ministry, The Church
In my last post, I made the observation that great leaders love to learn. They read, attend conferences, and keep growing as a leader.
I was talking with a friend recently. He’s a professional counselor and works hard to be able to give his best to his clients. In fact, he has to prove that he’s investing in his professional skills with something he referred to as CEUs (Continuing Education Units). He explained to me that this is a common requirement in the fields of counseling and medicine.
This makes perfect sense! Think about it. If your doctor graduated from medical school twenty years ago but hasn’t picked up a medical journal or continued to learn new and better methods since then, would you have a whole lot of confidence in him or her? I know I wouldn’t! I want to know that the guy treating me or my children is prepared with information and methods that are more effective than the ones used twenty years ago.
So if it’s so important for people who work with temporary things (our bodies) to keep educating themselves, then why shouldn’t those working with eternal things (our spirits) be required to keep learning? Honestly, I don’t understand how someone can obtain a minister’s license and never even have to pick up a book from that day forward!
So that’s my proposal to credentialing bodies and denominations: make ministers have to prove that they are investing in their growth as a minister and leader. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or complicated. Submitting a list of books they’ve read each year would be better than the current system. Hold them accountable to grow or lose their license.
I know that proposal might make me unpopular. That’s OK with me. As a credential holder, I’d be held to the same standard. I just feel that the people we minister to are worth it. Don’t you?
Let me know what you think. Should this type of accountability be in place?
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Core Values, Leadership, ministry
“Have you ever read this book?” I asked with way too much enthusiasm. He just looked at me with an expression that said, “Yeah, right.” He was a youth pastor that already knew all the answers. His youth ministry was slightly above average in size and he was very comfortable in his position. Normally something like that wouldn’t phase me but, at the time, I’d always been around leaders who loved to read. It was unthinkable to me that someone in church leadership would frown on books (other than the Bible). He was fired a few months later. His pastor’s threshold for arrogant leadership found its limit.
In sharp contrast, I had a conversation once that went like this: “Can you recommend any good books?” I began to list some of my favorites on leadership and ministry. “Where can I get those?” I listed a couple of my favorite places to get books cheap. I had the pleasure of watching this guy take his ministry to great places.
I know, you’re thinking, “Thanks for the cheesy replay of your mentoring conversation Lee.” But it really is that simple. The one common thread I’ve found among leaders that make a sustainable difference, who know how to lead and inspire, who can stick it out for the long haul is a continued commitment to keep learning. They never stop reading, studying, or growing. They don’t rest on what they learned back in the day or what worked for them 10 years ago. In fact, they don’t rest on what they learned only 3 years ago.
This tends to be an even greater problem for someone who has been in the ministry for many years. They believe that tenure equals wisdom, but just because you’ve been doing a mediocre job for the last 20 years doesn’t mean you know a whole lot. In my opinion experience is highly overrated unless you’re learning from it and should never be a substitute for continuing your education as a leader.
So that’s the common thread I find among great leaders. They keep learning. Like an old friend of mine used to say, “Leaders are readers and readers lead.”
What are some other threads you find in good leadership?
Communication, culture, ministry
I love communication. I’m always asking myself, “What message does this give?” Sometimes, when I walk from my car to the auditorium of a church, I’ll think about all of the different messages a visitor might perceive when taking the same route.
I pass this church from time to time and I wanted to know what you thought:
1.) What message do you think this church is trying to give by this sign? (church name, etc)
2.) What message do you think is perceived by those who pass by it?
3.) Do those messages gel?
Let me know what you think!
* My apologies to all those who commented on this post. I lost it during maintenance and had to repost it. Feel free to comment again!
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Headline, Leadership, ministry
Let’s face it, if you’re doing effective ministry, the devil hates it. In fact, he hates YOU. Leaders have a whole gang of enemies they must face in order to keep moving forward. It’s not an easy job and there are perils around every corner.
If the enemy can’t get you to throw in the towel, he’ll find ways of rendering you fruitless. Oftentimes leaders aren’t even aware of their impotence until it’s too late. It’s a subtle, crafty tactic for sure but highly effective. I wrote in an earlier post about The Deadly Duo of pride and insecurity. Today I’d like to expose a few more of these nasties. I call them the Toxic Trio.
Self Preservation – The enemy of vision. When times seem lean, the temptation is to program to keep people comfortable and coming back. Instead of taking risks, and dreaming big, we filter our decisions to keep the money happy. Afraid of losing people (and finances and favor), we start thinking inward instead of reaching outward. This is downright deadly because we forfeit the future when we stop having faith.
Routine – The enemy of innovation. Don’t get me wrong. Some routine is good. The problem arises when we elevate our routine to a place that robs us of opportunity. For example, we skip a great training opportunity because it falls on sermon prep day or during the time when we normally do hospital visitation.
We also have a tendency to lather, rinse, and repeat our programming long past the expiration date. Listen to those around you when they start suggesting new ideas. It usually means your program is losing it’s impact, even if it is still fun for you to do.
