How your staff responds to change and why it matters

 

Many are familiar with the bell curve that describes how people respond to change: innovators; early adapters; middle adapters; late adopters, and laggards. In my experience in the change process, I have another set of suggested categories to watch for. Where individuals are on this continuum from change resistors to evangelists for change makes a great difference when you are considering them for leadership positions either on staff or a board.

Resisters. Like the laggards on the bell curve, these are people who will actively resist change because they are simply wired that way. This is the individual who told me, "T.J., you can bring whatever change you want to the organization but don't expect me to do anything different." No rationale is going to change the mind of a resister. This does not mean they are bad people. It does mean that they don't do change, and you cannot have them in a place of leadership - ever!

Protectors. The protector is also highly resistant to change but for another reason. They believe in the status quo, the way things have been done in the past, and they will actively try to protect "what is" rather than embrace "what could be." This was the individual who told me and many others that the changes I was bringing to the organization I was leading at the time that I was destroying the organization. 

Cynics. This group is simply cynical about change unless the proposed change is their idea. They tend to view change as "the flavor of the month" and are often vocal about their opinion. Cynics generally don't trust leaders, so proposals brought by leaders are quickly discounted.

Loyal followers. These individuals have a deep commitment to the organization and team. They accept change if there is a good rationale for it. These staffs say, "Just tell me which direction we are going, and I will go with you." 

Idealists. This is an interesting group with an upside and a downside regarding change. When creating change, one inevitably creates a gap between what is and what should be. Idealists are highly impatient to get to what should be and believe we should be there now. On the upside, they want the change. On the downside, they can become highly critical that we have not arrived. Thus on any given day, they can be either an ally or a critic.

Realists. This group is supportive of change, realizes that it will take time and process, and is generally comfortable with that process. They are helpful in realistically figuring out how to get there and can live with the tension of what is and what should be.

Change agents. These individuals not only support proposed changes but will be active agents in helping the organization get there. They are your front lines in speaking a new language, setting a new course, and helping redesign philosophy and strategy.

Evangelists. These are the champions of change who publicly and privately live the change out, help others understand and get there and advocate for the new direction.

In my experience, it is the realists, change agents, and evangelists who will help drive change, while the resisters, protectors, and cynics will actively undermine change. Loyal followers and idealists will go with you but will not drive change. 

Think about the implications of these eight ways that people respond to change regarding who you hire, who you put into leadership, and who you ask to serve on a board. One church leader, after hearing these descriptions, aptly commented, "no wonder so many boards are stuck." He is right. Resisters, protectors, and cynics must be managed but beware of allowing them into leadership positions and influence! 

Further, when you are considering someone for a leadership position, it will be the realists, change agents, and evangelists who will help you get to where you need to go. Don't put someone in leadership who will not actively help you move forward and who is not change-friendly.

For those who are in a hurry to make their mark!

 I meet many individuals in ministry who are in a hurry! A hurry to make their mark. A hurry to have influence. A hurry to prove something to someone that they are somebody and something. In their hurry, they often get out in front of God, circumvent what He wants to build in their lives, and end up being less of what they could be had they been patient and waited for God to do His work. I know because I have been there as well.

While we are often in a hurry, God is not. He is more concerned with what He wants to build in our lives than what we can build for Him. We are focused on what we can build for Him, while He is focused on what He wants to make in us. Those are two very different concerns. 

Consider the characters we read of in Scripture. Jacob, for instance, was impressed enough with his abilities and dreams that he angered his brothers, who sold him into slavery. Once in Egypt, he ignored the advances of his master's wife and ended up in jail - for a long time. He, who would become second only to the Pharaoh of Egypt, lived in obscurity for many years as God built him into who He wanted him to be. He was in a hurry when he was young, but God was not. And what God made in his heart during those years was amazing.

Moses was a guy in a hurry when he was young, and his encounter with an Egyptian slave master whom he killed caused him to run for his life at forty. For the next forty years, he tended his father-in-law's herds till, at 80, he was ready for his most significant assignment. By then, Moses was not in a hurry, but God knew he was ready and drafted him over his many objections.

This week, I heard of a pastor who, years ago, took members of the church he pastored to start another church. He was not patient enough to work hard to bring all his people along, so he split. Today, he says this. "I was in a hurry when I should have been patient. These past years have not gone well; it is all my fault. Things would have worked out in the original church had I waited, but I had something to prove, and it didn't work out well." He had tried to get ahead of God and, in a moment of humility, admitted that he should have waited and allowed God to work. His new church never worked out well, and they will probably not survive much longer. 

Don't try to outpace God. Even Paul, after his conversion, had some years of obscurity as he was coached and prepped by God for his major assignment of spreading the Gospel among the Gentiles. 

