the reluctant leader

The Futility of Running from God

I recently read the Jonah story. Here's my quick chapter by chapter summary:

Chapter 1: WHEN WE RUN FROM GOD, WE RUN INTO TROUBLE. Because of Jonah's racism, he refused to preach to the hated Ninevites. So, he ran from God's call into triple danger: first a massive storm, then his fellow seafarers, then the giant fish that God provided. No matter how difficult and unfair God's calling might seem, running from God is never a smart move.

Chapter 2: NO MATTER HOW FAR WE RUN FROM GOD, IF WE CRY OUT FOR HELP, HE HEARS AND HELPS. Jonah cried out to God from the stomach of the fish in the bottom of the ocean, and God answered, causing the obedient fish to vomit the disobedient prophet on dry land. Jonah did not have to fix his mess before God would answer his prayer. Neither do we.

Chapter 3: GOD GIVES SECOND CHANCES. God gave his runaway prophet a second chance, and God gave the idolatrous Ninevites a second chance. I'm thankful that God has given me so many second chances.

Chapter 4: GOD IS GRACIOUS, COMPASSIONATE, AND FORGIVING; WE ARE JUDGMENTAL, HARSH, AND SELFISH. In the end, Jonah was angry that God extended grace, compassion and forgiveness to people who did not deserve it. We tend do celebrate the grace God gives us, and complain about the grace he gives those we don't like.

Have you run from God lately? How did that work out for you? It is never too late to run back to Him.

Upper Room Joy vs Frontline Sacrifice

From Upper Room Joy to Frontline Sacrifice: 3 Essentials of Healthy Church Culture

One of the most important, but elusive, tasks of church leadership is creating and maintaining a healthy church culture. What I call church culture, some people call environment, atmosphere, or vibe. No matter what you call it, it is vital that church leaders create good environments.

No matter if you are leading a new church plant or an old established church, a mega church or mini church, a western church or third world church, an urban church or a rural church, an attractional church or a missional church... no matter what kind of church you are leading, if you want a healthy church culture you will need to constantly over-emphasize the following:

1. VIBRANT SPIRITUALITY. Seems silly to even list this one, but countless times throughout history organizations and churches that start out deeply spiritual end up spiritually dead. When I say spirituality I do not mean spooky, cooky, scary, or weird. Vibrant spirituality is Christ-centered and Spirit-empowered, not experience-seeking and out-of-control. Many churches have traded spiritual transcendence for cultural relevance or unbiblical mysticism. Both are bad trades.

2. GLOBAL MISSION. Yes, the presence of the Holy Spirit makes our meetings exciting, but that's not the point. The purpose of Holy Spirit power is to prepare us for mission. (see Acts 1:8) If we want healthy churches, we will have to lead people from upper room joy to front line sacrifice, from personal devotion to global mission. A healthy local church, requires a global mission. Jesus told his original followers to makes disciples, not just in their local communities, but in all nations. Jesus called them to a global mission, and he calls us to no less.

3. COMPASSIONATE COMMUNITY. I have observed some deeply spiritual people pursue a global mission, and leave piles of body bags in their wakes. This happens when we are more concerned about mission than people. Remember, Jesus died for lost people not for religious experiences and mission statements. The people are the mission.

When Leaders Refuse to Lead

I'm now in the Atlanta airport changing planes after two weeks in South Africa. On the Joburg to Atlanta leg I read the book of Numbers. Here are 2 leadership lessons from chapter 13, but first the story...

God told Moses to "send some men to explore the land of Canaan" because He was
planning to give that land to the Israelites. Moses was instructed to pick "leaders" from each tribe to spy their future land. (Num13:2)

When the hand-picked leaders got to the land, they were supposed to check out the security of the towns, the strength of the Canaanite people, and the fertility of the land. (Num13:18-20)

So far, so good.

Upon return, ten of the twelve leaders brought a negative report that filled the camp with fear and incited rebellion against God's will. These were ten leaders who refused to lead. Rather than leading the people into God's will, they convinced them that the task should be scrapped because it was too dangerous.

Two of the twelve, Joshua and Caleb, brought a good report. They inspired faith. They encouraged obedience. They led.

Here's what Leadership looks and sounds like: "Then Caleb SILENCED THE PEOPLE before Moses and said, 'WE SHOULD GO up and take possession of the land, for WE CAN CERTAINLY DO IT.'" (Num13:30)

When non-leaders are spreading unbelief and fear, good leaders:
1. SILENCE THE PEOPLE
2. SPEAK FAITH & HOPE ("We should go... We can do it.")

What kind of leader are you? Do you silence unbelief and speak faith? Are you a leader who leads, or a non-leader who embraces the comfortable?

