Instilling Confidence in Others!

It’s no secret — the economy has faced one of it’s greatest struggles in the past few years. It’s been weakened beyond belief and has touched nearly every industry across this nation. In fact, as I write these words I have to wonder if I’ve really under-stated the issue. The reality is that our economy’s problems have probably reached a far greater portion of society than I give it credit for. That being said, the business world isn’t the only place that’s felt the downturn. The Church has also been touched by this difficult season of finances and strained resources. For just over two years now I have been keenly aware of the depressed economy on a corporate level (as it has affected the very church I pastor). More than ever before I have had to become extremely cautious with the use and stewardship of the resources entrusted to our ministries. We have responded by going on the offense and not waiting until we are in a desperate situation. Therefore, we’ve chosen to operate in a very tight and guarded budget.

During this time I have noticed that one of the biggest impacts on the economy of the local church has to do with the confidence of the people or congregation. More specifically, the confidence they have about their own future (possessing the needed resources) and the confidence they have in those stewarding the gifts they invest into the ministry and local church.

As pastors and ministry leaders we must inspire hope! Now, I know there’s been much talk about “hope” from a political standpoint recently — but that’s not what I’m referring to. What I am talking about has to do with the way the leaders in the church present a “Biblical Worldview.” The truth is that sin is rampant and it’s curse has touched every area of life on this planet. However, the “Biblical Worldview” is that Christ has come and provided a way to experience life to the full (abundantly, life to the max). This is communicated of course through the “Gospel” or good news! And there’s a reason it’s called good news…because it is! Knowing this, grasping the truth of the scriptures and believing in Jesus should not lead us down a path of fear and anxiety. Quite the opposite in fact. Looking through the lenses of the “Gospel” should cause us to both possess hope and share it boldly with those under our care.

If you’re leading a congregation through these turbulent economic waters — then you have an obligation to not bombard them with worry and stories of doubt and disbelief. Instead, I encourage you to talk about the fact that all we have comes from Christ (not our own hands or employers) and we can trust God to meet all of our needs. This will put people in the right frame of mind — and will build confidence within them. Confident and hopeful people are givers — doubters and fearful people respond by hoarding and holding back!

Okay, one other area I want to mention as it pertains to confidence. As leaders and pastors, we must rightly handle that which people sacrifice to give. We must not waste the gifts of faithfulness from God’s people. This is called stewardship! But, it’s not enough just to manage His resources with honor and integrity. We also must share the stories of how the funds that people give are being used. This is called “testifying” or “vision casting”. You see, when we share the stories of how needs were met, ministry was accomplished, benevolence was offered, the bible was effective communicated, lives were changed, etc., etc., etc.,…people become even more passionate about participating. In essence — we must first be stewards of the resources, and then be stewards of the stories we gain from the gifts and ministry of others! When we do this, confidence will grow — and so will the generosity of others!

Lead on!

Courageous Leadership

Last night as I gathered with my wife and children after dinner, we grabbed our bibles and paused for our time of family devotions. We don’t typically do our family devotions after dinner — in fact, we usually do them in the morning before really beginning our busy schedules of school and work. But yesterday we were forced to enjoy our time of study and encouragement in the evening. So, as we sat down together in our living room — we turned to Philippians chapter 1. It was ironic to me that as we were studying this letter that the Apostle Paul had written to the church in Philippi while in prison was the same letter and passage referenced in a book I’ve been reading on leadership. In chapter 9 of The Character of Leadership: 9 Qualities that Define Great Leadership (by Jeff Iorg), the author addresses this passage in a conversation about handling fear. In Philippians 1:21, Paul says, “To live is Christ and to die is gain!” What a deep and powerful statement of courage!

In a message I recently listen to from pastor and author Francis Chan, he made the statement, “There will be no cowards in heaven!” This idea came from a study he had been doing on Revelation 21. And really, his point was that FEAR is not of God. Not that we don’t become fearful at times, or even battle with the feelings and emotions of fear…but that FEAR is not the spirit God has given us. We are supposed to be and act out of courage in faith. As leaders there will always be situations and moments of uncertainty. When these moments come we must not buy in to an attitude of fear, but rather find strength and courage in Christ and His promise to be with us as we lead.

When the Apostle Paul wrote the letter we call Philippians — he was sitting in chains in a dank and dark prison cell. Facing imminent death and great persecution — he still stood on faith and refused to cowardly backdown from his call to lead the church into faith and righteousness. And so, he makes the statement, “To live is Christ and to die is gain!”