When we are in a hurry, we miss out on what God wants to do. Depth takes time. It cannot be hurried! Many leaders mistake short-term success for long-term effectiveness. This is often true of highly gifted ministry leaders who are so driven to prove they can succeed that they do not take the time to develop a deep core. They settle for surface wins.

We may be in a hurry, but God isn't, and His timetable is the one that will allow us to have the most significant impact. 

What is growing in your organization's culture?

 

Organizational culture and what it looks like is a critical component of any for-profit or not-for-profit enterprise. And you can be sure that your culture is growing either health or dishealth that will impact your organization. In fact, Culture is never neutral. It either contributes to a healthy organization or creates dysfunction and frustration. With culture, there is no neutral ground. 

Everyone who has worked anywhere has stories about culture. Many of them are unhealthy. The question is, why does dysfunctional culture so often get ignored? Why do leaders not deal with unhealthy aspects of their organization's culture?

Because culture sits in the background as an invisible, silent backdrop, we can simply get used to what it is without asking why or noticing its lack of health. We say about difficult people, "They are just like that," rather than asking why we tolerate their behavior. We get used to and content with what is rather than asking what could be. 

We may even have a level of cynicism about people or situations that frustrate us but assume nothing will ever change. We learn to accept substandard behaviors or lack of excellence and follow through. We are not surprised or bothered by unproductive meetings or unkept promises. We are used to what is. 

This is why there are often deep pockets of dysfunction in organizations, sometimes around one unhealthy individual that doesn't get addressed, yet it infects the whole. These pockets of dysfunction are like a petri dish of bacteria that is growing ugly stuff, but we are so used to it that we hardly notice. 

Sometimes, an organization's dysfunctional culture is so obvious that all see it. In other cases, that dysfunction is like a quiet illness permeating the company. Those pockets of dysfunctional culture create dysfunctional organizations which impact every individual, every team, and everything they do. 

Try a small experiment. Ask your coworkers or staff these three questions:

• If you could change three things about your workplace, what would they be?
• If you were in charge, what would you do differently?
• How would you rate the health of our culture on a scale of one to ten, with one being the lowest and ten being the highest? Why did you pick that number? What would make your score higher?

These questions and their answers are all about the culture and practices of your workplace. Some would object that the questions ignore many good things. That is probably true, but it is not the good things that create issues in an organization. Rather, it is the problematic things! If you focus on dealing with dysfunction and dishealth, along with a set of agreed-upon behaviors and attitudes, the culture of your organization will improve significantly over time. The result will be a more engaged workplace. 

Inviting your board or staff to become disrupters rather than engage in group think

 

Organizations love to live in the comfortable because the uncomfortable creates anxiety and questions that are not easily answered. This is the major reason that board members, for instance, love smooth and friendly meetings. It is why they keep hard questions to a minimum, don't tend to ask them, and live with the hope that all is okay rather than dealing with known issues. 

It is also why many leadership groups do the same thing. They do not invite disruptive questions or observations, especially if it would make the senior leader uncomfortable. This is the nature of organizations and the pressure to keep people comfortable rather than challenging what is. Those who ask disruptive questions are often marginalized or put in their place by other group members. 

How, for instance, did the Willow Creek Church or Harvest Bible Church dysfunction go on for so long, and how did the boards and staff disregard what was so apparent to those on the outside looking in? In both cases (and in multiple other cases), the desire to live in the comfort zone precluded candid discussion about what was actually going on, and in both cases, a lot was going on. In retrospect, it seems incredible that no group member called the question. Still, it is testimony to the intense pressures to ignore what is inconvenient or potentially disruptive and the power of groupthink.

There is a much healthier alternative, but it takes leaders who possess self-confidence, courage, and nothing to prove, nothing to lose attitude. It is an open invitation to engage in robust dialogue where any issue (read that again) can be put on the table except for a hidden agenda or a personal attack. 

Robust dialogue is an invitation to explore new ideas, ask disruptive questions, speak candidly without reprisal, and do so for the organization's good. It is a rare commodity in most churches and organizations. The result is that issues don't get addressed in a timely manner, those who speak candidly are diminished, and the return on mission is compromised. Unfortunately, it is a rare organization that values disruptive questions, ideas, or observations.

When I led a large international organization, I only put someone on the senior leadership team who I thought would be willing to challenge, disagree with, or take issue with me. I wanted an organization that didn't settle for comfort at the expense of being everything we could be. It made a big difference. 

Any leadership group: a board or executive team is wise to ask the question: Do we value disrupters, or do we love comfort? Have a candid conversation around that issue and see what you learn together. 

