Adventures in Leadership

last night i was reading a book on church leadership.  i do that often.  i’m a church leader.  i’ve actually been reading a lot lately.  this morning i got up and read some more…

there’s a common theme in most of the church leadership books and journals i have read over the course of my life.  it goes something like this:

god has anointed you the leader.  follow the vision god has given you.  god brought you to this church and planted inside of you the dream he wants you to lead people to follow.  it’s god’s vision.  in you.  the leader.

people may disagree with your vision.  people may not like your decisions.  some people will get mad.  others will leave.  many will talk behind your back.  some will try to undermine your vision and circumvent your plan.  don’t let those people get you down.  don’t let them hinder you.  stay the course.

all great leaders had to face opposition.  be faithful to your vision.  god gave it to you.  don’t get bogged down by the people who don’t agree with you.  move on.  they will, too.  eventually.  you are not in the people-pleasing business.  god did not call you to make people happy.  he called you to lead.  people are simply sheep without a shepherd…in need of a strong leader to take them where god wants them to be.

if they don’t like your leadership…your vision…your decisions…your style…your theology…well, they can leave and find another church.  that’s not your business.  following god’s leading in your life as a leader is your business.

although i see some truth in this, most of it really, really bothers me.  there’s an arrogance…a theological superiority…that is simply dangerous.  i know that god communicated clearly to the prophets of israel and to the apostles of the first century.  he spoke boldly and audibly to those he called to the demanding roles of leadership in the jewish nation and the early church…and it has been recorded accurately in scripture.

but are we to assume that that every preacher, every church leader, every new church planter, every ministry executive, every president…has the same “hotline” to god?  that every pastor has visionary carte blanche to pray, interpret god’s voice, and then follow that vision…and then run roughshod over people who don’t buy into the vision?  this is uncomfortably heartless to me.

that just seems inconsistent with the character and “leadership” style of jesus.  from a purely corporate perspective,  jesus just wouldn’t have been much of a leader.  he cared too much about people.

now, don’t get me wrong on this.  leaders have to make decisions.  sometimes we choose to do things (hopefully, in collaboration, dialogue, and relationship with others) that people will disagree with.  there are tough things that leaders need to do…and we must do them.  and sometimes people get hurt and discouraged and frustrated in the process.

it’s a very complicated issue.  no easy answers.

this morning, i’m incredibly grateful to serve with a team of people at north point who recognize that difficult decisions need to be made…agonize deeply when those decisions hurt people…and would never dream of letting me get on some power trip because god gave me a vision and i’m the leader and the people just need to follow.

you’d love to be a fly on the wall if i tried to do that!

Role playing

i’m sitting here watching lebron try to keep his cavaliers in the game tonight against orlando.  there is no question in my mind that he is the best basketball player in the world.  honestly, i don’t think anybody even comes close.  sorry kobe.

as a matter of fact, in the history of basketball, there have only been a few who have ascended to the heights of greatness that lebron has climbed.  only a handful are so special, so gifted, so uniquely talented that all they need are some role players to complement them as they hoist the team on their massive shoulders and achieve dreams of unprecedented magnitude.

i think this is true in all areas of life.  there are uniquely gifted coaches and corporate executives and military leaders and financial entrepreneurs…even mega-pastors.  men and women who are so far superior to the rest of us in what they do, they can command pretty much anything they want.

all of them are usually quick to give credit to their role players, but we all know their giftedness and superior talents and abilities will ensure success wherever they go.

in spite of the presence of prominence and excellence, the nuts and bolts of life depend on us role players…whether it is a basketball team, a business, a squadron or a church family.

i’m comfortable and confident in my kingdom role.

how about you?  do you know your role?  are you playing it well?  the team needs you.

“It’s time to get back with the program” – pastor mike

it’s definitely time to get back in this dialogue.  if you are reading this, wake up the slackers you hang with and tell them to start reading again.  this is important.  make sure you go back and read all the “pastor” posts.  we’ve got to keep digging on this subject.

one of the champions of the modern protestant movement was martin luther.  probably the biggest name and the one with the most profound impact.  he was a german monk who led the protest against the catholic church over issues such as: the authority of the bible, the authority of the papacy, salvation by grace, and the role of indulgences.  but before we fully embrace him as our hero who led us from the captivity of the roman catholic domination, we need to look carefully at some of what he said…

luther wrote (in an excerpt from the book “The Ministry in Historical Perspectives”, pp. 114-115):

“God speaks through the preacher . . . A Christian preacher is a minister of God who is set apart, yea, he is an angel of God, a very bishop sent by God, a savior of many people, a king and prince in the Kingdom of Christ . . . There is nothing more precious or nobler in the earth and in this life than a true, faithful parson or preacher.”

looks to me like the priesthood (not of believers!) is very much alive and well in the heart of this great leader of the reformation.

so exactly what is he reforming?

