Church Creation

What bugs you? What bugs me?

2008-10-08T08:03:00.000-04:00

The answers to those two questions are very different but since you’ve picked up this book and you intend to get to know me a little, I guess I have to tell you some of the things on my list. This simply creates a backdrop to help you understand how I arrived at the very positive conclusions I’m about to teach you. And yes the subject area is leadership in spiritual things, particularly church leadership.
Derivation
The first thing that bugs me that comes to my mind is that much of what I read from Christian authors is so derivative in nature. What I mean by that is that so much of what you read is a rehash of what somebody else has written before. Often the title or blurb on the back of the book is written to engage your curiosity while promising you some new insights. Sadly, as often as not, the literature you read fails to deliver. In fact, most people never get past the first chapter, perhaps because they realize they have been hoodwinked again.
What I’m about to teach you is not derivative in nature. I don’t mean to suggest that others haven’t covered some of these ideas in their own words before. I do mean to say that I don’t have anyone else’s work open before me as I write.
Actually, that’s not entirely true. I do have my Bible open. I want everything that I say - yes every sentence - to be consistent with what I’ve come to understand about the Bible as the living and breathing Word Of God.
Basics
The second thing that bugs me is that for some crazy reason people aspire to Christian leadership often fail to understand that it is going to be difficult. They jump so quickly to the latest craze. I’m simply sick of flavor of the month sermonizing and programming. We must deal with underlying principles. It’s time to get down to basics and analyze the underpinnings. I’m tired of watching people drill surface wells hoping to find an easy source of pure water. It takes a lot of drilling to get pure water. Did you know that right now they are drilling a 24 foot diameter hole through pure solid rock 800 feet below in New York City. It is a 50 year project to deliver fresh clean water from the Catskill Mountains into the island of Manhattan. That is an illustration of how hard it is to do something essential the availability of which is seen as automatic. I want to help drill through bedrock and create a wellspring of life and health in the church.
Ineffectiveness
My list of things that bug me is very long. But here’s one final biggie for now. Apparently there are over six billion people on this planet. I really don’t know how they calculate that number but it sounds good to me. Also apparently there are two billion people on the planet who in some way name the name of Christ as their leader. This subset of those who like myself would identify with evangelical Christianity is much smaller. However, taking the bigger number, the thing that really bugs me is this, there are only two unbelievers for every believer. We ought to be able to get the job done better. From my perspective, we are simply not making enough progress in taking the gospel to all creation. Jesus promised power with the great commission. And He, nor I have any interest in what some men count as power. I never want to manipulate or dominate to get my own way. Religion has trafficed in those devices and created a really bad name for itself. Christian faith is an inside job where people’s hearts are renewed because of full truth, not some cheap packaged set of religious norms designed to build a system and fulfill any leader’s selfish aspirations. We ought to be finding and winning more people so that we change the world for the better. The fact that we aren’t really bugs me.
So I have been forced to ask myself the question, “Why?”
To focus the answer in one simple category I have drawn the conclusion that the problem is the nature of the church of Jesus promised to build, blasting through the gates of hell.
My prime area of knowledge and expertise is in the church of North America. In broad strokes, there are four 00,000 churches and approaching four 00,000,000 people. About half the people who identify with any church at all make that identification with the large churches of over 1000 people. But if we grant the scope of influence of 100 churchgoers on average for each church we end up with a 10 to 1 ratio. OK, I’m not trying to be a statistician or a demographer here so just chill. I don’t know whether three to 1 or 10 two 1 is closer to the truth. I just know that Jesus told a bunch of us who claim were following Him to make disciples of the bigger bunch of people who don’t get it yet. I’m out to change that. Are you?
I am well aware of the fact that any fool can tell you what’s wrong but only a few people are committed to changing what is wrong and making it better. I know that you and I are on the same page here. We are both sufficiently talented fools to figure out some of the things that are wrong. And we both hope that we are sufficiently dedicated fools committed to making things better.
I have much more to say than I can get said in this book. But if you’re looking for some clues about how to create a better church I strongly encourage you to purchase my DVDs “Six Foundations of a Dynamic Church — Without a Marketing Budget” and “Sixteen Characteristics of a Dynamic Church — Without a Marketing Budget”. These DVDs will give you a great list of characteristics to work on in your church. But you can’t work on them all at once. And in fact, without the rest of this book I’m not even sure that you can make a solid start.
Framework
I want to teach you a mental and spiritual framework. This framework is strikingly uncommon in church leaders. Church leaders conceive of themselves as agents of change. The problem is that few perceive enough change happening. Leaders are frustrated. They see the problems within those who are supposed to be following. I expect you are that way. You may well see yourself asking the same questions over and over about how to get different results.
Specifically, as a church leader, you are looking to create a healthier church. I am thrilled with that! I am not sure what your definition of a healthier church is. I have some insight I would love to share on defining the concept of church health. I believe that what I can teach you on church health will resonate with your spirit and cause you to exclaim a resounding, “Yes!” The bad news is that’s not the scope of this particular publication. The good news is you can read a lot about it in the church health report, of which I would be happy to send you a free sample.
Drilling Speed
Today, we’re going to start on a journey together. You are not going to read anything else that focuses on whining and complaining about what’s wrong with the other guy. I’m putting this short book together for me as much as for you. I too, am not squeezing all the productivity of my hours that I wish I could squeeze. And so, I had to get down to drill through some bedrock.
Today is Monday. By Friday, my objective is to have this book completely written. I’m sitting far away from home in Williamsburg, Virginia. In many ways America started here. Well actually at about the same time my homeland of Canada started at about the same time in the early 1600s. It took us about 100 years longer to arrive at nationhood. But we both got there. The important thing for both you and me is to figure out where “there” is for us personally. Neither of us has 100 years to go on that. So we’d both better get busy because once we have a clear picture of our destination we have a long way to go.
In Ephesians chapter three the Apostle Paul has a wonderful prayer in which he uses the word “power” three times. He never defines the term in the prayer. But he says the real power is way more powerful than anything we currently understand. He further states that power has to operate on the inside of our lives. There inevitably will be real world changes on the outside when we get the power. Sometimes those changes will be publicly notable and even reportable in the media or books. But I believe that much more often by the mysterious power of the Holy Spirit using the still small voice of God the results will be much bigger than could be contained by the public media. But people won’t necessarily notice the power source.
The kingdom of God has always been in mustard seed starts. Let’s just get those starts happening. Someone else can figure out whether or not the results are big enough for the birds of the air to make their nests in the trees we grow.
There Is Power
There is power at many levels in human experience. There are contrasting dimensions of power from the Christian perspective. It is extremely relevant that we dissect the concept so that we never confuse that which is purely human with that which is divine. Further, it is critical that we distinguish elements of power that spring from the sin nature from those which in and of themselves are amoral.
Any characteristic of life that has its seedbed in the falleness of humanity must be expunged. God never brings spiritual ends out of sinful beginnings. He does overrule sinful beginnings and supplant them with higher, nobler ends in spite of the human instruments. But it is His will to bring His kingdom to this earth with the cooperation of Christian leadership — not in spite of it.
What I am calling “The Nine Secret Power Essentials They Didn’t Teach You In Seminary” is admittedly a strongly worded concept. So let me back off a little. Maybe some people learned this stuff in seminary. It is just that I haven’t met many of them yet. It could be that the professors attempted to teach these things but the students didn’t have ears to hear. Why did I pick nine concepts? Um… I didn’t want to give away the whole store? I didn’t have time to pick 21? I am not completely sure but I figured that 9 was enough for this week. And besides, as you’ll see later, there’s a reason for three groups of three . Frankly, I can’t back up all of these ideas with Scripture. But as you’ll soon see I truly believe everything I’m about to say is consistent with Scripture and much of it is supported directly from the pages of the Bible.
Me Too
This is a hard hitting document. Did you notice that I said earlier I am writing it for me? I think I need to be hit hard. So if you find yourself squirming as you read just remember I squirmed a lot more as I wrote! Amongst many of my diverse roles I am a pastor of a newer and smaller church that isn’t powerful enough. So I know I have to give attention to achieving more as a leader in that context. These things I am about to articulate totally apply to my context. I can do better with most of them. If you are starting a church you will need to know this. If you are a leader paid or unpaid in any size church I believe you need to know these principles and act them out. Your church can’t grow healthier without the right kind of leadership. Since you are a leader let’s make sure you have the right characteristics and understand the nature of leading others to change. I believe I have included some essentials in this book.
You and I can get to know each other pretty well based on your choice to do so. But because a laborer is worthy of his hire, and I do make my living at this, it’s going to cost you. I always make every effort to under promise and overproduce. If I don’t do that, you are welcome to ask for your money back at any time and you will get it with no quibbling.
This is the way it’s going to work. You purchased this document. If you don’t think it was worth the money just say so and I will give you a full refund. I’m going to attempt to induce you to purchase more and even higher value resources from me. If you purchase any of those resources and you don’t find them to be of great value, you can ask for your money back and I will give you a full refund minus my cost for processing and shipping. In a few cases, I didn’t create the resource and therefore my guarantee to you is up to the limit of my potential financial benefit. What I mean by that is this. In some cases, I pay 60¢ on the dollar for resources and I can’t get my money back. But I would be happy to return to you my portion of four 0¢ on the dollar if you are not happy.
I believe with all my heart that I can turn you toward a more productive direction. I am not in this to make money but if I don’t make money I won’t be able to stay in this. If you can see that what I offer is helpful I have to rely on you to tell others the good news. And while some of these principles may be taught elsewhere, the configuration that I’m offering you is unique.
OK, now that we have those housekeeping ideas out of the way let’s see if we can power up!

Part A: 3 Power Starters

2008-10-08T08:02:00.000-04:00

The first three chapters of this book are designed to get you unlocked from the status quo. It is my intention to create disequilibrium. That means that I’m going to ask you to challenge the assumptions you tend to operate by. I’m going to ask you to put your bacon on the fryer and sizzle a little.
Probably the first question you need to ask yourself is, “Is this going to be worth it?” Let me assure you that the last thing in the world that I want to do is to make you feel rotten without giving you direction and hope. I want to make you mad, sad and glad. In that order. If things go extremely well we might even miss the first two! Definitely this is going to be worth it.
The next question that probably comes to your mind is, “Will I be able to handle this and actually implement it?” My answer to that is that these first three power starters are so dead simple that anyone has the capacity to put them into practice.
Quick Fix?
If you were hoping to find a quick fix then you may as well ask for your money back right now. But I am sure you know there is no magic pill. If you continue to do the same things that you have always done it is highly likely that you will get the same results you have had so far. At least in the near future. Sometimes you have to stay at the same things because they are the right things. And sometimes the right things simply won’t get you the results you hope for. The life of the old testament prophets gives us a template. Isaiah six tells us of the call of the young man. He was given as magnificent vision of the glory and holiness of God as any human ever experienced. And then the follow-up was that while he was to tell everybody they simply weren’t going to get it. Ezekiel was told that his congregation would be hardhearted but that, “Whether they listened or failed to listen they would know that a prophet had been among them.”
The three power starters I’m going to ask you to implement in your life will involve change. Isaiah and Ezekiel changed even if the people around them didn’t. I am going to be so bold as to say that if you don’t implement these three power starters you are not likely to experience much power in your own life. These are not the only power starters. There are several others. Prayer in particular comes to mind. However, I promised you non derivative material and there are lots of books on prayer. These are the power starters that I see missing in many who wish to lead. It isn’t about the size of what you lead it is about the size of the leadership basics within you personally.
The context of this book is growing a healthy church. There are several assumptions in this concept. First of all there is the assumption that there is such a thing as a healthy church. And in the purest sense of the word actually there isn’t. No church is truly healthy because the participants have less than perfect spiritual health. But there definitely is the possibility of a healthier church. And the healthier church will only be healthy if it is led by healthier leaders.
It is impossible to control what any other human being will choose in their heart. Therefore, it is impossible to create change in people from the outside. We can manipulate them into a certain set of behaviors but as soon as we take the heat off those behaviors will disappear. However there’s another assumption in the phrase, “growing a healthy church.” And that is that somehow there are influences that can be brought to bear to make the church different. These characteristics of influence must start from the top. Power always starts from the top. The third assumption I want you to notice in the phrase, “growing a healthy church” is that there is the expectation of progress from smaller to bigger. But the smallness must be understood as smallness of personhood not as smallness in the number of persons. You have to be bigger as an individual. The others will have the opportunity to follow your lead. Or not. That will be entirely up to them. You can have the power whether or not people en masse notice. If they do notice so much the better.
And so I’m going to recommend three power starters for you to work on. If you already have these down cold then just keep reading the next three chapters. But if you don’t, set the rest of the book aside for a few weeks and start developing these dimensions of power. Before you move on to the second section, stay at the first three changes until you have a reasonable degree of success at establishing this level of power.

