A Book Worth Reading

Last January we decided to put the Innovate Conference on the shelf for a year–and instead launch a conference called AND this fall.

Then in February I heard about a book coming out by the same name–AND: The Gathered and Scattered Church.

A month later I met Hugh Halter–one of the authors of the AND book. He’s a tough-looking dude and I thought he might tear me apart for stealing his book name to launch a conference. But he bought my story that I didn’t know about his book and was full of grace and offered to help us.

A couple days ago…I pulled out my copy of AND (by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay) and started reading it. And you know what? It’s a great book. Some of my takeaways include…

• “Missional isn’t a form of church. It’s a label we give to the qualitative or descriptive aspect of how a church actually lives.” We often think that a mega-church is, by default, not missional. These authors disagree.
• The authors contend you can’t have an effective church-planting strategy without about two-years of making friends: “Without a friendship-level understanding of people, we tend to make coarse generalizations, false assummptions, and judgmental analyses, and we initiate arrogant movement toward people.”
• “The pain of providing what people want instead of what they need will eventually either kill you or cause you to ask, ‘Why am I doing this anyway? Is it worth all the agony? What was the main thing I’m trying to do again?’”
• Want to try to shift people in your church to be more missional? “All you need is a handful of people who want to pilot an incarnational community. You don’t have to hit an iceberg and capsize the whole ship to begin the new voyage. Will one little schooner change the direction of the ship? Not by itself. But eventually the stories of the missional communities will filter up into the general church population and begin perking curiosity and stirring up more buy-in for the next wave of would-be missionaries and missionary communities.”
• Regarding consumerism: “People don’t need most of the stuff we give them. In fact, there seems to be a direct correlation between providing too much and the immaturity that develops when people are given the chance to overindulge.” The authors go on to say there is only one way to overcome the problem of consumerism: “You have to remove what they are consuming.” Wow.

If you’ve been reading LeadingSmart.com for long–you know I’ve been in the middle of this conversation about how to reach the growing percentage of Americans for whom the “go to a church building to learn about God” model isn’t working. It’s why we are hosting the AND Conference in November–to continue and broaden the conversation.

No need to wait until then…let’s start now. What are your thoughts?

“Mine” by Taylor Swift

Just watched the music video for Taylor Swift’s new single “Mine.” Great song. Great message. Oh, and here is a little background secret about the video–Pete Wilson (a friend who is a pastor in Nashville) and his entire family are actors in the video. Fun times!

Life Happens–One Conversation at a Time

I’m doing life with these men…and last night we had four hours of amazing conversation in an alley restaurant in San Francisco. Over the past six months, there have been dozens of such conversations with Mark and Rob and other Granger leaders. Sometimes short, sometimes long, sometimes emotional, sometimes very factual. But all of them pivotal.

I can’t describe the level of anticipation I’m feeling (and remember–I’m Mr. calm, cool and collected). All of these recent conversations are building toward some amazing and earth-shaking initiatives that will impact our local community and thousands around the world. We are in new territory. We are asking questions like, “Has that ever been done?” and “How do we know it will work if it has never been done?” The dreams we are dreaming are stretching even the dreamers.

Roll-out will happen in early 2011. Until then–we continue dream dreams and do life in small conversations.

Why is Failure so Sexy?

It seems like every week or so I hear about someone who failed–recovered–and then wrote a book about it. Perhaps their marriage failed. Or they went through a phase as an addict. Or they lost their family because of bad choices. And so they write a book because of the insights they gained along the way.

I understand why those books sell. As fallen humans, we identify with other people who talk about their failures in such stark terms. We figure the author has some insight into the human condition–and perhaps we can learn enough to keep ourselves from falling in the same hole. And I agree…we can definitely learn from such people. I recall more than 20 years ago when Gordon MacDonald went through his highly publicized fall–he later said something I’ll never forget: “An unguarded strength is a double weakness.” He was saying, “Pay attention! I screwed up in an area where I was strong. Don’t do the same.”

So, yes, those who have fallen and recovered to some level of health have a place to write books and give talks about the pitfalls that should be avoided.

