Transparency

As I have been in different Sunday school classes in my career as a church attender, it seems like the hardest thing to do is to get people to answer questions, discuss their life, or whatever. One thing I have found that can reverse the trend is a little transparency.

The problem, however, is that inbred Christian churches (i.e., churches grow by the majority of transfer membership, and never affect the unchurched population) do not create an atmosphere conducive to transparency---that is, people are intimidated to talk about their mistakes.

Basically, it has to begin with the leadership. The pastor has to stop pretending to be perfect. In my opinion (and I know many will disagree with this), it begins by dressing like a normal person, even on Sunday!

We often don't realize it, but by trying to look nice, act happy, and appear holy on Sunday mornings, we are promoting the idea that God is sectioned off from the normal parts of our lives---we do things different at church from the way we do things at home, therefore, I have to dress up and act nice in order for God to accept me, and when I'm in dumpy clothes and and irritated, then God wants nothing to do with me.

The solution? Teachers, leaders, and others need to start freely admitting their failures, mistakes, sins, and start modeling a continuous lifestyle of repentance for the people they teach and lead and disciple. It means apologizing when you're wrong. It means using stories and illustrations about yourself where you are the villain and not the hero.

This is yet another reason why I love working for Set Free. There is zero pretension there. Even the pastor is a recovering alcoholic. Everybody there wears the same clothes they do during the week. And our Bible studies are amazing because nobody there is afraid of looking bad because we all already look bad.

I also recently learned that Charles Wesley used to kick people out of his church that dressed up too much. I may just continue that practice in my church!

David and Saul

Normally, I hate to broadcast my shortcomings, but I also realize that I can't afford to broadcast only my victories. Hopefully, I'm not being too transparent.

Here's the thing: I know I'm good at a lot of things. But on the flip side of that, I know I'm not the best at anything, and I never will be. The thing is, many times I just resent the people that are better than me.

Let me rephrase that, the thing I really resent is when I see people with less talent than I have get better results than I get. It's not fair. In a way, I'm like the jerkface, whiney, second string quarterback, stirring up trouble in order to secure the top spot for myself.

I can really identify with David, the hot-shot upstart thrust into second place in the kingdom of Israel. But I have not yet learned the lesson never to lay a hand on the LORD's annointed (1 Sam 24). Unfortunately, that makes me more like David's son, Absalom, who went behind the king's back to create a following and usurp the kingdom (2 Sam 15). And that is why I think I'm still on the sidelines.

So there you have it. I'm not proud of it. The only thing left for me to do is repent of it and stop doing it. It's time to realize that I don't have to be the best. Maybe it would help to see things from God's perspective, to celebrate His victories and gifts, regardless of who He chooses to bless. I've done it before, so it's now a matter of consistently applying it.

I don't like being a disaffected malcontent all the time.

Hopefully, the first step toward recovery really is to admit you have a problem.

Waiting on the World to Change

Go ahead and call me dumb, but John Mayer's Waiting on the World to Change (I kinda like this churchified video) keeps playing in my head, over and over and over. I'm not really a fan of his, but I definitely identify with the sentiment. Is this really the best we can do as a state, as a country, as a world, as a church??

My basic life goal is to make a measurable difference for the better. Thus far, I haven't been put in a position to change things. It's frustrating. I wonder sometimes that if I am put in a position to change things, by the time will I have lost all the naive enthusiasm and optimism that I now have? Is it possible that I might hinder a young idealist like me and turn him into just another old cynical curmudgeon?

But here's the thing: people all over the world have been "waiting on the world to change" since the beginning. Why can't humans get it right? Why can't we achieve that elusive Utopian society? Now that all the Hippies and Yuppies have each had their chance to rule America, are we any better off??

Romans 8:18-25 tells us that all creation is frustrated and groaning, waiting on Jesus to restore everything.

My generation is getting ready to step up to the plate and take our turn with the world. I'm pretty confident that by the time I'm 60-ish the young people will still be complaining about the same things that I'm tired of.