1 Move Toward ... The Power Of Change

2008-10-08T08:01:00.000-04:00

Have you noticed how much everyone likes to complain? Why, I even started this book in complaining mode. The first thing I must implement if I am ever going to experience all the power that God intended for me is that I must diminish my chirp list and enhance may change list.
Chirp List
You have one of those don’t you? That is a long list of things that you would like to complain about, so you chirp. Some of the things you can change. Many of the things you can’t. Weather. You can’t change that. But you can move to a different climate. Traffic jams. You can’t change those. But you can drive a different route at a different time. And actually, you might change traffic jams by engineering a change in the way we manage traffic. Designing that change would be one thing. Good luck with that. Getting other people to pay attention to your projected change - now that is quite another thing. Good luck with that too!
Your chirp list has a lot of other little things on it that you could change. Some require little incremental changes. If you don’t like the color of the paint, change it. If you don’t like your weight, lose some. Or in rarer cases gain some. If you don’t sleep very well, fix it. I have a book and a video series on how to do that. I got tired of listening to people excuse all manner of ill behavior under the guise that they had a bad night’s sleep. So, instead of chirping about the fact that others were chirping about lack of sleep, I set out to figure out how to improve it. I learned that few people give attention to the one third of their life they should be asleep. I also learned that it’s entirely possible for you to change your sleep patterns. Buy my video series. And as always, if it doesn’t work you get your money back. Actually, I can even point you in the direction of purchasing a better bed. And yes, if you buy one of the beds I recommend and your sleep is not improved, I will give you my portion of the money back. You can change things. Don’t just let that chirp list grow and become rancid.
You see, I’ve had quite enough of the chirping. When I realized that I was doing as much chirping as the next guy, I took the power in my life to a whole new level. I started to invest much more time in creating change than in chirping.
Everyone has a chirp list. And everyone has a change list. Sadly, some people’s change list is either extremely short, completely metaphorical or even delusionally whimsical. At the same time, their chirp list is very long and they don’t mind explaining the details for you. It is as if by chirping they think they are in some way instituting change or recruiting you to start the team to do so.
Get a bunch of church leaders together and throw a piece of raw meat on the middle of the table and watch them go at it like a bunch of pit bulls. “What should be done about _________?” It doesn’t matter what piece of meat you fill in the blank with. If you have 10 people in the room you can generate at least 10 different opinions with the knowledge of 20 different samples of how other churches have addressed the problem. Usually those are the big churches that have all the answers in the sampler list. Do you see the built in caveat? Big church A did thus-and-such. I lead little church B and so A’s solution won’t apply until we get big like A.
Now I am not really suggesting you do this. But ask each leader in the room. “Is this a problem in your church?” And if the answer is affirmative ask, “What do you intend to do about it?” You will find very quickly that most people in the room don’t actually intend to do anything about it. They are just chirping.
A healthy church is a church in which the leaders are constantly taking specific steps to make changes. They refuse to leave all the issues unattended and over populate a chirp list.
Change List
A change list is a list of items that you are doing something about. I almost said, “intend to do something about.” But no. A change list is a list of the things that you are actually doing something about. It may be that the progress is slow. It may be that you are muddling around with various actions to effect change and nothing seems to be working. It may be that you are still in a research phase trying to figure out the correct action plan. But in order to be on a change list, someone is in charge of actually making a change. That changer would be you.
In the context of your own life you are responsible to move things from the chirp list to the change list. And then actually get busy making changes. I’m sure you get that. At this point we touch upon the theme of the next chapter. In the next chapter we are going to discuss how you can become an example of change.
It is important to distinguish between a personal change list and the collective change list of any group of people. The group of people in focus here is of course the church. That collective change list is very complicated to develop.
Let’s take for example something as universal as a Sunday worship service. Imagine how long the chirp list would be if you documented all of the complaints expressed in the homes of your church people. There, of course, will be common themes. There will probably be a set of chirping items that could be categorized under boredom. Perhaps there will be another collection of chirps about the music. Certainly there will be opinions on how the preaching could be improved. You get the idea.
Now the challenge is to figure out which things are qualified to move from that collective chirp list over to the collective change list. In order to do so the items will have to achieve an affirmative response to the following questions.
1. Is this something that could be changed?
2. Is this something that should be changed?
3. Is this something that should be changed now?
4. Is there someone who will lead this change?
5. Will the people follow this change?
6. Is it possible to figure out the set of action steps to institute this change?
7. Is there a possibility we could lock this change in and make it permanent?
Now don’t wilt under the pressure here. If you are a church leader it is quite clear that you can’t make all the differences. But you will have a far healthier church if you can get people to stop chirping and start participating in change.
If someone comes to you as a church leader suggesting that there ought to be a particular change, one of the first things you need to ask is, “Are you willing to lead this change?” If the answer isn’t a flat out negative it will probably be something like this. “I might be willing to work with some others if someone else would lead it.” Or even more specifically, “I might be willing to work with you if you are willing to lead it.”
The Ministry ToolBox
Just as an aside and a shameless plug, the best change management system for churches in my opinion is a software product called, “The Ministry ToolBox”. As you might imagine I believe this product is so good because I had a major hand in developing it. It is worth every penny you will invest because it can help you manage the productive chain you long for in your church. There are several levels at which you can get started with The Ministry ToolBox. The first level deals with a healthy church. The church health and version of the software is very inexpensive and yet extremely powerful. It is being used with thousands of churches. Get your copy today and get started at productive change. Move church development off of your chirp list and on to your change list today. Isn’t it time you quit chirping about your church and started to invest more in changing it? If the church won’t cough up the money for the software, then you do it personally and use it behind the scenes. It will change your ministry. Once again, let me restate my guarantee. If this doesn’t work for you ask me for your money back and I will give you my percentage back. This is unheard of in the software industry. Almost nobody gives a money back guarantee on software. But I do on the part I can control. If you take charge of this component of change even if you’re existing context isn’t responsive, chances are really good that some other more proactive church or ministry will see your leadership example and pursue you to help them institute change. This is a much less expensive investment in self development than any seminary course you can purchase.
OK, I said it. Now let’s go back to the previous illustration.
You will recall that hypothetically I have placed someone in front of you who wants a particular change and wants you to take part in helping create that change. The first observation I would like to make here is this. Our society has become highly focused on encouraging people to create opinions about the changes needed. Talk radio. Political pundits. Commentators. Bloggers. Reader comments on blogs. There are no end of opinions and now, high tech means of you expressing your own opinions. Opinions don’t change things, actions do. However, church people tend to be naively self centered, believing that they have almost infinite wisdom that needs to be shared so that someone else can do something about it. Perhaps this hypothetical person I have placed in front of you has such an expanded ego. If that is the case there are several things to avoid and actions to pursue to create change.
Here is where we get into the heart of the matter in the power starter dimension of moving from chirp to change.
It won’t be useful for you to explain to this hypothetical person in front of you that you are far too busy to get involved in the change that they are asking of you. In fact it is highly likely that they have already prefaced one of their ideas with, “I know you are very busy but…” This person firmly believes that you are busy with inferior things and that they have the superior suggestion for you. In fact, if you enter into some level of debate with them about your priority list, you won’t win. You will look very weak to them. You will sound defensive. You will sound like you are whining. This will diminish your power as a leader in their eyes. After all, in their view, a real leader would immediately grasp the significance of their idea.
In the third chapter, I am going to deal with the power starter that is almost never appreciated and seldom implemented. In a negative way, you are in danger with this person of amplifying their resistance to your leadership by wrongly implementing the principle we will cover there. Place a mental bookmark right here and revisit this hypothetical once we get to chapter three .
Treat the idea with respect. It doesn’t matter if it is the looniest idea you have ever heard. Keep yourself from laughing. This is what you must do. Tell the person that their idea is very interesting. Every idea is interesting. Affirm to them that you appreciate the fact they came to you with the idea and didn’t just chirp about it. This is a very important phase in your teaching. From a positive perspective you are simply telling them that which could be expressed negatively. “Don’t chirp.” You always want to reinforce people who take the initiative to talk to you about what they perceive to be positive change. Over time people will get the message that chirping is not productive.
Action Plan
Ask for an action plan. Now, if you have The Ministry ToolBox and it is in wide use in your church, they will understand exactly what an action plan is. But if you don’t, explain that you will consider the implementation of their change after they take responsibility and come back to you with a specific set of steps of what it would take to get it done. Send them home with a blank action planning sheet. Set up another appointment for them to come back to you with the plan developed as far as they can get it. Don’t simply ask them to come back when they get it done. Make an appointment. This forces them to take responsibility for change which must happen in real time. Promise unlimited telephone and e-mail support as they work on developing the plan.
One of several things can happen as an outcome of this exchange. The first thing that is bound to happen is that their opinion of you as a leader and in particular a delegator will go through the roof. And you may be quite sure this message will get passed forward to others. You will have far fewer people knocking on your door because they want to chirp about something you should change. Those who are unwilling to participate in leading change will simply stay away.
Most of the time the action plan will never get written. The person will go home and fuss about it a little bit and then realize it takes too much work. They might not even make the call back to you to explain they wish to cancel your follow-up appointment. But, of course, you are going to confirm with sufficient lead time that you are still on for that appointment. They must deal with you appropriately. Don’t let them get away with it and just let the issue die. Put it to death officially and give it an appropriate burial.
Some of the time, the action plan will get written but it will be extremely incomplete. In this case, in your appointment you will have something good to say. First of all, you must express how grateful you are that the person is prepared to roll up their sleeves and get started. Immediately you will notice the holes in their action plan. Don’t point out the holes directly. Ask instructive questions? “Help me understand your thinking here. In order for us to get to this point, is there anything else you had in mind we should be doing?” Add the action item in the margin of their plan. Better, give them the pen and ask them to write it in. And then when you notice a huge gap between an action item listed and the next action item, ask something like this, “Before we get to this next action plan is there more information we will have to gather?” Continue line by line until you have a complete action plan.
As a leader, there will be information that you hold about how things work. Rather than just answering questions before they are asked, develop the skill to get the other person to ask the question. For example, rather than saying, “You do realize this will need board approval.” Make every effort to induce them into asking you, “What will it take to free up money for these expenses?”
Once you have an action plan completely developed you will want to go back over each item and estimate how much time the item will take, who should be responsible to complete the item and the target date for that item’s completion. More often than not this person you are working with will see implications they never dreamed were true when they brought the idea up at the outset. For example, I am guessing you won’t have enough of the time to complete the plan they have in mind. But it will certainly be ready for next year.
The Results
This process will achieve several things for you to develop your power as a leader.
1. You will be seen as open minded.
2. You will be seen as having a handle on organizational detail.
3. You will develop positive relationships with people.
4. You will identify future leaders.
5. You will have every opportunity to nudge people in a more positive life direction.
6. You will have declared your intentions and that will motivate you to do what you said you would do.
The most important result of taking this approach is that you will redevelop the culture in your church in a healthy direction. One of the reasons your church is not as healthy as it could be is that it is not as active as it should be. You need to be action oriented as an individual. You need to be an example of proactive change. You need to develop a coterie of people around you who will help you lead in the charge for change. You need to teach people the difference between chirping and changing.
If you are personally stuck and finding it difficult to move forward I highly recommend you get my DVD, “Getting Unstuck — Rediscover Your Purpose & Passion for Life”. It will give you a practical plan to sort things out for yourself.
Imagine the power. Can you see it? Chirpers who wish to remain chirpers will simply stay out of your way. Changers will gravitate toward you. Chirpers who know in their heart of hearts they should become changers will identify with you.
It does all start with you. If your church is not healthy you simply have to stop whining about it and start being the change you want others to become. Everyone will never be on board. If you wait for complete unanimity you will wait a long time. However, as you start to build from the example of your own life and your dealings with people, others will gradually start to join you in this magnificent pursuit of growing a healthier church.

2 Recognize... The Power Of TQ-PEN

2008-10-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

Until now you have likely never heard of the power of TQ-PEN. But before you finish reading this chapter it will be indelibly imprinted in your memory. I will be much happier if you report to me that it not only is imprinted in your memory but it is now a firm part of your value system. I would be ecstatic if the people around you were to report to me that from their perspective you absolutely live by the TQ-PEN promise.
I assert very firmly that the TQ-PEN promise ought to be nonnegotiable for every Christian, let alone every Christian leader. I submit to you that the primary reason for ill health in the life of the church can be traced back to leadership issues.
Christian leaders must lead as Christ indicated they should live. The teachings of Jesus as recorded in scripture are cryptic. They are more like a sermon outline than a sermon. I fear that the meaning of the teachings of Jesus are lost in the pharisaical approach of pretending to seek amplification while all the time actually seeking to reduce the teaching to the absurd. “But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’” That is the way Luke explains the follow up of a teacher of the law who wanted to diminish the impact of the simple word of the Lord, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” My amplified version of that self justifying question, “And who is my neighbor?” as I can imagine it coming from a pulpit is as follows. “While Jesus told us we are to love our neighbor as ourself, we must understand that not all neighbors are deserving of the same level of love and therefore we must exercise discernment on how far we go with any one individual. And so, we must carefully think through how much love we extend since our resources are very limited. We might well ask, ‘How do I select from the vast array of people who need help, the ones to whom I should express active love?’” Wah. Wah. Wah. Wah. Wah. That seems reasonable doesn’t it? Now you stop that. You know what Jesus meant. You know that He knew it is possible to pour love down a black hole. Do it anyway. Why? Because Jesus said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Full stop.
The Golden Rule
That is just an illustration of how we attempt to take the batteries out of Jesus’ words. The TQ-PEN promise comes from another set of Jesus’ words. You know it by the name the Golden Rule. Here’s the way I learned it as a child. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Here’s the way Luke records it in Luke 6:31, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” The impact is exactly the same. But there is no impact at all if you don’t get the primary concept that the rule cannot work if you are expecting others to get it right first. You know how you like to be treated. You hate it when people disrespect you. You despise being ignored. You are quite capable of giving any number of illustrations of how people have mistreated you. In the words of an old Simon and Garfunkel tune, “I get slandered / I get libeled / I hear words I never read in the Bible.” We all do. That is of course the point in creating the rule in the first place. People don’t actually treat you the way you wish they would. This is not an old law based on tit for tat — an eye for an eye — a tooth for a tooth. This is an entirely different way of approaching life. The Golden Rule can only work for you if you work it. And it doesn’t mean you are going to get back what you deliver. It does mean that you must recognize that it is always your turn. You are it. Every time. If others don’t live by the Golden Rule that is not your concern. Yes, you will have to bear the pain associated with that fact, but it is still no reason for you not to do what you are told and live by the Rule.
TQ-PEN promise is based on five practical rollout issues that I am committed to living by. These are five things that I see as direct applications of the Golden Rule.
Truth
The first one is easy to say but when I take it literally and specifically it really challenges me. T = Truth. I will always tell you the truth. When Jimmy Carter became President of the United States, one of the promises he made to the American people was, “I will never lie to you.” That took politics to a much higher level than people expected. It is expected that politicians will tell lies. It is expected that they will promise a chicken in every pot when they know it is impossible to buy the pots let alone the chickens. This is the stuff politicians say. It is expected hyperbole. It is also a lie. Now, let me be quick to add that naiveté in political rhetoric often overstates what might actually be possible despite the best intentions of the politician. I have lots of room for people who in sincerity state intentions and then fail to deliver on those intentions. Well, that is, I have lots of room for them if they will subsequently own up to their failure when challenged.
In many ways church life resembles politics. There are always limited resources to meet the demands of an ever expanding wish list. However, it is never appropriate to promise someone something that is known to be undeliverable. Church leaders must not state that they will look into something if the person will agree first to what is on their agenda. That in itself isn’t so bad. The guild comes if in their heart of hearts they have no intention of looking into the other person’s concern at all. Or at least not with any level of intensity. I refuse to live like that and fail on the first point of the TQ-PEN promise.
But I still wish to ratchet the T part up to an even higher level. It is one thing to tell no lies. That is a good start. I believe that telling the truth involves deliberately avoiding leaving false impressions. If it is plain that the recipient of the communication believes that what you are saying will create better results than what you actually believe, then you are under an obligation to correct their expectations. For example, they might buy into your idea of a grand new church advertising scheme you wish to implement. They might be willing to vote for the expense because they see greater results than are reasonable. However, if you know that their expectations are entirely over rated then you have an obligation to tell them the truth. I do not believe that it is ever possible to build a healthy church based on chicanery. This does create a problem. People are so used to receiving advertising messages that overstate the value of a product that they have an automatic built in mechanism to discount the benefits and results promised. While the ad on TV promises that the particular product will get out all the stains, you just know in your heart of hearts that they have picked the stains the product will remove and have avoided the stains the product cannot touch. However, if you are an advertiser living by the T part of this TQ-PEN promise you would be quick to assert that the product will handle most stains. And you would avoid the overstatement.
You want people to tell you the truth as they know it. Therefore, you should never hide parts of the truth from others that would help them evaluate a particular concept.
I’m not suggesting that you become negatively oriented in your communication and dwell on all of the things that could go wrong. That list is unending. And besides, you wouldn’t want someone to treat you in such a way that they spent all their time telling you what could go wrong. You simply want to know that there are risks in a more general way.
This is proving to be a great burden to me in my ministry. The thing that I love the most is to help people start churches. And when I am realistic in my explanation of what some product or service that I offer can do for the individual who wants to start a church, they often turn away. They simply want more blast for the buck. They are looking for something with more power. Now, I have developed or adapted the most powerful things I know to apply to starting churches. If there is something I know to be more powerful, I will definitely recommend it. When I find more powerful concepts I either adapt the concept, without violating copyrights, or I setup a vending relationship with the owner of the idea. However, over the years I have watched people turn away and try some other idea that promises more success. And I watch people fail every time. In a sense, I could help them by over promising and then after the fact rationalizing the under production down to what I had originally truly expected. I simply refuse to do that because I live by the TQ-PEN promise. I make every effort to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.
Questions
The second dimension of the TQ-PEN promise is Q = Questions. I will always supply the best and most complete answers that I can for your questions. I love it when people answer my questions thoughtfully. I expect you do too. When I answer questions completely it consumes a lot of time. And it is seldom to my economic advantage to invest the time. And yet I still am deeply committed to dispensing the time that God has provided, at an equal pace for all of us (but not duration), in such a way that I supply my very best for every person who asks for my time regardless of their position or station in life. If there’s nothing in it for me, I will still give the best answer I can to any question thoughtfully posed.
I can almost feel the squirming and hear the protests. “But what about my responsibility to manage my time?” “Won’t I be wasting time if I invest it in people with less influence?” “How will I maintain my sanity with all the questions coming my way?”
I don’t believe that I must personally craft an answer for every individualized question on every occasion. I further don’t believe that every question demands an immediate answer that could throw things off schedule.
As long as it is acceptable to the person asking the question, it is a great thing to delegate the answer, giving to someone who can supply the answer consistent with the answer I myself would give. That forces me to duplicate myself as best I can in others so that I will have people to turn to to help me respond.
I will often answer a question that is asked with a specific incident in mind by supplying an answer that can be applied on a broader spectrum of incidents. I do this by the use of various media such as blogs and recordings of various kinds. There are many questions I have fielded that are the genesis of this very book.
By answering questions thoughtfully and completely, I think it keeps my feet in touch with the ground.
Overall the TQ-PEN promise is extremely powerful. I believe that these first two components are foundational and essential for anyone who wishes to provide church leadership. I do not believe it is ever an appropriate option to choose to avoid these two principles. Everyone should get the truth. Everyone should get a timely answer. Every time.
The only way a church can become healthier is if the individuals within the church behave healthier. If the leaders in the church are not respecters of persons but treat everyone with equal authenticity, it provides a basis for health and growth.
There is always a layering of the depth of information that needs to be disclosed. Clearly, the answer that is supplied for a child is not the same answer that is applied for an adult in the church. And it might be argued that one who has been appointed or elected to a leadership role needs a more complete explanation than a regular church member. However, there must never be different versions of the truth. The same truth may be explained in progressive steps of revelation. You might be more concise and therefore less complete with one individual than you might be with another. This disclosure must never move from falsehood to truth. There must never be one version for one subset of people and another version for a difference subset. For example, it is never useful to tell young people something about music to articulate support and then say something completely different to older folks who can’t stand the young people’s music. All that approach can achieve is discord. You could grind up all your energy and willpower by trying to keep the various forces at arm’s length from one another. As this is true with groups, it is also true with individuals. You can’t simply speak to one part of the overall agenda with one individual because you and that person are on the same page and then ignore other parts of the agenda where there is divergence. And then, you can’t go to the next individual and speak of a different part of the agenda where there is agreement while ignoring the perspective of the first person. If you do, everyone might think you agree with them but they won’t ever achieve agreement with each other and thus move in the direction of unity. You have to be a straight shooter to gain respect and move a group towards unity.
Telling the truth and answering all the questions in an open and transparent way makes an enormous difference in producing an environment in which the church can grow.
But we must move on. The last three parts of the TQ-PEN promise are straightforward.
Phone
P = Phone. If you live by the TQ-PEN promise you must commit to this concept. I will always answer my phone or return the call at the earliest possible time. If you leave me a phone message I will return your call. Period. Frankly, I am astounded at how few pastors will live by this part of the rule. But they will be quick to chirp about it if others don’t. It is my opinion that you must never screen your calls in the sense of deciding who you will speak to and who you will not speak to. Come on. Admit it. It drives you nuts when people won’t return your phone calls. If you want others to return your phone calls then you are obligated to return theirs. It matters not to me if it is some telemarketer who leaves their number. I always return those calls. And then almost always tell them I’m not interested. But they hear it from my voice. Not from my silence.
Yes this can get tedious. There are some phone calls I would rather avoid. The truth be known, there are some people I must relate to I would rather not speak to until they corner me. I refuse to let myself live that way. If you call me to complain, I will take the call. If I know that you want to rehash an issue we’ve gone over before, I will still return the telephone call. If you want me to respond to some invitation that I would rather not take, I will still give you my answer over the telephone if that’s the way you contact me in the first place.
Actually it’s not as hard as I make it out to be. I’ve found that dealing with the issue as fast as possible is far less draining then figuring out ways to avoid the issue. And it takes far less time to do it than it does to grovel with an apology of why you didn’t get around to doing it.
E-mail
E = E-mail. I will always answer your e-mails. No really. Test me on this. I get hundreds of e-mails every day. When I am away from my desk for a week as I am right now, I put a vacation message on my primary e-mail addresses and tell you when I will deal with incoming e-mail. Today is Tuesday. I intend to finish writing this book by Friday. I have a 12 hour drive home on Saturday. I will do some editing while my wife drives part of the way. I must preach in my church on Sunday. Monday I will get your e-mail. But it’s not like you are the only one. There will be 1,000 e-mails or so in my inbox. Most of those will be generic newsletter type e-mails from lists to which I have given permission to communicate with me. If you are one who has generated such a list with valuable information, it is not likely that I will give it my full attention on Monday. Most of the 1000 e-mails will simply get deleted. However, I will invest a couple of hours in thoughtfully going through all that e-mail and picking out the ones that have directly asked me for a response. They will get a thoughtful response. Whatever it takes.
Under normal circumstances when I receive an e-mail it gets a direct response when requested within 24 hours. If the e-mail is going to take less than 5-10 minutes, I will deal with it the moment I open it. If it is going to take a longer response than that I will supply a short answer explaining when the complete answer will be forthcoming. Letting things scroll off my screen because I procrastinate will not help anyone. There will not be more time later than there is today. So the emptier I can keep my e-mail inbox the better.
This brings to bear the whole question of time management. I highly recommend to you the book and the system created by David Allen called “Getting Things Done.” Buy that book. No I don’t sell it. But I do recommend you get it, learn the system and live by it. I am in the process of changing on this subject and Allen has helped me tremendously. One of the ways I am implementing his system is through using a private G-mail address and an add-on for the Firefox browser called the GTD add-on. I can always send an e-mail from my BlackBerry to my private G-mail account and then process to do items very efficiently. Get my CD on how to do this.
No
The final component of the TQ-PEN promise is N = No. If you ever give me a final “no” on a request I will respect it, drop it and move on. I will never hold it against you. Oh yes, it would be disingenuous of me to suggest that I won’t feel some disappointment, but I will not let that disappointment poison our relationship.
On the other hand, if I ever need to say “no” to you, you will hear from me directly. I will not leave you hanging. I will not supply a passive “no” when an active “yes” or “no” is what is expected. I believe that most people would rather be rejected than ignored. I know I would. Definitely, I would rather not be rejected, but I can handle that better than being ignored.
When taken as a bundle the five elements of the TQ-PEN promise provide a very practical way for me personally to focus my understanding of the Golden Rule. If you liked the way I am committed to treating you and wish that others would respond in a similar fashion, then I guess you are on the hook with me, aren’t you? The Golden Rule has never been rescinded. It’s our turn. You and I are it.
I sincerely hope that you now recognize the power of the TQ-PEN promise. If it seems to you that there’s too much work implied here, then I challenge you to come up with an alternative that is absolutely consistent with what Jesus expects of you. Whatever you do, you must develop a life style that calls out to people, “Follow me as I follow Christ!” He has the power and will transfer it through you in simple ways. Of course, we can start with the moral imperatives of Scripture as summarized in the 10 commandments. You will do well to staple the TQ-PEN promise to your moral sensibilities.
It is a tall order. But if you’re going to be like Jesus, then when people read His words your name needs to pop into their mind and they need to be saying, “That reminds me of old So-And-So. That’s just the way he/she lives.” It seems to me that the evaluation of who you are will be best established by people after you have moved on either to another location or to the next life. You must be sure that you leave a legacy behind you. The legacy you leave will never be in the bricks, the mortar, the messages, the programs or the positions you held. And it certainly won’t be in the money you leave behind. Your legacy will be measured by who you were — who you are now becoming. When others measure themselves by you then you are on to something. You want people to look to you and say I want to be like old So-And-So when I grow up because old So-And-So reminds me of Jesus. And I think if Jesus were here today He would be saying a hearty amen to the TQ-PEN promise.