Getting back in the saddle…

every year i get the privilege to go to colorado and help lead a wilderness experience for youth pastors from around the country.  every year i come back with new insights and observations about the state of youth ministry, youth pastors and the church in general.  it challenges me to rethink my priorities and evaluate where i am in god’s big picture.  i’m grateful for the opportunity.

after having just returned, i am struck by a fact that gives me hope.  each of the seven guys who were in my small group for the week have gone home to churches that they enjoy being a part of…and those churches appear to like and appreciate them.

this is no small deal in the world of church life.  churches are often places where unhealthy relationships exist for leaders.  i am happy for these guys.  i wish them well.

i am grateful to be back at north point.  can’t wait to start seeing people.  i really like our corner of the kingdom.

“pastor mike, pastor mike…” – five

a casual look back at church history reveals that it only took about 70 years for the resurrection of the spiritual elite.  

for the first few decades after jesus was raised from the dead, the church had no “official hierarchy”.  when the apostles traveled on their missionary journeys to plant churches throughout the known world, they didn’t place themselves in high positions.  they didn’t come as the ecclesiastical elite.  they came as the “new” priesthood.  just followers of christ commissioned with the job of passing on the message of hope.

when they left, they didn’t coronate new priests.  they simply left behind elders.  people with the job of shepherding and caring for the people of the new community.  by the year 100 a.d., everything had changed.  back to the old way of doing things.  

around 100, ignatius of antioch (the elder of the church in antioch) created the “head elder”…a bishop…who was the only one who could baptize, give counsel, discipline, approve marriage, preach, and give communion.  sound familiar?

according to ignatius, the bishop had ultimate power and should be obeyed absolutely.  consider the following excerpts from his letters: 

“All of you follow the bishop as Jesus Christ follows the Father . . . No one is to do any church business without the bishop . . . Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be . . . You yourselves must never act independently of your bishop and clergy. You should look on your bishop as a type of the Father . . . Whatever he approves, that is pleasing to God . . . ”

“Early Christian Writings: The Apostolic Fathers” (New York: Dorset Press, 1968), pp. 75-123.

so really.  what do you think is happening here?

A great quote…

i love quotes.  simple inspiration.  i  want to give you a few quotes by brian houston, the lead pastor of hillsong in australia.  short.  to the point.  riveting.  a challenge to the heart.  here’s the first one:

“Our youth group is our biggest nursery for leadership!”

man…i love that quote.  developing strong leadership is job that starts young.  it has been my honor to work with young people my whole life.  it is awesome to watch kids grow into strong, committed christ followers and use their lives to influence others.  that’s leadership.

i got invited to come and help out at underground (our sunday night youth thing) last sunday.  it was fun.  i loved seeing the looks in their eyes.  i loved watching them laugh and think and question and especially when the light bulbs went on in their heads…and hearts.  

i had a lot of feelings that came to the surface sunday evening.

the most important one is that our youth ministry is in good hands.  so is the immediate future of our church family.

In praise of the sports metaphor

in honor of the start of football season, i thought i’d share with you some of my favorite sports metaphors that apply to life, leadership, relationships, discipleship and personal growth.  for those of you that don’t appreciate the well-timed (but not over-used) greatness of a sports metaphor, i would suggest spending a few evenings of watching back-to-back-to-back-to-back repeats of espn sportscenter.  it is a cure for many things…

one of my all-purpose favorites is keep your eye on the ball.  probably best known to a baseball hitter, it is a discipline that is taught in virtually every sport that is played with a ball.  football wide receivers, soccer goalies, golfers, tennis players, and other athletes all know that keeping their eyes on the ball is the most basic and fundamental of all steps to mastering their game.  focus on the basics must never be overlooked.

as an athlete, you can have mad skills, powerful muscles, a great reputation and unlimited potential, but if you lose sight of the ball, nothing else matters.  you will fail.  every time.  no debate.  case closed.

the same is true in life.  it is so easy to jump ahead and forget the basics.  we can lose concentration and easily lose sight of the simple and practical things we need to be doing everyday.  focus is essential in everything we do.  being able to narrow down our plan to the basics is the foundational step we have to take before we take any other steps.

where have you lost focus?

what part of your life needs to be brought back to basics?

what’s stopping you from keeping your eye on the ball?

what are you going to do about it this week?

