a leadership problem. I don’t believe it’s a heart issue for most pastors and leaders. I’m confident of your desire to see the saints equipped and the world changed. What I’m suggesting is a re-evaluation of the process we have embraced as a church to get there.

People will prepare themselves to the level of their perceived opportunity.

I’ll never forget the first time I came early to a men’s meeting in Bible College. When I arrived the Men’s pastor met me at the door and asked if I would give a quick encouraging word to the leaders. I immediately began to scramble for something relevant and encouraging to share. I promise you I never came unprepared again. Knowing I had an opportunity to bless and encourage those leaders caused me to always come prepared to share.

We must create a culture of opportunity for people to serve and flourish in their gifts. We must be actively looking for the gifting in those entrusted to us and give them opportunities to step out in a safe place where they have the freedom to fail. It’s critical then to let them know how they did and how to improve. Encouragement goes a long way.

The quickest way to get people planted is to get them serving in their gifting. Not using people to meet needs and serve events but allowing them to operate in their gifting.

I have much more to say on this. That’s enough for today. What are your thoughts?

Posted by Gary in Church Growth, Discipleship, Leadership
13
Sep
2012

What Happened?!?

Never in my lifetime did I believe I would see the church in such a state. I’m talking about the capital “C” church here. Certainly there are churches making a huge impact on people’s lives for the Kingdom and the cause of Christ but the universal church is struggling at best.

My heart is breaking for the bride of Christ. We don’t have to look far to see the church today in serious trouble. We’re increasingly viewed as irrelevant and out of touch. The majority of Americans view the church as nothing more than a social organization that does some good things, maybe, but really has no relevance in today’s world.

How did a group of people 2000 years ago without advanced degrees and none of the resources we have today impact the entire known world for the cause of Christ? And why are we viewed as irrelevant when we are equipped with seminaries, mass media, marketing, and vast resources. Why are we viewed as a nice subculture by most and downright evil by some.

I came across two articles one declaring “More Americans Say They Have No Religion”, and another with the headline “The Coming Evangelical Collapse”.

What has changed? Where have we gone wrong? What must we do to become again the Church Jesus planted?

I have written a book called “A Broken House”. It has been sitting in my computer for almost 3 years and I would like to walk through it with you over the next little bit. I would love to discuss it with you and get your feedback before it goes to print.

Please comment and invite anyone who you think would add to the conversation.

Also I will release my E.P. “I Will Sing” on October 16th. The next few weeks will be a mixture of this conversation and song stories from the E.P. I can’t wait for you to hear it!  You can listen to the first cut here.
 
 
Posted by Gary in Church Growth, Faith, Leadership, Personal, Practical
02
Feb
2012

The Cost of Poor Leadership

Last week I nearly lost one of my most valuable team members.

I confess that I am a little insecure, ok maybe more than a little insecure. I need feedback. I need to hear how I’m doing. Even if it’s negative at least I know where I stand. It’s something I need. I’m working through it and trying to gain my worth solely from the Father but I’m not there yet.

Partially because of my own need for it I am an encourager. I think I’m an encourager by nature but the fact that I need it myself compels me to give it to others. I try to give substantive feedback not an empty “your awesome” but encouragement from a place of truthfulness. So when one of my team members said to me “I’m thinking about quitting; I’m just not adding anything of value”, my heart was ripped. This from the person I value most on this particular team.

People need feedback, they need to know if they’re performing up to expectations. They need to know they are valued. Even those who seem to be confident and sure of themselves. And they need it from those who have been entrusted with leading them.

I apologized for not communicating how valuable they are and pointed out specific things they were bringing and how it made the whole better. I think it helped in the short term but I need to be mindful of how big a need this is for nearly everyone and not take people for granted.

The Bible is clear about how we should act as leaders. Acts 20:28 says, Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock , among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

The cost of poor leadership is very high. If your lacking in resource ask yourself if you are stewarding God’s people as well as you should. It might unlock the storehouse.

Posted by Gary in Church Growth, Leadership