See also

What leaders and board members don't know and why

Curiosity and hard questions create discomfort but are the path to becoming better

In many organizations, those who ask the best questions become the object of criticism while the questions remain unanswered

What leaders and board members don't know and why

 

If you are in a leadership position, or a board member I have a question for you. How much do you really know about what is happening in your organization?

Studies show that leaders know far less than they think they do about what is really happening in their organization and that ignorance poses a danger to their leadership. It has been suggested that executives see 4% of the problems, Team Managers see 9% of the problems, Team Leaders see 74% of the problems and staff see 100%of the problems.

Anyone who consults, as I do, understands that this dynamic creates all kinds of issues that are dangerous to the organization. These include disgruntled staff, strategies that are no longer working, leaders who are creating more harm than good, and broken systems that eat up time and energy, and cost. 

Why does this "iceberg of ignorance" exist? Here are some reasons.

First, senior leaders (and board members) don't ask people in the organization the kinds of questions that would provide them with real knowledge. In fact, many in leadership don't ask questions at all. Rather, they assume that because they are in leadership that they understand and know the facts. That is a very dangerous and erroneous assumption. Leaders are often the last to know the actual state of affairs because unless asked, staff will not take the risk of being the bearer of bad news. 

Second, many leaders want to hear what makes them comfortable, not the real issues. Thus, they not only don't ask hard questions but they resist information that they find inconvenient. Staff quickly discern what it is that leaders want to hear and tailor their messages accordingly. It is simple self-preservation.

Peter Drucker is considered a management guru. He knew a ton about what was going on in industry and business. How did he know what he knew? Every morning for many years he would call "line operators" in various businesses and ask probing questions. He didn't call the presidents, vice presidents, or leadership team but those who actually did the work. And then he listened and asked follow up questions. 

One of the most strategic things any leader can do is to invest time, real time, in talking to staff at all levels. And in those conversations, ask good questions, listen carefully, and follow the trails that appear.

Here are some basic questions that will create meaningful dialogue and provide the leader with real information.

• On a scale of one to ten, what is your happiness factor in your work?
• What would make it higher?
• Do you have the necessary tools to do your work well?
• Are you being used to your fullest potential?
• What issues do you see from your vantage point that keep our organization from being as successful as it could be?
• Are there any people you work with who you think is in the wrong position?
• If you could change three things about our culture what would they be and why?
• If you were the president, what would you do differently in our organization?
• How can I and our management support you better?

The only way to truly understand what is going on outside of the rooms and meetings of power is to engage and listen to those who work at different levels of the organization. Never assume that you are getting the straight scoop from senior management. They often don't know because they don't ask the questions. But if you want to lead well, you will!

Ask the questions, listen carefully, and follow the trails and you will learn a great deal about the organization you lead. Ignore that discipline and you will be leading from ignorance. Many leaders do! Don't be one of them!

Curiosity and hard questions create discomfort but are the path to becoming better

 

In my recent blog on asking the right questions, I make this statement: Those who ask the best questions are often the target of criticism for asking irritating questions. In contrast, the answers to those questions often go unaddressed. Rather than focusing on the question, the organization often focuses on the one who asked it.

This raises a related question: Why are we not more curious about what is happening in our organizations? In fact, we often resist good questions and target those who ask them because it makes us uncomfortable.

In her excellent book Atlas of the Heart, Brene Brown suggests, "Choosing to be curious is choosing to be vulnerable because it requires us to surrender to uncertainty. We have to ask questions, admit to not knowing, risk being told that we shouldn't be asking, and, sometimes, make discoveries that lead to discomfort."

That is a profound statement. The truth is that those discoveries lead to discomfort that causes us to learn, grow, and get better. Comfort is not what drives us to get better. Discomfort is. 

It follows that the best leaders are not those who choose comfort but those who are willing to be uncomfortable and, in that discomfort, discover and dialogue about things they would not otherwise dialogue about.

Here is the truth about organizations. They always gravitate toward comfort. They just do! The best leaders create discomfort. They make waves without sinking the ship to discover new answers and confront the uncomfortable. 

This is also why organizations move from being missional to being institutional. In the former, there is discomfort, but in the latter, the rule becomes, "Don't rock the boat." Those who do rock the boat are often labeled as troublemakers when, in fact, they are one of your most valuable assets. They are usually long gone when you discover that truth because their curiosity and questions were unwelcome.

Church and non-profit boards are notorious for not asking the right questions and guarding the status quo rather than choosing the vulnerability of curiosity and the attending discomfort. A great exercise is a whiteboard session where everyone is invited to ask the most challenging questions about their organization. Not to criticize but to challenge the status quo, create discomfort, and see if we are satisfied with our answers. 

I recently worked with a non-profit where the interviews with constituents raised significant questions around common themes. The discomfort of the senior leader and board caused the results to be put on ice, and the conversation stopped. There was no curiosity or honest conversation. Just defensiveness and a desire to keep the status quo. And the organization will pay the price for that response. 

