Leadership Synchroblog

This November 4th marks a profound opportunity in American history regardless of who takes office to the Presidency. And this focus on leadership got me thinking.  What if we got together and had a Synchroblog on leadership. There’s already a group on board but I wanted to open this up and ask if anyone else wanted to participate.  If you are interested let me know.

The focus is not on the Presidency but on leadership.  This is your opportunity to speak to those who leads and let them know what you are looking for.  The context can be in politics, family, the church or to any leader you want.

Please join us.  Leave your name in the comments and I’ll add you to the list.  The post will be due on November 4th and will include a list of those participating.

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Straight From The Horses Mouth

“And yet those at the center of the church are burning out and leaving ministry at a rate of 1,500 per month. If that’s what’s occurring at the heart of the church, why would anyone on the fringe want to move in closer?” – Skye Jethani, Out of Ur

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When A Pastor Repents

When was the last time you heard your pastor repent?

Let me start by saying that I love pastors.  I have a lot of good friends who are pastors.  And this is not a rant against pastors but against the culture pastors live in.  Pastors, in the current congregational model of church, enjoy and are responsible for the position they hold.  They are they guys up front that all eyes are on watching every Sunday.

But with that said, one of the central practices in the kingdom of God is repentance.  And repentance is not simply a one time event of confessing a sin.  It’s radically deeper than that.  It’s the constant process of getting honest with the self about our brokenness.  It’s a day by day process of wrestling our own restoration and being honest with how we break ourselves.  And the answer is always a return to relationship, to the arms of the Father.

But if pastors aren’t teaching that by example, how can they expect those who follow them to learn it or practice it.  Instead we’ve created a culture that crucifies pastors when they do. And this culture seems to feed on itself, constantly reinforcing that pastors can’t be honest.

One of the most significant moments in my life came at a pastors conference I attended.  The speaker asked how many people in the audience of 2,000 were beyond burnt from the culture they pastored in.  1,500 people raised their hands. And then the speaker invited those 1,500 people to repent, to shed that baggage at the cross.  This image has always stuck with me.  It was one of the most beautiful moments of my life, seeing pastors repent.  It too fed on itself, giving permission to those in the audience to weep…and loudly.

When pastors practice getting honest over time it creates a culture of honesty that invites forgiveness and humility.  My hope is that in the future we can begin to create a culture that allows pastors to be the first ones to seek repentance.  And instead of a pedastal to fall from, they can see the arms of those who follow ready to catch him when he/she falls.

A really good example of repentance is this. (ht) These guys traded in what they wanted for what God wanted to give them.  May we do more of that.

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The Role of Pastor

Do you know your pastor?  I mean really, really know him (or her for progressive churches).  Chances are you don’t.  In an era of larger and even mega-churches, the answer is likely “no”.

The central role of pastor when I was young was to take care of his “flock”.  I grew up in a small Baptist church in East San Jose.  There were on average 175 people in attendance in our one room cathedral, with its plush, red seating and it’s stained glass windows.  At the end of every service we would roll out the center aisle and shake the pastor’s hand.  At every church picnic I can remember my pastor sitting with us and talking to my mom.  She knew the pastor. (It didn’t hurt that my mom served at women’s functions).

But times have changed.  How we do church has changed.  And so has the technology.  Virtual sites are the new rage in church planting, where a pastor is pumped in to a remote location. And in response, Chris Salzman writes,

“One of the big criticisms of churches that pump in video for their sermons is how distant the congregation can feel from the pastor.”

And I would ask if the pastor needs to be virtual or multi-site to even reach this point? Has the role of pastor changed in the era that we currently live in?  Has the role morphed from essentially shepherds of a flock to presenters of spiritual information?

Interested how you feel on this.  Speak your piece.

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You Need To Watch This

If you are a pastor, or someone who is in ministry, you need to watch this right now. I’ll let you discover what I’m talking about.

FYI: You need to click the arrow to reveal the video.

Postscript: Unfortunately if you didn’t get to watch this it was taken down. Sorry. I’ll look for it elsewhere.

Final postscript: Okay I got a copy of it.  It’s too big to post or send, so I’m breaking it down to smaller files.  If you want to be notified when its done, let me know in the comments.

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Another One Bites The Dust

This is just getting sad. Steve Pickett BRYAN (CBS 11 News)

Prestonwood Minister Arrested In Online Sex Bust

“A minister at one of the largest churches in North Texas has been arrested in a sex sting operation in Bryan.