But what about those who were faithful for a lifetime, who never had a public failure, who loved their spouse for decades, who led their family with integrity? Why don’t they write books? Probably because no one would buy them. The topic isn’t as sexy, is it? You aren’t going to hear much dirt or experience the highs and lows of a huge fall.

But I ask…

• Would you rather get advice from the person who messed up and lost his marriage–or the man who has stood by his wife through ups and downs for 30 or 40 years?
• Would you rather get parenting advice from the author who tells you all the mistakes they made and how they regret that they traveled so much and didn’t spend time with their kids–or from the parent who was just there, day in and day out, loving on and listening to their kids?
• Would you rather get advice from the speaker who talks about all the bad things she did in her “wild youthful days” including illegal substances and lots of sexual partners–or from the boring girl who studied during college, got married as a virgin, and stayed connected to God and her family?

The answer is not either/or. It’s good to learn from both. I just wish there were a way to identify and learn from the people who stayed faithful day after day, year after year. But they don’t tend to write books about their success. Probably their humility is part of the reason for their stability.

Who do you know that consistently made good choices? Seek them out and ask them questions. You might actually learn something.

The Pain of Growth

Last week I was asked, “If our church is going to double in the next two years (from 500 to 1000), what will it take?” Here is what I shared…

• Some of you won’t have as much access to the senior leader. This has to be okay with you.
  • Ask: Are you more committed to maintaining the tight-knit staff size and your proximity to the pastor? Or are you more committed to the church growing?
• Some of you are doing okay as a leader in a church of 500, but that’s not going to cut it at 1,000. You need to be willing to step aside into another role.
  • Ask: Are you more committed to keeping your position and title? Or are you more committed to reaching more people?
• You will need to anticipate the strain and pressure before you actually feel it. You are the leader–looking ahead, around the corner.
  • Ask: Are you comfortable? If so, you probably aren’t anticipating growth adequately.
• You will have to be as willing to stop stuff as you are to start stuff.
  • Ask: What are you doing that takes time and energy and diverts your focus? What has God uniquely gifted your team to do where you should put more focus?
• You will have to drive up the level of excellence. When people walk up to a fair booth to buy food, they have one expectation of service and quality. At McDonalds, it’s another level. And when they walk into a Houlihan’s, it’s yet another level. As you grow, so will the expectations of your guests.
  • Ask: What areas of the ministry would not be considered excellent if you were a church of 1000?

What would you add to the list?

Your Boss Needs You To Be…

I don’t care if you work for a church, a business, or a factory. I guarantee you, your boss needs you to be…

1. A Momentum-Increaser — don’t make your boss be the only one pulling up the attitude and bringing energy to the workplace.
2. A Values-Champion — No one should live out the values of the organization more than you do.
3. A Silo-Destroyer — sniff out and destroy the silos that exist in departments throughout the organization. Make sure everyone is more committed to the macro vision than their micro project.
4. A Straight-Talker — don’t engage in triangle conversations or put-downs of your team or leaders.
5. A Generous-Giver — okay, this one is specific to working at a church, but I would never work for a church where I didn’t believe in it enough to give as much as I possibly could.
6. An Innovative-Thinker — be solution-oriented. Don’t just come to your boss with problems, but also solutions. Your attitude should be, “Economy tough? Less staff? Lower budget? No problem, we’ll figure out a way to get through this!”
7. A Loyal-Friend — you don’t have to hang out together, but he needs to know you are “for” him. If put in a corner, your boss knows you would defend her.
8. A Back-Protector — always believe the best. Always.
9. An Integrity-Keeper — you are who you are when no one is looking. Your boss needs you to have great character.
10. An Unbelievable-Spouse and Effective Parent — the strength of your leadership and effectiveness comes from your leadership at home.
11. A Lifelong Learner — read books, study other best practices, learn, learn, learn–then come back and apply it to your organization.
12. An Equipping-Leader…not a Satisfied-Doer — You should be building teams and reproducing teams. Take delight in the success of your team more than your own success!

What else would you add to this list? Which one is most difficult for you?