church & emergent musings
Updating to Shag Carpet?
When the news broke yesterday that the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention had a recommendation on the name change AND it hadn’t come via the normal fighting, backbiting, hysterics that normally follow the SBC dealing with issues of change, I gotta admit – I was hopeful. I mean – this is a big deal for the SBC and to get this far in the discussion without WW III is a major accomplishment.
It’s refreshing to hear a majority in the convention finally understand that “Southern Baptist” is incredibly limiting and carries with it significant racist and religious baggage. It is an unnecessary stumbling block – so let’s deal with it.
Then I heard the recommendation – too many legal issues with changing SBC on top level, use a informal title instead. I understand that. I can live with that. Makes sense. Other companies do that all the time. What’s our informal label?
Great Commission Baptists.
This is the alternative to Southern Baptist? Really? Facepalm, moment. This feels like being told we are updating our house! We are so excited to update our house!! We’ve got the whole 1950′s look going on and it’s time for a makeover!! And the big update is …..
Putting in shag carpet.
Before somebody goes all “WHAT??? Are you anti-Great Commission??” on me, I am NOT anti-Great Commission. It’s just that 95% of the world has no idea what those words mean. And before the SBC starts patting themselves on the back – according to our stats on church-planting and baptisms – neither do most of our churches. Instead of removing a religious baggage term, seems like we’ve just swapped one for another.
The SBC is ‘updating’ to 1970′s shag carpet.
Big sigh….
I guess it’s an improvement. I’m not sure that anyone outside the South will use that one either. I’m glad that as a convention we are not at each other’s throat in the middle of this conversation. So, that is an improvement.
But “Great Commission Baptists” just further proves the point of what most people think about SBC anyway: we mean well and have great hearts, but are completely culturally clueless.
Maybe this will open the door for SBC churches to drop the labels and just focus on being the church.
That’s my prayer, anyway.
Prepare The Heart and You Prepare The Room
We’ve been trying a new ‘discipline’ in our worship services the last couple of weeks at Western Hill – we’re calling it ‘prepare the room.’
Rick actually came up with the phrase after going to a worship conference last year. He observed that at the conference before any worship service, there was always a few minutes at the start where they prepared the room. Could have been a video or a practice or silence – but it was a prepared, purposeful pause at the start of the service to remind themselves that they were about to engage with the Holy God in worship.
What does that look like in a local congregation that meets every single Sunday morning?
And no – the Opening Song doesn’t really count as “prepare the room.” See Northpoint’s video below to see what I’m talking about. So last week we started with the video below followed by another video depicting Psalm 31 – My times are in your hands.
The feedback has been pretty positive. Not everyone got the “artsy” rendition of Psalm 31, but everyone loved the reminder to get prepared to worship.
It’s a new tradition, new spiritual discipline of worship for us at Western Hills – prepare the room. And it’s rubbing off in other areas as well. I find myself walking into a meeting or a lunch – pausing in the car to ‘prepare the room.’
Prepare The Room
Psalm 31//My Times video by Jakub Blank
A Tub Will Do Just Fine
From right to left – Joyce, Robin, and Dana after the tub baptism. This originally appeared on whillschurch.org on July 13th, 2011.
“Grant, be sure to connect with Robin as soon as you can. She’s now in hospice care.”
This was one of the first texts I received after getting back from Brazil.
Robin started coming to Western Hills about a year and half ago with Dana Kelly. She made a decision for Christ but for the last 6 months, her body was just breaking down. With the host of physical problems she was battling, it just wasn’t feasible to show up on Sunday mornings let alone be baptized.
I called. Her voice was clear. “Grant, I’ve called hospice in but I have a request. I still want to be baptized. How can we do this? Do you think we can do it in my home somehow?”
“Absolutely. We will figure it out.”
She wanted Dana Kelly to be a part of it. Dana was the one that took care of her physically as well as spiritually over the years. And her good friend Joyce. So today (Wednesday, July 13) at 10:00, we were the Church at Robin’s house. “We” included her hospice nurse Jason, the hospice chaplain Annie, Gary & Nancy Manford, Joyce, Dana, Robin, and myself. We gathered in the kitchen.
“Robin, you’ve got some options this morning. We can dunk you in the tub or pour water over your head in the sink, sprinkle water over you or even use the garden hose in the yard.”
I could see she was wrestling with the options.
“We know that this is a symbol, this is a statement of an already existent condition for you – that Christ has consumed you and is changing you. God knows your physical condition and he’s pleased with your heart. I’m pretty sure He’s going to be okay any way you decide do this.”
She laughed.
“I want to be dunked. In the tub.”
I grabbed Gary’s Bible and shared some scripture with Robin while Dana filled the tub. Meanwhile we read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 together.
Dana popped back in shortly. “We’re ready.”
All 7 of us filed into the bathroom, Dana kneeled down to the tub with Robin.
I gave my 2 minute sermon on baptism. Baptismo was originally used in the garment industry. A garment was baptized in a dye and it took on the properties of that dye. I’m not wearing a purple shirt, I’m wearing a white shirt baptized in purple dye. But of course, it is a purple shirt. It’s no longer a white shirt. It’s a new, different shirt because it’s been consumed by something else. The perfect picture of what our life in Christ should be and why baptism is such a powerful, meaningful symbol. We’ve been consumed by Christ, overpowered by Christ. It is no longer I that live but Christ through me.
Dana then had the honors.
“Robin, do you have a personal relationship with Jesus? Is He your Savior.”
“Oh yes.”
“Is it your desire to follow Him symbolized by this act of baptism?”
“Oh yes.”
“Then it’s my honor to baptize you, my friend, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”
And down Robin went in the water. And back up. And we all cheered.
A quick prayer of thanksgiving. 5 of us left the room for the kitchen and in a few minutes Robin emerged, wet head, and smiling ear to ear.
“What a happy day. What a happy day.”
We spent some time around the kitchen table. Sharing, talking, and encouraging. We took a bunch of pictures. Lots of kleenex was passed around.
A tub will do just fine.
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4
What about after Easter?
Last night a friend told me of his Easter service experience. The pastor (not me) told his congregation that they do services other than on Christmas and Easter weekend. In fact, they “do this” every week and if they enjoyed today, they ought to come check it out next Sunday.
I love the pointed honesty of that pastor. I love what value that kind of comment speaks for his church – we do this every week, celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He’s telling us that if we connect with today, we’ll connect with the 50 other services that they do each year. There is no “bait & switch.” What you see is what you get. Which is the baseline (I would think) of any healthy church – that their services speak to who they are and who they are becoming with authenticity. And that it happens on every Sunday – Easter or otherwise.
There is a danger in creating these “extravaganzas” on Easter and Christmas that is much deeper than becoming “bait & switch” though. Does it falsely define church as that hour or so time slot in that particular location? By putting so much emphasis on a particular service, a particular time slot, are we compromising the true definition of “church”? In other words, if I “sell” to people that they need to be “in church”, by focusing on these services am I defining church for them as a service as opposed to a community of Christ-followers who happen to get together once a week for inspiration and celebration?