Police confirm that Joe Barron was taken into custody after driving more than three hours to have sex with what he thought was a 13-year-old girl.

Barron serves as a minister at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano. The 52-year-old is a senior minister who works with adults at the church that has some 26,000 members. Barron had only been with the church for the past 18 months.”

How many pastors are going to have to go down before we recognize there is a significant problem with the pedestal we place pastors on and expect them to be perfect. The culture that creates this is as broken as what he’s done.

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Interesting Stuff 15

Pastor John Frye shares his move from social scientist to Jesus Pastor. His insight into what it is like to be a traditional pastor are worth gold.

“In my early years a lingering value still suggested that pastors shouldn’t get too close to people because the pastor might not be able to maintain his “objectivity.” All of this created a low church liturgy where the Sunday sermon was what mattered most. Preaching was the big thing in the service. Getting to know the Book was more important than getting to know God. Mistakenly in the minds of most, the one equaled the other. I became a theological technician, not a pastor. Put me in a white lab coat and I would have been mistaken for a social scientist.” (ht)

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“Today, I am more convinced of inerrancy than at any time in my Christian life, but the charge of bibliolatry, or at least a near, if not kissing cousin, is one I fear is hard to rebut. To be more specific, in the actual practices of the Evangelical community in North America, there is an over-commitment to Scripture in a way that is false, irrational, and harmful to the cause of Christ.” Apologist JP Moreland (ht)

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Jesus Was A Terrible Leader

I was thinking about Jesus and leadership today. I was thinking about what we typically think of when we think of growth in the typical church paradigm. For some, but not all, numerical growth is the obvious standard. And I get this because butts in the seats is measurable.

We celebrate the 101 fasting growing church in America and make lists.  And I think about how this would feel if I were number 102. That would suck. The first question I would ask would be, “How do I make that list?” (As a side note, how about the churches that made the list this year and then found out they were not really on the list and had to be removed because of an error. Bummer.)

But if this is the measure we use, then Jesus was a terrible leader, in the short run. He wouldn’t get a job in today’s church marketplace. Think about it. He spent three years with 12 people. He talked to a lot of people but his primary focus was on twelve people who didn’t always get a long and didn’t always get it.

“Where’s the growth” people would ask? “How are we gonna pay the bills” others would say, albeit quietly in from the other side of the room. “This guy just doesn’t seem to get it.”

And yet Jesus changed the world. Nice.

I wonder if those in leadership will someday follow the model Jesus developed. He followed His Father’s voice to transform the lives of twelve ordinary people.

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New Conspirators – Saturday

This morning we were greeted with an urban taste of rap for worship. Ohmega Watts shared his hip-hop gospel songs for us. Personally I loved it. I grew up on KSOL and Marvin Gaye. Buy this guys music. It’s good. A few of us stood in the back dancing and enjoying the sounds. But I’m sure there were a few who weren’t quite used to rap as an expression for worship. On top of that, Ohmega has two friends break dancing behind him. It was pure Tom, swinging for the fences. If you can, check out Ohmega’s music on iTunes. His lyrics were exceptional.

Ohmega gave way to Efrem Smith, co-author of The Hip Hop Church. To be honest, Efrem was speaking my language. He spoke for at least an hour on what it means to be loved first so we can love. And much of what we do is look for our identity in everything but God. And what we get is a reflection of the broken self. I really loved his breakdown of agape and God’s expressive love flowing through us.

He presented a rousing call to tear down the traditional oppressive structures that is “white” church. I’m sure he pushed a few buttons but his call to essentially “get real” is needed if we’re going to find God’s purest reflection in humanity, one based on many races and colors.

I appreciated his message so much I attend his break out session immediately following. It was a more detailed breakdown on the history of what we know as church in American culture, which has stripped away any culture references such as German, Irish, or Swedish. For a lot of people who come from predominantly white communities, this was a wake up call. The questions that followed revealed the tension around this issue. Some were really struggling with it.

The hard part of this issue is sitting with the tension and listening to the black community share what it feels and not feel like I’m the oppressor. I’m a white guy. But Efrem was very clear to say that he wasn’t bashing people. He was interested in moving past the white or black church to a multicultural church. He also shared a frustration that much of the publishing industry won’t give voice to the black community. I hope this changes in the future.