However, while we may not be able to change the world, we can definitely impact our families, our churches, our jobs, and our communities. One person can absolutely make a difference, and several people together can make a big difference. So let's get started making our little differences and trust that Jesus is still coming back to change the whole world into an actual Utopia. In this way, we are "Changing the World While We Wait" for Jesus. Maybe someone can make a catchy song out of that phrase.

The Missing Piece

With my imminent career in ministry as a pastor somewhere, I am increasingly convicted by my lack of vision, as far as big picture Christianity is concerned. I am struggling to find the "missing piece" of the puzzle, the "keystone," the "unified theory" that will put all this stuff that is swimming around in my head together. I feel like I'm at the eye doctor trying out lenses; he keeps asking "better or worse?" and I can't figure it out.

Here's what I know: I am dissatisfied with a lot of what I read about church and purpose. So much is wrapped up in individualism. That is, the way sanctification (or progressive holiness, if that even exists) happens is by personal prayer, personal Bible study, personal avoidance of sin, and personal evangelism. Well, if that is our goal, then all the church can do is train and instruct. This church is bringing people into the Kingdom.

Yet, I find that insufficient. So much of the Bible (especially the New Testament) is group-based and community-oriented. That is, God has made for himself a people, rather than a bunch of persons.

Granted, we don't lose our individual personalities, but what I mean is that the whole (community) is vastly greater than the sum of its parts (the individuals). Each individual has a key part to play in the functioning of the body. Each individual makes a difference in the body of Christ. Sanctification happens in community as believers exercise their spiritual gifts toward each other, as believers serve one another, and as believers take (as a team) the gospel to the lost.

In this way, the function of the church becomes taking the kingdom to the people. This church is focused outward, showing their faith by their works, experiencing the full life, even on earth, that Jesus promised. They are no longer working for the weekend (heaven), they are living in the present. In this way, God is more glorified by a visible community of living faith, rather than enjoying him privately (take THAT, John Piper!)

Worship Leadership

I once had a class by the same name as the title of this post. I'll just say this, I was disappointed. Since I have my feet in both camps (worship and pastorate), I thought I'd put down what I would like to see in a worship leader.

I get frustrated with music/worship-types many times because they are often theologically shallow and performance/entertainment driven. My view is very opposite of this philosophy. In Hebrews, worship/praise is described as a metaphorical sacrifice: Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. --Heb 13:15

In light of this, the worship leader is like the priest, and his responsibility is to see to it that the sacrifice is acceptable to God. This goes WAY beyond musical talent. One of the most popular worship leaders today is David Crowder. To put it gently, this guy is not cute. On top of that, his voice really isn't that great either. What he has, though, is complete dependence on Jesus, which comes through often in his music.

Without dragging this on too long, honesty, humility, and heart go a lot further for me than technical precision and flare. Also, churches really need to get away from the professional musician mentality. Instead, worship leaders need to coach people on how to best let their heart and passion shine through their musical expression. Sure God wants and deserves our best, but my best is different from everyone else's best. I guess I just want to say that a worship leader should bring out the best in people, so that we can all corporately praise God with a spirit of unity, and with one mouth glorify the only Savior, Jesus Christ.

Also, ministers of music should not make and distribute illegal copies of copyrighted music. If you don't like it, write your own music.

Visioneering -2- The Followers

I was talking to a guy at work today about his life and he told me he "wasn't the best in school."

Here's a guy who's a hard worker, easy to get along with, good at math, and other things, but because he had trouble with some reading skills, his school experience was negative.

Obviously there are different kinds of smarts. Most public schools only test and reward book smarts, or even more specifically, English smarts. Thankfully there are some that have intense art, computer, music, and shop classes to develop children according to their own skill set.

What does this have to do with church? Too many times, the leaders in the church are the book smart or people smart. More and more I see that God has put so many people together in very different ways, and then the Holy Spirit comes along and gives different gifts to people. For instance, how great would it be for a church to have an encouragement ministry, or a media ministry that goes beyond DVD's and electric guitars? How cool would it be to have real art inside the church? I know some people that just like to meet new people and socialize all the time. Certain types of people get upset at these social butterflies because they don't get many tasks done, or do they?? I would love to have a church full of people that just want to make friends and make people smile.