Control – The enemy of empowering leadership. This one is huge and really deserves its own post. We really like to be in control and some leaders like to make sure everyone knows they’re in control. They ignore suggestions, hold on to roles they should have let go of a long time ago, and obsess over certain tasks for fear they won’t get done right.
Controlling leaders may get what they want, but before long they’re getting it alone. This demoralizing style of leadership usually drives away a lot of quality team members.
Have you ever seen yourself tackling one of these toxic traits? I know I have, many times. What’s a leader to do? Well, rather than giving you the old 1, 2, 3 bullet points, I just have one word for you, “TRUST“.
It’s important that we learn to trust God when times are tough. Keep dreaming, don’t sink inward. Believe that where God guides, He provides. Trust that He’ll help to redeem the time when we step out of the routine to grow and try new things. You were made to grow, not simply maintain. Trust your team to do their best when they take a project. If God put you together, He really did know what He was doing. Trusting those serving with you empowers them and helps them to grow. That’s worth the risk of a job not getting done right any day!
Just trust!
“those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.” – Psalm 34:10b
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Christ Following, ministry, prayer
With tears in his eyes and as much attitude that he could muster, my six-year-old son looked at me, flexed his right bicep, and yelled, “I’m as strong as a bear!” He took a pillow smash in the face from his older brother and it hurt. He just didn’t want anyone to know it. I tried to comfort him and intervene but he wasn’t interested. He just wanted everyone to know how strong he was.
He spent all night preparing a sermon he thought would mark a turning point in his church. He preached it with passion, then punctuated it with a well rehearsed song. When the appeal was made, no one responded. It was like God slept in that Sunday. What happened?
2nd Corinthians 12:9-10 says, “Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Our weakness is the condition that allows God to work! He works in us and through us when we are weak. Every time I read this passage I’m amazed. “My power works best in weakness.” He didn’t say, “My power works best when your strong.” or “My power works best when you keep your chin up.”
Paul didn’t say that the power of Christ worked through him because of his speaking ability, education, ministry budget, musical talent, new sound system, or Bible software either. I’m not against those things but it floors me how many ministers will spend five hours preparing their message and five minutes preparing their heart.
It’s our weakness that drives us to our knees. It’s our weakness that keeps us centered on Jesus. It’s our frailty that allows Him to comfort us, heal us, and give us wisdom when we’re hurting or afraid.
In ministry, it’s the awareness of how feeble we are that keeps us fully depending on God to move, instead of using our talents to manipulate people to respond to our message. When we realize how truly useless we are without Him and cry out to him for help, then He can move in and do what only He can do.
So be free to be weak. You really aren’t as strong as a bear. Your abilities, talents, and budget are needed and are good things, but they really won’t change the world. When we stop flexing our muscle, God will flex His. And when He flexes… it changes everything.
Christ Following, ministry
Over the years I’ve noticed that, if the devil can’t get you to leave the ministry, he’ll use tactics to render you completely ineffective. The evidence of this is great, just look around and you’ll see many churches stagnant, dying, and irrelevant. Or they simply implode. In the driver’s seat of the majority of these ministries there is a common thread. It’s like these leaders have been bitten by the same bug. This nasty malady can be difficult to detect and almost impossible for the infected to recognize, let alone do anything about it. They have been bitten by the double-headed snake of pride and insecurity.
I know you might be thinking, “Aren’t pride and insecurity opposites?” The answer is “Nope. They’re not.” In fact pride feeds off of insecurity and insecurity is fueled by pride. This demonic duo just keeps on going and it’s a hard cycle to break. Let me give you a few examples:
Insecurity whispers inferiority and discouragement when attendance is consistently low. Pride comes along and says, “I don’t know why we’re not growing. I’m just as good of a preacher as the guy at the mega-church.” Instead of evaluating and making course corrections, we assure ourselves that we are not the problem and nothing changes.
We really need to keep growing and reading, but pride convinces us that “all we need is the Word” and those authors don’t really know what they’re talking about anyway. Then insecurity makes us believe that we have to prove that we have nothing to learn by acting like a know-it-all idiot.
Our group starts growing and making a difference, then pride kicks in and we start drinking our own cool aid. Suddenly, our spiritual leadership doesn’t seem to know anything. Eventually things fall apart and insecurity drives us to manipulate the people we used to inspire and lead.
What ever the case, we’re all susceptible to this wicked pair. We all have to make a deliberate effort to stay humble and teachable. How? Here are a few tips:
1. Have people in your life that will shoot straight with you. Ask them to critique you as a leader and let them be brutally honest.
2. Don’t defend. When criticism comes, let Jesus be your defense attorney. Always ask God to show you what you need to learn from each criticism.
3. Pray, pray, and pray some more. A lifestyle of prayer is conducive to humility because it reminds us of our true power source.
4. Stay teachable. Keep reading a diverse selection of books. Don’t just stick to your favorite authors. Listen to those who have gone before you even if your ministry has the outward appearance of greater success.
Remember pride and insecurity may not get you out of ministry, but it will severely limit your ability to produce true, Godly fruit.
Proverbs 11:2 says, “Pride leads to disgrace,but with humility comes wisdom.“