I sat in the balcony during the morning service and as I was walking out, I ran into Mark Scandrette. What a great guy. We shared lunch together and talked about what it means to love in community and really practice following Jesus. We shared stories about ministry and what it means to really practice love. He’s contemplating writing a new book called The Jesus Dojo. Right there I knew I had to go to his session.

I ended up meeting a new guy named Dan. I wish I had gotten your last name. If you visit, drop me a line. We talked for at least twenty minutes about what it means to start a church from a discipleship perspective. I could have talked for hours with this guy. He just came out from New Orleans and was looking to plant a church. We talked about what it would mean to flip the church and have the Sunday service support the discipleship communities. Much love Dan in your mission in Seattle.

We both walked to Mark’s session and he shared what it means to live in a new monastic community. Much of what he spoke of is on his site, especially his seven vows. The crowd really responded to his message. He’s a creative visionary and I hope that he writes his book soon. If anyone knows of an agent willing to talk with him, he’s beginning to look. Mark shared one thing that caught my attention in a deeper way. He said, if where you are living is not resonating, maybe it’s time to move to a location that will.

Mark Van Steenwyk, Roy Soto, and Eileen Hanson shared their thoughts on mission in different communities. I missed part of this because I was late. Sorry Mark.

The last session was Mark Scandrette’s wife Lisa, Mike Morris, and Andrew McLeod. They each shared some really interesting perspectives on co-ops, family life in communal living, and Mike shared his wit as a Friar. Again, but I understand why, was too short.

Tom and Christine had us finished with an exercise that surprised me. We each had to imagine a way we could bring renewal into our lives. I closed my eyes and could instantly see Jesus walking up to me and he sat down next to me. I fully expected him to tell me what he wanted me to do. But then he just sat there…for two minutes. And then Tom said, “Okay times up.” I opened my eyes and wondered what that was about and then I realized what Jesus was trying to tell me. It was time to just sit with him. Andrew McLeod sat next to me and he had virtually the same thing. Stop and sit with Jesus…just be.

Well, that’s about it. If you missed it there’s always next year. The plans are already in the works. Much love to Tom, Christine, Eliacin, Kathy, Mark S., Mark V., Tomas, Cole, Dan, Lisa, Dwight, Shane, and so many more wonderful people I got to meet. It was really the people who were the face of God to me all weekend. May God bless you.

I uploaded some more pictures from the sessions here.

Ohmega Watts talking with Christine Sine.

Efrem Smith sharing how important it is to let God love us first so we can love.

Mark V., Eileen Hanson, and Roy Soto

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New Conspirators – Friday Night

Today and tonight were awesome. So many people were talking about how great it was to be at the conference and feel like we are taking part in a really great conversation. There were so many stories and people who simply wanted to find a way to bring love and renewal to our communities. I also felt like the evening session was the reason I was supposed to come.

After lunch I sat in on Dwight Friesen’s session. It was a really great dialog (and I mean dialog) on finding common ground and conversation with those who are part of the traditional church. So much of what we do is deal with the tension of deconstruction, but Dwight was passionate about finding ways to be agents of renewal, especially those who came before us. He brought a great point about Derrida, who wanted to ultimately find beauty and grace in deconstruction, and ultimate find something constructive. He expressed what I thought was a brilliant point – We are called to honor our fathers. Dwight doesn’t lead from a deposit model of communication. For the first 65 of his 70 minute session all he did was ask questions and create dialog. He commented a lot on what was said but it was really driven by what we wanted to talk about and were feeling. He challenged all of us to be creative constructionists by learning to dance in the rhythm of grace.

My ankle was killing me so I didn’t get a chance to go on the afternoon walks. I’m bummed because the stories that were told were absolutely incredible. I’m not kidding. The one that stood out to me, and I’m gonna try and track this guy down to get the exact words, was a small group that walked into a store. Inside was a guy that apparently looked just like the American version of Jesus, hair and all. They struck up a conversation and the guy said, “they looked just like Christians.” But then he said, (and know I’m paraphrasing) “Now I know I have to watch out for my rights.” Everyone in the audience was stunned. The guy apparently was not a Christian and said that we have to find a way to move past the oppressive way show up in culture. (I’m not doing it justice). It kind of felt like this small group was wondering if this really was Jesus and if he was a prophet.

In the evening session, Shane Claiborne from The Simple Way told stories about being love in an intentional community way. It’s hard not to love Shane because he’s very humble and just wants to love. He talked a little bit about his new book, Jesus for President. I got to ask him about losing his community in the fire and how he found love in the midst of that. His response was really cool. He said, “This year I found out what it was like to be just like the people I’ve been serving. I was homeless and they supported me.”