3 Harness... The Power Of Bouncing Words

2008-10-08T07:59:00.000-04:00

Two of the 10 commandments give attention to the power of words. One of them speaks of the words we use in connection with God. The other refers to the words we use with people.
It seems that what ends up coming out of our mouths as words is more powerful than we could ever imagine. Only humans have the power of speech. We need to pay close attention to that power. Our Creator has endowed us with the incredible mechanism of speech.
Words are extremely important things. And the proliferation of words is astounding. As you are reading these words there are in fact more words flying around you than you could ever imagine. Even the radio waves in the air contain words. If you take a moment to look at your environment you might see words on your walls. There may be words on your coffee cup, table or your desk. There might be words on signs outside your window. Words. Words. And more words.
The third power starter in our kit of essentials is the power of bouncing words. I’m going to unpack the word “bouncing” later in this chapter but first we must pay attention to words in general.
You must really watch your words. It is somewhat jarring to listen to the words people will use out of the sides of their mouths out of earshot of unsuspecting innocents. And sometimes those words are prefaced with a phrase such as, “To be honest with you…” Sometimes the frank words that are about to be uttered should be left unsaid. Sometimes to intensify the opinion expressed profanity is injected.
Learn to develop the ability to keep your mouth shut when it should stay shut. If there is garbage inside that is screaming to be vomited out, just hold it in. You will be better for it. Every one of us must learn to harness the power of words.
James makes a connection between those who presume to be teachers in the life of the church and the words they utter. There is a double standard here. A legitimate double standard. James clearly states in James three :1 that we who teach will be judged more strictly. And the nature of the judgment is quickly connected in the next sentence with what you say as a teacher — whether or not class is in or out. James is quick to point out that the arena of our words is a major place in which we fail.
Tongue Control
Therefore, to get power truly started in your life you have got to control your flapping tongue. And you had better get started today. If you don’t plan your words very carefully they are going to mess with your impact. I am not referring to the words you give in a public speech. Let’s start with the words you use with the people who are most familiar to you. Talk about the right things in the right way. Plan your speech and your vocabulary. Listen to yourself. Review what you have said. Become self-conscious about your words. Think before you speak.
You could simply start by expanding your vocabulary. Learn to not end your sentences with inane phrases such as, “… and stuff.” There are many words in the English language that end up with the equivalent meaning of a guttural grunt. For example, the word “stuff” is a generic noun that could mean almost anything. Make it your lifelong pursuit to enhance your vocabulary so that you can speak with precision. There is tremendous power in the precision of your words.
Bouncing Words
Now let’s move on to the power of bouncing words. Once a word leaves your mouth in the presence of other people that has potential that you probably never realize. You speak the word. The sound waves die. You forget the word. But the recipient of that word may find it bouncing around in their brain like a careening super ball. And you can never know which sentences will bounce for a very long time. So choose those bouncing words very very carefully.
How many people do you know whose lives have been poisoned by an ill advised parent saying, “You will never amount to anything”? Those words only have to be uttered once. If they are received at a point of vulnerability, they may bounce around in that person’s head as long as they reside on planet earth. Wow. That powerful.
Sometimes people have a perception of nagging that never actually occurred in real time. The mother says, “Clean up your room!” The child has those words bouncing around inside as procrastination rules. The mother might have only said the words once. But when mother pokes her nose through the door, the child snaps, “Mom, quit nagging me about cleaning my room!”
You know how true that is. And it isn’t simply a mother’s words that continue to bounce in one’s mind. The stronger the bond between people the higher the words bounce. Mother. Spouse. Sibling. But there are other bonds. Teacher. Coach. Mentor. And then there are the bouncing words supplied in the church. Pastor. Deacon. Sunday School Teacher.
As you aspire to enhance your role as a church leader you must recognize your words are bouncing. As you long for a healthier church you must exhibit by example effective bouncing words and teach others to do the same.
This means you are going to have to work on your words. In sales they talk about creating an elevator pitch. This is a three 0 second statement you can make in an elevator if somebody asks you, “What do you do?” If you were in sales you would know that such a short statement could open a door to a new client.
This might come as a shock to you. You are in sales. You represent the most important product on the planet. Your CEO is the King of Kings. If you have a negative view of salesmanship then those statements will come across to you like acid in your face. Lighten up a bit. OK, let me say it another way. You are His Ambassador. Never forget it. As an ambassador you need to make sure that your bouncing words are carefully crafted. This starts with the innocuous. How do you respond when someone says, “How are you today?” Careful. Those words have bounce too.
I recommend that you work on a library of sentences that you use over and over again to express who you are and where you are going. This creates power.
Not all bouncing words continue to careen in the brain unabated. Change the analogy a little for the moment. Think of a sentence as a ball that is dropped from, say, chest height. Perhaps the first bounce will come up to the waist, and then the second to the thigh, the third to the knee, the fourth to the calf and the fifth to the ankle. Then the ball just rolls away. Most sentences are not of such a high impact that they keep bouncing to chest height.
Make every effort to manage the sentences you hope will bounce with perpetual motion. More precisely, manage the expression of concepts that you hope will be a retained long-term and without effort. You can do this using the mechanism of repetition. Grab that ball when it bounces up to the waist and drag it back to chest height and drop it again. Keep doing this systematically with the things that matter most. Imagine the crowd around you with a cloned ball in their hand. Imagine them grabbing that ball and re energizing it over and over. If you do this with words and phrases over time you have the potential of normalizing the perpetual bounce in the ball.
Great visionary leaders have used this technique in the past and today. How many times did choirs sing the old hymn, “Just As I Am” at Billy Graham meetings? Perhaps someone has calculated that piece of trivia. How many times did Bob Schuler talk about turning “Scars Into Stars”? Repetition of bouncing words is an incredible power starter.
The Same Old
There are some things to manage in connection with contrived bouncing words. You never want to seek to re energize your bouncing words so often that people are irritated by them. Keep close tabs on the number of rolling eyes compared to the number of nodding heads. And on the other hand, don’t become so narcissistic that you believe people are bored hearing those words just because they become boring to you. After all, don’t you suspect Cliff Barrows got a little tired of directing those choirs at Billy Graham meetings singing the same old music? The third thing I want to point out is that as you re energize your bouncing words you must do so with the same intensity and not with a wry smile as if to suggest you know you might be boring people. For an illustration here think in terms of Ed McMahon saying, “Here’s Johnny!” That piece of Americana is history but my guess is it still bounces in your brain!
Your bouncing words don’t have to be all that creative to be memorable. Just be sure that they are full of meaning. If you are comfortable using someone else’s bouncing words in making them your own, go right ahead.
Managing words — particularly bouncing words is one of the most significant power starters you can use. I strongly recommend that you think through the things that you say most commonly and evaluate them in the light of the amount of bounce they contain. Ask some people who know you well to make a list of the phrases and sentences they hear you repeating over and over. And take a hard look at the impact of those words.
In terms of growing a healthy church, you want to be sure that the things which become traditions and expectations are those which take you to where you truly want to be. Make sure that words that once had bounce and meaning but that have become hollow and insincere are re framed in some way. Perhaps you need to drop those words in favor of a new set. Perhaps you need to inject those old words with new meaning. One way to do this is to have people explain with heartfelt expression why these words still hold meaning for today.
Now we have you started with some of the essentials to create power in any local church. You cannot control whether people respond to your initiatives but you can control your initiatives. You can have power within yourself. You can have the confidence and the calmness to demonstrate that you are supplying leadership because you harness the power of bouncing words.

Part B: 3 Power Movers

2008-10-08T07:58:00.000-04:00

In the first section we set the framework for your development of power. This will become a lifelong pursuit for you because you will never totally perfect it. There are no excuses. You need to pay more attention to these issues to have the essential power that you are longing for.
Perhaps you want to take a pause in your personal development before you move forward into these three power movers. You are not going to be able to maximize these unless you have the foundation built straight and true.
If the first section of this book shredded you because you haven’t been paying attention to the fundamentals, then it is highly likely you have some fences to mend.
It starts at home. Others are measuring you in part by watching how your family treats you and how you treat them. If your constituency sees hardness in the face of your spouse you are in trouble. And if they don’t see the hardness because you have scolded it out of your spouse, they are probably noticing the plasticity of your spouse’s demeanor. The same goes for your children. The children can get used to you having one demeanor and set of bouncing words for public consumption and a different demeanor and bouncing words for the privacy of your home. They can get used to that. But they don’t respect it. With young children all you are doing is creating a time bomb that is bound to explode when the emerging autonomy of the teenage years arrives.
Families can be amazingly resilient. If you ask for forgiveness you will most likely get it. If you demonstrate humility and ask for help your family will probably respond. If they won’t then your ability to lead both today and tomorrow is in jeopardy.
Others around you in your church are noticing the words you use. Make sure that they come from a correct framework. If you have been guilty of too much chirp and not enough change, confess it and change it. If you haven’t been living by TQ-PEN then you’d better get started. Nobody significant is going to follow you until you do. If you haven’t been measuring your words and the amount of bounce they create then there is no better time than right now to learn that discipline.
The reason we have to repeat the significance of those foundation power starters is that the three power movers have to do with how you get other people to join you in your quest of growing a healthier church. If the foundation is crumbly this next part is going to be much more difficult if not impossible.
The three power movers deal with how to generate change based on hope for the future. These power movers are best applied in the inner circle of people you gather around you. In the third section we will move forward to some power principles that apply on a broad basis with all people in your constituency.
The power you want to see in your life starts with your own personhood and radiates from there. Your ability to be the agent of change in growing a healthier church depends entirely on your ability to work with people. If individuals are going to follow you they must have a high degree of intimacy in their relationship with you. They will only be prepared to develop that if they like what they see in you.
Some church leaders attempt to use the trick of promising a place on the inside track to people who want to shortcut their own personal route to leadership. Placing the wrong people in sensitive roles can prove disastrous. Your objective should be to surround yourself with people you expect can grow as tall, or taller than yourself. Those who rightfully belong in the inner circle probably won’t complain when someone else occupies that space but neither will they give their wholehearted support. To grow a church that is healthy you must have spiritual people in the inner circle. It won’t do you any good to seed the circle with people of power and wealth in solely human terms. Sometimes the right people are also powerful and wealthy in human terms, but, as often as not, the real spiritual strength resides in more faithful and unobtrusive places.
Surround yourself with the right people and they will keep you honest. They will support you. They will hold up the standard in moments when your arms are faint. They will put in the time to be with you and to help in any way they can.
If you are in the position of starting a new church then you get to set the pattern from the outset. This material is going to be of inestimable value to you as you take meager resources in money and people and mold the new church. You need to be careful that you do not start based simply on a reaction to something you see wrong somewhere else. It is equally important that you have a clear picture of how to improve upon that which already exists.
If you are in an existing church feeling powerless, then you need to start with yourself and become the person others should see in you. Of paramount importance is the quality of relationships you have with certain people in your existing constituency. You can’t thumb your nose at anyone. But even worse, if you fail to engage the correct people you won’t last very long.
In either case, if you have this general disquiet that indicates you are in some way stuck you have some other work to do. I highly recommend to you that you purchase my DVD entitled “Getting Unstuck”. It will help you identify the fresh vision for your life and ministry.
Now let’s move forward and discuss the three power movers that are essential for you to maximize the potential in your life.