4 Next Generation Leadership Tips

Moses was one of the strongest leaders ever, but occasionally the leadership burden got to him. At one particularly low moment he said to God, "I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me." (Numbers 11:14)

Moses discovered that doing leadership alone is a heavy burden. He also discovered that equipping and empowering next generation leaders is the best way to lighten the leadership load.

That sounds simple, but how do we equip and empower leaders? Here are four leadership development tips from Numbers 11:

1. GROW YOUR OWN. Next generation leaders are already with you. When more leaders were needed, God told Moses to bring 70 of Israel's elders. He did not tell him to find some Egyptians. The future leaders were already with Moses, he just had not yet recognized them. (Numbers 11:16a)

2. LOOK FOR LOYALTY. Next generation leaders must be willing to "stand with you" for a season. If they are only interested in replacing you, and are not willing to stand with you, then they are not ready to lead. (Numbers 11:16b)

3. THE GOD FACTOR. Next generation leaders need the power of the Spirit. No amount of natural leadership ability, education, or charisma can replace the power of God's Spirit. You have your part to play, but only God can anoint leaders with the power of his Spirit. (Numbers 11:17)

4. THE NECESSITY OF COMMITMENT. Next generation leaders must consecrate themselves. You can teach them and you can train them, but only they can consecrated themselves. (Numbers 11:18)

If your leadership burden seems too heavy to bear, it's probably time to identify, equip, and empower a new generation of leaders.

God is Holy, Sin is Costly, Idolatry is Offensive

I read Leviticus on my recent Manila to Nashville flight and tweeted a 140 character summary. Now, a few weeks later, I'm not sitting in the Atlanta airport about to board My Delta flight to South Africa. Here's my quick summary of the twenty-seven chapters in Leviticus employing more that 140 characters.

1. GOD IS HOLY. Holiness is not something God does. It is not a list of religious rules. He is holy. It is his nature. What he does flows from who he is.

2. SIN IS COSTLY. It is impossible to exaggerate this point. The whole book of Leviticus, from start to finish, lays out the cost of covering sin: the blood of bulls, birds and lambs. If temporarily covering sin was that costly, what about the cost of forgiving sin forever?

3. IDOLATRY IS OFFENSIVE. Maybe not to our culture and our community, but idolatry is offensive to God.

4. WORSHIP IS AWESOME. Ultimately, the book of Leviticus is about worship. And the worship in Leviticus is not to be taken lightly. Worship is awesome because the God we worship is awesome. If our worship is anything but awesome, maybe we are not really worshipping the only true God.

Misguided Attempts at Personal Holiness

From dress codes to movie bans to hair length regulations, our religious world is rife with sincere but misguided attempts at personal holiness. Do we really think holiness is about external behavior, human effort, and religious rules? Apparently we do. Even though the Bible teaches the exact opposite.

Old Testament leaders were supposed to tell all the people to "be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy." (Leviticus 19:2) My quick comments on that verse...

1. BE HOLY... The Bible tells us to be holy, not to act holy. Holiness is a state of being. It is something we are, not something we do. Internal not external. Being not doing. Fish swim because they are fish. Birds fly because they are birds. Christians avoid sin because they are holy. Swimming does not make one a fish. Acting holy does not make one a Christian.

2. BECAUSE I AM HOLY... We are to be holy because of who God is, not because of who we are or who we want to become. When the motivation for our holiness is to win God's favor, relieve our guilt, or impress our pastor, it is not real holiness. Real holiness is God-centered not man-centered. It is about Him, not about us.

So, what am I trying to say? The same thing the Old Testament leaders constantly said: whether you have long hair or no hair, whether you watch or boycott movies, whether you wear a suit or shorts to church, you should be holy because God is holy.

Making Disciples or Gathering Crowds (& Celebrating the Insignificant)

I don't want to rain on anyone's post-Easter parade, but while I am happy for record-setting Easter Sunday crowds, I am afraid we might be celebrating the insignificant.

If that is indeed what we are doing, we would not be the first disciples to miss the point. When the original twelve expressed their misplaced excitement about casting out demons, Jesus told them they were celebrating the wrong thing. (Luke 10)

A basic leadership principle says that whatever leaders celebrate, followers will try to duplicate. If we celebrate big crowds, people who respect us will strive to make big crowds happen.

I am not anti-crowd, unless that crowd in in an airport. I prefer a crowded church to an empty one. But knowing the size of the crowd does not tell me enough to know if it should be celebrated.

We are called to make disciples, not to gather crowds. So before we celebrate a big number, we must ask ourselves if we have a plan to translate that crowd into disciples. If Easter has come and gone and we are not already executing and evaluating a plan to get church visitors in a discipleship process, then celebrating record numbers is missing the point.

Maybe we are confused about the task. It is not our job to build a church, and Jesus is no longer making disciples. If we attempt to do his job (building the church), he does not automatically switch and do our job (making disciples). If we focus on making disciples, Jesus will take those disciples and build a church that will cause hell major headaches.