And the moment that I would have paid a thousand dollars to show up for was during the question and answer session. About half way through a guy stood up and said, “I’m a Palestinian Muslim. But I like what you are doing so I wanted to come and listen.” This is why Shane is so powerful. He’s not getting stuck in orthodoxy and all the squabbles that come with that game. He’s just practicing love. Well done Shane.

I uploaded some more pictures from the sessions here.

Shane Claiborne during his talk.

Jonathan Neufeld leading the stories from the afternoon walk.

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Restoring Fallen Leaders

I have a friend who is a disgraced pastor.

He’s still trying to recover from the experience. He’s lost most of his friends and is struggling to understand how to put his life back together. There’s nothing simple to his story. It wasn’t a simple fall that is so easy to categorize. There were many parties involved over long periods of time. The fall even surprised him. He understands the weight of it and is living the cost in a very real way. Everything in his life has changed in a dramatic way because of it.

And what doesn’t surprise me is the response from the church.

His fall was well documented and very public because he was a pastor at a mega church. Everyone heard about it. I even heard about it before I knew my friend. News like this travels very fast. Unfortunately the church has done little to restore him in any way. He was removed from his role and essentially ignored by the pastors, who told him they would help him when they saw “true repentance.” Senior staff made very little effort to bring him to some form of restoration. I’m not privy to the inner workings of this church so I can not say what they said. I’m sure it was painful and hard for everyone.

But it made me ask a very serious question. Are we really about restoration? Sometimes I’m not so sure.

There seem to be two major examples in Scripture of dealing with a fallen leader. There’s the model Jesus provided and the model Paul provided. Paul has many exhortations for the various churches.

2 Corinthians 2:5-8 – 5If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent—not to put it too severely. 6The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. 7Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 8I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.

He also has an exhortation in Galatians 6:1

“Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.”

Paul also talks about being disqualified in Corinthians, which has been used extensively about fallen leaders.

1 Corinthians 9:27 – No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

But actions sometimes take precedent over words. In Acts 15:36-41, Paul doesn’t want to take John Mark on his next journey because he had previously abandoned them. The dispute actually separates Paul and Barnabas. And I can’t help but wish Paul had followed his own advice on this one. But I also get his response to John Mark to a great extent. When someone we consider an example falls, it hurts. What my friend did has extensive consequences and affected a lot of people. Trust was broken. But isn’t one of the central message of the gospel that we are fallen? And when we do, why are we surprised?

But Jesus’ response is quite different and one I think the church has ignored. Peter, who was part of the inner circle, denies Jesus three times. His denial could be considered one of the most grievous acts of broken trust in Scripture. He turned his back on God. He denies knowing Jesus when it really mattered. But Jesus’ response is profound. He doesn’t shame him or berate him, which is what we typically think is needed to “teach someone a lesson.” We assume that shame will be enough of a motivator to change their actions. Instead, Jesus avoids the use of shame and actively restores him to ministry.

John 21:15-17 – When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

This is the man Jesus had told would be central to growing the church.

“Matthew 16:18 – And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

And I can’t help but believe that Jesus is giving us a deeper message that restoration is much more powerful than shame? And could Jesus be saying that he will be building His church on stories like Peter’s, ones of restoration? Jesus understands that it’s better to restore than tear down and leave behind. In restoration we find the essence of love. Jesus is telling Peter he’s worth it. He’s validating his dignity at that moment.

But the reality is that restoration requires great sacrifice on our part. It’s not the easier path. In fact forgiving someone is much harder. It means letting go of justice for the broken trust. It means actually living out the Gospel when we don’t feel like it. It means dealing with our own injustices that we want to sweep under the rug because they remind us of the lesser half.

I think Jesus understands that restoration is central to the mission and he provides us with a clear example of how to do it. And I love that it’s Peter, who is always the one out front. Peter is the guy who takes Jesus at his word and goes for it. He’s the guy who we would see as the natural leader. He’s the closest thing we have to the rock star fallen from grace. And Jesus restores him.

My hope is that as we begin to build new models of church that we begin to find ways to actively restore leaders the way Jesus did. Because when we do, when we choose to restore a fallen leader we send a message that restoration is meant for everyone. We send a message that grace extends deeper than our sin. We send a message that we really do believe in forgiveness. We send a message that love is more powerful than our brokenness. And people like my friend can begin to walk with community towards restoration, rather than in isolation.