4 Remember ... The Power Of Simplicity

2008-10-08T07:57:00.000-04:00

Albert Einstein once said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible but not simpler.” I agree. However, I also have to acknowledge that church ministry isn’t complicated but it is complex. And that complexity must be understood by those who are in charge. At the same time the complexity must be expressed in simple terms for people to understand.
This interplay between the actual complexity of the church and simplicity of explanation must be mastered. So in a simple terms as I can find I want to explain how to master this.
A healthy church has a balance of all the necessary elements of church life. Resources of time and money must not be overinvested in some elements to the expense of others. I want you to get your hands on the Church Health version of The Ministry ToolBox. I wrote an introductory book for that which is included in the package. It will help you understand the balance. The software itself will also help you measure your church situation. Using a simple survey of as many church participants as possible and then inputting the results and reading the reports will do more for you to understand the current health of your church than anything else of which I am aware. You can get a copy of this survey and a sample of the report for free by simply asking. But you won’t know what the results will be in your own church until you take the survey. I have yet to find a church leader who wasn’t surprised by the survey results for their local church. The greater the church leaders think they understand the church the bigger the surprises.
Now let me kick you around a little bit. If this boot to the backside doesn’t fit you then please disregard me for a paragraph here. I can just feel some readers saying to themselves, “I get it. The whole purpose in this book is just to get me to buy something else.” No. The whole purpose in this book is to point you to resources that will help you develop power as a leader in a local church or ministry. And that is going to cost you. It is going to cost you time. That is your most important commodity. And it is going to cost you money. That is your less important but essential commodity. And I know what scarcity of money is. I have been there. But the lack of money is never a good excuse. You need to buy what you need to buy. I am telling you that if you are in a church or hoping to start a church you need what The Ministry ToolBox provides. The Church Health version of The Ministry ToolBox is the least expensive. As you progress, there is an expanding circle of data and power in The ToolBox. You can upgrade one step at a time. If you are hesitating to lay down a couple hundred dollars to fix things, then what are you willing to invest? Since your time is your most valuable commodity you would be a fool to try to replicate the power of The Ministry ToolBox for use in one church only. Well over a million of dollars has been invested to create the product. You get access to it for a few hundred dollars because thousands of others have purchased it and used it profitably. It may be that you end up investing in some other resource. That is going to cost you as well. However, there is nothing like The ToolBox. ToolBox thinking carefully integrates ministry concepts, management philosophy and time management tools. Since you are serious about leading, invest in yourself and buy the product personally if it will create too much hassle to ask the church to make the purchase. The ToolBox will help you personally develop your ministry acumen. And as always, if I don’t deliver on my promise here, I will give you your money back. Now I want to get back on track.
The emphasis in this chapter is not on complexity. It is on simplicity. I want to teach you how to engage the right people in your quest for church health.
You will never be able to engage everyone as much as you might wish. You will not find a group of people who are completely sold out to serving Jesus. And you will never find a group of people who agree with you 100% on how that service works out best. But when you use the right techniques you can identify a number of people who will grow towards a life of loving service for the Master and do it on your team.
Since everyone has the much longer chirp list than their change list you have to be careful. You can sit in the coffee shop with people who will track along with you as you explain your vision for a healthier church. You might naively believe because they are nodding their heads and even chiming in with additional compatible information that their agreement with you is an indication they want to be involved. Maybe yes. Maybe no. Maybe they are just in the habit of chirping.
There are two implied questions people always ask when they are considering moving things from their chirp list to their change list. These questions may not be articulated in spoken words. But you must help them address the questions.
Can I do this?
Individuals need to know that it is possible for them to change. A person might feel the need for change and still not believe they are capable of that change. A person might believe the change is important for others but not so important for their personal life.
The question, “Can I do this?” includes the dimension of ability. It stands to reason that if you are asking someone to get involved in doing something they have never done before, they need to know whether or not they have the ability. If they have never done it before, by definition, they don’t have the ability. Therefore, it is your responsibility in recruiting to explain exactly how the individual will gain the new abilities required. The main component of ability is the willingness to learn. From an ability perspective, given enough information, personal coaching and opportunity for sufficient practice almost anyone can do almost anything you might ask them to do.
The question, “Can I do this?” includes the dimension of readiness. Sometimes there is a lack of readiness because of other life pressures. Other plans that are already in progress get in the way. Generally speaking, most of these readiness issues could be set aside if the desire and urgency were at a sufficient pitch. There might also be some hidden issues of readiness. Individuals with secret sins will keep their sins secret until they are ready to repent. Such an individual will also invent other objections to keep from getting involved. If you answer all the objections this kind of person will think of another objection. What you really have to answer is an entirely different question.
Will it be worth it?
The other implied question requires a rather subjective answer. Will it be worth it? Clearly, if you are asking the person to get involved in something, you think the answer is a resounding, “Yes”. You have to explain why. Everyone has the default option to put self-interest above altruism. Curiously, one of the ultimate fulfillments for sel- interest is altruism. An individual is unlikely to help you because you need help. The individual is likely to help you because they feel the need for, or enjoy the results of, helping people like yourself. Make your appeal with this in mind.
This question raises the issue of risk. There is always a possibility that something won’t work out. Life never turns out quite the way you expect it to. Some people live life feeling cheated by this truth. Far better to accept it and take some risks. Most respected leaders after many years of leading when asked, “If you had life to live over would you take on more or less risk?” give a resounding answer. They would definitely risk more and do it earlier in their lives. They have come to the realization that nothing good happens without an element of risk. The greatest risk that life affords is that you will never take the risks you should.
Those two questions represent two elements of simplicity. They need to be seen as a pair. As you seek to move other people forward you must always address this pair of questions.
There are other ways that you can make things simple for people and for yourself for that matter.
Most of the time people think in a circle. They keep asking the same questions. And they keep being stumped trying to find the answers. This is a very frustrating experience. Perhaps the most frustrating question of all is the question, “Why?” As soon as you ask that question you are opening yourself up to its most common answer, “I don’t know why.” So even though we all have an unending series of why questions it is not productive to fish in that pond too often. All you will end up doing most of the time is think in a circle. Ask the question. Get the answer. Re ask the question. And get the same answer. That is a very frustrating approach to life. To keep life simple don’t get caught in that game. To help others keep life simple encourage them to quit playing that game. If they don’t, before they know it time will expire and the game will be over.
Thinking mostly consists of asking questions and then supplying answers. Bad thinking consists of asking questions and only looking inside for answers. Keep life simple by refusing to allow yourself to do bad thinking. Ask others for perspective. Study. Read. Watch. You have to read to lead. Those words rhyme nicely. I hope they bounce for you. Expand your definition of read to include all of the things that one can do to take on more information. If you are not a reader it will be difficult for you to become a leader. One study of CEOs of major corporations found that the average CEO reads one book a week. Now since you recognize that thinking consists mostly of asking questions and then supplying answers, you should be asking yourself the question, “Which came first the CEO status or the books?” And your answer to that question should be immediate and fairly obvious. You will not complicate your life by minimizing bad thinking. Many people think they will complicate their lives if they do anything but bad thinking. Remember, bad thinking is only looking inside for answers. You must feed your mind so that when you look inside there are better answers. God gave the best set of answers in the Bible. You had better use that as your primary text book. Get reading!
Since thinking consists mostly of asking questions and then supplying answers, it follows that better thinking involves getting better answers by asking better questions. Develope the skill of finding the better question. This will simplify your life and provide great power. There is an amazing power in an incisive good question because it points you in the direction of better answers.
The integration of the foregoing concepts will lead you to asking different questions. You might start out with a question, “Why?” And get the inevitable, “I don’t know why” answer. Perhaps you have heard the suggestion that one of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Isn’t it equally insane to go back and simply ask, “Why?” one more time? It would be much more reasonable for you to find a better question. “Is it possible to answer this why question?” “Does the Bible answer this why question for me?” “Who should I consult to find an answer to this why question?” “Since I don’t have time for that question just now, when will I schedule my thinking time to do research to find the answer?”
One of the versions of the why question is, “Why me? Why now?” Generally speaking, those questions are going to take you into a black hole where there are no answers. You are not so special that the cosmos is picking on you. Really. Would you rather some ubiquitous fate choose someone else on which to inflict this experience? Or would you rather have experienced this event at an earlier time? Or perhaps might tomorrow be a better day? It might be just as valuable for you to ask, “Why not me?” And “Why not now?” But the best thing is not to waste your pain and learn what you can from it. Ask, “What are the life lessons I can learn from this that God is in whole hearted agreement with?” God is not picking on you; He is supplying or allowing what you need to make you better.
Simple questions that get at the heart of the matter are extremely powerful. You must remember the power of simplicity every day. That requires that you become a student of the right kind of questions. The right kind of question always leads to action. Every time you get the answer to a question you are bound to uncover at least three more questions. So this is what you must do. You must control the direction of the questioning so that it leads to appropriate action.
The leader who takes things forward must point the way forward for others. When people are not leading they are attempting to look in all directions at once instead of simply looking ahead. The very best way to encourage a group of people or an individual to look forward is to ask questions that generate next actions. We are always in a mess. There will be an unending number of commentators who wish to describe how we got into this mess. There is a place for analysis as long as it does not lead to paralysis. The question an effective leader always asks is in the category of this question, “What are we going to do now?” Learn to be the leader to take things forward by asking questions that always track out a series of action steps.
There is one more power of simplicity issue I want to help you with. It is extremely useful as you are seeking to work with an individual or group to package items in groups of three . This is not a hard and fast rule but it is a useful configuration. For some reason, people seem to be able to anticipate remembering or acting upon a list of three things. Getting anything done will take many more than three steps as a general rule. However, you will profit greatly by developing the next three steps and promoting them to others.
In the life of the church this principle applies. Teach your church to take on three projects at a time. Ask people to apply your teaching in three different ways in a given week. Package things in groups of three . This doesn’t actually create simplicity. But it does create hope that things are simple enough to be acted upon. Once the list gets longer than three items anxiety and hopelessness rise. You are much better off to get three things done even though you could identify 10 important actions. With a list of 10 things to look at you will have a hard time getting people to take on even the first action.
The best thing that you can do all the time is to identify the three highest impact actions out of your list of 10 and dwell on those. In a slightly different vein, it is nearly useless to give people a long list of resources. They don’t need you for that. They simply can do a Google search and find a list. What they need your leadership for is to pick the three highest impact resources that you recommend.
You can keep things simple with people if you ask them to pay attention to three words. You might ask people to read three paragraphs, or three chapters or even three books. It all depends on the context but grouping things in three s makes things simple.
The chances of you getting an individual to take on new activities in their life rise greatly if you limit your expectations to three things at a time. You can start the process of thinking in three s with someone as young as three years of age. When the list is longer than three just select the three most important things. Remember simplicity. Functionally, people count like this 1, 2, 3, many. Many is a confusing number that is usually interpreted as too many. If people think in terms of too many they will probably stay passive and you will not engage them.
Use the power of simplicity as often as possible and you will see your effectiveness rise.

5 Utilize ... The Power Of Influencers

2008-10-08T07:56:00.000-04:00

I wish I had known this four 0 years ago when I got started on my ministry journey. I knew parts of it but it is only in recent years that I’ve come to appreciate its full impact.
I am deeply indebted to the one book that shifted my understanding on this subject more than anything else I have ever read. The book is simply called “Influencers”. This book is an analysis of people and systems that have changed the world from a sociological perspective. You will need to take its findings and enhance them for Christian ministry. At the barest minimum I want you to go to www.influencerbook.com and watch the videos. You can download some significant resources there as well. Seriously. Go and do that right now.
Moving forward with power is what we are all about in this book. I want to teach you what I learned so that you can benefit from my experience. One of the key things on my change list that is an added in the last year is what I am about to tell you.
The people who know me think of me as a visionary. Others use the word entrepreneur to describe me. I prefer that first definition to the second but I am most comfortable with the term “ministry engineer.” I am best suited to designing things that will improve ministry for others. Creating things that others have not thought of comes easier to me than to most. Generally, I just state the obvious. I find out later that it was none too obvious to the people to whom I made the statement. That is a sign of creativity.
The flip side of this personhood God invented is that I scare people. Some think of me as a threat because it appears that I wish to tear their world and work apart. Actually all I want to do is help them improve their results without adding more effort. The old, work smarter not harder thing. Some think that I think differently because I am rebellious. They are just flat wrong. I am not a rebel at all. I am as mainstream as it comes in my beliefs. I just think there might be other more effective ways to get things done. I make people uncomfortable because they think of me as a risk taker. It is kind of like I am an “Evel Knievel” of ministry looking for more busses to jump. And I scare people because I have a propensity to say what I think needs to be said regardless of what people may think of me.
Add all that together and it ends up that I am not of such an nature that I can easily get people to do what needs to be done without a strong team around me. Make no mistake about it, visionary people tend to irritate others. You don’t have to be a social outcast or a wierd sort of person to be an irritant.
However, since “birds of a feather flock together” I tend to attract people who are like me or at least wish they were. That is fun for us. But it is not good for production. It just amplifies the perception of wackiness!
I tell you that part of the story because some will see elements of their own personality in that description. You have good ideas. Some will tell you how good your ideas are. But it seems that not enough people are willing to work with you in implementing your ideas. They prefer to watch.
The better question to ask is not, “Why won’t they follow me?” It is, “What must I do to get them to follow me?” You see, if you ask, “Why won’t they follow me?” you are likely to elicit answers from yourself such as, “I guess I am not worthy of a followership.” And then the next question you might ask is, “Since I am not worthy of a followership, why don’t I just give up attempting to lead?” You see where this is headed. Nothing good will come of that line of reasoning.
On the other hand, if you ask, “What must I do to get them to follow me?” And you simply look inside yourself for the answer you are likely to call up the ineffective tactics you’ve already attempted. That is a sure way to get bad answers. If you’re tracking with me in this power movers action you already know that the answer can’t be found inside yourself. You must go on a quest outside of yourself to find answers. Let me give you the benefit of my experience. I have read a lot of books. I’ve looked in a lot of directions. I’ve talked to a lot of people. I have found no better answers to that question than the ones I found in the book “Influencers.” Did you buy that book on line yet?
In order to get people to follow, you must first of all win those who are already truly influential. I qualify the word influential with the word truly because some people who exert influence do so by force. Sometimes people just lay down in front of domineering people. To the naive eye that may appear as influence. But it isn’t true influence because it doesn’t come from the conviction of those being influenced.
The simplest way to find the true influencer is to ask, “Who would you count as the most respected individual in the group?” Of course, you are not looking for a pat answer to that question. The pat answer might bring forth the name of that domineering person. In that case, follow up with this question, “Who else comes to mind?” You might need to further explain that this person might not be someone who has been elected to be in charge. The key influencer maybe someone who is actually very quiet.
After you ask around, the names of the most influential people will bubble to the top. In any group of people all you need to find is the three most respected people and win them to your agenda.
Now don’t go running out and set up appointments to go over your binder full of information with these respected people. Typically, they earned the respect of the group by demonstrating that they were thoughtful, spiritual and representative of the middle of the pack. It takes time to win these people to your cause. Bear in mind that in some cases there will be seeds that sprout under your leadership that were planted by someone else. The respected people need to get to the place where they are desperate for change. This desperation builds over time. And it may be that you need to invest the time getting to know the deepest motives of the respected people. You need to express yourself with passion so that they understand your deepest motives. You need to give them the right to express to you when they think you are off course. And you need to demonstrate that you are willing to change to get back on course. Your reaction to their attempts at correction is critical. If you react defensively and put up a wall you will lose. If you respond with humility and additional questions to help you clarify what they believe to be true you have the possibility of winning. After you adopt some of the changes they recommend even if they seemed of no consequence to you, you will win their respect.
Once you have won the respect of the respected people you are on your way. Now is the time for you to discuss with those respected people the agenda you have in mind or the solution you are convinced will work. You need their advocacy. But you can never demand their advocacy. Let this respected person you are working with define the terms under which they will back your plan. If they need more information, help them find that information. If they need more time, give them more time.
The true influencers in your church have absolute veto power. You are not going to get anything done by doing an end run. At least you won’t get anything done that lasts if you attempt to bypass them. If you cannot find it within yourself to make effort to build a relationship with these people then you may as well pack your bags and find some other people you like in some other place.
You do not necessarily need to have these influencers lead the charge. You just have to have them agree to form an army and to be a part of it. It is also really useful when they will go on record and put their signature to a particular plan or direction. It is most powerful when these influencers will raise their voice with passion and persuasiveness to ask the rest of the group to join in the charge. If they do that the group will follow. Every time.
The group will follow every time. But in major steps some will drop out of the group almost every time as well. When someone quits it hurts. If they don’t officially quit but actually just slip away, as is often the case, it leaves a quiet internal wound. Usually it is useful to notice this internal wound and recognize the need for healing. The mere acknowledgment of the pain may in itself provide sufficient healing. If you make an effort to find out why the individual quit it might be useful, but not likely. The major usefulness in trying is the simple fact that you did try. Usually when someone quits they won’t tell the complete truth. Often such a quitter blames their withdrawal on the leader. The individual might attack the leader’s ideas. But since the group has already agreed to the ideas, it is more likely that the attack will be against the leader’s character, abilities or personality. Sometimes the quitter is simply not willing to pay the price implied in the new decision. It could drive you crazy trying to get to the bottom of it. My advice is that you shouldn’t bother enrolling in that course. There are no graduates.
Influencers only follow a well conceived plan. They don’t require a risk free plan. They know none exists. Influencers love to follow a bold plan. But they will only do so once they are convinced the plan has a good probability of working. The definition of success is easy for a true influencer. The true influencer knows that simply doing the right thing is in itself sufficient success whether or not the action gets the group to its intended objective.
By now you have probably noticed that I’m not advocating that you become an influencer of the group. I’m advocating that you become an influencer of the influencers. By the very nature of the case those who influence the group are not well equipped to develop the ideas for the group to follow. Those who influence the group are capable of recognizing a good idea but, generally speaking, they don’t come up with good ideas themselves.
There is a school of thought that suggests the people in the church should just simply give the keys to the pastor and let that pastor initiate a plan towards success. This approach works if that pastor, or key leader, in possession of the keys is themselves well respected and wise. The wisdom that key leader needs includes the understanding that an imposed plan is always doomed. The people in a church always vote. The vote doesn’t necessarily happen in an official meeting. They vote by folding their arms, putting a scowl on their face and moving to the back seat. And from their perch on the back seat they keep their wallets in their pocket and wait for failure. Withdrawal is never a good solution. It all comes down to the fact that anyone who wants to move a church forward must find a way to do it with unity. It seems to me that unity is best developed when people’s questions and concerns are transparent. The best way to get feedback from people is to invite it. It doesn’t make sense to me to create a system that is a metaphor for unilateral decision making.
Perhaps you, as I, have watched the new sheriff-guru-pastor ride into town on a white horse. Based on the report of this person’s reputation in the last town, people willingly put the reins of the church in this sheriffs hands. The new sheriff exhibits a take no prisoners approach to the battle. This seems exhilarating at first. Finally there’s a leader willing to do something. Yes, the leadership may seem a tad authoritarian but it appears effective. Some will quietly wonder if the new sheriff is arrogant but will scold themselves into believing the sheriff is just definite. Over time, the deputies in the town will just stay out of that leader’s way. In time that leader is left with no advocates. The next thing you know there’s a cloud of dust as the white horse leaves for the next town. But the job is half finished. The demolition of the old guard may be complete. But there isn’t enough energy left to move on with the reconstruction.
That scenario is no definition of a healthy church. And if the leadership is responsible for such disarray, it is clearly not healthy leadership for the church. The church may get blamed for being resistant to development or vision. And there is always a strong element of truth in that. But defining what went wrong will not create a better future. So the better question to ask is, “What will we do now?” It might also be healthy to, without recrimination, answer the question, “What did we learn in that episode?”
It is far better to avoid that world of heartache. Learn how to utilize the power of influencers. Healthy churches are organisms. Yes, they are complicated organisms. Yes, they are imperfect organisms. But managing that complexity gets more focused if you understand that every church has influencers. Whether they are elected or not, official or informal, they must be reckoned with in a positive and productive way. Don’t see the influencers as a threat with power to be neutralized. If you take them on, you will lose — almost every time. Instead, utilize the power of influencers.