In choosing to be curious, Brene Brown says, we make discoveries that lead to discomfort. And it is there that we can get better. But you must be open to curiosity and hard questions to get there.

In many organizations, those who ask the best questions become the object of criticism while the questions remain unanswered

 

Here is something I have observed on numerous occasions with organizations I have worked with. 

Those who ask the best questions are often the target of criticism for asking what are considered irritating questions, while the answers often go unaddressed. Rather than focusing on the question, the organization often focuses on the one who asked it.

Why would this be? Organizations can be very protective of the status quo because the status quo is comfortable. It is what we are used to, and challenging the status quo with a hard question is often an unwelcome intrusion to the group's comfort. 

There is another phenomenon at work. Many of the paradigms of the organization were decided on by senior leaders, and they may feel that questioning the paradigm is a criticism of them. The resulting defensiveness can be a powerful message not to question their decisions.

In both instances, it is often the one who asks the questions who becomes the target of criticism while the issues they asked about are left undiscussed.

Here is the thing. Organizations that ask the best questions become the best organizations. No organization gets better without the probing questions of good people who want the best for the organization. Yet, in many instances, the pride of the group or the leader shut down the questions because they are considered irritating. This is especially true in religious institutions where we can claim "God's direction" in our actions. 

Great questions are a means of getting to the truth and better practices. I once consulted with a church board where 15 staff had left over a five-year period. I asked the obvious question as to whether exit interviews had been conducted. The answer was no. I asked why not, and the board members hung their heads. So I interviewed the fifteen and discovered similar stories of why these staff had left. In every case, it revolved around their senior leader. Why had no one asked this question? Because it would have been inconvenient and made some uncomfortable. Yet, in not asking the question, dysfunction was allowed to continue for years. 

Good questions should not be seen as threats but as a means of honing strategies, practices, and assumptions that may need reconsidering. This does not mean the current practices are ineffective, but there may be more effective ways. You get there with questions. In fact, good questions are disruptive to the organization in a great way.

So, going back to my prior observation. We ought to celebrate those who ask the best and most prescient questions rather than see those individuals as troublemakers and irritants. Your culture will either celebrate great questions or shut them down. The result will either be a better organization or one that resists true progress. 

My one caveat would be this. Any question should be invited, with the exception of a hidden agenda or a personal attack. With those two exceptions, any question should be welcomed.

Does your organization invite and encourage hard questions, or does it seek to shut those questions down? In fact, here is a question you might consider asking: What questions do we resist asking because we are not sure we want to know the answer? Start with those.

Proud organizations and leaders with egos resist good questions. Humble organizations and humble leaders welcome them because it is not about them but about the mission.

Lessons from the Southwest Airline Meltdown: A Cautionary Tale

 

The recent debacle of Southwest Airlines and the cancellation of the majority of their flights leaving passengers stranded for days or a week or more is a cautionary tale. This is, after all, a highly successful airline with better-than-average service at a relatively low cost. Yet, earlier this week, the airline could not find cabin crews and pilots and literally had to ground the fleet to figure out who was where and match people and planes for a restart. In the meantime, hundreds of thousands of passengers were left stranded, at the peak of the Christmas season. The cost to SWA will be high financially, to their reputation, and in the sphere of public opinion. So the question is, how could this happen and what can it teach us in the organizations we work for?

Several lessons seem to stand out from what we know at the moment. These lessons are important because they apply to all organizations whether for profit or not for profit. 

One: Success can blind us to the need to pay attention to the basics. A winning formula will only keep you winning for a season. In the case of SWA, it has been a long season but undeniably, if you listen to the employees, the management was inured to some mounting and glaring deficiencies by the very success that they had. Success is both a blessing and a curse because while it brings profits or an impressive return on mission, it also gives one a false sense of security that all is well. Clearly, in the case of SWA, all was not well.

Two: Major failures are most often the result of incremental issues ignored. There were warning signs at SWA for years that all was not well, particularly in the investments made to the IT systems that brought the whole enterprise to a halt this past week. This was not a major failure caused by the weather or some catastrophic happening. Rather, it was the cumulation of issues not addressed along the way. If you listen to the management they are saying that the issues were discussed but clearly they were not addressed with any kind of urgency. Discussion and action are not the same things. Major failures are often the accumulation of small issues ignored over time until that accumulation builds up and the system cannot handle it.

Three: Investments in excellence are an ongoing priority at all times. Too often, organizations rely on past success and strategy to meet changing needs in the present and future rather than reinventing themselves to meet new challenges. As the saying goes, "What got you to here got you to here. It will not get you to there!" Every day, there must be investments in excellence and strategy to meet new needs and demands in a changing environment and marketplace. The moment that those investments cease to be a priority is the moment that the clock starts ticking toward a more significant failure. 