I’m all for using Easter and Christmas to speak to our tradition, to celebrate God’s specific chapters of Jesus’ resurrection and birth on those days but I want people to understand that church is deeper (and more beautiful) than just showing up once a week for a little over an hour to hear some singing and a guy speaking. Church is God’s people on mission together for and with Jesus Himself.
And that is much larger than just a service.
The Build To Multiplying Disciples
This goes in the Church 3.0 conversation that I started here, then added some more thoughts here. These will more than likely be my last ones for a bit.
One of the greatest threats to multiplying disciples and creating a culture that multiplies disciples is addition. Let me see if I can quickly explain.
Put on a great service, start a great children’s and/or student ministry and it’s possible to see a very quick ADDITION in attendance and participation. Like going from 0 to 150 in the blink of an eye. Then you have to start reading all the church growth books like “Breaking the 200 Barrier”, “Breaking the 500 Barrier”, or my favorite – “How To Be A Mega-church Without Really Trying.”
It’s not a healthy way to understand growth or success because one of the fastest ways to grow a church is to put that church in a fast growing community. So many church’s “growth rate” is directly related to the community’s growth rate that it finds itself in.
But’s that not really multiplication. Multiplication is when a disciple multiplies him/her self in the life of another disciple of Jesus. That messy, life on life, mentoring/coaching process. Then when those two are done – they both go and do that exact thing again with two more people.
Sounds great and wonderful but there is a HUGE reality of this process that most of us don’t really want to deal with — time. Just look at these numbers for a second.
Yr 1 – 1 person discipled
Yr 2 – 2 people
Yr 3 – 4 people
Yr 4 – 8
Yr 5 – 16
I realize this assumes a couple of things that may not be true. Namely that it only takes a year to disciple a person and that the net result of that discipleship will be that person ready to disciple another. I like the push though. I think it’s warranted.
The point is that it takes 5 years to get a small group/life group size of people multiplying disciples. There isn’t a church planter or organization in the world that would think that is successful. But the point is creating a culture that multiplies disciples, not just grow a church to a big number. Besides that – some of these people will move away and go to other places.
yr 6 – 32
yr 7 – 64
yr 8 – 128
yr 9 – 256
So 9 years of discipling sounds like a long time to only have 256 people to show for it. But then it gets crazy.
yr 10 – 516
yr 11 – 1,032
And this point the chart explodes upward every year – 2,064 then 4k, then 8k. It’s nuts.
What’s the point? I thought this wasn’t about growing a mega-church?
The main point is this – there is this LONG, slow runway to multiplication that most of us sabotage in the early years because we want quick growth and easy numbers, not multiplying disciples. We give up too soon, we rush after addition instead of multiplication. Quick growth without multiplication levels out.
Besides that, not all these people stay in your arena. God moves them to other places to start this multiplication process elsewhere. That’s Kingdom investment, not local church investment. We are planting Jesus, not churches.
This is a huge (and good) paradigm shift for me. We want to plant Jesus…not churches. Churches will happen when we do good planting of Jesus in good soil. No duh, makes sense, right?
Yeah but most of the training these days is how to plant churches, not how to make a reproducing disciples of Jesus Christ. So for us — this has been and will continue to be our focus — to make a reproducing disciple of Jesus Christ. NOT — get more people here, in our programs, so we can mature them. It’s a subtle but I think important distinction.
The Good of Church 3.0…as far as I can understand
I’ve written what I didn’t get and/or didn’t like about Neil Cole’s Church 3.0 presentation. Now it’s time to digest what did resonate with me and challenged me in a good way. Here’s the list…no real wordsmithing, just bullets.
* First words of God and last earthly words of Jesus is to multiply. Not add, subtract, or divide but multiply.
* It’s not really multiplication until the 4th generation – Paul, Timothy, Faithful Men, Others Also
* Goal is plant a self-perpetuating & self-propagating church. That’s a movement.
* Movement starts at simplest level – multiplying disciples, then leaders, then churches, then movements.
* We need to raise the bar on what it means to be a disciple, lower the bar on what it means to do church.
* Agreement to a statement of faith and changed behavior once a week is not a disciple.
* Respect the beginning of the process. There is long runway to build before multiplication. James 5:7-8
*Movement starts with right DNA:
Divine Truth – human and divine, Bible (both), Jesus (both)
Nurturing Relationships – one anothers, smallest unit = 2 people. If it doesn’t work there, won’t work anywhere.
Apostolic Mission – to be sent out, to go out, to serve all
* Do not supplement the DNA. Do not substitute the DNA.
GE’s note – the acronym made me cringe like crazy but it works and it’s true. Have to have these 3 as foundation to a multiplication culture. I like our language better – Love God (D), Live Connected (N), Serve All (A).
* The right DNA needs the right soil – Mark 4
* Only 25% of the soils Jesus talked about were good. Plant there.
* Don’t alter the church to accommodate the bad soils.
* It’s impossible to change bad soil (barren, weedy, shallow) into good soil. Must sit fallow for a season.
* Don’t invest in potential, invest in proven-ness.
* What’s IN the seed determines WHAT grows. Soil determines IF it grows.
* If Jesus isn’t enough to motivate and change a person, my personal counseling or sermons aren’t going to do it either.
GE’s note: Cole’s point was this – when we invest in potential, we are investing in zero. We are robbing our investment some where else. If a guy won’t change, won’t be accountable, won’t do simple obedience – don’t invest in them. Let them come to church. Love them. Pray for them. But life on life investment should be for those who have “proven-ness”, simple obedience.
This concept caused some discussion both in the session and on the way home. My initial reaction to what he said was “AMEN!!” It feels like a massive waste of effort and time to see little to no life change in a person that you’ve been discipling over a period of time. Investing in weedy soil and shallow soil is still investing in bad soil. It’s stealing from others who are good soil.
However, sometimes good soil is slow growing. And what I perceive as bad soil or potential – may just be slow growing. What’s the difference? I think it’s the concept of simple obedience. Someone who will be faithful in small things, will be faithful in large things. Someone who takes baby steps of application of God’s word, who disciplines themselves to spend a bit more time in the word than the week before – those are simple steps of obedience. As long as there is movement and obedience – invest.
* Biggest obstacle, biggest heresy in the church? Legalism. Not heaven/hell, salvation.
* We need better trained pews, not pulpits.
* The church is only as good as her disciples.
* Plant Jesus, not churches.
Idea Overload
Went to Church 3.0 Conference today at Westside Family Church in KC with Mari and Gary. Neil Cole was the presenter. There was much I resonated with, much that confirmed the direction we are going at Western Hills. Much that helped me put words to thoughts.
I’ll be posting about some of those in the future. I’ve got pages of notes. But there were a couple of thoughts that I just didn’t get and didn’t see how in the world they were even relevant or could possibly work.
One of the head-scratching parts for me was watching Neil Cole basically deconstruct and critique the ‘centralized’ church versus the decentralized church. It was way to obvious what Cole’s bias was – decentralization – but what was frustrating for me is that I felt like I was getting more propaganda than substance at that point. It was one of those moments that I wanted to quote Shakespeare – “I think he doth protest to much.”