That’s the kind of church I want to be involved with.

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The Emerging Pastor Quandary

An Inconvenient Truth was on television tonight and Al Gore quotes Upton Sinclair who once said, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” And as I heard the quote, I began to wonder if pastor’s feel or experience the same quandary. When most emerging expressions suggest moving away from a large organizational structure and building to a small organic model that empowers the priesthood of all believers, do pastors feel as thought their job is at risk?

Your thoughts?

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Billy Graham and Rob Bell

In Time magazine’s article on Rob Bell, David Van Biema references a quote from the Chicago Sun Times about Rob,

“That itch scratched, Bell, whom the Chicago Sun-Times has called an heir to Billy Graham”

I couldn’t find the original article. It seems to have been archived or removed but is widely referenced. But the comment begs the question. Is Rob the next Billy Graham? With Billy’s failing health, is Rob poised to step into his shoes. I think so but not for the reasons you may think. And here’s why.

Billy is an icon/hero for so many people. Billy’s strength was that people trusted him. He had tremendous credibility established over a long period of time. He was a trusted voice that people listened to. But Billy followed a more traditional approach to evangelism (large crowds, charismatic message, altar call). Billy was not the first to invent this process but his passion and charisma (and the Holy Spirit) reached a generation. He is widely considered to have spoken live to more people about Christ than anyone.

Rob to me is different. Rob is a speaker with a large audience but his message and medium are different. He’s really good at reframing the conversation in ways that people aren’t used to but resonate with. Velvet Elvis did this. Sex God is another example. Who writes a book about God and Sex? And yet Rob did. He broke down barriers with that book, even if it wasn’t as good as it could have been. His podcast is one of the most downloaded on iTunes. Nooma created an entirely new way of preaching. It’s his creativity that is refreshing. I’ve seen Rob in person for Everything Is Spiritual and The Gods Aren’t Angry, and in person at the Isn’t She Beautiful conference at Mars Hill. Rob brings the same passion that Billy did but his medium is more postmodern. From my perspective Rob is more interested in a more wholistic approach to following Jesus. And I’ve never seen Rob give an altar call but I have seen him call 2,000 people to find healing at the foot of the cross.

But the question may not be one of content or style. The question may be one of speaking for a generation. And this is where I think the comparison is valid. The church is looking for people who can communicate effectively for a larger audience. Billy did that and Rob is now doing that. He’s communicating a more wholistic approach to Christianity. It’s fresh but it’s old in a way that is new. He’s framing Christianity as an active following of Jesus in words AND deed. And like Billy he’s backing it up with his own community. I don’t hear people jumping on Rob’s bandwagon because Rob is a cool speaker. I hear people listening because he’s providing a fresh perspective that is resonating in a deeper way.

– As an aside, I used to think that Bill Hybels would follow Billy in the role of speaking for a generation but now I’m not so sure (and not because of Reveal). Bill is predominantly modern in his framework and is waning in terms of influence. Mark Driscoll has the charisma but is too polarizing. Brian McLaren also has charisma but is just too controversial. –

What do you think?

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Nice Rob Bell Article

Nice article on Rob Bell in Time Magazine. (ht)

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The New Mega Church

I want to be part of a mega church. And no I’m not abandoning my desire for a growing emerging church. Let me explain.

I love the church. I say that because part of the journey I am on is to look at the structures that produces spiritual growth, and often times people think I mean “church”. But to me the church is people and I’m not criticizing people. I love people. I am beginning to see my Father’s reflection in everyone I see. But the structure needs work. Structures hinder or release people to ministry. Structures produce or deny fruit. Structure is what makes the organization. Take an automobile engine. Remove the spark plugs and the car won’t run. The structure is broken. Put em back in and the structure does what it is supposed to do. It’s a basic principle in nature.

Over the last thirty years the church has become fascinated with the mega church and it has taken on new importance. As the church begins to study the nature of organization, it is beginning to engage practices that allow it to use resources effectively, to a certain extent. And one thing that has emerged is the mega church. It’s nice to have large buildings that allows people a lot of people to gather. It’s nice to have six different pastors reaching out to distinct groups of people. It’s nice having a kids program with all the bells, whistles, and padded playmats.

I actually grew up in one of the very first mega churches in California and it was a lot of fun. There were 7,500 people on average on a Sunday morning service. This was in 1975. I loved coming to a youth group with 400 people around me. It made looking at girls easier. 😉 And to a great extent it became a large family. I knew the youth interns loved me because they really spent time with me. And as I reminisce I realize that it was people that made the difference. No building or program could ever have the same impact as people.

