Lessons from my 4 year old…

Cade, my 4 year old, wanted to color a picture. That’s cool, kids love to color right? So I got him a piece of construction paper and some markers and away he went. A basic task like coloring should be predictable, right? Paper, markers, and a 4 year old = scribbled mess and mommy’s masterpiece, right? That is what I expected, but Cade soon diverted from the plan.

Cade got a hold of a post-it note pad with stars printed on it and thought to decorate his paper with the post-it notes. After precisely applying every note he wanted to display his art in his room. He asked for some tape and Igave him the scotch tape. The pictures below are what resulted.

I really was inspired to think. What I had expected was not at all what Cade produced. It was awesome! He secured his portrait to the wall beside his bed with an entire roll of tape.

As a church leader we need to be inspired to step outside the confines of what is expected, and lead creatively. Too many churches are exactly the same as they were 20 or even 50 years ago. How are you creatively doing and being the church?

Second, always over do it. Over plan, over execute, over communicate, always over do it. In church world there is a tendency to do just enough instead of our very best. Maybe we would see God move if we actually planned for it instead of simply complaining when we didn’t see it. This is especially true when a church or organization wants to create momentum. If you don’t anticipate and plan for the unseen growth you will never see it. If you don’t plan for and create space for people that are not a part of your church you will never see them, and if you do, they won’t be back next week.

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intimidated by unfamiliarity

I realized something last night about myself — I tend to not follow through with large tasks or changes because underneath it all I am intimidated by their unfamiliarity. For example — we are considering homeschooling our children. I feel almost like I haven’t taken the decision seriously, researched it much, or even have my mind solidly decided on what to do. The reason why is because I am overwhelmed by the decision – the information – the challenge. The decision is huge and I don’t even know where to start, to I procrastinate, not doing anything, and pushing the thoughts further back.

After realizing this last night, I was able to see other areas in my life where I have done the same thing – ministry included. I have set aside the new programming I know I should do because it is the best thing because I am overwhelmed with recruiting workers or rearranging/rethinking what I do. I have let go of a great outreach event because I am intimidated by the work at hand in order to get it done or because it is unfamiliar to me. The list goes on.

I need to remember that I serve a God who sees this. One, He calls me to excellence. He does not want me to sell myself short for this. Secondly, I have the God who created the universe cheering me on. I can put my trust in Him to show me the way, give me boldness in my steps, and make it seem as familiar as I’ve been doing it all along.

Are there areas in your life that you set aside and don’t follow through with due to intimidation of the task or unfamiliarity?

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Vision

“Vision asks leaders, ‘What do you see?’ To answer that question, leaders identify needs unmet, hurts unhealed, and tasks undone. Through visioning they see the gaps between what is and what could be.”

This quote (forgot where it came from) hangs on my office wall. It reminds me to look for the needs and hurts of individuals within whom I serve – children and families. It also helps me to remember to focus on the importanat tasks that need to be done. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the work of something and forget what the vision of it was to begin with.

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Check your language

On of my biggest pet peeves is to listen to pastors or teachers who speak in “christianese.” The language that Christians use. We need to understand our audience, whether children, teens, or adults and make sure we’re not using our elite country club language in explaining spiritual truths to them. Make sure the terms you use aren’t unique to the church or Christianity. Remember the adage – KISS – “keep it simple stupid.” Assume that someone in the group you’re speaking to is a non-Christian and you are probably confusing them with terms like “consecration” and ”living body.”

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pride.

I’ll admit that something I struggle with is pride. So often I’ll go through the day, crossing things off my mental to-do list, patting myself on the back for making it through certain situations or accomplishing things, that I forget to really give credit where credit is due. Without Him, my Savior, I am nothing. I can do nothing. I would be nothing. I tend to get caught up in the day to day living that I so often make it through the day and try to remember if I even prayed before I ate lunch. I’ll get greedy over “my time” and not spend time reading my Bible or talking to God, the creator of time. I forget that He’s the one who makes the minutes happen and gives me another hour to live. Something great will happen in my ministry – a child who “got it” or good attendance at an event and quickly I will think that “I did good or worked hard for it.” I forget that God gives me ths talents and resources to do what I can accomplish. He moves in the hearts of individuals. I am nothing without Him. My prayer is “God make me less and help me to see You more.” I want to daily know that I am nothing without the grace and life of my Savior.

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Smaller is not an excuse!

So as a church leader, when you attend a conference or something at another church, if you are not a mega-giga, huge church. you have the potential to walk away feeling discouraged and deflated. Often you think, “Well, I can’t do that! We’re only  __(fill in the blank)__ people!” I’ve felt that way many times. But I can’t use it as an excuse anymore, and that’s what it is.

We attended a church this evening that was about half the size of our current church, Ridge Church in Charlotte. However, being there and seeing the excellence they used to execute a worship experience it could have been a church of thousands. From the moment we pulled in the parking lot, we noticed the climate in which they crafted everything they did from music in the parking lots to themed decor in the lobby for their message series. Their staff was available, informative, and friendly – both volunteer and paid. Their children’s environments were the best that I have seen done in a church, and in a church of many many more. Not to mention the quality of the adult worship experience and everything that goes into that.