Four: Listening to your staff is one of the best early warning systems that you ignore to your own peril. There have been some very interesting comments from the pilots union and the crew union at SWA. Both say they have been warning management for years of issues that went unresolved and they would say unlistened to. Here is a key principle: Your staff often knows what is going on better than those in leadership and management so listening to your staff is one of the smartest things leaders can do. In this case, it seems that this did not happen to the detriment of the airline. 

I often call myself the "consultant of last resort." By the time an organization engages me, the pain in their system is high and often, it is because of these four issues. It can be a church, a non-profit, or a business but these four principles apply to any organization. Leaders and boards ignore these four principles at their own risk but they are, in my experience, often ignored. SWA's situation is a cautionary tale for any who lead organizations. It can happen to any of us.

Advent Series #17. A Story Stranger than Fiction. A Christmas Reading for your Family

 

A Story Stranger than Fiction

A Christmas Reading for your Family

No story is better known. No story better captures the heart of a child - small or grown - than the one we celebrate today. No matter how many times we hear the story it never grows old, it never disappoints, and never ceases to evoke deep emotions of wonder, awe, and comfort. An angel’s proclamation to illiterate shepherds, a teenage unwed mother, a loyal carpenter fiancée, the evil king Herod, and a cold, clear, Bethlehem night without a place to stay. A messy birth in an animal’s stall, alongside a dirty alley in the dark of night. Confused cows watching unknowingly as the Son of the universe stares back unknowingly at the very animals He had created eons before. A mother, a child, a carpenter, a few agitated animals, and the pungent smell of manure.

This is a story so absurd that it could only have been scripted by a Divine hand. No other writer would have attempted such a script. If they had they would not have claimed it to be true: fiction maybe, but not reality. This is not how the One whose voice had echoed off of a billion galaxies would make His entrance. Without CNN and Fox News, into a hovel known affectionately today as Bethlehem but then nothing more than a tiny village on the path to Jerusalem. 

His entrance was marked not by a proclamation to kings but to astonished herdsmen sleeping with sheep. The heavens opened with ten thousand voices – not over Jerusalem the ancient capital – but over a tiny grazing field for a handful of insignificant shepherds. They would be the only witnesses of the grand entrance of a King. No other writer would have written such a script. 

No other author would have taken such a chance. For behind this story, there are echoes of another story - equally incredulous. Centuries before in the vastness of eternity past – when infinity kissed infinity, The Master of Infinity spoke into being the universe in which we live - 3,000 of whose stars are visible to the careful eye, 30 billion visible from a large telescope, - the other 90% of the universe still hidden from our eyes. Its splendor is an eternal testimony to the Author of the story.

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
All praise we would render: O help us to see
Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee.
(Walter Chalmers Smith)

The Author’s heart had love that could not be contained. A heart full of love is not easily satisfied. Transcendent goodness longed to give away infinite love. Again the Author spoke: A planet was expertly crafted. One among billions. A people wonderfully created – in the image of the Author. Free to love, free to experience the infinite goodness of the Author. Free to revel in His infinite Love. But above all free. Love cannot be forced and remain love.

We are not the sole owners of broken hearts. No heart suffered such sorrow as Infinite Love rejected. Image bearers rejected the Image Maker. The story’s characters fired the Author to write their own script. Unmatched, searing pain pierced the Author’s heart as the loved one jilted the Lover.

Chaos infiltrated beauty. A planet was hijacked and spun out of control. Poverty of spirit supplanted endless joy. Unfulfilled hearts realized the pain of lost love. Without the Author, individual storylines faltered – and failed. Sadness reigned. Darkness descended in seeming endless gloom.

Truth can be stranger than fiction. For in the pained heavens the grieving Author plotted love’s revenge. An awesome revenge that only Divinity could contrive – that only Divinity would contrive. Having lost His loved, the Lover would send His most loved to reclaim His heart’s desire. The rejected Creator would kiss the unfaithful created. Tender mercy in place of deserved destruction. An astonished heaven broke into unbelieving applause. Image bearers would be reclaimed by the Image Maker. Light would once again prevail over darkness. Brokenness would be made whole. Peace would triumph over chaos.

All was silent in the heavens on the chosen night. Angels held their corporate breath. For nine months the Son had been absent, resident in a young girl's womb, coming to us, not as a king but incognito, just one of the thousands of children that would be born on a lonely planet that night – into the darkness that our word had become. Placenta covered the Son of the universe arriving to claim back His beloved: this time, one by one, heart by heart. Tender mercy arriving in disguise: one of us, one like us. On that night, the Author personally entered our story. 