6 Unleash ... The Power Of Mentoring

2008-10-08T07:55:00.001-04:00

As I look back on my life I recognize that I could have profited more by stronger input from others who were further down the road than myself. When I took the opportunity to call respected people and ask for advice I received good direction. If I stopped to think about it right now I am sure that I could come up with at least 50 sentences of bouncing words that changed my perspective and direction. I am so grateful for these.
I fault myself in not picking up the phone often enough to get the help I needed. I spent far too much time muddling around with my own devices. Now I realize that I could have found some shortcuts. My big mistake was that in my early formative years I missed opportunities for instruction and counsel. Perhaps I was unwilling for help because I feared others would recommend I reset my course. As honest as I can be with myself, I don’t believe that is true.
One thing I do believe is true is that others could have cared about me more and have taken the initiative to help me. While I can think of plenty of bouncing words, I can recall only a few times when they came because the other person initiated the conversation. I count that as a failure of the previous generation. And to their defense they did not receive all the help they could have from the older generation of their day. So they did not have a good example to follow. Therefore, they didn’t know how important it was.
As I have pondered the paucity of effective leaders for local churches I have attempted to analyze the cause. I think I understand it better now than I used to.
We have left the training of people for ministry up to the professors in Seminaries and Bible Colleges. Within the framework of their mandate and structure they have probably completed acceptable work. I am not convinced that the structure is sufficient enough nor, perhaps, the mandate find tuned enough.
As essential as the classroom may be, we all know that the application is rendered in real life. Development that stops at expanding and defining concepts without forcing application in real time is a big part of the problem. The problems are not so much in the ideology as they are in the execution of that ideology. We must develop structures and systems that are action oriented — not merely thought oriented. Inertia operates far more in the ambiguity of human contact than it does in the stimulation of intellectual pursuit. Inertia is the enemy. And to the extent that the classroom permits that proliferation of inertia we have a problem.
The Template
I think it’s simple. The template is provided for us quite clearly in two Timothy 2:2. Paul gives instruction to Timothy about exactly how he was to develop leaders. We would do well to heed his advice.
The first thing we notice in this verse is that Paul says to Timothy that there was an information exchange in the past into Timothy’s life. Specifically, Paul says, “I said things.” And he says, “Timothy you heard those things.” This information exchange did not happen in private consultation. It did happen in the presence of many witnesses. I take that to mean that Paul shared all of his information widely but that he had specific intention for that information with a select few. Or at least as far as we know by this verse, Timothy was the target.
There was a relationship between Paul and Timothy. In another place, Paul uses the word “son” referring to Timothy. That is an intimate word. There were no doubt many private conversations between Paul and Timothy to forge this relationship. They traveled together. They ate together. They no doubt shared the same bedrooms on occasion. They experienced ambiguity together. They suffered together. It is pretty clear that by the time Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, Timothy had figured out that this thing of Christian ministry is a full contact sport. You can’t be in the game and not get your uniform dirty. Timothy knew that by the time he got back to the locker room he would have some bruises. This knowledge provides the context. But Paul’s emphasis in our target verse is on the oral communication between the two.
I have already dwelt on the power of bouncing words. Paul knew that power. He insisted that Timothy replicate that power. And I want you to notice that the stewardship of Paul’s words that he gave to Timothy was the extent of what he wanted Timothy to use. I don’t believe that Paul had any interest in limiting Timothy’s enhancements and personal expression of concepts. But Paul’s first concern in this is that Timothy would take the exact material that Paul conveyed and do something significant with it. In short, Paul wanted Timothy to use Paul’s bouncing words.
Let’s take a moment to look at the first layer of application here. As we are thinking in the context of personal mentoring we must recognize that if we have something to say we need to pass it on. As importantly, we need to pass it on to people who will not reject it or reframe it but will use it as their very own. It was Paul’s requirement that Timothy not rebel against what he learned from the teacher but that he would actively use it. As I reflect back on my attempts at mentoring younger people, I regret that I wasted too much time with people who wanted to debate rather than learn. Legitimate questions for clarification are always in order. However, Paul left no wiggle room for Timothy to say, “I disagree with that.” I have not always invested time in the right people. The right person wants to learn. The right person doesn’t have any interest in taking you to school to explain the new wave of thinking that supersedes your old fashioned thinking. I want to be careful here. There are always changes within the culture. Younger people often have a better handle on those changes. Therefore, we must all learn from the emerging generation. However, the nature of that learning will always be more of a synthesis than an antithesis. If someone you seek to mentor is more interested in antithesis, it is probably better for you to lessen your intensity in attempts to help them until they grow into the recognition of the need for a synthesis.
At this point in our analysis we have Timothy in possession of knowledge within the boundaries Paul has set. And now Timothy has a stewardship he must fulfill.
Timothy’s responsibility is to take this knowledge and experience and pass it on to a select group of people. While Paul doesn’t say this, it is not inconsistent for us to expect that Timothy will do this in a public context as he himself received much of his tutelage in the presence of others. It is however very clear that Timothy should replicate the accountability process of which he has been the recipient and pass his stewardship on to reliable people. Therefore there is a limitation placed on Timothy’s focus. Paul expects Timothy to identify reliable people. Of course, there’s a full definition to the word reliable but I’m not going to dwell on that. I am going to dwell on the one component of reliability that Paul expresses. These reliable people are in part defined as those who are able to do something with the stewardship. If potential people are not those who are ready, willing and able to follow the instruction then they are not reliable. Timothy is not to pass his stewardship on through anyone who is unreliable. He is to it entrust his stewardship to those who are reliable. The word entrust creates a picture in my mind of one passing on a precious family heirloom to a member of the next generation. I see the sincerity in the eyes of both the one passing down the heritage and the one receiving it. This word entrust is a strong word.
Again, let’s look at the application of this for our generation. It is my experience that we have not carefully guarded the gate. Only those people should be let into the leadership development process who are themselves committed to living out that process. If somebody doesn’t qualify they can have all of the information in the general sense but the setting aside of them to carry it forward as a stewardship must be a carefully guarded process. When the individual fails to live up to the understanding of the process then we should move them out of the leadership circle and back into the general crowd until they are ready.
Getting back to our verse we must ask, “What are these reliable people to do?” The answer is simple. Teach. Teach others also. The word “also” gives us the clear indication that the instruction stays the same all the way from Paul through the chain to this fourth generation of reliable people.
This process is the engine of growth. The power in this engine of growth is astounding. Let me explain that part to you.
Four Generations
Just as a review, there were four generations in this verse. 1. Paul 2. Timothy 3. Reliables 4. Others. Let’s for argument’s sake say that in the present context you are generation 1. But I suppose I could say that I am generation 1. It always starts with number 1. And you are it!
I’m sure you understand that I am going to ask you to find a few Timothys to work with. That will be generation 2. Over your lifetime how many Timothys do you think you can find? I know you don’t know the answer to that question. But a more important question is, “What process will you develop to identify your next three Timothys?” I don’t think you can seriously work with more than three at a time. Remember the power of simplicity?
And now the next question is, “How long will you have to spend with each Timothy?” That question can be answered on several levels. One answer is that you will be close associates for a lifetime. Another answer is that as long as Timothy keeps working at it, you will spend as long as it takes. But the specific answer I suggest to you is three years. The Apostle Paul spent somewhere between two and three years in Ephesus and when he met with the Ephesian Elders as recorded in Acts 20 he said he declared the whole counsel of God. He got it done it in three years. That was the whole nine yards. So I think that makes a reasonable time frame for us to work with. And as to what the curriculum is for your experience with each Timothy, I am not going to dwell on it. However, it must emphasize the whole counsel of God as expressed in the Bible and the kind of experience that Paul and Timothy had together.
It is your express purpose in working with each Timothy to teach them how to replicate your experience of how to work with the next generation. Remember in our verse this is generation three .
That means that if over a period of three years you get three Timothys on the rails, then in the next three years they in turn will find three generation three people to work with.
Here’s the math.
Generation 1 = you (“Paul”) = 1
Generation 2 = your three “Timothys” = 3
Generation 3 = their three “Reliables” = 3 X 3
Grand total = 10 Reliable People leading the church. Time frame is six years and counting.
But actually by that time you will have personally added three more into the system and so we will really be working with 13 people.
Now let’s add generation four .
Generation four = “Others” = 9 X three = 27
And so in the space of about a decade just by working with three reliable people you and I ought to be generating about 40 Christian leaders.
Now let’s work just for fun.
Generation five = 3 X 27 = 81
Generation six = 3 X 81 = 243
Generation seven = 3 X 243 = 729
You add all that together and you have 1,093. That is the potential of creating your own mini denomination over the next 20 years. One of the wonderful things about all that from my perspective is that in 20 years they will have long since forgotten my name and that I started it all. And that is a good thing. I don’t want my name on it. I want His name on it.
There is one more reality factor for us to consider. No matter how precise your selection process, you will be fortunate indeed to have 50% of your potential Timothys work out. So over the next three years this is how it will work. You might recruit two right now and have only one of them work out. Perhaps zero. Perhaps two. You will only know in three years. This is part of your set of expectations that you will pass on to others. Your three dropouts might not be complete wipeouts. But they will be an ongoing source of grief to you. Show your grief to your Timothys and by example teach them how to press on in spite of it.
I believe this ought to be a major issue in your life. While you are working with a whole you must find this small group of people you will personally mentor. In an ideal world I think there should be approximately a 10 year age span between the Paul and the Timothy. That is true because Timothy needs to see that Paul is just a little further down the road. And Paul needs to remember what it was like to be at Timothys part on the road. But the world is never ideal. So work with anybody who wants to respond to you and your leadership.
I recommend that you approach people based on the principle of checkerboard management. Treat your relationship like a game of checkers. This applies to anyone at any level of leadership in your church but especially to those you are personally mentoring. You make a move in this checker game. You take some initiative and ask for a response. For example, you might ask someone to write something up for you by a particular date. Always state or negotiate a deadline for each move. Now it is the other person’s move. If they don’t make their move and complete the agreed upon assignment, notice it. Renegotiate the finish date or the nature of the project. Only give the individual about three chances. Explain the consequences of them not completing what they promised they would do. Namely, you won’t be able to work with them long-term. If you have to “fire” the individual, do it face to face. Never allow yourself to diminish your impact by becoming a nagger.
If you want to focus on the power of personal mentoring you’re going to have to readjust your schedule. These people are going to take perhaps 20% of your work week. That is a good thing. You are going to have to be very careful that you make every effort to pick the right people. It is your initiative. But they have to respond. If they won’t live by TQ-PEN send them to the back bench until they are ready to get in the game.
Fundamentally we need to tighten up the accountability and response working from the top down. Your mentors should be crushed by your disapproval and energized by your lavish approbation. They should live every day with your bouncing words rebounding around in their heads. When we get this right we will make such a difference. There is incredible power to be unleashed via your personal mentoring. Get started now!

Part C: 3 Power Accelerators

2008-10-08T07:54:00.000-04:00

You need to understand how to increase your impact with all people. You are going to run into all kinds of people and you have to know how to deal productively with every type. That is not an easy task. But there are some principles to apply that will make your road smoother with all.
You have to take everybody seriously. At the same time you always have to be willing to sell short on your expectations. Short selling is a term used in stock markets were someone evaluates that a particular stock is going to go down in value in the future. They negotiate a contract to sell the stock at a future date at a much lower price than it is currently worth and then make their money on the spread. It is kind of complicated and risky. But the point is this. Whatever you expect of people and the value of the stock they bring, you are probably over expecting. It is not likely that anyone will meet your expectations. Sell short right now and you will have a more peaceful existence as a leader. You will never go broke if you sell short on people. Sometimes you will get some pleasant surprises. Just don’t bank on them.
Since there are going to be happy exceptions, and you never know when someone will exceed your expectations, you need a positive strategy. Treat everybody as if they are going to be the one who rises above the crowd. And at the same time understand that on the aggregate you are going to be wrong most of the time. Get used to the dissonance that creates.
I have watched far too many people become disillusioned about Christian ministry. Somehow they thought things were going to be better than they were. They thought they would get more appreciation. They thought they would be treated with higher respect. They thought people would be more ready to adopt their ideas. They thought they would even get the pay raise that somebody suggested on the day they were hired, which raise would surely come in the future. Promises are just that. Promises, except those made by God, are not necessarily made to be broken but they often are broken.
There will be times of disappointment when people will let you down. In those times you must understand how to accelerate your power not diminish it. When your emotions are at their lowest ebb you may be one step away from your life’s greatest victory. How you respond in disappointment will be a great lesson for others to see.
I have discovered three keys to help me accelerate my power. I always hope for the best. I don’t always see it. But what I do know is this, the servant is not better than his Master. If the Son of Man didn’t have a place to rest His head I am way ahead living in a small house with a big mortgage.
If you have ever run into a phase in your life where you feel like having a pity party about how life is given you dirt, just go check out how tough it was for Jesus and the Apostles. You might just need to give yourself a shake. Quit comparing yourself with somebody else down the street and remember it is a privilege to serve the King of Kings.
When the burglar is smashing in your patio door it is no time for you to go out to the garage and start pumping iron so you can fight him off. The time to get ready for the crises in the tough times in your life is before they happen. If you develop a set of expectations that the battle is going to be fierce you will be prepared. And if the battle ends up being only a walk in the park you will be none the worse for wear having been properly prepared for far worse. Obviously the opposite is more likely. You never want to go into a battle under prepared. My experience has been that far too few are properly prepared.
In this section I am going to teach you some of the things that will help you evaluate the battles you are in. There are times in ministry when you wonder if you are impotent. Proper expectations will accelerate your power. Let me illustrate this way. If you were a professional baseball player in the big leagues you would only have to hit the ball effectively three times out of 10 over your lifetime to make it to the hall of fame. Nobody has ever flirted with four out of 10 over their career. Every baseball fan knows it. It’s just the way it is. That fact is very difficult for baseball players to manage at the emotional level. But the good ones get it right. In the same way, your batting average in ministry is going to be a whole lot lower than you wish. It’s just the way it is. That fact is going to mess with your mind and your emotions. These power accelerators are going to help you immensely with that as you apply them to your life and ministry.