I’ve heard that sermon before – house churches, decentralized churches that are smaller with no overhead costs, with no paid staff are better for the advancement of the Kingdom than mega-churches or any organized church with brick and mortar. They spend their time and money on real Kingdom work.
It’s a great theory. And I’m sure there are examples of exactly that happening. I just don’t think the ratio of how many house churches that REALLY function that way is all that different from ‘big’ churches that do.
Most of the house churches I know of started because they didn’t like any of the larger churches or didn’t want the hassle of the Sunday morning experience. Or they were of the “anti-establishment” church. The idea of impacting their community for Jesus I think I can safely say was one of the last things on their minds.
And guess what? Big churches have the same stat line – a lot are started by groups of people who aren’t happy with their current church (music, preacher, color of carpet) and the idea of impacting their community for Jesus is the last thing on their minds.
I don’t really think the size of a church OR where that church meets is the ultimate determination of how they define themselves or understand their mission. There are inward-focused house churches as well as “centralized” churches. There are outward, Kingdom focused house-churches as well as centralized churches.
So what is the difference maker? I think it’s all a matter of the focus of its leadership.
At Western Hills, we are trying to figure out what it means to BE the church where we live – all week long. What does LOVE, LIVE, and SERVE look like on my ball teams, in my office, with my family, in my neighborhood? What does being the CHURCH, being the presence of Jesus looks like wherever I go? What does that concept of church do to my life choices now? How I spend my time and money?
We are not there yet by any stretch of the imagination but I have a hard time believing that a decentralized house-church would have been given access to the places we’ve been given access to serve this year. And I know that there are some places that we are never going to penetrate under the banner of Western Hills but some of our life groups will get to through them being Church.
We’re not a shining example of what COULD be. At least not yet but I think we are asking the right questions, on the right road, focusing on making disciples on a micro level that love, live, and serve where ever they go.
I understand that most organized churches don’t ask these kinds of questions. Most say something to the effect “Come here because we have the buffet of programs and services to make your life better.” I get the frustration with that kind of philosophy and how it just further feeds the consumer beast we have in the States. Believe me…I get it.
But I know of house church leaders who function much the same way, the only difference is they are selling the anti-establishment, not necessarily Kingdom living. It’s just as wrong.
I left the afternoon session wondering if Neil really believed that the smaller, decentralized church was the only way the Kingdom could be advanced? I wondered if he really thought these centralized churches were a danger to the advancement of the Kingdom.
I’m not sure. He left that impression. I reserve the right to have heard him incorrectly…it was the afternoon session and I wasn’t exactly locked in with laser focus. I just wanted more from the afternoon session than what I got…because the morning session was outstanding in so many ways.
Time to end this post. Let say this as sort of a wrap-up – I think there is a place (and need) for both the decentralized and centralized. (I think they can even exist under the same roof but I’ll save that for another post.)
I was reminded today that there just isn’t one simple answer to how to spread Jesus’ story. It’s about connecting people with the real Jesus and that is a messy proposition at best. And that’s okay.
Some people are going to get connected to Him in a living room under the name “house church.” Some are going to get connected in a large auditorium. Some are going to get connected over lunch with a co-worker. And others still will meet Jesus when we start being Church where ever we go.
And I think He’s okay with all of that…
I’m Back…And Nationwide
You can’t really go wrong with a ZZ Top reference to start the year.
This year, the Church Council is getting focused on answering the questions – what does a spiritual leader look like and HOW do we become that, how do we model that, how do we reproduce that, celebrate that, and empower that? If we are going to be a Love, Live, Serve church that impacts our city (and beyond) it’s crucial we know and become deeper servant leaders. Can’t reproduce what you aren’t, right?
So this morning was our first gathering attempting to seek God’s answers to this question. We meet twice a month, once solely for study and prayer, the second for study and decisions. Here are most of the thoughts that hit the floor this morning.
I put them out here for a couple of reasons. First, I want our congregation to know that leadership is more than just making decisions and meeting once a month. At least it’s more than that here. It’s about character development, it’s about creating a culture where God gets the last word. It’s having the audacity to say “I don’t know, I need some clarity from God on this.” Second reason is often times the journey is just as important as the destination.
At some point in this coming year, we will have some answers to those questions. And those answers will drive us to the next step at Western Hills in what we do in reproducing spiritual leaders. Those answers will define what programs we do and don’t do, what projects we tackle and which ones we pass on. But for now — we’re seeking, we’re listening. And that’s okay…and that kind of discipline is best done in community.
So consider this an invitation to listen with us.
Tuesday, January 4, 7:00 am
Opening Question:
What is a spiritual leader? What does he/she look like? What scriptures help form this kind of person?
1 Peter 3:1 - Wives submit to your husbands. (This was given by a woman around the table, by the way.)
“There is a need for us to understand the goodness of submission, especially submission to Jesus. We submit because He loves us, He leads us. He wants best for us. Submission is at the heart of servant leaders.”
“Not compartmentalized in their understanding of God.”
“Faithful in small things.”
“Can hold the paradoxes of our faith humbly. Truth AND grace.”
Galatians 2:20
“Famous first part of verse most of us know — it is not I that I live but Christ in me. Larger focus needs to shift to second half of verse – the life I NOW live, I live by FAITH in the Son who loves me and gave Himself for me.”
What do we do with those people who see and hear the truth of deeper spiritual waters but won’t go there? Not the people who CAN’T go there – because of hurt and need healing. But rather those that willfully say – “No, don’t want any of that kind of Jesus?”
How do we get people to the place of maturity in Christ?
What are the gauges for us to know if we are heading in the right direction?
What thermometers are there for us to let us know if we are doing this right?
Do we know where that place is well enough to start with? If we can’t answer the WHAT, it doesn’t matter how we answer the HOW.
Most people are sick of church, tired of church. Is it possible to be a spiritual leader without the Church?
GE: This is a question we need to return to again. Lots of implications in this question…
Colossians 4:1-6
Spiritual leaders pray and seek for the opportunities to speak about the ‘mystery’ of God wherever they are. They church where ever they find themselves.
What scriptures have formative power over us? What scriptures have challenged us to change and be better people and leaders?
GE’s thoughts:
This is a starting point. We have to be able to answer the WHAT question before the HOW. What are we trying to reproduce in the life of another believer? This is by no means a final answer but a starting point for us as we seek to articulate God’s grid for Western Hills and what it means to be a spiritual leader here.
Being a spiritual leader is multi-faceted to be sure. There are some skills and competencies that I’d like to see but the baseline is character. The stuff that is harder to see and evaluate. Paul gives his list in Ephesians.
Ephesians 4:1-6
Walk in a manner that is worthy of the calling….
7 key thoughts of what it means to walk worthy of the calling…
1. humility – self-explanatory, not self-serving, not false humility
2. gentleness – the lack of an edge with people. There is no way to get around the stumbling block of Jesus. Just let that block be Jesus, not my personality.
3. patience – Am I as long suffering with others as I pray God to be with me?
4. accepting with love – everybody has baggage. love them anyway, in spite of their junk.
5. diligent about unity of Body – diligence not about status quo but unity and….