Such humility our world has never known. A stunning reversal for a world gone astray. A Heart full of love is not easily satisfied. Transcendent goodness longing to give away infinite love, arriving under cover of night in order to “shine on those living in darkness…to guide our feet into the path of peace.” (Luke 1:27).

When an author writes, each character is unique; each has his or her own story-line. We, each have a story – unique, unrepeated, singular. Each story has its own joy, its own pain, its own pathos and unmatched quality. But each shares one singular, astonishing feature. We are made in the Author’s image, and He will not rest until we have invited Him to join in our story. 

More astonishing than the script He has authored, the story we celebrate today is that He also wants to enter into your story. This is the most ancient of stories but it is also the most contemporary of stories. The Christmas story is but one chapter in the Author’s divine script. The Author is still writing. And every person who invites Him into their story becomes a separate and unique chapter in His unfinished book. And into each story, He brings His light and peace. 

“For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:16-17.)

Have you invited Him into your story? 

Father, my heart is amazed anew at your love. This Christmas, I thank you again for the greatest gift ever given of your Son. Amen

Advent Series #16. Silence, Chaos, Rejoicing, and Holy Awe

Silence, Chaos, Rejoicing, and Holy Awe

Silence

The heavens held their collective breath for the Son was gone. The unimaginable was unfolding. The One who had superintended creation was now ready to be born a creature. What could this mean? Majesty of heaven rejected for the poverty of a squalid earth and a people who had rejected truth too many times to count. They had traded the garden for a lie and now the creator traded majesty for obscurity. It was a silence of unbelief, awe, apprehension, and wonder!

Chaos

Nativity scenes are peaceful and neat but this night in Bethlehem was anything but. The tiny town was full of travelers, the inns and taverns were full and noisy and crowded and smelly. Desperately, a man tried to find a place for his wife, swollen with child, water about to break, a place where a child could be born in dignity but it was not to be. Instead, it was the to be with the animals, hay and manure, the sounds and smells of the adjacent Inn intruding on this holy moment.

Rejoicing

The silence of heaven gave way to song and praise and rejoicing penetrating the chasm between heaven and earth so that even poor shepherds heard the choir and angelic announcement. This first musical Christmas card came not to the mighty and powerful but to the poor and powerless: A symbol of the Kingdom that was coming - good news for those who needed the same. Good news of a great joy which shall be for all people. Even us, even today! A Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Now there was silence on earth as the shepherds tried to understand the import of the news. 

Holy Awe

There was one who knew that the universe had changed and that what was, was not what would be: Mary. Too young to be jaded, faith-filled, and in awe of the child that lay at her breast. For she knew that He was not of this earth though she did not know the price He would pay. She remembered the angel who had visited her upon her pregnancy. Now she heard the report of the shepherds who came to visit. All the people wondered at their report but Mary, treasured up these things pondering them in her heart. She knew, not fully, but she knew! 

We know fully for we know the rest of the story. Does it move us as it moved the heavens, the angels, the shepherds, the people of Bethlehem and Mary? This is a day to consider, to rejoice and to be awed at the love that drove a rejected Savior to save the broken, the needy, and each of us who have received Him in faith.

Father, I bow in reverence today thinking of your amazing love and grace. Thank you for the incarnation where you showed us who God is and made it possible for us to join Your family. Amen

Advent Series #15. When the fight between good and evil became personal

 

When the fight between good and evil became personal

The birth of Christ brought a whole new level of conflict between good and evil into our world. Specifically between God and the evil one. Many don't know that the first prediction of a coming messiah who would destroy Satan is found in Genesis 3:15 when Adam and Eve were evicted from the garden because of their rebellion against God. 

On that day of judgment for our original ancestors, there was also an amazing word of grace. Three key statements lay out that grace. First, God says that he would put enmity between the woman and the serpent (who had convinced her to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree). Second, he says that that enmity would extend to her offspring and his (speaking of those demons who accompanied him in rebellion against God. Third, God says there is coming one male offspring of the woman who would crush Satan's head although Satan would strike at His heel. That one male offspring would be the Messiah who would one day destroy Satan.

Satan knew on that day that his days were numbered. He knew there was one individual who would one day destroy him. He just didn't know who and when and where. What he did know was that this individual would come through the tribe of David. In fact, you will remember that when the wise men told Herod that they were looking for the King of the Jews who had been born that he had all the male boys under 2 years old killed. Who inspired Herod to do that? None other than Satan who wanted to cut off the threat.

When did Satan figure out who that One was? Most likely at the public baptism of Christ by John the Baptist and immediately afterward, he followed Jesus into the desert to tempt him. From this time on, the conflict between Jesus and Satan was intensely personal. Who would win?