My family and I labored to rightly understand such a powerful statement…and we concluded that when we operate in righteousness and with integrity to God’s Word and His Call on our lives…then regardless of what happens in the natural, we are still in His hands and have no need to fear!

I love what Mark Twain once stated, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” My prayer is that when fear comes my way — that I will respond with faith and resistance. May I master it rather than allowing it to master me!

Let’s remember Francis Chan’s words…”The will be no cowards in heaven!” Refuse to embrace anything but a life of faith, strength and courage.

Lead on!

The Pathways of Leadership

Yet again, I have been reminded of the importance of character and integrity in leadership. As the news hit the airways today about — yet another well-known pastor being accused of scandalous acts, I was once again burdened with the lack of integrity and prideful arrogance that exists in all too many misguided leaders. It seems that all too often, deceived leaders begin to believe their own press and buy into the lie that they are some how invincible or able to do whatever they want (right or wrong) in life. There seems to be many pathways of leadership — yet the only true path is that of strong moral character and high personal integrity.

The last chapter of J. Oswald Sanders‘ book – Spiritual Leadership, addresses this very issue. And again, the key issue to live within the light of all that is true and godly…essentially, to live above reproach. As leaders (especially those in ministry) we must never see ourselves as invincible. Leaders must never allow what they “do” for God and others to somehow elevate their own personal “worth” or “value”. When this happens, leaders fool themselves and they begin to do those things which they, under ordinary circumstances, would never do! And yet, thinking that somehow they are able or even afforded “special rights and privileges”, they suppress the conviction of the Holy Spirit and ignore their own conscience.

So, how do we guard our hearts and ensure we stay on the right pathway? We must saturate our minds in the Word of God and think on those things which are “noble” and right! The fall from honesty and integrity never happens with one thought or choice. The destructive behaviors always begin with small steps of diversion from the right paths. One unknown author put it well. I’ll end with this today. He (or she) writes:

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.

Watch your words, for they become actions.

Watch your actions, for they become habits.

Watch your habits, for they become character.

Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

- Author Unknown

Rules of Engagement!

I was recently doing some research online for a paper I was preparing on leadership. While exploring a diversity of subjects I ran across a blog on John Maxwell’s Leadership site. One of the subjects in this edition of his blog had to do with personal interaction and communication. Having recently experienced a moment in my own leadership where I had been misunderstood (mostly due to my inability to choose the right words at a particular time to explain what I was thinking), I was intrigued by article. I am reposting a list of rules John said he received from another pastor which became a great guide in his own life. I thought you might benefit from reading and adopting them as well.

Here are the 10 rules of RESPECT that John noted:

1. If you have a problem with me, come to me (privately).
2. If I have a problem with you, I’ll come to you (privately).
3. If someone has a problem with me and comes to you, send them to me. (I’ll do the same for you.)
4. If someone consistently will not come to me, say, “Let’s go see him together.” (I’ll do the same for you.)
5. Be careful how you interpret me. On matters that are unclear, do not feel pressured to interpret my feelings or thoughts. It is easy to misinterpret intentions.
6. I will be careful how I interpret you.
7. If it’s confidential, don’t tell. If anyone comes to me in confidence, I won’t tell unless (a) the person is going to harm him/herself; (b) the person is going to physically harm someone else; (c) a child has been physically or sexually abused. I expect the same from you.
8. I do not read unsigned letters or notes.
9. I do not manipulate; I will not be manipulated. Do not let others manipulate you; do not let others try to manipulate me through you.
10. When in doubt, just say it. If I can answer without misrepresenting something or breaking a confidence, I will.

You can find the entire article at the link below:

http://johnmaxwellonleadership.com/2010/08/09/r-e-s-p-e-c-t-what-does-it-mean-to-you/

Leaders Are Readers!

As a young boy I struggled with reading. First of all, it took away time from being outside, fishing, playing with the other children in my neighborhood…and to be quite honest – I just couldn’t find the ability to sit down for and be still for longer than a few minutes. At that point in my I just didn’t see the need or value of reading. For me, the experience of being outside and allowing my imagination to flow through “play” was so much more enjoyable. But as time has passed and I have grown, I have discovered such a love for reading – and for study! The experience of sitting down and picking up a good book is no longer a task – but rather a joy! In fact, just this after noon I wanted to organize the books on my shelf (to have a better grasp of the resources in my library), yet as I would move a book from one location to another – I found myself flipping through the pages and reacquainting myself with it’s content.

