It’s never been about leadership? I don’t buy it.

I just finished “I am a Follower” –by Leonard Sweet.

The subtitle on this book is “It’s never been about leadership.” The “leadership obsession” in the church seems to be the underlying purpose for Sweet’s new book. He states early on “ I hope to convince you to quit defining yourself as a leader, stop your aspiring after leadership and instead set your sights on being a “Jesus follower” or “fellow follower” or “first follower.”

His discussion on the “great tragedy” of the church – the focus on leadership – was a theme that ran alongside a theme of greater importance to me. That theme was what it means to be a follower of Christ, following the way, the truth and the life. I found myself loving the follower challenges, and yet being distracted by the attack on the leadership development culture that has risen in the church in the last decades. Having personally witnessed the powerful way God has used the leadership development settings in many churches, including my own, it was hard for me to swallow some of the criticism Sweet was dishing out.

Sweet’s “first follower”, in my mind is just a semantic difference to the “servant leader” that has been talked about historically in the church. To deny that Christ cares about leadership seems overstated. Leadership is a spiritual gift. Scripture tells us to “let them lead”. His disciples certainly led a movement in the book of Acts. The overseers of the early church were leaders. God certainly chose to work through leaders in Israel’s history. Moses, David, Joseph, were all leaders.

I loved what Sweet said about “first followers” and the challenges he presented.  Absolutely leaders must be modeling true followership and submit always to the Master. He does cause one to think about where the line gets crossed of chasing after leadership skill instead of Christ Himself. But that is true for anything in life. Not just leadership. Anything we pursue can become an idol, and thus take us away from the focus of Christ.

It’s true, it’s never been about leadership, but about Christ. But this book? I wouldn’t buy it.

GRANDFATHER’S CLOCK

Click, clock, click, clock

Marking time as it marches on

Stately on the wall

Speaks of Grandfather’s hands.

Making, re-making, restoring the time,

Days long past

Memories beat, moving on

Click, clock, click, clock

Marching slow but steady

Never to stop; tomorrow’s song

Becomes today

Their laughter fades and rises again

Sounds of their banter,

Frustration and tears

Turn back to giggles, then silence,

Then love; whispers of grace

All the while the steady march

Click, clock, click, clock

Never to stop; tomorrow’s song

Becomes today

Today I hear it, the sounds of time

For all else is quiet

My memory dances, with hope

For tomorrow

To quiet my soul

The time marches on

Slowly, steady, never to stop;

Click, clock, click, clock

The River

I stand in the river

Waters flow, tumbling over rocks,

pooling in the deep

then spinning off

into stronger currents.

All by an unseen force

that bids me to explore,

to watch the riffles,

the rise of a hungry creature.

the smooth stones.

They tell a story of forceful currents,

rising waters and dry summers,

heat and ice, gentle and strong

a history unspoken, but seen in the ripples.

I quiet my soul, listen and watch.

Where do I step?

What do I disrupt?

I enter in quietly, reading the river

eyes to my Maker,

aware that my steps will become part of the story.

Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.

The power of a story

I’ve been thinking and reading a lot about the power of a story lately. It is so hard to remember facts, bullets on a powerpoint, and for me especially statistics. But a story, everyone remembers, although not always accurately.

I wonder exactly why. I think it has something to do with all the the senses that engage, even through your imagination. Or maybe its because stories touch us personally. There is usually a part of any story that we relate to, we’ve experienced, or it reminds us of someone or something in our own story.

Tony Campolo has just published a book called “Stories That Feed Your Soul.”  This book is more of a resource than anything. It is full of stories and categorized loosely by topics. For anyone who speaks or writes, it’s a great resource for illustrations. He has stories of the lives of well-known people, as well as ordinary people. I’ve heard Tony speak a number of times. He is a great story teller.  He is basically offering many of his stories for all to tell. In reading it I’ve tried to learn more about how to tell a story in a powerful way.

I really want to learn to tell stories in a way that touches a soul. Stories are all around us, every day. God reveals himself in the stories of the lives of every person. I think I’m going to wake up each day for the next couple weeks and say to God “tell me a story today.” Then I’ll keep my eyes open for cool stories.

Thanks for the inspiration Tony!

Good intentions are not enough

I just finished “The Principle of the Path” by Andy Stanley. It’s his newest book. I heard a talk he gave on that very topic. It was about a 15 minute pod-cast and I thought it was really great. I was looking forward to reading the book, thinking it would expand on his talk.

He did expand, but it seemed to me he took almost 200 pages to say what he could have said in 50. It would have been an awesome 50 pages, and probably more powerful. What I love about Andy is how quickly, easily, and succinctly he gets to his main points. This book just didn’t feel that way. But, the core content – which could have been said in 50 pages – was true to the Stanley style: simple, memorable and powerful.

Andy’s main point: good intentions do not lead anywhere. They are simply intentions. Direction, not intention gets you where you want to go.  Direction takes steps…moving. We always end up where the road we choose takes us. Whatever our hopes and dreams, it doesn’t really matter unless our choices take us there.