6. Unity is based on Christ – not on traditions, programs, my ego, etc.
7. lives with knowledge that God is in all, around all – non-compartmentalized
Great starting point…more to come.
Unplugged@9 revisited
We transformed our first service a bit this weekend.
Okay, it ended up being a bigger change than we thought.
On the surface, it did not look like much of a change. We punted announcements. We unplugged all the instruments, used only two acoustic guitars. We brought the seats forward in a horseshoe. We took Rick and I off the stage and in the middle of the audience. The ‘message’ was a discussion through the scriptures, then we just opened up the dialog for questions, to engage with the story of God.
Why do this? Because we wanted to create space for folks to ask questions, to dialog about what they heard that morning. We have so many young to new believers (as well as just curious veterans) it made sense to try to incorporate this into our worship.
But there’s another reason as well. This kind of service represents a huge shift in understanding of worship and theology. Let me try to explain.
Worship for so many of us has morphed into meaning only music. “The worship was good this morning” means the music was what I liked, was performed well, fit the message, whatever. So what happens if we take away the music? Is it still worship? It ought to be. By unplugging, we’re decreasing our dependency of music and broadening our understanding of worship. Worship is when I give my money. Worship is when I read the scriptures. Worship is when I allow the scriptures to read me. Worship is when I serve the person next to me by welcoming them. It’s when I pause and reflect. It’s when I pray and listen. It’s when I teach those 2nd graders or volunteer in the nursery or the youth.
Worship is even when I am confused and confounded by God.
Could our questions be worship? I think so and this is a huge shift concerning theology. All good theology (in my opinion) must do these things:
All good theology must run through the Cross. If the cross doesn’t fit or doesn’t speak to what we believe, it’s pointless at best, damaging at worse.
All good theology has room for questions, the “I don’t know” of God. Some call this wonder. I can live with that word as well. If God is really God, we are not going to have all the dots connected, blanks filled, and holes accounted for in our theology. It’s impossible. We’re talking about limiting the eternal to words and images that He himself created.
If our theology is ironclad and has no room for questions or the “I have no idea” parts of God, I’m fairly certain it’s too small for God Himself.
I’m not saying we can’t know anything. See point 1 – the Cross. We can know many things. God created us. God loves us. God died for us. God redeems us. Jesus is the center of all of that. But it only takes a cursory reading of the story of God to see how important questions and wonder is in the making of a saint. How many heroes of the faith had wrestling matches with God? Moments of argument and confusion? Moments where they had to walk by faith not being able to fully understand God?
All of them. Every single one of them.
And if we are serious about being transformed by Jesus, we probably need to get comfortable with questions. And while that may stand in direct opposition of church services everywhere, I think it’s perfectly compatible with the example Jesus leaves us in the scriptures.
Reasons 14-29 of Why I Am In A Life Group
You can check out the first 13 reasons if you missed them. After that conversation, I’ve been asking folks the same question when I remember. Here are more of the answers.
14. I know I have others praying for me.
15. And with me.
16. My kids get to have cool friends.
17. My older kids get to learn how to serve younger kids.
18. I don’t have to pretend to be okay with these people.
19. Finally found another adult to play Halo with. (names are withheld to protect the guilty.)
20. Gives my kids access to other adult believers.
21. I’m learning to be a better parent.
22. I’m learning to be a better spouse.
23. I feel more connected to God.
24. I have free emergency baby-sitters.
25. I now know how to pray to God.
26. I know someone I can borrow power tools from.
27. It’s where I can learn about Jesus without all the big, churchy words.
28. I feel more connected on Sunday morning.
There aren’t too many situations more intimidating than walking into a room full of people and not knowing the name of single person. It’s like that dream of showing up at school with nothing on but your underwear. And don’t lie to me either, we’ve all had it. That feeling of being exposed, vulnerable. HATE IT!! I had a friend tell me this week that looking for a church home was harder than finding a home to live in.
A Life Group is huge in bridging this gap on Sunday morning. It’s going to be difficult to feel connected without deep, meaningful relationships. A Life Group is THE way to develop these kinds of relationships.
And it doesn’t have to always be serious stuff. I know a life group that is going to carve jack-o-lanterns together this weekend.
Reason #29 – Learn how to carve a pumpkin.
We Still Doing See You At The Pole?
As I was dropping Cooper off at school yesterday, I noticed about 12 to 13 students gathered around the flagpole.
“Holy cow, man. How did we miss this? Today is See You At The Pole?”
Cooper: “Yeah…I guess it is.”
We just sat there for a moment and then Coop said, “Should I go to that instead of my club meeting?”
“Do what you think God is telling you to do.”
“I’m going on to my club meeting.”
“Great choice.”
I then hugged him & kissed him and told him to make wise choices in a loud voice.
Okay – I didn’t do that last line. Would never do that.
But as far as choices go, Cooper made a great one right then and there. Go to a club meeting with other students where the vast majority do NOT know Jesus and be the church with them? Or withdraw around a pole to pray for the school then never engage in NON-believing relationship the rest of the year?
I’m not anti-SYATP. I just don’t want to hear how it’s one of the most important things a student or a student pastor can do on a middle school or high school campus. It’s not. It’s not even in the top 200. And what started out as a cool tool to connect other student believers at the beginning of the school year, has morphed into a combative standoff with school administrations in some cities. Isn’t that the exact OPPOSITE of what we’re supposed to be doing?
If we really want to see God change a campus, join a club or a team and start being the Church in that context. SYIOCISIJN is what we need… See You Involved On Campus In Something In Jesus’ Name. And it needs to be all year long as we teach and coach students how to church in their school, how to be a person of blessing in Jesus’ name on their team, in the classrooms, with their friends.
Reggie McNeal and the Future of Church
I had the incredible honor of listening to Reggie talk yesterday. I’ve read his books, I’ve heard him multiple times – he never gets old. It’s like listening to Yoda…and he’s about that same height. My favorite quotes from yesterday.
Being missional starts with the understanding that Christianity is not a western philosophy but an encounter with the real person of Jesus.
I’m not here to help you do church better. I’m here to challenge you to BE the church FOR your community, not just IN your community.
The Church, not A church. When people say “a church” they reveal that they don’t get it. We are THE church. We church wherever we go.
Missional Church is a redundant term.
Missional is simply the people of God partnering with Him in His redemptive mission in the world. He is already at work, we are to be a people of blessing in that work.
The Church is a people of blessing. This mission predates the church because blessing is the character of God himself. See Genesis 12.
How can we practice being the church? Start asking “how can we be a people of blessing?” How can we bless at our jobs, schools, clubs, social circles, city, community?
Every church ought to have at least one school they have adopted. Showing up at a school once a year to paint the playground is NOT a partnership. Pray for those teachers, provide school supplies, ask them – “what do you need to help you overcome the obstacles that you are facing?”
The problems of our community first manifest themselves in our schools.
We aren’t the point. The Church isn’t the point. Thinking the point is the church is like thinking the airport is the point of travel. We go to places and the airport is the means to the ends. It’s a vital part of our journey but the journey isn’t about spending time in the airport. The Airport is a tool. Same for church – she is a connector to real LIFE and Kingdom.
