the reluctant leader

What is an Apostolic Team?

I can’t speak for other movements, but as an Every Nation leader, here’s what I mean when I say apostolic team:

“a team of mature and gifted leaders who work together to help grow, guide and govern a movement of churches and ministries.”

Yep, I made that up. And, I might change it, depending on the feedback.

Here’s a word for word break down:

Team – Think football, not tennis. Not a lone “super-apostle” at the top making all the decisions, but a team of leaders making apostolic decisions together. (When I use the “A” word, I do not mean people who write books of the Bible, but “sent ones” who plant, establish and strengthen churches.)

Mature – Spiritual, ministerial and relational maturity. Not novices. (Note: sometimes maturity has little to do with age.)

Gifted – Maturity is important, but it is not enough. Some might be mature, but not spiritually gifted to lead churches.

Leaders – Not only apostles, but also prophets, pastors, evangelists and teachers who do apostolic work.

Work – Spiritual leadership is hard work, a noble task.

Together – See “team” comment above.

To Help – Assist, aid, lend a hand, serve, encourage.

Grow – Larger, stronger and more influential.

Guide – Direction, focus, vision, mission.

Govern – In specified and agreed upon areas.

Hope that helps answer the “A Team” FAQ’s. If not, let me know.
And, feel free to ask me anything pertaining to leadership, and I’ll try to give my best answer on this blog.

Visionary vs. Relational Leadership Styles

A couple of months ago I sat around a table with 10 American pastors talking about leadership. Half the pastors talked about the importance of vision. The other half talked about the importance of relationships.

Some ministries value vision; others value relationships.

Healthy ministries must value both.

Too many visionary leaders leave a trail of body bags in their wake, and too many relational leaders don’t accomplish much besides a feel-good experience.

Vision and relationships - if anyone figures out how to do both at the same time, please let me know.

It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.  - Ecc 7:18

Criticism & Crappy Seagulls

Chapter 4 of John Maxwell’s “Leadership Gold”  sure explains a lot about my job, and maybe yours. It is called, “When You Get Kicked in the Rear, You Know You’re Out in Front”.

Here are some quotes from chapter 4, with my comments:

One of the prices of leadership is criticism. When spectators watch a race, where do they focus their attention? On the front runners! Few people pay close attention to the racers who are out of contention. Racers who are viewed as out of the running are often ignored or dismissed. But when you’re out front and ahead of the crowd, everything you do attracts attention. -- John Max 
Why didn’t they tell me that 24 years ago?

Criticism is something you can avoid easily – by saying noting, doing nothing, and being nothing. -- Aristotle 
Not an option. Like it or not, we have to say, do and be.

Some (people) are like seagulls. When something goes wrong, they fly in, make a lot of noise, and crap all over everything. -- Ken Blanchard
Seagulls and critics - the same yesterday, today, forever.

Here’s the deal. When it comes to leadership -  at some point something will go wrong. Then the noisy, critical, crappy seagulls will show up on cue, and criticize. How will you respond to their criticism?

When our seagulls show up, we can…
    Ignore the criticism,
    Attack the critics,
    Defend ourselves.

Or we can…
    Listen to the criticism, no matter how painful,
    Learn from our critics, no matter how unfair,
    Look for that grain of truth, no matter how microscopic.

I know it’s not fun, but it’s part of leadership.

Gossip

Steven Furtick’s recent blog about the ministry of gossip - “I Don’t Want To Hear It” – got me thinking about gossip…

The Bible says:

a gossip betrays a confidence - Prov 11:13

a gossip separates close friends  - Prov 16:28

Why is something so clearly condemned in the Bible so accepted in church?

My quick thoughts about gossip:

- Gossip is not unique to your culture, generation, gender, educational level, social status -- it strikes everywhere.

- Don’t believe everything you hear.

- If you are a gossip, don’t believe everything you say.

- Unfortunately most of us are experts at rationalizing our gossip. Some of my favs:

        “I only tell my closest friends.”

        “I only tell my prayer partners.”

        “I thought he/she already knew.”

        “I think he/she deserves to know.”

        “Don’t worry, he/she will not tell anyone.”