It’s a really good point.  If I desire to have meaningful relationships, but never spend time with people, I probably won’t end up with close friends.  If I want to be healthy and have energy, but don’t eat well, get enough sleep and exercise,  I will end up without the energy I desire.  If I intend to grow in faith, but never spend time investing in things that take me down that path, my good intentions are pretty meaningless.

Andy explores what keeps us from taking the path to where we want to be. It all boils down to choosing and following through on what we decide. He brings out the importance of getting counsel, focusing our attention on the right things, owning up to our “stuff”. We don’t drift down the right path, we take it.

The most challenging chapter for me was about things that grab our attention and then serve as distractions from what we really desire. Distractions often start as small things, and then somehow grow to take tons of time. Suddenly we don’t have time to do those things that take us down the path we want to go, because we are side-lined by other things. It really made me think about what I spend time on. When I have a couple of hours do I just do whatever “grabs my attention” or do I determine what would be valuable and choose to do that? What do I spend most of my time doing? Is that taking me to the destination I desire?

If Andy re-wrote this book as one of his small, read-in-an-hour books I would recommend it to tons of people. For now I will recommend the pod cast, or borrowing my book and reading the highlights. He makes great points, even life-changing ones. He just took too long to say it.

Madison March Madness

I hopped on my bike today and headed to the Capitol. I’ve been out of town for a couple of weeks, and this was the first chance I got to go where the action is. It was a way I could at least show that I care about what it happening. And I do. It breaks my heart.

I must admit, politics annoy me. There are many things important to me. Both parties represent some of that. And both parties represent things I am absolutely not in favor of.  What really frustrates me is that the two parties are so polarized that they end up being more about the politics than the people.

Today as I approached the capitol I was quietly observing; praying, really. I looked at the faces – real people simply trying to put food on the table, do a good job, keep their lives heading in a good direction. I didn’t really sense anger. I saw spirited people coming together around something that really matters to them: Freedom. Thousands of people around one cause: the right to negotiate. It was exhilarating to sense the unity.

I actually found myself wanting to tell teachers they were great! They work so hard for little pay. Their jobs have gotten more difficult in the last decade. I’m so grateful for them.  I wanted to let nurses know how much I admire their thankless service. In my humble opinion most public servants are very dedicated, over-worked, and underpaid. I feel for them, with them. I told a police officer “thank you for serving.” Kinda cheesy, I know.

Some of the signs cracked me up. That’s Madison for you – a festive uprising. People were actually having some fun with their chants, driving their mini-floats with signs, walking on stilts. But there were also signs that made me sad. A young girl, maybe 10, was carrying a sign that spoke of hate. Somehow personifying Walker as the evil one gave me pause. He seems unwise to me, yes.  But motives are difficult to judge.

Overall, it struck me how blessed we are in this country to have the freedom to demonstrate, to cheer, to speak up, to join forces. That freedom is so often taken for granted, until a time like this. When what feels like a power play, an action without listening, a direction with no compromise, is thrust upon us it jars us. We don’t expect such boldness in the midst of an uprising. We expect to be listened to. We expect some justification, an explanation of why. In America this feels so wrong.

The divide in our community is gaping. The governor’s actions have created some huge divides: public worker against private, and furthering the liberal from conservative divide. I’ve heard of friends or family not talking. It breaks my heart to see the city I love torn apart.

But, mostly I am proud of my city. I hope and pray that at the end of the day Madison is a better place because of what is happening now. Perhaps we will care more for those without any health insurance. Maybe we will wake up to those who had no rights before the Budget Repair Bill. Maybe we will recognize that we can rally around an important issue and make a difference.

And perhaps when we find ourselves convinced we are right, ready to forge ahead, we will listen better to those around us, so that when we do take a stand it is from a place of understanding.

Swimming upstream

I’ve been pondering compassion, justice, generosity, and the American dream lately. It makes me think of the old sesame street song: ” One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn’t belong! ” Trying to live differently in America is like swimming upstream. And I am not a swimmer, even going downstream.

I resonate so much with this word from a favorite author:

I love being an American. I love this place in which I have been placed – its language, its history, its energy. But I don’t love “the American way,” its culture and values. I don’t love the rampant consumerism that treats God as a product to be marketed. I don’t love the dehumanizing ways that turn men, women,and children into impersonal roles and causes and statistics. I don’t love the competitive spirit that treats others as rivals and even as enemies. The cultural conditions in which I am immersed require, at least for me, a kind of fierce vigilance to guard my vocation from these cultural pollutants so dangerously toxic to persons who want to follow Jesus in the way that he is Jesus. – Eugene Peterson

I want to live differently, yet struggle to know exactly how. I’ve always attempted to not be a big consumer, not get sucked into the world of materialism, not sell out to finding meaning in stuff. Yet I find myself living right in the middle of the American way, abundantly blessed with a beautiful home, two cars (they are old, but hey) a dog, a good retirement account, and enjoying what living in the city of Madison provides. Money is so easy to spend. Things are so easy to want and to get.