And this realization helps point to the true definition of mega for the church. The first century church grew rapidly, mostly because it didn’t have a centralized structure to control it, to get in the way. It was a disparate group of people following the leading of the Holy Spirit. I’m sure there were elders leading the way and not everything was perfect but the structure supported growth. The church in China is another great example. No centralized controlling body.

And then about two years ago I found people like Rick McKinley, at Imago Dei who are helping to redefine what mega means. The distinction is not one of large buildings and numbers of people, but one of impact. They are releasing people to ministry, to be the hands an feet of Jesus. And this is the kind of mega church I want to be part of. I want to be part of a church that is releasing its people to ministry and trusting them to follow the Holy Spirit, and supporting them a long the way. This is the power of the organization. To design structures that support people doing effective ministry.

So I want to be part of a mega church because I believe this is what we are called to do.

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The Message People Hear

Today I was hit with doubt. Doubt about what I can do. Doubt about what I should do. Doubt about what I want to do. And doubt about what I will do. It kind of sucked. And this doubt reminded me of an exchange I had recently. Actually I’ve had the same exchange many times.

I have often heard my friends say, “I could never be like that.” And when it’s Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, or Jeff Gordon, I get that. I realize that there really are special individuals in certain areas. There are people who God has designed to hit a golf ball perfectly ALL the time. There are people who can hang in the air with a basketball, suspending gravity for a short while as they switch hands back and forth, deciding which hand just feels better at the moment, while someone brews them a cup of tea. There are people who can instinctively resist all notions of fear at 187 miles per hours as they instinctively navigate the hairpin turns between smoke and crashing cars.

But when it’s my pastor, I don’t.

There’s this notion in Christendom that pastors need to be professionals. In order to be the guy up front he has to hold an MDiv, go through 27,000 hours of youth ministry training, possess the ability to exegete in twelve languages, be ordained, and speak in public. Yes I’m exaggerating. But I say this because my friend(s) was speaking about a pastor. In his world, he couldn’t fathom that he could in some way touch the lives of other individuals. He was the flunky and the guy up front was superman. He loved God and wanted to follow Jesus but somewhere he had picked up the idea that in order to really be influential he had to be a pastor. And to be a pastor, he had to get his MDiv, which was impossible at this point in his life. And so he relegated himself to the pew.

When it comes to God’s mission of restoration, I just don’t think Jesus designed it in a way that a large majority of the people sit watching a few people expound on what it’s like from the front. I really, really think one of the reasons Jesus picked ordinary people was because he wanted to shatter the notion that God’s Kingdom is meant for the elite. And when we create this extraordinary barrier to entry, what message is that sending? And what message are people hearing? When people hear that a pastor needs to have a MDiv to be the guy who helps people, what does that say to people? For my friend(s) it was a big sign that said, “Professionals only.”

I think one of the reasons I gravitate towards the emerging church is because of the level playing field. The emerging church is beginning to speak that we are all part of God’s mission and can be Jesus incarnate right where we are, without all the credentials, validations, and ordinations. We can love right where we are at. I love that.

What say you my friends?

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Christian Groupies

Angie Ward, over at Leadership Journal has a fascinating article on the nature of Christian groupies.  It has eerie reminders of this post.  Her point is that we need to stop looking up to the success story and start charting our own path, our own journey.

She says,

“These groupies try to become clones of their heroes, instead of becoming who God has made them and ministering in a uniquely personal way that no celebrity could ever attain.”

She also says,

“I believe that it is actually much easier to imitate your hero than to be yourself: to claim your own identity and calling; to wrestle with your own brokenness; and to struggle minute-by-minute with God to figure out what is the best way to lead in your context.”

It’s easy to stay where we are isn’t it.  Why follow Jesus into oblivion and heartache (and growth) when you can just copy the guy in front.

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The Promise of Transformation

This is update number two of WWJD…WTC Synchroblog.

I’m a marketing guy. I spent some of my younger years working at my own agency with some of the best companies in the world. I lived the dotcom bubble. I was in the middle of it all. Good companies with good products would come into my office asking me to help tell the world about how their product would transform people’s life. I learned many superlatives and hyperboles in the process.  And to a certain extent, part of my role was to temper the language of the plan.  Everybody wanted to be the “leading this” or “best of class at that”.  Most of the companies had glorious views of their capacity to transform the marketplace.