One of the largest obstacles we face in the West is the Outsource Mindset. We outsource everything – car maintenance, lawn mowing, education and even spiritual formation. Program based churches feed this monster. What is needed is more people-development, more life on life, as we go, in the middle of life church.
Don’t Miss This Sunday
This Sunday we are taking a pause in our current series LIFE for a HUGE announcement.
How big? HUGE big…Monster BIG. Like — I can’t even tell you how BIG, you’re just going to have to experience it.
Here’s what I can say – this Sunday is a culmination of over 9 months of prayer and a living application of what we have been walking through in our current series – LIFE. Am I overstating? I don’t think so.
LIFE has focused on how we are spiritual first and we were designed for intimate relationship. We NEED both VERTICAL (with God) and HORIZONTAL (with each other) intimacy. God wired us this way and Jesus modeled to us what this looks like by His life on earth. It’s why the early church copied Jesus’ model of life-on-life, small group discipleship.
The point of all of this is to hear from God and be changed by Him to look like Jesus so we can serve others. Everything hinges on this – hearing from God then our obedience to what we heard. If we don’t hear from God, at best it is all legalism – at worst it’s a glorified “look at me” show. If we want to really experience LIFE to its fullest, we’ve got to hear from God and get on His agenda and plan – not ours.
Because He knows more than we do. And he loves more than we do.
Sunday I have the AWESOME opportunity to share a story of all of this in action. A story very close to home, a story that is going to have a HUGE impact on our church for YEARS to come. You do NOT want to miss it. Then Sunday night we giving another opportunity to interact with this story firsthand, 6 to 7.30 pm.
I am honored and humbled to be serving at a church where the words we speak are more than just words. It’s really how we are trying to do life.
Praise God and see ya’ Sunday.
The Worship Planning Experience
If you fail to plan, you’ve planned to fail.
…plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. Dwight D. Eisenhower
I’ve been asked quite a bit about our Creative Team at the church and how it functions. Thought I’d give a ‘behind the scenes’ tour this morning.
First, there are about 7 of us and we meet every week (Monday afternoons). Our mission is to create worship environments and experiences that help connect people to God. We spend a little time each week reviewing and evaluating the last service, then start dreaming 2 to 3 weeks ahead.
When we start a series we start thinking physical space – what should the stage look like? What should the room feel like? What elements and props can we use to further push the theme and topic home? What other creative elements should we explore? Drama, dance, lighting, video clips, audience participation — all are a part of this discussion.
We want the worship experience to start before any note or any word is ever spoken. It’s why our worship auditorium has been a coffee shop, a living room, a carpenters workshop, a battleship, a jail cell, and a kitchen just to name a few. I want all the senses (as much as we can) to be involved in worship. We even baked bread one morning when we taught on Jesus saying He was the bread of life.
Almost everyone hears this concept and loves it. And there is much to love. However, it isn’t for everyone. I’ve had a couple of experiences over the years that illustrate this point. If creative, out of the box thinkers who will say whatever comes into their head intimidates you — this isn’t for you. If you are married to an idea and can’t handle someone else ripping it to shreds or changing it to make it better — this isn’t for you. On the other hand, if you don’t mind throwing 12 ideas up at one time just to see which 1 will work — this is perfect for you.
This includes the sermon. It’s open for every one to comment on, change, or critique. I’m the key deliverer but the thoughts and points get prayed on and discussed over in this room first. There have been times where the team has said – “Grant, I don’t think that’s the main point.” Or “Is that the best way to communicate this? How does that tie back into the epic story we think God is trying to tell in this series?”
The root of all of this is the desire to worship Jesus and to provide an environment where others can do the same. We ask that question of every single element and every single service — does this help connect people to God? Furthermore, we don’t stop with that question but push further. Why are we doing this element? How does it fit the rest of the service? How is a lost person or a new in Christ person going to respond to this? Are we doing this just because it is cool or does it have impact and meaning?
The results are nothing sort of stunning. I’ve been amazed at the insight and creativity of our people. They see their artistry with words, canvas, and drywall as a gift of God to be used. It’s a messy, crazy, vulnerable way to “do worship” and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Just thought you’d like to know…
Can Lead Pastors and Youth Pastors Coexist?
Kurt left this comment last week –
How does the former youth pastor/present lead pastor come alongside the youth ministry without becoming a distraction?
I loved it when the lead pastor poked his head in on the students – whether that be during Bible study or a mid-week life group or a trip. I loved it because we can never have too many godly adults hanging around teenagers. I loved it because it hopefully connected the student to the larger church congregation, not just the youth group.
But I hear what Kurt is saying. And it’s a legitimate question.
My short answer – don’t show up on the trip as a former youth pastor or the current lead pastor. Show up as a volunteer, like everybody else.
This past week I went with our middle schoolers to Super Summer. Gina was the leader of the trip and she did an outstanding job. She was organized, she delegated responsibilities out to the team that went, me included. She kept us on task without being overbearing. She kept us informed and did a great job in our church group times.
And I loved every minute of it. First, it always amps me to see a volunteer lead, to take ownership of a ministry and lead it well. That volunteer is getting to use their gifts and hopefully casting a vision for others to do the same.
Second, it freed me up. I could be a friend, a pastor to the students. I wasn’t the heavy, I wasn’t the organizer, I didn’t have to be cool or “on” all the time. I didn’t have to have all the answers. I hung out with my guys, was available to counsel and talk when needed. In short, did all the things a volunteer would do.
A student can never have too many adults that love Jesus in their life. Never. And when I go on these trips, I want to be a help to the youth team and leaders, not a distraction. I also want that student to connect to the larger congregation as well.
Kurt – you are now in this position — what’s your take? Or anyone else for that matter…
We Are All Worship Leaders
I led worship and taught yesterday for the first time in eons. I was pretty fortunate to have an awesome worship band with me to cover my mistakes and laugh with. First service — played the intro to the wrong closing song. Band did a quick double take then was ready to adapt and jump in when I realized what I had done. Stopped playing and we all laughed.
“Sorry — let me try the right song that everyone was expecting I would play.”
We did one song in the key of “Rick” and decided that no human can really sing that high. Rick must be a mereman or something like that. We pulled it off okay but it stretched the vocal chords a bit. No one got up and left the service or revoked their salvation so I think I did a serviceable job on the morning.
The truth of the matter is this – if you are on staff at a church, you’re bottom line, baseline job description is Worship Pastor. Doesn’t matter what your other duties are — you are ultimately a worship leader. Doesn’t matter if the only thing you can play is an iPod or a radio. You’re primary job is to focus and push people to Jesus, to put them in a place where they have an opportunity to have a life-changing encounter with Him. And that IS worship.
I’ve played around in my mind with the idea of changing all of our titles to make sure we get this — Teaching Worship Pastor, Children’s Worship Pastor, Student Ministry Worship Pastor, Music & Arts Worship Pastor. Whatever you’re specific focus is — that goes in the front followed by the ultimate focus of all our jobs — to lead others in worship.
In the Army, they train every soldier how to use a rifle – the basic infantry fighting weapon. Why? Because no matter what your specific training is in – your ultimate job is a soldier. At the end of the day, nothing else matters.