Of course the church is more than a social club, but with our society's high mobility and the breakdown of the family, we really need a place where you can be yourself, help others, and learn about the nature of God in more tangible ways than just listening to a preacher. What some would call mere "socializing," I call deep fellowship. Again, different people have different gifts and skills.

Everyone in a church should have the feeling that they are making a valuable contribution to the life and health of the church body, even youth and young adults.

Visioneering -1-

One of the main reasons I wanted to start blogging was to get my ideas and vision and whatnot for church planting out on the web for all to see ("all" meaning the 20 people who will read this). So two months into this thing, I guess it's about time.

Purpose and Mission

I see my personal purpose in life as reaching the next generation for Christ. Basically, I want to give people all the stuff I never had. I want to invest myself in others, mentor them, find opportunities for them to use their gifts, encourage them, and turn them into the kind of people who will do the same things for others. Basically, I want to do everything I can to make people successful (though in more of the spiritual and relational sense as opposed to financially).

Another mission of mine is to treat everyone like they matter to me, because they do. I crave personal time and attention, yet nobody has it to give. I want to be the kind of person that if I can't personally help you do something, I will send you to the person who can. People matter to me, because they matter to God. Bill Hybels claims this too, but not in the same way that I do. In such an impersonal society, the church needs to be much more intentional and proactive in connecting people to other people, and providing an environment for friendship to bloom and flourish. Bottom line for me, mission is NEVER about tasks, but it is ALWAYS about people. It's a shame that in so many churches people don't have time to connect because they're too busy doing stuff. Thank God for bean counters, but they better be counting beans with others for others.

Lastly, but most importantly, I want to have and to instill in others a passion for Jesus. Jesus is worth getting excited about. He's big enough to build and govern the universe, yet close and personal enough to give total attention to us whenever we call (and many times when we don't). Jesus loved me personally enough to save me out of a sinful lifestyle, he promised to be with me through the tough times and work in them for my good, to give me the ability and desire to do good on earth, and finally to rescue me from death and take me to be with him forever when my life is over.

These values and philosophies govern much of what I do (I wish it was all, but I am not perfect yet). Wherever I go, whatever I do, I take these principles with me. It makes me sad that so many others don't have these values, but God uses all kinds of people at all different stages of maturity. I praise God for the diversity in the universal church and look forward to every opportunity I may have to be a partner with Jesus in building his kingdom in this world.

Leadership Lessons from UPS

Last night, something dumb happened to me at work.

Apparently, a supervisor was sent to help keep track of all the extra volume that was coming in. He used to have my job so he thought he'd help me out. He gave me what I thought were suggestions on how to manage things. When I didn't do them, I got an enormous lecture on what a dirt bag supervisor I was. (Even though my area did pretty well despite some big obstacles).

What he did wrong:
1) He did nothing to establish rapport with me. He came in "guns a-blazin."
2) He made it clear that I was there for him, and not the other way around.
3) He never tried to understand the methods and procedures we already had in place.
4) He never explained to me the importance of what I was doing, or how it fit in to the grand scheme.
5) He never gave me a clearly-defined set of duties and responsibilities, and faulted me for my lack of understanding (and caring!).

How to be a good leader: do the opposite of those things.
1) Try to establish rapport and goodwill with your fellow workers.
2) One of the best ways to establish goodwill is by being a servant and letting people know that it is your job to make them successful.
3) Work to understand what is already in place--if it ain't broke, don't monkey with it. If it is broken, then involve your people in brainstorming a solution.
4) Sell the job. Let people know they are making a big impact. Make people aware of where they fit in with the big picture. Let them know the results that their work is producing.
5) Let people know exactly what's expected of them, and how they will be held accountable to them. Nothing is more frustrating to me than vague procedures.

Good leadership is good leadership, whether it is in the business world or in ministry. Take a moment to reflect on these and see if you need to change your philosophy of leadership. Also, take a moment to pray for those who lead you. I need to pray for my guy right now! Hopefully tonight will be better.