7 Recognize ... The Power Of Behavior

2008-10-08T07:53:00.000-04:00

More words hit our eardrums today than ever before. We are bombarded with words from every side. Silence seems to have become an enemy. A high proportion of our society is uncomfortable without auditory stimulation most of the time. If the radio or television isn’t on in the background there is probably music playing on the iPod or computer. Even when walking down the street people have to be talking to someone on their cell phone. Where has all the silence gone?
Where I live, words have become fascinating. When walking through the grocery store I seldom hear English words. Families shop together and use the language of their homeland. And for about half of the population in my city that language is not English. This fact has made me acutely aware of words. I guess I used to inadvertently eavesdrop on people discussing which product they need to purchase. I never did so consciously. But now that discussion is masked to me because of the language barrier. The words graphically represented on all the products are all in English and French — the two official languages of Canada. But there are now hundreds of other unofficial languages Canadians speak at home which go disregarded on the labels. When these newer Canadians converge on the checkout desk English words are the only ones that count and both the checkout person and the customer use them, unless they both happen to speak Hindi or Swahili. It takes a tuned ear and some hard work to achieve meaning exchange through the various accents. Most everyone works in English but many prefer the language that is more natural to them because they learned it first.
While your context may not include the linguistic diversity mine does, I expect that you too live in less silence. And as often as not the sounds that break the silence contain words. Communication is a critical foundation to all of human existence. But if all we have are words we will never get anything done.
This heightened attention to linguistic capacities could be drawing attention away from more important things. The more time we invest in talking the less time we have to invest in doing.
There is definitely power in words. But when words do not turn to action we are in trouble. In church life we use more words than ever before. More words have been written about how to do church. And I presume more words are being read about how to do church. But is the church actually improving? In many cases, I think not. The problem is not necessarily in the ideas expressed by the words; the difficulty is that too many ideas never get put into action.
Cumulative Action
The life of the church is best defined in its cumulative actions. Those actions are often mixed with words. For example, a get well card contains kind words. But it is the action of actually sending the card that counts most. A series of phone calls to absentees to express concern is full of words, but the phone calls themselves are actions. A concerned Christian initiating a conversation to explain the heart of faith through a gospel presentation is full of powerful words but it is the action of starting the conversation that brings it all together.
Yesterday in a Christian bookstore I noticed a book in the bargain bin. It caught my attention because of the word “power” on the front cover. It seemed like a practical book on Christian living. However, sadly, it was written by a man who has been publicly disgraced because of his sinful behavior. It may be that he wrote this book at the same time as he was living a very double life. The words may be good; but his underlying actions weren’t. That book is still in the bargain bin. As others before me had done, I left it there. His words were not backed by complete and moral action.
It is quite possible for people to perform correct behavior in one part of their life and not back it up with consistent behavior in another part of their life. Such hypocrisy is never desired nor commended. But it is more safe to assume someone who acts properly in one part of their life also acts properly in all parts — or at least attempts to do so. While there will always be hypocrisy, good behavior even in one part of life is a positive sign of the rest of the life. On the other hand, someone who talks a good life without any apparent behavior to back it up always leaves a big question mark. They might not be actively immoral behind the scene but they are definitely not acting out true morality.
I Can’t Hear
Here is the power principle that has been often expressed. “What you do speaks so loud I can’t hear a word you say.” The principle is usually only brought to bear upon someone with obvious hypocrisy. I believe we need to work more carefully to value behavior over words in the broad context of all of life. What I truly value shows up in my behavior as it does with you. Talk without action has no power.
The best time to evaluate behavior is when no one is looking. One study — who does fund all these studies anyway — counted the number of people who washed their hands compared to those who didn’t when leaving a public washroom. The people who thought they could not be observed were far less likely to wash their hands than those who knew others were also in there with them. People are always on their best behavior when others might see. But we all know that who we really are is who we are when no one is looking. What is going on inside the heart will show up in the behavior over time. And what is going on when nobody is looking could explode into the public’s awareness. There might be a big difference in what people say they do and what they actually do. Don’t be surprised if you find that out. And if you can find ways to get people to do the right things together they are more likely to actually do the right things. For example, if you can arrange for people to pray with each other in very small groups of two or three , much more prayer is likely to happen than if you ask people to pray solo.
If the private actions are good news, making them public is a positive experience to be celebrated. We need more good news stories to cover the jarring bad news all around. On the other hand, you can be sure that at least some of the time when people are supposed to get things done by themselves they will report having accomplished what was expected when they didn’t do it at all.
The over proliferation of words can provide a smoke screen that masks inappropriate or insufficient action. Therefore, we generate power to evaluate the progress of people by watching what they do in addition to listening to what they say. And if we can be careful to watch their behavior out of the corner of our eye we learn much more. This helps us identify the people to encourage to the front of the pack as positive examples.
Action Not Just Talk
As you work with people always encourage them in the direction of acting on their words. For example, if someone says, “How is So-And-So doing these days?” In the ensuing conversation suggest they give that person a call and report back to you. Notice how they respond. If that person recoils from the suggestion, chances are their ability to act overall is weak. Make a mental note of it. That person is probably not ready for prime time. When someone says, “Why don’t we do such and such?” respond by saying, “Would you be willing to help organize that?” When someone says, “Ain’t it awful that such-and-such is taking over” agree and ask what part they have to play in stemming the tide.
As you seek to lead in the church context always think in terms of turning words into behavior. It is a sad fact that the majority of people are not going to behave very well most of the time. Most people in a church are going to be lethargic. Of course, no one will ever say to you, “I’m too lethargic.” They will say, “ I’m too busy.” Don’t believe it. They are not too busy to do the right things. Nobody is too busy. The reality is they are choosing other behaviors to occupy their time. They are not too busy; they have other priorities. As a leader your responsibility is to get people to choose better behavior and set loftier priorities. So don’t be shy. Ask for their time and the change in their behavior.
A healthy church is an active church. The church becomes active when more individuals within the church take action. The more times you as a leader put an appeal directly to an individual to take action the more they will get the picture. They will either take action or avoid making suggestions that are likely to get you coming back at them with an appeal for action. In a healthy church the spotlight is not on what people say they would do in a given circumstance; it is what they actually do when that circumstance arises.
There is a time for talk as long as it is followed by action. Hours are wasted in churches talking about how to love the community that could be used in actually loving a community. Never allow anyone to go into a community action committee meeting without expecting to come out in a pair of work gloves. I have watched churches achieve considerable transformation by getting involved in practical action.
The church is unhealthy when the leaders of the church have less personal Christian action in their life than the people they are seeking to lead. This possibility can be monitored with the survey and report in the Church Health edition of The Ministry ToolBox. The leaders of the church never get to coach from the sidelines; they must also take their turn getting into the game. If you are the prime leader in a church where the secondary leaders refuse to get involved collectively then you will simply have to take the most responsive leaders and get them involved individually. Ask an individual to come along with you as you take action. Do this with each of those secondary leaders in one way or another and over time they will move forward.
Personal
Positive behavior is essential at several levels. In a healthy church more people place tighter restrictions and higher expectations on their personal behavior. Correct personal behavior grows out of a personal devotional life. People must be encouraged to examine themselves regularly and candidly. That examination is best conducted in the context of Bible reading and prayer. Then the power of the Holy Spirit is brought to bear on the many incremental changes in thoughts, attitudes, words and actions. Personal behavior is always foundational. Always expect the same level of behavior on the street as one might exhibit when on their best behavior in church.
Relational
Relational behavior needs to be carefully examined. A healthy church develops a self-monitoring system where people notice and comment on inappropriate relational behavior. When a group of people starts down a line of negative conversation someone who notices should say, “I don’t think we should be talking this way.” When someone notices a parent speaking inappropriately to a child they should make a mental note of it and at another time lovingly speak to the parent about it. A healthy church is a church family. This level of relational correction of behavior is to be encouraged and expected.
Communal
The things a church does as a community should be thought of as a metaphor for the actions the individuals within the church demonstrate in their personal lives and relationships. An unhealthy church might develop vocabulary that would never be used in the marketplace. The unhealthy church might develop an insincere or affected tone of speech. It could adopt a distinct type of dress or personal grooming style. An unhealthy church will develop its own little subculture and take it for granted. When outsiders observe this little club atmosphere they find it very objectionable.
The individuals who make up the healthy church behave Christianly in every context of their lives. The church teenager won’t be embarrassed to meet the church youth worker in the hall of the school. The plant manager won’t feel awkward if the pastor observes the team meeting. The athlete from the church won’t feel the need to clean up his language in the locker room if someone is listening. The stay-at-home mom wouldn’t change her conversation across the back fence if Jesus himself were standing there.
Since the behavior of the individuals who make up the church is so critical, it makes sense for the prime church leaders to observe the behavior of church people in as many contexts of life as possible. This takes some deliberate and intentional action on the part of the leaders. It means you have to drop in on people. Find a way to intersect as many people as possible in their lives on the job, in the streets, at the sports venues and in the homes.
Notice and celebrate the behaviors you want more people to replicate. Do this publicly, in formal and informal small groups and in individual conversations. Explain to people who aspire to leadership that you expect them to do certain things. It doesn’t have to be complicated. You expect all of your leaders to take notes in the church meeting and to sing with passion. You clearly state that you respect the people most who put the most in. You ask people to do simple things like sitting beside someone who was alone in a church meeting. And when it happens you make a note of it and in a private conversation explain how encouraging their behavior was to you.
One simple but significant concept is that you expect people to behave in a courteous and friendly manner with all people. Encourage people to talk to strangers. Notice when an adult initiates a positive conversation with a child. Ask people to develop the habit of looking to the needs of others. Make sure that all who are involved in any kind of leadership in your church understand that they are expected to encourage others. Leaders are supposed to be well prepped and enthusiastic about the vision and upcoming events in the church life. Much more can be accomplished in informal conversations than anyone could imagine. Make those conversations count.
More action; less talk. The noise of the words can be overwhelming at times. And definitely we need to learn to rediscover silence. It is far too easy to let the church’s life become defined by the words. People can talk as if they can play it out well. Be sure that others understand you are far more interested in how they actually behave than in what they say. Resolve to become the person of action because others are following you.

8 Capture ... The Power Of Involvement

2008-10-08T07:52:00.000-04:00

You have seen the pictures of the good old days of the agricultural society with fewer and much smaller engine driven implements than we have today. Perhaps you have imagined how hard the work was. I expect you have seen pictures and perhaps reenactments of harvest time on the farm. These seem like they were such energized events. However, I think we sometimes forget that once they finished taking the crop off one field the whole community needed to move down the road and do it all over again. The level of cooperation and integration was remarkable. Everyone knew their role. From the youngest to the oldest there was something to do.
We tend to idealize these pictures of extreme involvement. But when you stop to think about it you have to realize that there were tense moments. You can be quite sure all the women didn’t see eye to eye about the menu for the meals in general, or in specifics such as how much salt to use. At the primary business end of the operation, no doubt there were right and wrong ways to use the harvesting equipment. When something broke because of misuse you just have to know that there were some strong words spoken. And yet some things were certain. Everyone was there. The job had to get done. It was a matter of survival. The job did get done.
We might wish for the same level of intensity in church, but we don’t see it is often as we would like. In recent days I have had several people remark to me that it isn’t like it used to be. They were referring to their perception that commitment is much weaker than it used to be. It is hard to get people to take on a job and then show up and do the job. It is even harder to get them to continue to do the job with commitment week by week. I have been trying to figure out if that perception is correct. I find myself fighting off the conclusion that people are simply not dedicated enough.
Perhaps us old crusty types sitting on park benches while leisurely watching the younger generation mess up are right. But perhaps we are wrong. Perhaps it was never as good as we think it used to be. Perhaps we were so busy with our sleeves rolled up that we didn’t notice the old crusty types sitting on park benches complaining how incompetent we were. And we didn’t have the time or inclination to focus much on those who weren’t involved.
For Better or Worse
It really doesn’t matter if things are better or worse today. What does matter is that we find the ways to make things better today and tomorrow.
One of the things we can do to capture the power of involvement is to understand what creates involvement in the first place. It is very easy to believe that a personal commitment is the best seedbed from which to grow involvement. That is incorrect.
If you take a few moments and ponder how you got committed to a particular things in your life you will realize that the commitment followed the involvement. You got involved first and the commitment grew. If you are married, you probably had a first date. That was involvement. The rest is now history. You are committed.
One of the greatest tactical errors we can make in church life is to degenerate into perennial public rants about how we need higher levels of commitment. Such appeals when repeated too often fall on deaf ears. The best way to recruit people is always one at a time. Asking for volunteers is a good way to put people on notice; it is not an effective way to get the volunteers we need. They must be recruited one at a time. And there are effective and ineffective ways to attempt that.
You have to sneak up on them. That means you should always avoid asking the question in such a way that is likely to get the opposite response to what you desire. For example, if you ask someone to take over a role permanently that is likely to meet with rejection or hesitation. On the other hand, if you ask someone to sit in and observe a particular role, you are much more likely to gain an affirmative answer. Of course, that doesn’t get you to the end but it could be a beginning. From there you can ask the person to be a helper for one part of one event. As an example, you could ask someone to supply refreshments or help with setup on a one off basis. If that goes well, you could ask the person to help on a semi regular basis. Take it one step at a time. Get the person involved and perhaps the involvement level will expand step by step. Once the involvement level expands and they catch a vision for the opportunity commitment will not be an issue.
Involvement Leads to Commitment
There is tremendous power in capturing this principle. Involvement leads to commitment. Constantly encourage people to new involvement on a time limited or occasional basis. Church leaders often complain that 80% of the work is being done by 20% of the people. However, our research on a broad basis indicates that one third of the people in a typical local church would be happy to be recruited for a task if it would fit with their schedule and they were given adequate training and support.
People have to start somewhere. Don’t make the mistake of asking them to dive off the diving board into the deep end. Let them put their toe in the waters of the shallow end and get used to that first. Some people take longer to get their feet wet. Others will always stand on the deck and fear the water. But nobody who is totally committed didn’t first get wet. Expect that everyone will at the minimum put their toe in the water at one place or another. Don’t let it be normal for anyone to attend your church who doesn’t get involved.
Get In Fast
There should be a very short time period between the time that an individual first attends an event of your church and the time they experience involvement in the working life of your church. Build the cultural expectation into your church that everyone has a job at some level or another and you will be well underway to building and growing a healthy church.
It is relatively easy to start this cultural expectation in a new church start. It is more difficult in an existing church. You can’t just start with the newcomers or they will notice that they have been set up. You must start by expressing the expectation that everyone will do something of service in the life of the church. You must create a long list of small responsibilities and recruit everyone to cover something. It is also prudent to be sure that an untested person is first given a responsibility that isn’t crucial or that has a backup plan if they fail to deliver as promised. You must also be sure that you recruit people to appropriate roles. Obviously, you will not put a newcomer in charge of teaching or supervising people, especially children. And you will always do better if you recruit two people to accomplish one task. They will probably build a friendship. And they are more likely to hold each other accountable.
Put together a brainstorming list of all of the safe jobs that could be accomplished. Break the jobs down into the smallest possible segments. For example, avoid asking one person to be in charge of the coffee, tea and juice. That is at least three jobs. Actually, you can probably brainstorm that into many more than three jobs. You need a coffee buyer and you need a dishwasher. Make the list as long as you can make it. And don’t forget your children and teenagers they all need jobs as well. A child can’t purchase the coffee but she can put cups on a table. A teenager can learn to make coffee. Better than that, two teenagers can learn to make coffee as a team.
In creating involvement you must overcome the belief that it is easier to do it yourself. All of the people you recruit will not instinctively divide up their responsibilities and ask others to help but you must teach them to do this and notice when they fail. In fact, failure to delegate should become a fireable offense! Everyone must understand that the main job is not the obvious part. The main job is always building people. People grow best when they have others around them to lend support.
The Bad Episode Doorway
There’s another doorway to commitment that isn’t pleasant but it is common. It is the bad episode doorway. When an individual goes through a difficult time in their life it opens their awareness to the fact that others may be just like them. I have a good friend whose wife is just finishing a very scary episode with cancer. Through that episode my friend has realized that the spouse of a cancer victim has their own set of difficulties which often go unrecognized. Last week he told me that he has three people in mind with whom he is going to initiate conversation to minister to them. I just love it when that sort of thing happens. Instead of whining that nobody cared for him, he is going to take his experience and use it as a springboard to get involved in helping others.
We see this effect reasonably often on the public stage. Someone who has survived a tragic chapter in their own life takes on the challenge to start a ministry to people in similar circumstances. And that is a very good thing. However, more often than not the local church is not a primary recipient of that benefit.
I am much more interested in the health of the ordinary local church. Whenever you see someone in your church responding to a particular wound in their own life, explore the possibility of getting them engaged in developing a personal ministry. This could be a formal program. In a larger church that is more likely. It might even get to the point of having a support group for the spouses of cancer survivors. But just let that evolve. Make sure that people understand it is your expectation for them to turn their negative experiences into positive ministry on an informal basis.
A healthy church is a church where high percentage of people believe they are significant to the life of the church because they are involved. Focus on the involvement. Make it your practice to recognize and appreciate that involvement regularly. One of the ways you can do this is through a card ministry. You can send a thank you card to everyone several times a year and you won’t be overdoing it. Think about it. Was there ever a time in your life when people thanked you too much? The easiest possible way to do this, and also the most economical way, is to use a system developed by a company called Send Out Cards. I want you to go to my wife’s website www.WendyCarter.name and sign up for a gift account. At our expense we would be happy to let you send out a few cards to experience the quality of this program. Wendy would enjoy saving you time by explaining this system over the phone with you. It is absolute dynamite.
Back in those days of yesteryear on the farm when harvest time came everyone knew that their involvement was essential. We look at those pictures with great fondness without recognizing the beads of sweat that created that total involvement. Church life is like that. The fond memories created while people work shoulder to shoulder outweigh the tiredness in the muscles that completed all the work.
You must learn all of the techniques that you can possibly learn to get more involvement out of people. It is much more probable that this is the shortest route to their commitment to service for the Master.

