the reluctant leader

Simple Preaching Tips III: Multi-Site Via Video or Discipleship?

Got some questions and comments about my last blog that I want to comment on, so here’s another follow up...

Q: With so many venues and so many services, why does your church only use live preachers rather than video?

A: While I have no problem with multi-site churches that do vid feeds or DVD sermons, I just can’t do multi-site church that way.

Q: Why not?

A: Three reasons:
One - there aren’t many people who would show up to hear me preach on vid.
Two - I'm just not the TV ministry type.
Three - because of my calling to equip and empower next generation leaders, and for every vid site I could set up, one leader is benched.

I know everyone is not called to do church the way I do, so please don’t copy us. Figure out how God wants you to do church and do it, even if no one else does it that way.

When commenting on the current multi-site rage that finally hit America, my friend Jim Laffoon said: “we will all either reproduce ourselves digitally, or in real people. And it’s a lot harder to reproduce ourselves in real people than on video.”

I think Jim’s right - making disciples and training leaders is harder than buying and setting up high-tech vid equipment.

Here's why: People have opinions and feelings; video equipment is not easily offended. Plus, I’ve never been betrayed or disrespected by a video or a DVD.

But I know I’m called to equip and empower next generation leaders, even if they sometimes have rotten attitudes, and even if some of them do and say things that make my job harder.

What about you - reproduce through a video or a disciple? Why?

 

*** Latest accidental missionary post: "38 Days in Jail and Counting"

Leadership is...Getting Out of the Way

I recently realized that at some point in my life - and I'm not exactly sure when - but a major shift happened in the way I approach ministry, leadership and maybe life in general. 

I used to be obsessed with trying to learn to be a good leader.

Since I am not a "natural" leader, I knew I had to somehow obtain those elusive leadership skills. So, I read leadership books. I took seminary classes. I studies church, political and business leaders. I sought mentors. All of this helped, I think. But it seems like I still had to learn most of my lasting leadership lessons the hard way - by taking a risk, falling flat on my face, getting up and trying again.   

As time went on, leadership books and seminary classes gradually started to bore me. I was no longer pumped about being a better leader. I am not sure whether that is good or bad, but that is the truth.

I got bored with Kouzes & Posner, Noel Tichy, Jim Collins, Robert Clinton, Aubry Malphurs, Patrick Lencioni, Hanz Finzel, John Maxwell and all the other leadership gurus and their books. I just couldn't take another paragraph about leadership.

Again, I don't know when or why it happened, but my new obsession became, not how to be a better leader, but how to help those around me become better leaders.

Once I got bored with leadership books and my obsession changed, it didn't take long for me to realize that in order to help others become better leaders, I would sometimes have to get out of their way so they could actually lead - so they could take a risk, so they could fall flat on their faces, so they could start over and try again, and again, and again.

To become better leaders people need the freedom to succeed and fail without our interference or intervention. With all due respect to the leadership books and seminary classes, I think I really learned leadership through trial and error and trying again.

I remember a t-shirt I had back when No Fear was a cool new brand. It said something like this: "Lead, Follow, or Get the #&$%@* Out of the Way!"

I think those No Fear people were on to something with that "get out of the way" line. For several years I have been trying the "stay out of the way" leadership development strategy, in order to help those around me become the best leaders they can be.

That seemed to be what Jesus was hinting at when He told his disciples that it was better for them that He go away. They had a hard time with that plan, but it worked out OK, their countless leadership mistakes notwithstanding.

All that to say, Leadership is...Getting Out of the Way.