But it became intensely personal for us as well. Satan cannot destroy God so he does the next best thing. He tries to kill God in effigy by hurting those made in His image. This is how Jesus frames that personal conflict that we have with the evil one. Jesus says in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." He is telling us that we have an enemy and we have a friend. One comes to diminish and one comes to bless. Thus the divine conflict now impacts us and has since our ancestors rebelled against God in the garden.

But, in the incarnation, Jesus shows us that His power is always able to bring life and defeat evil. When Jesus healed, forgave sin, called people to Himself, invited them to join Him in His work, welcomed them into His kingdom, gave the hopeless hope, the sad joy, the marginalized honor, the sinful, forgiveness, and those without any power, the power of His Holy Spirit that no one could diminish - He demonstrated that in a personal relationship with Him, the evil one has been defeated. That is the power of the incarnation and the power we have today.

In the incarnation, the fight between good and evil became intensely personal. But even more personal for us as the Good Shepherd came and lived among us, showed us His grace and His love, and demonstrated time and again that His love envelops us and His power protects us. In the incarnation the fight became good and evil became personal, but our Savior became even more personal as He showed us His character and invited us into His family. Jesus wins over Satan every time. His subsequent death and resurrection sealed Satan's fate forever. 

Remember today, you have an enemy. More importantly, you have a friend. The first wants to diminish your life. The second wants to bring ultimate fulfillment to you. And it is personal because the second invites you to join His family, His work, and His kingdom.

Father, thank you for taking the battle to the enemy for our sake. Thank you for personally defeating him and thank you for personally inviting us into Your family, Your work, and your Kingdom. Amen

Advent Series #14. Radical Proposals

 

Radical Proposals

Jesus was the great disrupter of the status quo. And He constantly made proposals to those around Him that were equally disruptive. Consider:

In a world that is focused on self, he said to people, "Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men." And astonishingly, people immediately left what they were doing to follow Him.

In a world that is focused on ego and power, He said that the blessed are poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek and humble, those who thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, peacemakers, and the persecuted. Who would say such a thing?

In a world focused on material possessions, He told His followers to store up treasures in heaven rather than on earth and that they could not serve both God and money. 

In a world focused on fear and anxiety, He said therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life but seek first my kingdom and righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.

In a world that loves to judge others, He said, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"

In a world that is tired and weary, he said, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." And He says that He, God, the Master of the universe, is gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.

In a world that is fixated on getting ahead, He said that the Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field and when a man found it, he went and sold all he had and bought that field - betting everything on that treasure.

In a world where people love to be first and great, He says, unless you become like little children and take the lowly position of a child you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.

In a world that holds grudges and keeps score of wrongs, He told His followers to forgive again, and again and again. And then He forgave Peter His denial. And us - our sin.

In a world where death is final, He rose from the grave and said that we would as well.

Jesus is still the disrupter of the status quo and He desires to do so every day in our lives. His proposals are so far out as to be crazy if they were not true which is precisely why the incarnation changed everything and continues to do so as we respond to His teaching. Allow Him to disrupt your life today - and tomorrow. It is a disruption that will change the equation of your life. Accepting His proposals is truly the game changer.

Father. Thank you for disrupting my life and I invite you to do it again and again as I choose to follow You. Disrupt, change, empower and fulfill my heart's desires in ways that only you can. Amen

Advent Series #13. The Treasuring Practice

 The Treasuring Practice

Mary, the mother of Jesus is a fascinating woman who gets far too little appreciation at least in evangelical circles. She was a woman of great faith at a young age, was chosen by God to be the mother of Christ, and one can only imagine the difficult job she had trying to figure out what this was all about. The song, Mary Did You Know captures the mystery she was handed as the mother of Jesus brilliantly.

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Would one day walk on water?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Would save our sons and daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy

Has come to make you new?

This child that you delivered, will soon deliver you

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Will give sight to a blind man?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Will calm the storm with his hand?

Did you know that your baby boy

Has walked where angels trod?

When you kiss your little baby

You kiss the face of God

The blind will see, the deaf will hear

The dead will live again

The lame will leap, the dumb will speak

The praises of the Lamb

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Is Lord of all creation?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy

Would one day rule the nations?

Did you know that your baby boy

Is heaven's perfect Lamb?

That sleeping child you're holding is the great, I Am

Of course, she didn't know although she had a glimpse from her encounters with the angel who told her she would be with child by the power of the Holy Spirit, her encounter with Elizabeth, her song given her by God, Zechariah's Song at the birth of John and then her encounter with the Shepherds and the angels at her son's birth as well as Anna and Simeon at the temple.

But here is what I love about Mary. As she encountered these events, and even though she did not fully understand them twice we read that "Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). Twelve years later when Jesus accompanied his parents to the temple in Jerusalem and he was found teaching the teachers we read again, "But his mother treasured all these things in her heart" (Luke 2:51).