If my job is building a church, then I might celebrate a record Easter crowd. Maybe. But, since my job is making disciples, I probably should evaluate how I am planning to get that Easter crowd involved in a discipleship process by establishing foundations, equipping them for ministry and empowering them to make disciples.

Faith is a Journey

While preparing for my Easter sermon, I read John 20 over and over and over. Finally, I decided not to try to convince my audience to believe in the resurrection of Christ, but to talk about the journey of faith. For some the faith journey is quick. Others take it slowly. Most are somewhere between fast and slow.

John 20 pictures three different individual paces in the faith journey: John, Mary Magdalene, and Thomas.

John - Immediate faith, with little understanding. Mary was first at the empty tomb, then John, then Peter. (John 20:1-9) All three saw the same scene. Mary believed the wrong thing. Peter was still processing. John "saw and believed" immediately. No questions. No doubts. Just faith. Immediate faith. Most faith journeys are not like John's. Most take a bit more time.

Mary Magdalene - second look faith, after a personal encounter with Jesus. Mary saw the same thing John saw. Yet she did not immediately believe Jesus was resurrected. She believed someone took his body. That seemed more logical. Then she saw the resurrected Jesus and thought he was the gardener. She asked the "gardener" if he knew where they had taken the body. Jesus called her name, "Mary" and she  recognized Him. Sometimes Jesus is right in front of us and we don't recognize Him. But when He calls our name, we realize He is alive and near. 

Thomas - eventual faith, after carefully examining the evidence. It was a week later before Thomas believed. Everyone else was on board, but he needed more evidence. He needed to see and touch. He had seen miracles for three years, but he needed more evidence before he would accept the resurrection. Finally when Jesus walked though a wall and showed Thomas his nail-scared hands, Thomas believed. Maybe that is what it takes for some, to see the evidence of his suffering on our behalf, then we believe.

It does not matter if you are like John and believe immediately with little evidence, or like Thomas needing more evidence, as long as you believe in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. It is not the pace of our faith that matters, it is the object of our faith.

Discipleship is about helping people no matter where they are on the faith journey.

 

10 Things You Must Know to Succeed in Ministry

I landed in Manila less than 48 hours ago, and as usual I hit the ground running. Today, despite the jet lag coma, I taught six sessions at our ministry school. My students included future campus missionaries, future youth pastors and future kids ministers.

I love training and equipping next generation leaders. No matter how busy or tired I am, I always have time and energy for future leaders.

Here's what I taught in today's three afternoon sessions: TEN THINGS YOU MUST KNOW FOR LONG-TERM SUCCESS IN MINISTRY.

1. You must know that GOD LOVES YOU and accepts you because of who he is and what he did for you, not because of who you are and what you do for him. Otherwise you will live and die on the performance treadmill.

2. You must know that GOD CALLED YOU to do campus ministry. Once you know this is a calling and not just a job, then the option to quit is off the table.

3. You must know that GOD WILL PROVIDE for all your needs. No way around it; this is a trust (faith) issue, and he is trustworthy.

4. You must that know THE GOSPEL WORKS in all situations at all times, otherwise you will spin your wheels trying all kinds of gimmicks and flavors-of-the-month. Cool hairdos and designer jeans never transformed a life.

5. You must know HOW TO FORGIVE. More than any other job, ministry will provide countless opportunities to practice forgiveness.

6. You must know how and when to SAY NO. Rather than doing everything that can be done in the name of God, narrow the focus and you will accomplish more.

7. You must know how to ENGAGE your culture & community. This is the starting line for making disciples.

8. You must know how to ESTABLISH biblical foundations. This is the central core of making disciples.

9. You must know how to EQUIP believers to minister. This ensures that discipleship grows in quality as well as quantity.

10. You must know how to EMPOWER disciples to make disciples. This enables discipleship to multiply exponentially.

Another episode of Man vs Jet Lag continues tomorrow. Stay tuned. Bye.

Random Acts of Green & the Real St Patrick

My waiter at Nero's Cafe had green hair today and my barista wore a goofy green top hat.

Beyond the random acts of green, what should we know about St. Patrick and his day?

Fifteen hundred years ago Ireland was an idol-worshipping, slave-trading nation of savage pagans. In just one generation Ireland was transformed into a godly nation known for its scholars and missionaries.

The best-selling book “How the Irish Saved Civilization” tells how this national transformation was primarily the work of one man, Patrick. During his thirty years of missionary work in Ireland, Patrick helped establish over 700 churches and schools and trained over 3000 ministers. But his ministry went beyond just church work. He also helped transform government reform laws that brought the end of slavery in Ireland.

I guess he did more than wear green hats, drink green beer, and sponsor parades.

Instead of merely going green today, why not celebrate St Patrick's Day the way Patrick would, by MAKING DISCIPLES?

"Go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28).

Patrick did. We can too.