At the end of the day, nothing else matters – worship. Everything we do is either a result of this or the focus of this. We do missions because there are people in the world who don’t yet worship Jesus. We do children’s ministry because they are kids that don’t know how crazy God is about them. We do adult Life Groups because there are families that will only be healed through worship.
We are ALL worship leaders.
RAFT, Part 2
How important is RAFT?
RAFT must be a non-negotiable for an organization to have long term success in developing people. There really should be no compromising on these four traits – responsive, available, faithful, and teachable. If we cheat on these early, the consequences get steep even fatal later.
The plain truth of the matter is that these are in fact unavoidable. You WILL deal with them one way or another. It’s inevitable. Choosing to ignore them out of the gate is akin to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. (Which is both a worn-out cliche and a horrible movie.) General rule of thumb is the more you compromise early, the more you’ll have to compromise later. An entrenched non-RAFT person is miserable, makes everyone around them miserable and CAN infect the whole system. And we’re not doing them any favors either because whatever missing piece they have is hindering their effectiveness. No amount of gifting and training will compensate for a missing RAFT piece.
So what’s the answer? Only accept those RAFTs? What about someone who is only missing a letter? What if you’ve got a RFT or a AFT or a FAR? (I’d make more acronyms but it’s getting dangerous.) Instead of punting them to the curb, I’d start with the missing letter. If Joe is an awesome candidate for a leadership role but he’s just so busy with work, then that’s the first thing we approach. “Joe, I see a ton of potential. Faithful, teachable, and all around responsive and pleasant to be with. But your schedule…what’s up with that? To be effective, you’ve got to be available. How are we going to tackle this?”
And we stay on that issue until it is resolved. I’ll stay on the journey with them as long as I’m seeing some progress and we stay working on that foundational issue.
However, there is a tipping point. This is when the potential is seen, a taste of what could be is had and the potential monster leader realizes that to go any further and deeper is going to require a significant personal change. Will they take the plunge or walk away? Will you as a leader take them to that point ON PURPOSE or will you avoid that point? Will you hold loosely and allow God to deal in His time and His way? Will we have the same courage to do as Jesus did and watch them “walk away sad because he was a man of great wealth?”
In that moment – I try to do everything I can to not compromise RAFT as well as keep the door open for them to return, to try again.
Next up: Where does gifting fit in developing people?
I’m Looking for a RAFT
This is part of the Beyond The Starting 5 project. A writing safari where I explore the idea of what people-development looks like in the local church. I have no idea what I’m doing, mileage may vary.
“What exactly are you looking for when you look for a great volunteer?”
I think a lot of people set themselves up for failure right out of the gate because they don’t have a good answer to this question. They either expect too little or too much. Both errors are costly.
I just need a warm body. Wrong answer. If you get the wrong person with the wrong gifting with the wrong passion in the wrong place, it is just going to make everyone involved miserable. The worker, the leader, the participants — it will be like poison. Plus, if they don’t know they are the wrong person with the wrong gifting and the wrong passion, it may take years to fix that problem and all of the sudden the collateral damage will be huge. A warm body is expecting WAY too little.
We need Jesus, we’ll settle for Paul. Then there is the other extreme – expecting new volunteers to be mature, gifted, and skilled in leading a bible study with middle school boys their first night. Or being able to deal with a difficult topic the first Life Group. This is the “God knows I need this particular person and He will bring that person to me” mindset. It’s dangerous because disciples are made, leaders are developed. They don’t hatch and miraculously show up.
So what’s the baseline? This is where the RAFT comes in. Responsive (gets things done), Available, Faithful (dedicated), and Teachable.
If a person has those 4 key traits, I’m willing to roll the dice with them. Being teachable is probably the biggest one. If the person can’t or won’t listen to coaching, God will have to break them some more before they are ready for leadership.
I was talking with a bunch of other pastors in town about the baseline of leadership development and the question was asked if the person had to be a believer. For example – could a non-Christian guitarist play on the worship team? For most of the guys, the answer was no. Part of their baseline for serving and being developed — they already had to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. In other words, one would have to belong before they could be invested in and developed.
I disagree. I went back to the RAFT. If a person has those 4 key characteristics and they are willing to take the journey — I am too. Serving and people development then becomes another avenue for people to connect with Jesus and His church. Now, I’m not going to set this person up as a Life Group Leader or a teacher. BUT – not having a relationship with Jesus is not going to be the excluder for being invested in and developed.
I got a little push back on this and I told the guys — In your scenario, the person leaves the church and probably doesn’t come back. In my scenario, they have to spend 1.5 hour ‘band’ practice a week playing songs about Jesus. They have to sit through 2 services on Sunday morning. They have to research and listen to music they probably don’t normally listen to — which will be about Jesus. Then they are going to develop relationships with members of our worship team and figure out they all aren’t crazy. I’ll take my chances that my person is going to meet Jesus before your person does.
But — RAFT will only go so far. Can’t just stay there and that be considered development. More on that later.
Losing Control of a Service
Sunday may have been the most significant service we’ve had at WH since I’ve been here. We put our graduating seniors on stage and then let the church loose. For the next 90 minutes, these students heard how we have seen God work in them and through them. No agenda, no music, just God-stories all morning long.
And it was awesome.
When we started planning the service months ago, there was some hesitation. Sure, it could be an awesome spiritual marker, but what about those who hadn’t made their faith a priority? What about those who came only to the midweek life group? The rest of the church wouldn’t know who they were. What about those students whose families weren’t believers? Would they even show up? What if nobody said anything?
Is the reward of having a spiritual marker for our graduates, our student ministry, and the church as a whole worth the risk? That’s the question that ultimately we had to deal with and I’m proud of our Creative and Student Ministry Teams in their answer – YES.
Losing Control Of A Service
We had in our minds the service lasting about an hour. There were a couple of times when I tried to ‘wind down’ the sharing. Wasn’t going to happen. People kept getting up telling stories of how this student coached their kid in Upward. This student babysat and the kids wanted to grow up to be like them. A couple of students were now followers of Jesus this past year because of these students. Life change story after life change story.
Every time there was a lull, I’d stand up to close the service but someone else would stand up. Finally the seniors just took the microphone from me and said – “Just sit down.”
But what a marker it was for our seniors. What a marker it was for the rest of our student ministry. What a marker for our church.
The Starting Blocks of Beyond the Starting 5
This is part of the Beyond The Starting 5 project. A writing safari where I explore the idea of what people-development looks like in the local church. I have no idea what I’m doing, mileage may vary.
My first attempt in trying to ‘institute’ this idea of people-development was with a team of youth volunteers. We were all eager and excited but we quickly realized we had one major problem. None of us really knew where to start. Part of the problem (and maybe I should have listed this as another obstacle) was that so few of us were really developed (discipled) in the first place. And those of us who were had two opposite extreme experiences.
The Navigators/Crusade/Para-church Method
There is a point A and a point B. There is a mentor and a mentee. There is a definite path to take and way to do it. And we will ONLY do it that way. Learn this tract, this subject, this method. When we get the checklist done, you are ‘discipled’ and ready to lead.