Here’s what I’ve learned through the years…the discovery of life through the pages of a good book is invaluable. This is especially true in the life of a leader. We see this clearly in scripture. The apostle Paul writes to Timothy (his younger protégé) about coming to visit him and asks Timothy to remember to bring with him his teacher’s scrolls.

“When you come, bring…my scrolls, especially the parchments.” – 2 Timothy 4:13

I think it was John Maxwell who stated some years ago – “If you’re going to be a leader, than you’ve got to be a reader!” His charge was to leaders and those in positions of authority to read in order to fill our minds and imaginations with thoughts and concepts, which would challenge us to grow.

Author J. Oswald Sanders writes about this in his book, Spiritual Leadership (a must read by the way). He says, “The leader who intends to grow spiritually and intellectually will be reading constantly…the Spiritual leader must master God’s Word and it’s principles and know as well the minds of those who look to the leader for guidance. To do so, the leader must have an active life of reading.”

I couldn’t agree more! Read on…

Who’s In the Driver’s Seat

Recently I was privileged to sit under a guest professor in the current leadership class I’m taking at Anderson University for my Master’s Program. His name was Dr. George Bullard (a personal friend and colleague of the director of my program — Dr. Michael Duduit). Dr. Duduit introduced him as a leading voice in the area of Church Consulting, an author and former denominational leader. As Dr. Bullard began to teach, he took considerable time explaining the necessity of VISION within a local congregation. At one point in the lecture he shifted gears from vision to three other key elements present within all healthy ministry situations (RELATIONSHIPS, PROGRAMS and MANAGEMENT). Together these four areas compliment one another and function as a team.

As Dr. Bullard stated, over the course of time (or the life-cycle) in any church, the predominate voice of guidance may shift. In the most productive days of ministry the VISION will be the driving force in the congregation — the one in the driver’s seat. In fact, Dr. Bullard used just such an illustration to describe the change and progression of movement within a church body as it ages. He noted that the most successful arrangement for ministry will always be to have the VISION in the driver’s seat with the RELATIONSHIPS sitting in the passenger’s seat assisting in the navigation of the journey. Together they function quite well! Likewise, MANAGEMENT would be sitting squarely behind the VISION acting as the support and structural guide as the VISION drives. To the right of MANAGEMENT and sitting directly behind RELATIONSHIPS will be the PROGRAMS of the church. The PROGRAMS gain support and assistance from the structure of MANAGEMENT, while at the same time trail and take their lead from the RELATIONSHIPS of the church. In fact, this is where the PROGRAMS function best — directly in line with and behind the RELATIONSHIPS of the congregation. Ministry always flows best in relationships…and yet is dependent upon the VISION to set the pace as it drives into the future!

The problems begin when VISION takes a back seat to MANAGEMENT and allows the administrative and managerial strengths to dominate the ministry direction. When this happens the church will begin to stall in it’s forward movement and lead to RELATIONSHIPS swapping place with the PROGRAMS of the church. Once MANAGEMENT and PROGRAMS are in the front seats of the ministry (leaving the VISION and RELATIONSHIPS in the background), the church will begin a slow move towards death and demise. While it is true that there are times when MANAGEMENT may need to step up and bring structure and organizational strength back to the church — if it stays in the driver’s seat it will only hinder ministry in the long run.

Well, I have given much thought to these issues and various scenarios over the past couple of weeks. More than anything, this analogy has helped me to understand that the proper placement and operation of each of these in the church is critical to its success. My hope is that this description of the leadership teamwork within the church stirs your thoughts and causes you to think about your own local ministry the way it has helped me think about mine!

By the way — the picture above is the interior of a 1995 Mustang. Does it get any better than that?

Lead on! – Chuck

5 KEY VISION INSIGHTS FOR THE CHURCH

(These were adapted from a list of 100 by Dr. George Bullard – a guest professors at Anderson University in my Master’s In Ministry Program):

1. Vision is a movement of God that is memorable rather than a statement of humankind that is memorized.

2. Vision does not call for the rejection of heritage. It sees it as a foundation, a prelude, a centering, and mooring.

3. Vision is about walking by faith in God rather than by what is in plain sight. [2 Corinthians 5:7]

4. Pastors who are not passionate about the vision for their congregation are likely to become known as mediocre.

5. Staff ministers who are not passionate about the vision for their congregation are likely to become known as former.

More to come on this later!