The very nature of marketing is to communicate an idea in some way. But anyone who has ever stepped foot in a marketing conversation, cubicle, wing, or department knows that there is always the promise, and then there is the delivery. Marketing gets the easy job. We get to make the promise. It’s up to someone else to deliver. Thus the nature of marketing requires considering the limits of the promise. This was my job for seven interesting years in Silicon Valley.

Jesus promised abundant life, which is an astounding thought when you think about it. To some extent it has the potential to sound like a marketing scheme. Over promise and let someone else deliver. But the truth is, Jesus delivered. And He did so by employing a simple strategy of discipleship. Come follow me was the mantra. Three simple yet incredibly powerful words. Which for me is kind of cool. I like that simplicity of it. Follow Jesus. Follow Jesus. Oh, I get it…love and be loved. Engage His mission.

And what was more interesting is that Jesus didn’t stick around to run the show. He gave us His Spirit and said, “Now you go change the world.” He put it into our hands, which alludes to the idea that He believed we could do it. All we had to do was follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and engage His mission of restoration with love.  We didn’t have a building.  We didn’t have pastors to do it for us.  We didn’t even have a great marketing plan. In fact, some might suggest Jesus was crazy for doing it this way.  But He did.

But at the same time, I can imagine some crafty tax collector or market seller standing from afar wondering how he could profit off of Jesus. In fact Simon the Sorcerer even tried. “This transformation business could be huge.  I could make some serious bank off of this”  Steve Martin made a movie about this. Elmer Gantry was another.  Holding this type of power, even the illusion of this power, can be intoxicating.

And this is the allure of the promise of transformation. Just the idea holds so much potential for compromise and fudging with its intent. See here for further example. The very same principles apply. Someone promises and someone else delivers. As long as you buy that transformation is possible, I only have to produce limited transformation, or enough to convince you that it is possible.

But there is enough evidence to posit that we are no longer delivering. Willow Creek’s study suggested that what we are doing is actually driving away those who are trying . We get the pulling in part. We just haven’t mastered the follow part. And worse, when we buy in to the old structures that pull us in and then don’t see experience what Jesus was talking about, we’re likely to become embittered about the whole process.

And to a certain extent, this is one of the things that I would change about the church. I would stop placing so much emphasis on pulling people in.  Because if my interest is in pulling people in and keeping them there I am not likely to engage people in something that would make them leave.  And the allure is to create an organization that serves itself, not the Gospel.  But Jesus turned up the heat all the time.  In fact, He let people leave.

Instead, I would focus on the the follow part. I would immediately tell people what it means to follow Jesus. And to a great extent I think people are wanting this.  We’re craving honesty.  Tell me its hard.  Tell me its going to change my life in ways that are not comfortable, but that are really worth it.  Lead me into what actually will do what Jesus was promising.  Help me connect with my Father like Jesus did so that I can gain His Spirit.  Help me learn what it means to trust so that I can stay intimately connected to love.  Help me learn how to tear down the walls I’ve created that keep me from relationships.  Help me learn how to forgive so that I can help restore the world around me.  Help me learn stewardship so that I can give when the Spirit is calling me to.

I want to know the fullest extent of what Jesus means when He says, “Come follow me.”  Let’s create a structure that supports that.

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Other WWJD…WTC Updates

Erin Word

Gary Means
Update 1

Alan Knox
Update 1

The Refuge

Nate Peres

Sally Coleman

Barb
Update 1
Update 2
Update 3

Rick Stillwell
Update 1

Jeff Greathouse
Update 1

Dan
Update 1

Barbara Legere

Jonathan Brink
Update 1

Jason Ellis

Rainer
Update 1

Cynthia Clack

Glenn Hager
Update 1
Update 2

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Jesus and Leadership Structure

When Jesus said the provocative words, “Come follow me,” there must have been a chill that ran up the spine of the disciple’s backs. Imagine the moment. Ordinary people being called by an extraordinary man. This was the man who healed people, restoring their dignity and inviting them out of oppression. He touched lepers without harm, turned water into wine and caused the fish to flood the nets. To follow Him was an epic call, a moment to be part of something good. What did He see that they didn’t? His very invitation invited them into a larger mission of restoration.