9 Acknowledge ... The Power Of Ratios

2008-10-08T07:51:00.000-04:00

Church leaders are social beings as a rule and as such drift away from detail — particularly statistics. They may acknowledge the worth of statistics somewhere in the universe but find it difficult to think in terms of being bound by them. I don’t know an advocate of keeping attendance records who believes that by itself is a proof of church malaise or health. But in the end of the day everything comes down to numbers because every person is represented by the number one. And therefore the church is only the aggregation of those ones.
I wish I had a dollar for every time someone mentioned at some grand church conference that it isn’t about the numbers. Perhaps the chairman of the conference explains that the participants come from churches large and small and communities large and small and that there are no insignificant places or insignificant people. Faithfulness is the measure of success. There are the obligatory and hearty amens. And then after a short pause the chairman goes on to introduce the speaker of the day. The glowing terms always include statistics. It is about the size of the church. It is about the number of paid staff. It is about the number of ministries. It is about the number of church members who have gone on to be missionaries. It is about the number of books the speaker has published. All of that is evidence to point to the success of the speaker and therefore the reason the speaker has been engaged for the event. Perhaps even to tell the success story.
I am always glad to hear about big and successful. And I enjoy listening to the perspective and wisdom of the speaker. Usually I draw the conclusion the speaker was well chosen. However, often it has been forgotten that the road to big and successful started with small and untried. In the present case, small and untried apparently turned into small and successful before it got to big and successful. Most successful people will tell you that they learned more from their failures than they did from their successes. Perhaps sharing some of the small unsuccessful endeavors with the attendant lessons would serve better than the tale of success. Or at the very minimum, most leaders would be well served by hearing the small success stories or the story of the pains on the trail to the success.
Not Big Or Small
I would like to put big and small into the background. I’m not sure they count for much. I would rather understand more about growth. And sometimes that growth is not as numerically transparent as one would hope. It is hard to track the route from the day that child responded to Christ in the Sunday school class under the ministry of some obscure but faithful servant/teacher. As often as not, when it does happen, that Sunday school teacher never saw the success during their natural days. You never know what will grow from the good seeds you plant. Just keep on planting.
According to Jesus sometimes the harvest has a 30 to 1 ratio, a 60 to 1 ratio, and sometimes it has a 100 to 1 ratio. You can never figure that out at the time of planting. But you can know this. If you plant good seed there will be a harvest that far outstrips the bag of seed you started with.
All of that speaks to the grand and eternal scale of things. But in the micro world in which we live day to day we must be wise stewards of our resources of time and money. We need to understand the results hour for hour, pound for pound and dollar for dollar. After all is said and done, it is all about the efficiency and effectiveness of everything we put out. If we invest a buck and somehow through a chain of actions that buck doesn’t come back to us in donations we won’t be able to reinvest it and keep the process alive. When the buck brings a return of two bucks then we are on to something. That is a 100% return on investment if it happens in the same year!
There are ways to measure some things in ministry. If we subsequently use the measurements we take then they were well worth taking in the first place. It might not make sense to keep track of the attendance figures if they will prove no future significance. The trouble is we can’t know what the future significance might be. So it seems to me we may as well keep track just in case. Meticulous record keeping can yield very positive insight at a future date.
Realism
I have found that it helps the Christian leader to keep their feet on the ground if they know what to expect from a numerical perspective. When I was a young pastor I initiated an evangelistic campaign in the church. There was a high level of involvement of people in the planning and in the execution. From many perspectives the program was a roaring success. Within the congregation we conducted an “each one reach one” initiative. We prayed for individuals and families by name. The list wasn’t as long as I had wished but it was significant. Many of the church people did bring someone with them to the banquets we conducted. The message was clear. The atmosphere was positive and energized. In terms of follow-up we planned some Bible studies for those who wanted to learn more.
Given the information we had at the time we conducted a very successful campaign. But the information we had at the time was incomplete. The premises I was working with were not realistic. As far as I know, there was not one convert from all that effort.
I didn’t understand how many invitations needed to be given out to achieve the results we longed for. I didn’t understand how many touches it would take to engage people in their first Bible study. Most telling of all, I really didn’t understand that if we didn’t follow up with people one at a time they wouldn’t harvest themselves. We never talked to them personally to get them to yes or no.
But I’m not the only naive one. A few years ago we helped some people start one new church in particular. That church is thriving today. There were three 06 people at the first service. And then the church settled in to an attendance in the 150 neighborhood and has grown from there. The week after the first service I had a pastor from another church call me to ask how we got such an astounding response from such a multi-ethnic and hard community. I explained that we communicated with as many people as we could to find those who were willing to hear from us over the phone and through the mail. Eventually we invited them to church. I asked that pastor to guess how many phone calls it took to get three 06 people out to a first service with a very small launch team. That pastor said we must have made quite a few. I said, “Yes but could you guess a number on that for me?” This person said, “It must have been about 600 phone calls!” I responded with, “Would you believe over four 7,000?” This seminary trained church leader had no idea what it would take. I expect this pastor has moved on to look for something easier. I have never heard back.
Establish the Range of Results
No matter what you do you have to have an understanding of what your efforts are likely to produce. If you do something often enough and track your efforts you will begin to develop a ratio. Once you understand the ratio of the number of actions you must take to get a particular result, it gets easier on you. Let’s just for a moment say it takes X number of actions to achieve Y results. Then we know that in order to get 10Y results we need to conduct 10X actions. Never make the mistake in church life of setting a numerical objective of 100Y when you have no idea how many actions it takes to achieve that. You cannot manage the results nearly as easily as you can manage the actions. If you know your ratios you won’t even come close to imagining a result of 100Y if you haven’t established the cost of 100X. If all you can muster in human terms is enough hours of volunteer service and dollars to amount to the equivalent of, say, 26X then all you can expect is results in the range of 26Y. Those who are looking for something easier to get the results you are looking for all make any number of suggestions of what they believe will work. But if they have not established realistic expectations by doing their research and even pre testing, all they will do is send you off on a wild goose chase.
That wild goose chase may lead you to the church in the next town who is claiming great results. If you like the look of the results then take a very hard look at how many actions it took to achieve those results. Maybe they have a better idea. You need to find out.
How long does it take to find one lost sheep? The answer is simple. As long as it takes. The question is, “Are you committed to finding the lost sheep in the first place?” While you can’t know exactly how long it is going to take. You can know that you are committed to finding out the hard way. Once you have found one you will have an idea about how long it might take to find the next one.
The 5% Factor
Think in terms of a 5% factor when it comes to something difficult. It will only work out 5% of the time. Only about 5% of the people you work with in your church are truly going to get in sync with you. You are going to have to find a way to leverage the participation of the 5% to move the 95% forward as far and as fast as you can. You must not get disappointed with the fact that some people simply will never get it. You have to work with the possibility of disappointment in mind. Managing the zones of grief that are created when things don’t work out as you wish is one of the most important management skills to develop.
Only about 5% of the population stand out in any measure in any realm. Once you identify a 5%er latch on and utilize that relationship as much as you possibly can.
It might even be more difficult than that. I read somewhere that Colonel Sanders loaded himself up in his car and pitched 1000 restaurants before he found one willing to take on his secret recipe. I don’t know if that’s a fact or a myth but it makes a great story anyway. And it is a fact that he started this whole pursuit rather late in life.
When you want to quit you will be able to think of a long list of reasons as to why you should. Just don’t quit until you find some good reasons. Keep adjusting your approach to everything in life in an attempt to improve the ratios on whatever it is you are doing. But don’t fall prey to the generalizations people often make. “Nobody will come out to a meeting on a Tuesday anyway.” “I can’t find anybody to help.” “There is no point in planning anything for the summer because everybody is away.” When you look under the skin of such statements you will find a high degree of narcissism. The individual speaking won’t be there on Tuesday. The person recruiting only tried one conversation. The planner didn’t want to interrupt their own vacation schedule.
When someone says they tried “that” and it didn’t work, explore with them exactly what they tried and how often they repeated their effort. I have some bouncing words I like to use. “I don’t count it a try until I have done it 21 times.” Even one round of golf gives you 18 opportunities for a good drive. And if you finally get one, that will be the only one you remember anyway. That’s what keeps duffers going. You have to be really bad at it before you start to get good at it.
Even if you are not statistically oriented you should start to keep rough count on anything that seems difficult but could produce a ratio. If your ratio that appears is 10 to 1, then you will know on average you must make 10 attempts before you even think of allowing feelings of discouragement to slow you down. And since you can’t be sure that the ratio will present itself symmetrically in equal proportions, you have to get to at least 20 actions on a 10 to 1 ratio before you start evaluating whether or not you should change your approach.
The power in all this comes with the knowledge that you can manage your activity knowing that over time things will work. You must not live in the moment when something goes poorly. Remember that in the next moment things will be different. Eventually you will reap the harvest if you do not faint.

Conclusion

2008-10-08T07:50:00.000-04:00

I never learned any of this in seminary, did you? I learned it all in the school of hard knocks. And I am very grateful for my continuing education process. I am not done yet.
Leadership is mostly about leading yourself first. You will notice this balance as you review what I have written. I don’t think that the problems that you face are nearly so much with the other people as you may think. I believe that my biggest problems are contained within the outer ages of my two ears. Are you the same as me?
Most of what I have read over the years about leadership has come from those who assume that one is leading in a large context. Yet there are many more leaders in smaller contexts than larger. The people who often write on leadership are those who are known to be exceptionally gifted. And that is as it should be. However, the liability in that fact is that ordinary, less gifted people often feel like they cannot implement in their world the tactics and strategies outlined. The demands for them to become more than they are often lead them to discouragement.
I set out to write this book on Monday. It is now Thursday of the same week. How can I say so much in such little time? Actually, it isn’t that difficult. I have worked from about 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM and then have set out to enjoy the rest of the day with drives and walks with my wife. The voice recognition software built into my computer operating system has helped immensely. I can’t type this fast. But I can talk at a good pace. (I highly recommend you get into voice recognition software. It will increase your productivity immensely.) All that is just detail. The fundamental reason why I can state what I’ve done so quickly is that I’ve marinated in this information for quite some time.
I promised you at the outset that I wouldn’t give you derivative material. I didn’t mean to suggest by that I haven’t learned from a lot from other people and writings. I certainly have. Perhaps I should have footnoted more concepts as I went along but frankly I have no idea where I learned most of what I have learned. You will have to be the judge of the correctness of my perspective.
If what I have offered you here makes sense to you than I have much more to offer. I am particularly tilted towards helping people start churches. While it is difficult, it is easier to start a church in most cases than it is to attempt to fix one. I can coach you on how to start a church because I have been there so many times myself. If you think I might be of help to you please give me a phone call. I do live by that TQ-PEN promise. And my coaching conversations always start with a free consultation over the phone. Then we take it from there.
These days I invest more time building resources to help in our certification of coaches through Compass Coaching International (www.CompassCoachingInternational.com). I help certified life coaches expand their own coaching practice. And those coaching practices are in diverse niches. Check out our website there and learn about coaching and even the potential of you making a living as a paid life coach. Others on that team cover much of the training in the coach certification process and maintain their own private practice in coaching as well in various niches. I coach church starting pastors. That is my primary passion.
It is unlikely that I will meet in person with many who read this book. At least not on this side of the grave. I look forward to the other side when I find out how wrong I was! However if you wish to challenge any of my conclusions here stated please let me know. I really want to learn from you and improve my skill for the Master.
I set out this week to get myself focused on a power surge. The three sets of three essentials we have covered here are for me too. As I write I realize that in several areas I can do better. I have moved some more things onto my change list. Now I am ready to go home and get busy with better focus. These words will help me to the extent that I follow through and put them into stronger actions. I will do that. I hope you will too.
Please let me know how these words have helped you. I would really like to know what you think I left out and where what I wrote hit home for you. I love taking phone calls and answering e-mails. So, please get in touch!

Meet In The City [ Part 2]

2008-08-01T14:50:00.001-04:00

Should you think in terms of renting as a long term solution?

My answer is that if all you can do is all you can do then all you can do is what you should do. So rent if you must.

The traditional option in North America is to start a church using a school facility. And I heard somewhere that you do a tad better if that is a high school and not a grade school. Schools are often located on major streets. But more and more new schools are embedded in the subdivisions where people live. Those are often hard to find for newcomers to church. If a person attempts to come to church and they have to make 3 turns off a main street they will get lost on the way. Or at least they will have the option of "I couldn't find it" as their excuse for turning around and going home. I heard recently of someone seeing sandwich board signs all over the place but they were still not able to follow the arrows. Go figure. Honest. College graduates. But the signs didn't work for them.

That is a bit off topic here but it points to the need to make sure you think all this through carefully.

Back to rent or not.

I have never met anyone who started a church in a school and who was still there three years later who thought that the school was a long term solution. The number one complaint I hear is that they got tired of setting up and tearing down every week. If that is the only reason then hire people to do your set up. There are lots of teenagers out there who know which end of a chair belongs on the floor. The cost of purchasing that labor is much less than the cost of the interest on the mortgage you will need for the facility of your dreams. Seriously, why pay for ministry staff when you could have good people in your church volunteer to do much more ministry if they didn't have to set up and tear down every time you meet. Chair setters come cheap. The same thing applies for most of the work that needs to be done to set up your Rolling Stones quality sound system. Most of the work is in the lugging not the plugging.

My biggest objection to resting in the school beyond an initial start up phase is not the mundane of the foregoing. I just don't like it when people don't pay their own way. The rent for the school, and more and more school boards are cottoning on to this, never covers the real cost of the school. Rent is found money for the school so they only cover the cost of keeping the thermostat set and the floor mopped. But the rent you will pay won't cover your part in putting the mortar between the blocks or even repainting the blocks.

So the real cost of housing a church is not addressed. The church sinks into expectations that they could have a big roof over their head and still only use it to capacity for a couple of hours a week. It just doesn't work for me.

Here is how it goes. The church gets tired of setting up and tearing down so someone says, "Why don't we lease that old empty store over there?" Then one of two things happens. If the owner of the store is really desperate you get the answer that you want to hear for a limited time. So you go back to the church and talk about the wonderful opportunity to lease the building at a preferred rate. Then of course when the lease ends, the rent doubles and you are worse off than you were in the school. Or the other alternative which is even more favorable is that the owner quotes you the market rent. You either find a way to meet the terms of the market or not.

You see, if this were the price of a cup of coffee you would understand it more readily. If someone is selling you a cup of coffee for 25¢ you know something is up. You don't actually believe the 25¢ number tells the whole story. You just have to know that there are some other obligations that will follow. To follow the analogy here, the full story is you can have the coffee for 25¢ if you're willing to pay $3.00 for the doughnut.

There's only one reason why somebody wants to rent you something. They want to make money. So at the end of the day it ends up being cheaper to purchase than to rent. Renting might save you a little money today but it will cost you more money in the long term.

If renting is all you can afford to do then renting is what you should afford to do. However, it is highly likely it will not be suitable for the long-term.

I hate it when I have to be the bearer of difficult news for people. You might actually believe that I am negative about all this. Not really. It is sort of like salvation. I have to get you to admit that you're a sinner before I can get you saved!

I have thought long and hard about all of this. And I have drawn some conclusions that are really exciting. I will roll them out for you in the future.

Meet In The City

2008-07-21T15:56:00.001-04:00

Most leaders with a heart for starting churches realize that the population shift toward the cities is a long term trend that doesn't appear to be slowing. In North America, certainly there are some who are moving out from the cities to the smaller towns for a quieter gentler life style. And the potential for tele-commuting helps facilitate this. However, that is still only a trickle of population compared to the expansion into larger cities.

Starting a church in, or on the edge of a city is hard enough. But the cost of permanent property on which to build a traditional church building will continue to inflate. Even if you could afford a piece of dirt on which to build you still have to find the money for the building itself. This is still being done. It can be done. However, the reality is that the days appear to be numbered for that concept.

So, you want to start a church? Where will you meet? In a rented school? And how long will that serve you? Suppose your answer is 3 to 5 years. If you are starting from scratch you will need to gather up enough money to have that 3-5 acre site on the edge of a North American town paid for, or at least mostly paid for, before you build. Land costs vary everywhere but just suppose for a moment that land will cost $250,000 an acre. That means that your new church has to gather up about a million bucks before you get the shovel in the ground. The price might be less in a smaller center but it will be more in a big city. Now, does that scare you? It would me! Consider the expectation of the supporters from beyond your church that they will help you out for a few years but not perpetually. You have to find a way to support yourselves. Paying rent and saving up at the same time is rather daunting.

An alternative is to think in terms of permanently renting a space. In another post we will look at that option.

If you are going to start a church you will have to exhibit a large measure of faith. And at the same time you will have to do so within the framework of reality. You have heard of exceptional circumstances where some generous donor covers the cost of a choice property. When that happens it is wonderful! But that is the exception. Creating a plan based on the exception is unwise.

The long term health of your church will be impacted by the questions about where you meet. If you start in one general framework such as a high school gymnasium or auditorium, your people will expect that someday they will have some place permanent like that in which to meet. Only, they probably will expect something nicer.

I am not supplying answers here. I believe there are some answers and I will get to some of them in due course. For today, all I want you to consider is the need to formulate an answer to the question, "Where will we meet in 5 - 10 - 20 years?"

On another day I will suggest some answers. Stay tuned!

Think and Rethink

2008-03-01T21:16:00.001-05:00

There is a big buzz right now on emphasizing words like "authentic" "organic" and "natural." I think this is all part of the "pomo" thing -- post-modern for the uninformed. The resistance to things that are systematized without a heart has overshadowed the things that are systematized with a heart. Since people want something with a heart many are now rejecting anything that is systematized. That is the old "throw out the baby with the bathwater" problem.

As soon as it appears organized, it also appears suspect to some. But when you think about it that is such an over simplification. If six friends agree to get together at Starbucks at 11:00 on Thursday morning to muse about the fact that the world is so plastic and insincere, they are forgetting that the calendar just organized their life. The calendar always has. Systems and calendars. Sorry people, there is no such thing as absolute spontaneity.