It was evident that bringing people far from God, close to God is the heartbeat of Ridge Church. If a family walks in on a Sunday and feels uneasy about leaving their child in the preschool class, they may totally miss the message God has opened their heart and mind to hear. Or it could be something that serves as a distraction. It was so very refreshing seeing a church that is smaller (they are only 6 months old!) doing things wayyyyy better than most larger churches do them. Money wasn’t the factor. Resources weren’t the factor. Just a climate of excellence and detail.

So the next time you think you can’t do something in your ministry because the size of your church or ministry, I urge you to think again. Evaluate places that can be done better. Think about what the non-Christian or first time visitor sees and feels. If you can – take a trip to Charlotte. Be a learner from other churches of all sizes. They keep us fresh, they keep us on our toes and something can be learned from a church of any size. Don’t make more excuses.

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Relevancy?

Some thoughts spoken by Louie Giglio ar the Orange Conference have been on my mind for a week now. He was talking in our last main session that the church has made relevancy the idol of the contemporary church. That we need to focus on cultural transcendence rather than cultural relevancy. The bottom line was that He IS. If we focus on He Is and bring Jesus into everything we do, we will always be relevant. Once we look to culture for relevancy in the church, we are already out of step. It was an interesting challenge, especially coming from a church leader that I would say has followed the course of relevancy in his ministry.

After thinking about it this past week though, I see the truth in it. How many days go by without hearing with word “relevant” in your church?  When we describe our message or worship, we describe it with this term. As leaders in the church, we sometimes think that if what we do is just relevant with non-Christians, then they’ll relate and see Jesus in a new way. BUT….they won’t be able to see Jesus in a new way if we’re leaving Jesus out of it.

I believe that we need to find new and creative ways to relate to individuals. We need to tie what culture gives us into our teaching. Psychology has a term for this – “creating schemas.” Much like an index card system we have in our minds of past experiences, as we approach something new, we try to assimiliate it into what we’ve already experienced. This maximizes learning. In the church, presenting things in a relevant manner acts in such the same way. It draws connections from what is familiar and known to what is being taught. Not to mention, how people spend their time. If we’re going to “compete” for people’s time and attention, then we’d better “bring it” and a message worth hearing.

However, if in the name of cultural relevancy we leave Jesus out of it, they won’t see Him anyways. They’ll see the church being just like everything else they encounter day to day. What sets you apart in the name of cultural relevancy?

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Orange Conference Day 3

Day 3 of Orange was awesome. We wrapped up with hearing from Andy Stanley and Louie Giglio. Some thoughts:

Andy Stanley

• Don’t think in terms of evangelism – think in terms of people. Christians and non-christians have more in common than we think.
• A small group leader has more potential to assist a Christian in their spiritual development than any other position in the church – pastor, worship leader, teacher, etc.
• Some concern regarding bring critical of other church models. Just do what God has called YOU to DO.
• If you’re not teachable, you have to learn everything the hard way.
• Many new models leave out evangelism
• Common ground for all churches and believers must be “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” – make sure this doesn’t get lost in the message of social justice, relevancy, compassion, etc.

Louie Giglio

• Our goal is to BE the church of Jesus Christ, rather than DO
• We are the presence of God in the neighborhood – the church is
• We need to be “culturally transcendent” rather than “culturally relevant”
• As soon as we think we are being relevant, relevancy has changed and we are behind and out of it.
• Cultural infatutaion is the “golden calf of the contemporary church”
• The church today is the greatest consumers of worship without understanding what it means to be a sacrifice to Him.
• Jesus needs to be our culture.

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Orange Conference Day 2

I loved hearing Francis Chan speak on Day 2 of Orange. He spoke in our 1st main session of the day and blew me away. Some thoughts:

• so much of what we call success in our churches isn’t necessarily the Holy Spirit working, but just having the right team in place – we need to look for the supernatural
• Are you experiencing God in your ministry/life? Are you sure it’s Him?
• The church could learn a thing or two from gangs about unity, brotherhood, loyalty, and community
• God’s desire isn’t for individual followers. In Israel, He wanted them as a nation. Scripture refers to the “chosen people” -  YOU is plural many times.
• A miracle today would be loving your neighbor as your self.
• Tough question: What are we doing that is Biblical or what do we do that is American?

 

Session 2 – Donald Miller

• a good leader is one who gets to know me in wuch a way that I want to take ownership in their vision
• a leader gets to know people
• a leader invites those people into a vision
• a leader leads by consistently involving others in the vision
• a leader is able to be mentored
• a leader has peers
• a leader speaks something into the nothings

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Orange Conference 2008

Wow! Just returned from Orange Conference 2008 today and am feeling pretty full right now. It was great and I came away with a ton of inspiration, ideas, and vision not only for Children’s Ministry but for the church as a while. I’ll share a few tidbits from the speakers:

Day 1 – Reggie Joiner

• He opened the conference with a very challenging thought by looking at the story of the Prodigal Son – we can either be the loving father or the older brother in regards to that passage.
• The one things that sets apart churches for success or not is whether or not within the DNA of the church is the ability to treat EVERY prodigal in the way a loving Father would treat His own son.
• Loving fathers (1) are preoccupied with who is missing, (2) operate from the context of forgiveness, (3) throw parties/connect people to community, (4) confront older brother thinking (must be willing to say “this is who we are”), (5) keep the lights on for as long as it takes (maintain hope)
• This “prodigal generation” needs a different kind of thinking church – the church needs to live out a loving father mindset to prodigals and set the model for the future church

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