May God help us tame our tongues so we will not betray a confidence or destroy a friendship.

What is an Every Nation Church (Part IV - "Socially Responsible)

Every Nation Churches and Ministries exists to…

Honor God and Establish
Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered, Socially Responsible
Churches and Campus ministries
In Every Nation

What does a "socially responsible" church or campus ministry look like?

First of all it looks different in every culture and community because the needs and opportunities are different in every community. What's important is that we demonstrate the compassion of Christ to hurting people.

Here are a few questions that all pastors and campus missionaries should think about: What if your church or campus ministry suddenly vanished from the earth -- would your community even notice? Would they care? Do you engage your community and culture in a way that they know you are there, and want you to be there?

Unfortunately many communities would not even notice if a church or campus ministry disappeared.

But we are called to engage our cultures and communities and establish churches and campus ministries that are socially responsible.

- In Manila being socially responsible means, among other things, that we fight poverty through education by providing scholarships to disadvantaged youth through the Real Life Foundation.

- In Nashville, DC, Orlando, Jacksonville and Raleigh it means we provide an after school program for at-risk students that focuses on academics, character development and life skills through our Youth Life Learning Centers in the poorest areas of the inner city.

- In Johannesburg it means we take care of orphans through Baby Haven.

- In Cape Town and other South African cities, it means we help develop self-reliance through pre-schools, adult training programs and health care services through the Thembalitsha Foundation. 

These are just a few of the examples of what "social responsibility" looks like in Every Nation in different communities and cultures.

A couple of Bible verses about social responsibility:

Matt 24:40 Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did  for me

Prov 19:17 He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.

What is an Every Nation Church (Part III Spirit-empowered)

Here’s part 3 of my blog about what an Every Nation church or campus ministry is supposed to look like. 

In summary and review, Every Nation Churches and Ministries exists to…

Honor God and Establish
Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered, Socially Responsible
Churches and Campus ministries
In Every Nation

What does a Spirit-empowered church or campus ministry look like?

In some denominations and traditions the power of the Holy Spirit means falling to the ground after being prayed for. In other traditions the power of the Holy Spirit is something that happened in Bible times, but not today.

What some people call the power of the Holy Spirit, might actually be a cultural response to the presence and power of God.

Some individuals and some cultures are emotional; others are analytical. Some are demonstrative; others are stoic. Some loud; others quiet. Huggers, hand-shakers. Loose, stiff. Serious, funny. God seems to love the variety. He created it.

I think His power can flow through all different types of cultures. 

When I say we want to establish churches and campus ministries that are Spirit-empowered, I mean churches and campus ministries that welcome and celebrate the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in ways that make sense to the culture and community where that particular church or campus ministry exists.

Some cultures and communities respond to the presence and power of the Spirit with great exuberance and emotion, while others respond in quiet reverence. Some fall down. Some kneel down. Some bow down. Some stand still. All these responses are biblical and valid.

Here’s what Luke wrote about being Spirit-empowered:

you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

It doesn't matter if you fall down, roll around, shout & shake or stand as still and quiet as a marble statue - as long as you are an effective witness to your lost friends and neighbors when your religious experience ends and you go back to work or class. A Spirit-empowered church is a church filled with people who have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to live lives that point others to Christ.    

Luke also wrote this about being Spirit-empowered:

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Acts 4:31)

How about that for a Spirit-empowered prayer meeting - the building shook! Wow!

As exciting as that building-shaking prayer meeting might have been, the proof that they were Spirit-empowered is what happened when they left the prayer meeting – they spoke the word of God boldly.

We can have world-shaking prayer meetings with all kinds of mystical and spiritual manifestations, but if we don’t live as witnesses and we don’t speak God’s word when we go home, then I don’t see the point in all the falling, shouting and shaking.   

I don't think the purpose of being empowered by Holy Spirit is so we can have exciting meetings. Rather I think the point is to help us live lives that honor God and point our friends, family and neighbors to Christ.

I don’t know about you, but I definitely need the miracle power of the Holy Spirit to be a decent witness. Left to myself, my witness would scare people away from God.