If one accepts that premise then the discussion shifts from avoiding structure to discussing which structure can most effectively meet needs. Structures tend to resist change. So it is important that we identify the best structure based on a kind of rolling calendar. And sure, let’s get together at Starbucks on Thursday morning at 11 am to start the discussion.

Super Stars

2008-02-26T14:39:00.001-05:00

I hear the Spice Girls are at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto tonight. I hear but I don't care, except for this -- it got me thinking about the concept of the superstar.

In the church realm, we love our heroes as well. The leaders at the top of the food chain capture our attention. They have the moxy and the manpower to do so using their podcasts. Good for them!

My problem is that we must remember the realities. Few of us are superstars. And we must live in the zone God has fitted us for. That doesn't mean we dumb down our actions to mediocrity. It does mean we realize that in the grand scheme of things Google Page Rank doesn't count for much. It is the last that will be first in the end of the day. Surprises are coming.

My bigger problem as it relates to starting churches is that many have fallen into the trap of believing that the church starting leader thinks of himself as a star in waiting. Or at least those who are looking for church starting leaders are looking for stars in formation. Bad idea.

Bad idea because you cannot predict with certainty who will become the next Rick Warren or moving in on his heels the next Mark Driscoll or even the next James MacDonald. They all have some things in common. They started their churches. Their churches all got big over time. They are still in the churches they started. The list goes on. But if you were to go back in history before their fame you would find many of the people around them -- probably the majority -- would not have voted them the next in line for the superstar mantle. I wonder if any would have passed a church planter's assessment without being put on probation. I doubt it.

I believe that the quest for the next superstar is ill-advised --or more strongly stated -- stupid. It is a waste of hope and resources.

The far better thing to do is to create a seedbed in which all get the nourishment to grow to their potential. Time will tell who gets to the top. There is no sense in trying to pick and choose. Work with a coalition of the willing and the teachable. If the next superstar bolts and develops his own seedbed, so be it. That is a good thing. Since everyone learns more from failure than from success, if they fail in their quest for significance nothing is lost. Education is gained.

Creating a "franchiseable" superstar system has proven over and over again to be the best idea. This approach takes more ordinary people and gives them to the tools to put out the "fries" at the same quality every time. They don't have to be good cooks. They just need to know when to push the buttons. Granted, this isn't fulfilling if the dictums come from on high and micro-manage. But within a proven framework, it is very possible to create success that rhymes with other successes.

We need to get off of the hero worship and onto creating better systems so that more ordinary people can obtain more extraordinary results. We need an army of church starting leaders who more quietly grow new churches one at a time. If a few emerge and take over the Spice Girl slot at the ACC that is OK with me. Anyone want to buy my tickets? I will scalp them in advance.

Security and/or Freedom

2008-01-17T07:54:00.001-05:00

One of the key motivators that keeps people from starting churches is the desire for security.

The perception is that the church start situation is insecure and therefore to be avoided by all but the most hardy. Potential church starting leaders conclude they are not that hardy and therefore reject the possibility out of hand.

I think this one deserves much more than a blog entry. I just did a quick Google search on "security 'church planting' -eternal" and found that I have "only" 43,200 articles to scan. But then that is much better than "church planting" which gives me 675,000 hits. And just by the way, last month only about 10,000 searches occurred on the Internet for "church planting" but nobody added the word security to their church planting search. And also btw you should always use the advanced search capability if you want to get the best results in the first few pages of a web search.

All that just tells me that while a key inhibitor for church starting leaders is the perceived lack of security, virtually nobody is trying to eliminate the inhibitor.

Note to self: "Gary, you have to add this subject to your to do list."

Here is a start. Freedom and security are strange bed-fellows. There is no more secure place than a prison. Free room and board. Defined schedule. Homogeneous expectations. As secure as it gets. But apparently not desirable. I have never experienced staying there but visiting is enough to know a prison is an unhappy place. Of course, that is an extreme portrayal. But it is a metaphor.

Most Pastors will accept a secure job in a church at which they would not otherwise become a member. How do you spell, "prison"?

Most Pastors have an idea of how they would structure and conduct a church if they had the opportunity to do it with freedom. News flash. That is what happens when you start a church. You get to "put your money where your mouth is!"

There are a lot of things in life that are highly over-rated. One of them is security. And security often comes at the price of freedom. Freedom is a highly under-rated experience. For starters let's get our eyes on the ball of freedom and off the distraction of security.

Now that is just a small start on the subject. I won't even know everything I know about that subject until I write it down and read it back to myself. So I had better keep that subject simmering. It will come to a boil sooner if you help me by poking me with some questions.

One simple internal decision to pursue freedom first and set security further back on the list will start someone on a wonderful, colorful adventure into starting a church. Will that someone be you?

Why Fail?

2008-01-09T09:48:00.001-05:00

"Why didn't I meet you in 1998! I could have taught most of what I learned in my Seminary classes on starting churches. But all this is different."

I have trained some of the sharpest church starting pastors I have ever met in the last few years. It is a common theme. Somehow they didn’t feel they got what they needed in school.

Out in the real world there is a fear of failure. There often is some experience they are overcoming that has led them to believe they have already failed.

My friend from the opening quote further said, "Never mention my name to Prof XYZ. I think he hates me."

I am confident that professor thinks well of him, not has he suspects. You wouldn't believe how experienced and talented he is. You also wouldn't believe how deeply he feels the failure as he now lives on secular dollars. Mind you. Of the hundreds he works around, he consistently rates as the #1 employee. But he still feels like a failure.

What am I offering him that is different? Here is one thing ...

He never understood that to succeed in starting a church you have to learn to manage the perception of rejection. When someone says, "No thanks" you have to learn to not take its as personal rejection. It is only a statement that they are not ready to respond at that point in their life.

They never taught my friend that in seminary and he is recovering from the damage of experiencing that reality. Perhaps the concept was mentioned but not emphasized. The inspiring stories of wonderful successes may have squeezed the hard messages out.

It is OK to have others think you are failing as long as you are succeeding in terms that the Judge understands and will use to evaluate our fruit on the Day.

Chicken or Beef?

2007-12-08T08:15:00.001-05:00

What would you like? For me it is a simple answer. Today I'm thinking chicken. Tomorrow I may prefer beef.

For some people this becomes a cosmic question. Some won't eat red meat. Some point out that it takes less vegetation to to raise a chicken than a cow and that leaves more good food for humans. Some will just count calories and cholesterol.

Me? I just want lunch.

I think of this "chicken or beef" discussion as a metaphor for what happens in church.

Someone might come to my home discovery event but not to my Sunday services. Someone might say they accept Jesus but not the church. Someone might say they like this kind of church and not that.

The other day I got an email from a man who wanted to tune me up. I have never met him. But he was quite sure from our church website that we were off base and he wanted to supply the correct information. He asked a question. So I gave him a forthright answer by email since that was the only contact information he gave. In the essence of it I think we were in agreement. But I never heard back from him. I guess I will never know. And I haven't got my fingers crossed that I will ever see him in church. Nor do I have the inclination to figure out what he wanted.

When you are starting a church you can invest way too much time trying to satisfy the chicken eaters or the beef eaters. But you won't convert many.

Try this question as a prequalifier, "If I could show you why our "beef" is a viable option to the "chicken" you had in mind, is there any reason why you wouldn't want to give us a try or at least hear our story?" If they mumble too much in response, just move on. Be nice. Keep the door unlocked from your side. Even leave it wide open. But move on. There is someone else who is more ready. You have to find the person who is ready to show more response.

If someone is willing to come to your "beef" restaurant it doesn't mean they will also frequent your "chicken" restaurant. Don't assume they will. A person could be open to attending one kind of event but not another. It is really difficult to get carry over from one kind of event to another. They probably won't tell you why they will come to your "chicken" house and not your "beef" barn.

There is much to be said on this phenomenon. But for today get used to the idea that whatever you do, some are going to like it and some aren't. When you talk to more people, more often and in more ways you will get more response. Identify those who want what you offer. Spend much less time trying to convince people they need what they don't want.

Never try to put pants on a pig. If you do the pig will get angry and you will just get dirty. How is that for introducing a third option? Would you like chicken, beef or pork? Shall we add emu to the menu?

It will never end if you invest too much time on the road of trying to convince people and not enough time on the road of identifying the people who are ready for what it is that you offer. Don't get distracted; offer what you offer; let the people decide on their own.

Some day when the conversions dribble in you will understand why they were so resistant. For not, find those who can be found and work with them.

As for me, I still just want lunch.

What If My Last Name Isn't Graham?

2007-12-07T12:56:00.001-05:00

Evangelism. The word calls up many different images depending on your life experience. That is somewhat like the word "church." "Church" itself is somewhat in disrepute as a word. The problem is that people narrowly define the word based on their past limited experience. When I invite someone to "church" who has no positive internal definition of the term it is rather like inviting them to go to the "store." Which store? We all know there are good ones, bad ones, big ones and small ones. We all know there are stores that sell things we might be interested in and stores that carry product lines we would never be bothered looking at. If there is only one kind of store in town the ambiguity is eliminated. But that it is simply not the case very often.

Evangelism. Store. Church. Worship. Television. The categories are so broad and they are not sufficient descriptors for people to make involvement decisions without more information.

In North America we are running into a buzz saw. In many contexts, fewer and fewer people have residual Christianity. Fewer and fewer people have warm feelings about "The Church In The Wildwood." But we are still singing, "Oh! Come. Come. Come. Come. Come. Come. Come." (For some readers, that old song won't even hit the radar screen. Oh well, one has to show his age sometimes.) We assume there is a transference of a rich and positive definition simply contained in the word "church." Not! That "place is so dear to my childhood" not theirs.

If an individual has a positive attitude towards the gospel message even though they have not accepted the grace of God for themselves, they are more likely to be open to attend your stadium sized event, or even your 10 week course tacked on the end of a nice dinner.

And make no mistake about it, there are thousands of people ready for just such an invitation! The primary thing that makes an evangelistic program work is not the preacher, it is not the message-now hear me out. The message may be spoken passionately, accurately and articulately by a communicator totally in tune what the Holy Spirit. But if there is no one there to listen nobody gets converted. The active ingredient is not the preacher, the message, the venue or the food. Is it the inviter. When a large number of people receive an earnest invitation, those who are willing and ready respond positively. In a sense, they are converted before they ever get to the meeting. Their decision to expose themselves to this "God stuff" is a critical step along their way to full and free salvation.

However, the vast majority of people who respond in this context are those who at some point in their life have already heard about or known the gospel message. The initiative to nudge them forward to receiving Christ is more often than not more of a re-evangelism than it is raw evangelism. For quite some time now in North America we have tuned our efforts and abilities in the evangelism arena for more of a re-evangelism process than a pre-evangelism process.

Sometimes a pre-evangelism process is necessary. I can hear some responding, "That is exactly what we do with our 'backyard barbecue in the park' once a year." Almost always at best this kind of program jumps from an attempt to start new relationships straight to the raw goods of the gospel message. Or no content is given at all except an invitation to the "store." They know what the "store" looks like from the outside (unfamiliar) and find it hard to get themselves through the front door. (They can't usually see in the windows.)

On the other hand, working with them one-on-one does not bring the most powerful dimension into play -- seeing the love between believers. John 13:35 does not talk about our love for the unbeliever. It talks about the unbeliever seeing the love between believers. In some way, you have to get them to a meeting.

So the issue moves to defining the location and agenda of a meeting which does more than demonstrate normal social intercourse and general human interaction. The meeting has to be structured in a way that they see believers in loving unity.

I will have to unpack that concept later. There are many other elements to consider in this discussion. I plan to get to them over time. But to draw some conclusions here and start a new thought process for many here are some ideas.

1. Understand that your vocabulary must be defined in terms that people understand. My love for the church must be put in terms that people understand. What exactly is it that I love about it? Develop the vocabulary that connects. Don't think you have to be "cool." In fact, that could be an inhibitor. Just be real. If, for example, "sermon" means boring lecture in your contact's mind, give practical fact based illustrations of what you got out of a recent "sermon." Get the wording correct.

2. If you have to create an interpretive buffer before you take someone to a church meeting you have a rough road ahead. That is, if you have to explain terms, attitudes, dress, traditions or whatever before the person gets to appreciate the main meeting, it is possible. Do it. But then, why not start a new church instead without the layers of ambiguity?

3. Get them to something. Invite them to your evangelistic meeting. Invite them to your dinner meeting. Invite them to your home with some Christian friends. Just invite them. Most won't come at the first invitation. Stay at it.

4. The following point leaves the most powerful factor out (love between brothers) but do it anyway. Put stuff in their hands and on their screens. Show them your favorite websites. Watch "John The Gospel" or "The Passion" wth them. Get the discussion started.

Your name doesn't have to be Graham. You don't have to have the gift of evangelism. You just have to replicate the concern of the Shepherd who with urgency leaves the 99 to find the one.

Out Reach or In Suck

2007-12-04T14:21:00.001-05:00

I just got back from a great meeting. I love it when I can go to a meeting and come away with 1 good idea. Today I got at least 6.

A new friend Josh invited me to hear about h2o and that was great. I haven't experienced it first hand but they had me at "Hello." I am buying as soon as I finish this blog entry.

But as I drove home in the car I got thinking. I love words and the words Josh used in passing were "In Suck." His premise is that we are better at that that at "Out Reach." Actually, I don't think we (in general) are good at either. Some are now eschewing (now there is an old word) the word "outreach." It seems we gave up on the word "evangelism" some time ago. And we never liked the word the bad guys use in discussion of our efforts - "proselytization."

We got our eye off the ball when we just decided to focus on those we deemed to be "seekers" so that word is now in decline. The way I see it the Bible describes Jesus as the seeker.

We drifted into the word "marketing" and some still think that is OK. But, and check this out in any Marketing 101 text, "marketing" means 4 Ps - Product, Price, Place and Promotion. That is "marketing" is concerned with adapting all 4 to come up with a "marketing plan." I don't think you want to fiddle with the first 2 Ps. I certainly don't.

I guess we are still left with "advertising" but that one misses the point. You can only effectively advertise something someone is looking for. It reminds me of the graffiti in the washroom, "Jesus is the answer!" to which someone wrote "What is the question?" You can advertise a solution to something if the people you are attempting to convince are looking for a solution to a perceived problem.

Only those who know they have a problem need a solution. Well, that is not exactly correct. Only those who have a problem and know it are looking for a solution. They need the solution whether or not they are looking for it.

The person who knows they have a problem doesn't care if it is "in suck" "outreach" "marketing" or "advertising" by which the identify the solution. My view is that we need to get off our insider talk and figure out how to find ways to get their attention about their need and then the solution. What they want right now is probably not what they need.

They just think that what they want is a solution. Probably it is more like a medication. Medication often masks the symptoms of an underlying problem. If there is an ache, Aspirin or its multitude of derivatives and cousins will make the pain go away and the real problem has to take care of itself. Thankfully, in our wonderfully made bodies, the body usually heals itself in time. Foolishly, we think the Aspirin did the healing. But with the real pain of facing eternity the problem never goes away on its own.

I learned a good thing from Jerry Falwell when he said that he knew more about the sovereignty of God when he was young but that, over time, he had learned that the number of people who came to Christ under his ministry was directly proportional to the number he talked to.

Our responsibility is to "all." Their responsiveness or lack thereof is not totally in our hands. Definitely there are good and bad ways to approach people. But sitting around discussing methods is the enemy if we don't approach people in any way whatsoever.

Most are not going to get it no matter what we do. More will get it if we learn by doing and talk to more people more often in more ways. We might be bad at it. But with most things in life you have to be bad at it before you get good at it. And with the right sense of urgency, conviction and concern mixed with a listening ear we will get much better over time.

Whatever it is "in suck" or "out reach" I am in on it until we find something more efficient at getting the job done. Invest a lot of time testing to figure that out and you won't go wrong.

Thanks, Josh! I now have some new things to test.

What Is Harder Than Learning New Technology?

2007-12-03T10:54:00.001-05:00

It gives me a headache. Every day. It seems to me that there is always some new thing I need to learn. I want you to understand that I am one old dog and the world is demanding very new tricks of me every week. I find it hard to keep up. Can you hear the of whine in my voice?)

A long time ago I decided that since the computers were going to take over the world I may as well stay a step ahead and learn how to master them. I invest at least a half hour of every day learning something new that relates to my computer.

I feel like an ignoramus. There's so much that I simply don't know about hardware, software and the Internet. On the other side, people ask me all the time, "How do you know so much about this?" Perhaps I know more than many people but there are always a steady stream of others that I am learning from.

Technology. Yuck. Oh really? I am actually writing this blog today using my voice recognition software. That makes it go very quickly. In fact I will spend less than 10 minutes on his little rant. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? (Answer: good.)

I have so many friends and contacts of my generation who didn't start with their computer early enough. In fact, I had one computer illiterate friend who told me he was going to take some time on his two week vacation and learn everything. He had no idea how stupid that sounds. But I think he figured it out on this vacation!

What is harder than learning new technology?

Not learning new technology in a timely fashion.

As our son Lee would say, "Suck it up Princess; you're not dead yet!" The only thing that makes sense when you are driving on the information highway is to do your best to keep up with the traffic.