There is a lot to like in this method. It covers the basics. It’s easy to understand. It’s focused. It’s structured. Some would argue TOO STRUCTURED.
However, there are some limitations to it. It’s often times more focused on getting a person enough KNOWLEDGE to perform a certain task than it is developing them as a person. The goal is to either get that person to lead a small group Bible study or share their faith. Both tasks are awesome things but it’s not necessarily developing the person. It still functions like “we train to run the program” instead of developing the person. When this kind of method runs into someone who doesn’t fit, the job is no longer trying to develop that person but to find someone else who does fit.
I’m not saying it’s incorrect. It’s just incomplete. And while this method rubs us visionary/abstract random people the wrong way, let’s face it — for years (decades?) it was still better than anything the local church or denominations were putting out. Which could probably be best summarized by this…
The Osmosis/If You Throw Enough Stuff On The Wall It Will Stick Method
Get a little Old Testament, a lot of Gospel, a little Revelation, a dash of the Letters. We’ll sprinkle in some current events and hot button issues that really aren’t hot button issues for those outside the church walls (worship style, dress codes, women in ministry, denomination politics). We’ll meet once a week and ask questions like “have you just lied to me” which puts us in this “Spiritual Police” mentality. Just hang around people who look like they know what they are doing and eventually you will catch “it.”
There is a lot that goes wrong with this method. Those people who look like they have it together really don’t. Ends up they are more focused on keeping the mask on. If people found out how messed up they (I) were, they’d be kicked off the team, out of the church. Besides that piety is easier than messy spirituality.
BUT – the one true nugget of this method that shouldn’t be missed is that true people development is going to mean hanging around people and getting involved in their TRUE story BEFORE we figure out the destination.
Every time I get a chance to sit down with another ministry leader, I’ll ask this question:
“When you start to develop and invest in person, what are the markers you want to hit? How do you know that your discipleship/people development process is working?”
And that’s the question I’ll tackle next. Unless something else comes up.
Obstacles and Developing People In The Church
This is part of the Beyond The Starting 5 project. A writing safari where I explore the idea of what people-development looks like in the local church. I have no idea what I’m doing, mileage may vary.
I don’t like talking about obstacles. I think it’s counter-productive. Especially if you spend more time focusing on the obstacle instead of just doing the mission. However, the reality is there are obstacles to any movement or change and sometimes it’s nice to know what you’re facing. (And no, this list isn’t exhaustive but I think these are the “big ones.”)
Not all obstacles are really obstacles. Not everything that slows us down is an obstacle. Sometimes they keep us from hitting landmines and running off a cliff. I remember moving into a new ministry and immediately was told to avoid this particular guy. He was a trouble maker, questioned everything. He was a bit of a hot-head, spoke first, thought later.
Then I met him. And worked with him. And loved him. His name? Steve Boehm. Steve is still one of my best friends in the world. And the warnings on him were partially right – he was a trouble maker and questioned everything. That’s why he was an outstanding leader. He wasn’t an obstacle, he was a difference maker because he thought deeply about student ministry and missions. He was willing to take risks and shake things up. He made me and all of us that served with him better leaders and followers of Jesus.
Point is this – not everyone who initially questions or challenges you is your enemy or an obstacle. They may be slow adopters or process people. They may see something you don’t. Take the time to figure that out before labeling something or someone an obstacle.
We could list about a thousand things in this space but I’m only going to hammer on three because I’m finding that these three tend to poison everything else.
Programs are easier to run, look better in the brochure
I don’t think much explanation is needed on this one. People develop is messy. And time consuming.
Time and Priorities
Families are out of control with their schedules. Sports, school activities, hobbies, entertainment and a kid-centric calendar inside the family unit is building a huge sense of entitlement in our kids that is not healthy and is not conducive to helping other people.
I could rant on this forever but there is no price tag on how important it is for my kids to see Amy praying and studying the Bible with teenagers. Or the impact my kids seeing me get up every Wednesday morning, reading books that challenge my faith. We’re not perfect parents – far from it. I say things I shouldn’t say when I hit my hand with a hammer just like you. We don’t do the Bible story every night complete with sermon illustrations and prayer and hymn sing.
BUT Amy and I want our kids to understand the value of investing in people, in serving them and that is something that has to be modeled and ‘caught’, not just taught. And our kids know that we love them but they aren’t the center of anyone’s universe.
Cruise Ship versus Battleship Mentality
Did you know that kids grow up? To be adults. Just saying. If they saw their parents pick a church based on what it does for them or meets their needs, guess how they will probably pick a church?
The first question I ask in our new members class is “why do you want to join Western Hills?” I listen to the answers. If the answers are because of a great children’s/youth/women’s/men’s program or the music is kicking or the teaching is awesome – I just smile and say “I hope not.”
That’s a cruise ship mentality. Meaning – we come to church for the services that are provided, the staff is nice and friendly and exist to meet my needs and to make sure that I have a pleasant ‘cruise.’
I hope we join a church because we find one that is going to help us in our journey to look more like Jesus. We call that spiritual transformation. That’s a “Battleship” church, a church with a mission larger than just herself, part of a larger fleet with a higher command structure. A church that exists to serve those outside their walls and not yet going to church there. A church that serves her community in Jesus’ name. A church that develops people and then unleashes them into the community.
There are probably more I could list but these three are the big ones. And these just aren’t obstacles for the organization but for me personally as well. I’m not sure if there are any “magic” solutions to these obstacle other than the stuff we’ve already talked about.
The bottom line is that we are always going to face obstacles. At some point you just have to do the work of investing in people. Just do it. It will get messy and unorganized and you’ll never have enough resources. So since all of that is true and will always be true — start doing it.
More later.
Summer Sermon Series
We’ve got a full slate this summer. First up is Hostage. LifeChurch.tv originally ran this series and they have been super generous to let us some of their resources for this series. BREAK FREE from what keeps you hostage.
Starting July 11, The Truth About series will start. Ever wonder about the truth of the Bible? God? Jesus? Eternity? So have we.
Running The Program or Developing People
This is part of the Beyond The Starting 5 project. A writing safari where I explore the idea of what people-development looks like in the local church. I have no idea what I’m doing, mileage may vary.
It’s possible to run a great program and never make a disciple.
This is a subject I have first-hand experience with. Unfortunately. Danny Payne was the first person I remember asking me this question circa 1997. “So…what happens to your students once they graduate?” It was in that instance that I realized how much I hated Danny Payne. Not really. (His wife – Beth – reads my blog and I have to be nice.)
Never has one question caused so much chaos in my life. Because our program was growing and we had a lot of students coming and the calendar was full and no one was complaining – I don’t think it ever dawned on anyone to ask this question. We just assumed that because we were doing religious, Christian things – like studying scripture – that in and of itself was developing disciples.
When we started looking at the results, what we found was heartbreaking. Students left our safe cocoon of student ministry and weren’t serving in church. Most of them weren’t even going to church anymore. The idea of being a missionary or serving for a year somewhere was non-existent. Furthermore, it’s debatable if they were any more in love with Jesus when they graduated than when they started high school. It would be hard to pick out how their life was all that much different because they were “Christ-followers.”