stay connected here this week.  the sports metaphor will “raise the bar”…

Stranger than fiction

i saw this pretty amazing video on a blog that i read occasionally.  i strongly recommend you check it out before you read the rest of my post.  in case you don’t have time (or just want me to do the work for you), it’s a video of a guy singing this incredible song called “healer”…a song he wrote right after he found out he had cancer.  the video is shot at hillsong, australia.

the song is powerful and his testimony is moving.  the song has become an instant worship anthem around the world.  churches and worship pastors have pushed it to the top of the charts, and worshippers are extoling it as an “anointed” song…a gift from god to the church…in anticipation of more miraculous healing as people come to god through this song.

to be honest, the song (and accompanying story) moved me.  it was very good.  but something didn’t feel right about the whole epic…worship…healing…spectacle in the video.  good song…maybe we could use at north point sometime in the future…but i wasn’t rushing to get it in the rotation.  

didn’t really give it another thought.  until tonight.  when i read this.  again, you really ought to read it yourself.  but for those of you who want the reader’s digest version, it has just come out in australian newspapers that the guy who wrote and sang the song is a liar.  he never had cancer.  he just did it to promote his ministry…and make a ton of money on video and dvd sales.  hope its not true, but it looks bad for him…and the church…and the cause of christ.

got a lot of different feelings about this one, but the big one i’m having right now is just how deceptive and intoxicating the big stage is.  men (i can’t speak for women) who preach and speak and sing and lead from high profile platforms…on pedestals…being looked up to by their devoted followers are constantly at risk.  the lure of big and more and expansion and power and influence and signs and wonders and miracles…all of it…can be like drugs to an addict for a leader.  

(those of us on small stages and leading in relative obscurity are subject to the same deceptions.  but because the platform of the bigger and more highly visible ministries are so captured by the public eye, it has been my experience that the leaders of these churches  and ministries are much more vulnerable to these kinds of problems.  just my opinion.)

we should be praying for high profile, influential church leaders to be protected from the toxic expectations of the world, and more importantly, from the church.  as the church, we need to guard ourselves from placing unrealistic expectations on these leaders and their leadership.

on a personal note, i would also appreciate your prayers for the strength and determination to keep from climbing up on my home-made, ministry leadership pedestal…not that my circle of good friends don’t do a good enough job of smacking me off of it pretty regularly!

a life-changing thought

like a lot of other people i’ve been hanging out with lately on the internet, i have found a new website that is dispensing some great wisdom about leadership.  here’s a post that rocked my world recently:

“In an organization with 100 people:

• 20 people are doers.
• With a leader.
• 80 are hanging around watching, experimenting, consuming, or complaining.
• When the 20 expand to 40, chances are there’s 200 now in the organization (or will be).
• The 20 tend to get frustrated with the 80 for not doing anything and at times will tell them. (They should avoid that.)
• The 80 will ride the coattails of the 20 and feel like they did it and even take credit for it.
• This sometimes frustrates the 20. They should not be frustrated. They should just do.
• Great leaders pour vision into the 20 while casting the net out to the 100.
• Frustrated leaders spend a lot of time trying to get the 80 be part of the 20.
• Of the 80, some will become doers as the organization grows.
• The doers that simply do will some day realize there are people following them.
• Some of the 80 will become part of the 20 with a simple personal invite.
• A leader will be turned down 4 times for every yes. This does not bother great leaders. It frustrates others.
• Frustrated leaders have the opportunity to be great leaders.”

pay close attention.  i’m only going to say this once:  ”i want to be a great leader”.

like many others, i have been a frustrated leader at times in my personal life, as well as in my ministry.  more often than not, i am frustrated with myself.  i have been afraid of upsetting the apple cart.  i have been afraid of complainers.  i have been afraid of doing things that would make people upset with me.  i have been afraid of listening to the voice of god and following his leading…especially if it might create conflict between me and the people i lead and enjoy.  sometimes, i have simply been afraid of exercising the leadership that people have entrusted me with.  there you have it.

i think i’m done with this kind of leadership.  i think people at north point need to decide if they are part of the 80.  i think it’s time to find the 20 people and get busy.  i think it’s time to find the 20 people who want to be the tireless, fearless, daring, audacious team of risk-takers that truly want north point to make a difference in the world.

any takers?

“Because I’m a leader.”

did you watch the opening ceremonies of the olympic games in bejing last night?  absolutely amazing.  drama.  politics.  emotion.  mystery.  story.  passion.  sport.  it was all there.

the story of little hao lin was moving.  he is the little boy who not only survived the great earthquake in china earlier this year, but he also helped rescue two of his classmates.  when asked why he did that, he replied, “because i’m a leader.  i’m a hall monitor and my classmates count on me.”

when faced with opportunities to make a difference in the world, should christ’s disciples respond with any less?