But imagine for a second, after calling his disciples to follow him, he proceeded to invite them to come to the local synagogue on Sunday morning for a couple of hours and Wednesday night for another couple of hours. Forget following him around and watching Him do things. And when they got to there, he sat them down and led them through a couple of songs. Everyone sat in the same direction facing Jesus as they listened to him speak from behind a small upright box. The message was on average an hour long, tightly scripted with an introductory joke to arouse the crowd and was primarily about how to “not sin”. It usually included three points, a story from His personal life, and a summary to wrap it all up. He always finished with a challenge to his disciples to do better and closed with another song. At some point in the process he passed a large basket around expecting them to put a little something in to pay the rent and help build a larger meeting place. The reality was that those in setup were tired of unpacking and packing up each time they met in this rented building. A new, obviously larger building just made sense. As long as those in the crowd showed up, the disciples were good. Invite their friend and they were better. Serve on a committee and they were golden. Under this scenario you have to imagine the original call to “Come follow me” seems to lose its impact, doesn’t it?

The problem is that this isn’t in the Bible. It’s not the story.

I laugh even as I write that paragraph, and know it’s a caricature, yet this is exactly what the church and Christendom has practiced over the last 1,700 years. And yet Jesus never did it this way, nor did the church in the first three centuries. He went out to the people and restored them. He sought out reconciliation and healing. He engaged His Father’s mission, and did it well. Can you imagine watching Jesus heal someone. I doubt the disciples ever got used to this. But in doing so He showed them the way. He modeled a leadership that empowered them to do it themselves. It was an apprentice model of leadership that taught them how to engage the mission themselves.

Emerging Grace has been writing on Organization and Organism in the church and it sparked some great dialog in the comment section. But the conversation brought out a really great question for me. What are the structures we create and do they bring out or stifle real life? I would ask a second question. Do they help empower people to mission? The obvious temptation is to create something that is fixed so we have a sense of ease and comfort with the process. It’s regular and safe. But the problem is that no two people are alike and there are no one cookie cutter solutions. So we search for the next big thing, hoping that someone else has figured out what worked.

A second problem is that when we create something that is fixed and set it in stone, and a generation passes by, it tends to become tradition. And who wants to question tradition? The structure becomes the structure because that’s what we’ve always done. It’s comfortable. And when something works, for a long period of time, we can tend to idolize it. It’s not the next big thing but it does make us look good, or decent, or at least keep the dogs at bay.

I’m reading a book by a doctor who shared her experience in residency and she encountered a surprising model for becoming a doctor. She began with an intensive training in school but once in residency she was totally immersed in practice. Hospitals used a see one, do one, teach one approach. Doctors would see a procedure, then do the same procedure the next time, and on the third they would teach it to the next person. Sounds shocking for a profession where life often hangs in the balance. But what if the medical world understood that we remember what we do better than what we hear. And we remember what we teach better than what we do.

I find it interesting that Jesus’ model of leadership, which was followership, was in direct opposition to ego. Everything worked toward creating leaders who could complete His mission on their own without Him. He knew we had the Holy Spirit to lead our hearts. It’s like He completely understood the ego’s pull to create something in our image. And He was not going to create a structure that would play into our desire to be the center of attention and create followers simply for the sake of following. Some people call it distributed leadership. It empowered leaders to do what He did. He was constantly inviting us into what He was doing, and then trusted us to do it. We even had grace for the times we messed up.  I can imagine the moment Jesus left the disciples, they must have looked at each other and said, “What is he doing?”

So his call to follow begs the question, “Are churches structured in a distributed model of leadership development? Are we giving away trust and power or are we creating systems of reliance on pastors?”

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When Modern Tries to Be Postmodern

I was watching this video from the Willow Creek Arts Conference, which makes me laugh to some extent. Why are all the Emerging conversations taking place in the Arts conference. What about the Leadership Summit? But I’m digressing.

One of the speakers, (Shauna Niequist) says, “Okay, what do I have to do. Like, do I untuck my shirt? Do I grow a gotee? Do we…?” And from what I see from Shauna (she worked at Mars Hill) my assumption is that these are not her words but the words of people who are looking for the next “thing”. But the sad thing is that this is a modern mindset, which says, what show can I produce, what thing can I create, what program can I put on that will get you into my church? And they ain’t listening people.

But how sad that we have to exhaust all of these forms before we’re willing to strip it all down to the what Jesus already gave us, missional discipleship in love. We don’t like that do we? We want to the next big thing to rule, to be the thing that attracts people to the church. We want the thing we create to be the center of attention so that we won’t have to love. Because if I can get you into my church then I’ve done my work.

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