It was like we were producing these massive consumers of the Christian sub-culture. And when that sub-culture didn’t deliver what they liked or wanted, it was very easy for them to punt it all and find it somewhere else. Guess what is happening in adult ministries now days? Sound familiar?
So what happened? How did we get there? I’m not sure I have the definitive answer but here are the highlights for me, 13 years later looking back.
I confused religious activity with people development.
Is study the Bible good? Yes. Is scripture memory good? Yes. Is being in a Bible Study/Sunday School Class/Life Group good? Again – yes. Are those activities developing people? Depends.
Does a wrench turn a nut? Only when it’s not being used for a hammer. Or a doorstop. Or a vise grip. In other words, I use the right tool the wrong way all the time (or the wrong tool the right way?). And it sort of works but not really.
I mean, at the end of the project it sort looks like its supposed to but not really because that nail didn’t quite go in straight. It would have if I had used a hammer but I didn’t. I used a wrench as a hammer. The nail didn’t quite go in right but good enough to hold it together for awhile. And the reason I used the wrench instead of the hammer was because it was too much work to find the hammer. Or I was too lazy to get up and get the hammer when the wrench was laying right next to me. Which leads me to this observation…
I chose convenience over messy.
What’s easier? To plan a calendar of events, to map out a year’s worth of lessons or discipling someone one on one, one on two?
All of those activities (programs) aren’t bad in and of themselves but the bigger question is HOW are they being used? If we never stop and ask other questions, chances are we better at running the program than we are developing people.
These are the messy questions – what is God doing in this person that I can join in and be a part of? Where is God taking this individual? For what character issues, hurt issues, skill issues is God working on in this person (that they may not even KNOW about) that He’s intersected my life with theirs for the purpose to help? What character, hurt, skill issues are going on in my life that God has intersected my life with this person for that same reason? Is what we are doing really helping? Is it developing this person to look more like Jesus?
I identified myself with the program instead of seeing the program as an expendable tool.
If the goal is people development and getting them further down the road God has them on, then it SHOULD be easier to see programs and systems as tools to that end, not the end itself. SHOULD.
Unfortunately, identity theft is common in ministry. We begin to define ourselves by what we do and how well it apparently is doing. I remember walking through changing our Wednesday night youth program with my senior pastor, then my volunteers, then the students and parents.
“We’ve got more kids coming to Wednesday night than we have ever had.” I know. But is it developing people?
“We’ve got more buzz in the community because of what we do.” I know. Is it developing students to look more like Jesus?
“Grant, you started this, it’s working, why change it?” I did start it. It’s hard to kill it and do something different especially when convenience says don’t change, the numbers say don’t change. But God is asking – “Are you happy and pleased with the kind of Christ followers you are producing?” Or more pointed, is He pleased with what we are producing? Are we challenging and making students look more like Jesus – humble, gentle, servant hearts, loving, generous? Or are they great critics of Christian entertainment that know a lot of verses but uses them for their own ends and justifications?
I drank the poison.
Programs are designed to be user-friendly. That’s how they ‘sell’ in the local church – “anyone can do this.” And therein lies the subtle distraction that most of us have believed.
The focus then becomes on running the program – ‘anyone can do this.’ “Let me train you how to do this” and we confuse this training with people development. On some small scale it MAY be developing them but in reality it’s singular focus isn’t on DEVELOPING that person, it’s on SUSTAINING the ease of the program. It’s really about making sure the program perpetuates itself.
It’s a subtle difference but one that proves deadly in the long run. Training youth leaders how to teach a great lesson on Sunday morning didn’t necessarily make them better dads, moms, husbands, wives, students, siblings, or just a regular person in general. It only made them a better communicator on Sunday morning. And the chilling reality that hit me was that could be done without ever getting closer to Jesus or me looking more like Jesus.
So what’s the answer? What does people development look like? Still processing…more to come.
Beyond the Starting 5
This post is the start of a writing safari, an experiment. I want to explore the idea of what people-development looks like in the local church. Why is it important? What will it do? What does it mean? Please be warned, I have little to no idea what I’m doing, your mileage may vary.
Anyone who has ever played basketball knows the starting 5 will only get you so far. The long term success of a season and a program depends on those beyond the starting five. Attrition happens. “That is the sound of inevitability, Mr. Anderson.” (Yes — I had to get a Matrix quote in somewhere.) There will be injuries, ineligibility, sickness, lack of performance, and who knows what else that will knock people out of the starting positions.
Every coach knows this. What separates the great ones from the not-so-great ones is how they prepare for this reality. The great ones develop and invest in more than just those starters. They are relentless in the development of every one of their players. Systems, offenses, defenses, training programs may change from year to year but what doesn’t change is their non-compromising focus on developing players. They know that a culture like that takes years to develop. They also know that if they didn’t develop other players, their program could fade into mediocrity or worse – oblivion – in just one season.
Think about it…the teams that are historically good -Duke, Kansas, North Carolina – have coaches that have established a system that is totally focused on developing players. The wins come as a result of developing players. They are intentional about it. They eat, drink, and sleep player development.
It’s easy to see this same principle play out in the local church. Churches that ‘get it’ and are making a long-term impact on their community are churches that are relentless on developing people. They turn their whole organization upside down to help develop people. The programs are just tools, the focus is on developing people.
Every single aspect of a church’s vision depends on developing people. Every single goal and idea is dependent upon this concept.
Think I’m wrong? Think that’s an overstatement? Have you read the Great Commission lately? This concept should not be a huge shock to most of us. The collision of the Great Commission and the Great Commandment is exactly what I’m talking about – making disciples because we love them. Developing people because we love them. Because God loves them. I mean, seriously, this should NOT be this much of a stretch to understand.
Yet, it obviously is. How many churches wishes they had more leaders? More spiritually deep people? How many churches are running their programs with a great starting 5 but no bench whatsoever?
I’m in the same boat, so don’t read this like I’m the expert. Far from it. So for the next 30 days, I’m going to try to flesh out this idea, try to find some handles on this concept and maybe in the process figure out what are some practical steps that we can take to create a culture where we focus on developing people more than anything else.
This isn’t just a mental exercise for me either. I’m a pastor of a church that is in this boat. We have some of the most incredible volunteer leaders on the planet. The problem is there is no one really beyond the starters.
And it’s true that means we are in deep weeds if anything should happen to them. Or they get tired. Or God calls them to do something else. But that’s not really a good reason to develop people. That’s a self-focused kind of reason that ultimately fails. It ends up being guilt.
It’s important to start thinking about this and start doing something about it because to NOT to is to reject the Great Commission. To not start developing people is an utter failure in making disciples. And making disciples is different than running a great program.
It’s possible to run a great program and never make a disciple. It’s real easy to confuse the two…and I think that is where I’ll start tomorrow.
The Ongoing Safari of Beyond The Starting 5
Running the Program or Developing People
I Can See Clearly Now…
Obstacles and Developing People In The Church
The Starting Blocks of Beyond The Starting 5
I’m Looking For A Raft
RAFT, Part 2