I don’t want to define success as getting to the top, being smarter, better looking, more fit, having more influence. But I know deep down, that’s my definition. That’s what my world tells me, so that’s what I believe.

I don’t know exactly how to move against the flow, or what it might mean for this season of my life, but I do know that I can’t follow Christ upstream alone. In community with others who desire the same, struggle to know what it means, and want to make choices that are against the cultural flow is the only way I’m going to be able to make progress. Honestly, I don’t even know what that type of community looks like!

If you have ideas, or have had success in any of this, share them! Indeed, I have a hunch that to live differently would result in becoming more rich.

The Power of a Whisper

Growing up I somehow had this sense that if an adult whispered, I needed to really listen. And if they shouted, I backed away. It seems rather intuitive when I think about it. A quiet voice can hold power that a loud voice loses. The louder we shout, often the less people listen.

Why is it then, that I find myself thinking that I wish God was more loud and clear. Loud people get compliance through fear. Whispering brings a sense of power through listening, and choice. I can choose to listen, and if I do, I will be much more likely to respond. I really believe God is wise to whisper. And that my choice to listen for Him is one of the most important things I can do.

I recently read Bill Hybels’ latest book “The Power of a Whisper: Hearing God, Having the Guts to Respond.” Hearing God is something that can be very dicey. When someone says they heard from God, who can argue? Who can challenge? When actions come from this basis, there is no come back. I find myself never really confident I can believe for sure that someone really hears from God.

Having said that, I approached this book with some skepticism. It is such a mystery. Anyone who claims they have this figured out is suspect in my mind. I sense that I hear from God, but am always open to the idea that I have a hearing problem. I am too flawed to think otherwise.

I think Hybels approached this topic with honesty and humility. His stories from his own life, and the lives of others were varied yet had a certain consistency: a humble heart on the part of the listener, an attentiveness to God, a willingness to hear.

My favorite chapter by far was how God speaks to us through the words of others. Again, it focused on the great importance of letting down ones’ guard. Of being humble, not defensive.

Although this book inspired me to be a better listener to the Spirit of God at work in my life, I felt like it was void of some of the mystery. Some of the struggle that comes with listening seemed a bit absent. In retrospect one can see how God guides, but when I am in the moment it can be very hard to discern whether a prompting is from God, from my own desires, guilt or some other voice of influence.

I think this book as a companion to “Hearing God” by Dallas Willard would make a good study of this topic. Willard has more depth to his writings, yet Hybels paints a clearer picture of how to listen.  The discussion would likely be lively. Personal stories would abound. But I am fairly confident that this topic is one that has many tensions that will not resolve.

In any case, knowing God most often seems to whisper, not shout, and that the  way to hear Him is to tune in expectantly and with a humble heart is developed in both books. What comes after that is hard to be firm about, in my mind. But the grace of God covers the mistakes we might make.

God of the City

 

If you want to be inspired pick up  ”To Transform a City” by Eric Swanson and Sam Williams. The book begins with a convincing chapter on the importance of cities in our world today, and follows with inspiring stories and a clear challenge to churches to transform their cities holistically with the gospel.

As they unpack city transformation they include examples from all over the world where churches are working together to bring Shalom to their cities. They describe a transformation that crosses all sectors of the city: private, social and public, and impacts every domain: education, arts, government, religion, family, media and business.  As God places  believers in all these arenas of city life, Swanson and Williams argue, the church is to equip leaders to be transformation agents in those domains.

This book is more than theory or idealism. Because of the vast number of stories included and the practical steps spelled out, this book serves as both an inspiration and a catalyst for churches to engage fully in the mission of God in their city.

This book inspired me to learn more about the city I live in and love, and to keep my eyes open to where God is at work through his people in every domain of society. The church is not that place we gather on the weekend. Rather, the church is the people of God scattered throughout the community, responding to God’s promptings to bring love and restoration right where they are.

The Grace of God

I just completed Andy Stanley’s latest book “The Grace of God.” I am a fan of Andy Stanley’s books and have read most of them. He has a way of communicating in clear, compelling and memorable ways, especially when it comes to leadership topics.

This book is not about leadership, and I wondered as I began if I would get much from it. I love the topic of grace. It is the foundation of our faith. But I wasn’t sure how much there was to say on this topic. Was this going to be an article stretched into a book?

But true to Stanley form, this book delivers great insight, inspiration, and simple truths in a memorable way.  It follows the grace story through the Old and New Testaments with insight and power. Even the Old Testament law is presented within the framework of grace.  Andy  recounts a rich display of God’s grace taken from the Biblical narrative and translates effectively to personal challenge and inspiration for today.

This book is one that could be foundational for new believers in the same way that ‘Next Generation Leader” is foundational for leaders.  And for churches struggling to reach their communities, the chapter “Commissioned for Grace” is a must read. And for those needing to restore the joy of their salvation, it’s well worth the read. What an amazing grace!