Mary's secret was to thoughtfully ponder what she saw God doing or saying. She didn't look for ready answers but she was one to think and ponder and treasure what she was experiencing. She gave the Holy Spirit room to give her understanding and perspective. She took the time to think about, meditate on and treasure what she was seeing God do. She valued it and paid attention and allowed it to germinate in her heart and life. 

We run busy and hectic lives. We often don't have time to think let alone ponder and treasure what God has done and is doing in our lives. It is why I choose to journal. It makes me slow down as I put on paper my thoughts, prayers, and the deep questions of my heart. There is so much I don't understand but when I take the time to be still and think of God's work in my life, many things come into perspective. 

In these next days before Christmas and the New Year, take a lesson from Mary. It is the Treasuring Practice. What do you need to treasure in your heart?

Father. Help me to take the time to think more deeply and ponder more carefully so that I treasure your work in my life and pay attention to your love and work on my behalf. Thank you for the example of Mary. Amen

Advent Series #12. What Kingdom do You Live in?

 

What Kingdom do You Live in?

In the incarnation, God came incognito into a world of power, politics, and racial and gender inequality, with slaves and free, tremendous poverty and suffering, and the powerful Roman government that imposed its will with a ruthless iron hand. Religiously there was tremendous poverty of spirit as people who lacked meaning in their lives looked for paradigms and religious systems to give their lives coherence and hope. Life was cheap and those without power were at the mercy of those who had it. 

And then, Jesus, as He started His public ministry started talking about a strange new place that no one had heard of. He called it the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. You could not see it although you could see its results. You could not travel to it but could enter into it through Him. It had no armies but it had power that no one else had. Money didn't matter in this Kingdom. Power didn't matter. Social position didn't matter. In fact, those without any of these qualifiers were the first and most likely to enter. 

What it did require was repentance of one's sins and faith in God mediated by a carpenter's son with a band of twelve guys who no one would have hired to change the world. And it was an all-in proposition. No holding back. No reserves. As Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field" (Matthew 13:44). Once you found a treasure like this, nothing else took a higher priority.

In this kingdom, the powerless had the power of God, the marginalized were lifted up by God, social divides were bridged by the cross, the currency was faith, humility trumped pride and ego, God intervened in the lives of mere humans, there were physical and emotional healings, and kingdom people knew that a day would come when all evil would be eradicated and His will would prevail everywhere. In the meantime, we were to pray that His will would be done on earth as it is in heaven and bring pieces of God's will to the places where we had influence and inhabit.

Oh, in this kingdom the first would be last and the last would be first, those who were humble would be lifted up, those who mourned for their sin would be comforted and those who were persecuted would see God. In a massive re-arrangement of the "rules" of our world, the real power and influence were no longer with those who thought they had it but with those whose faith was in Jesus. This is why twelve guys would change the world after the ascension of Christ. It is why the world is still being upended by people of faith who belong to an unseen kingdom inaugurated in the advent and which will culminate in His second coming.

If you know Jesus, this is the kingdom you are in. And it is the most powerful force on this planet. Nothing can prevail against it. No evil can destroy it. No one can erase it. Its currency is faith. Its secret weapon is prayer. Its vision is hope because God will prevail and evil will be defeated and the wrongs of this world will be made right. That day is coming. In the meantime, this invisible kingdom brings the power of God to everyday situations as the Holy Spirit empowers us to live and move and act in the ways of Jesus. In this way, Advent is at work in you bringing light and life to those around you. 

Father, help me appreciate the Kingdom that I belong to. Help me live increasingly in its orbit and bring Your light and life to a needy world. Amen.

Advent Series #11. Generosity and the Incarnation

 

Generosity and the Incarnation

This is the time of the year when my wife Cleo makes a list of people back home in the Philippines who she can bless with a financial gift or a gift of rice. Many of these are friends from the past who took her in when she traveled, went to college, or was involved in ministry communities. 

Most on her list are poor and live job to job on meager pesos. But what Cleo always remembers is how they opened their humble home and always shared the little they had with her. It might have been a bowl of rice, a dried fish, and a vegetable but she was always welcome at the table and could sleep on their floor for the night. They shared their lives, their table, and their home. 

When Cleo talks about these women, she is profoundly moved by their generosity to her and tells me how little they had. How poor they were. And usually, how involved in ministry they were. All these years later, the love they demonstrated to her is just as vivid and hence she wants to bless them in return.

Where does this kind of generosity come from? It comes from hearts that have been changed by God's love toward them. In the incarnation, God gave the very best that He had - His Son. The King became a human, the creator, a creature, the Sovereign of the Universe, welcomed by cows in a manger unknowingly looking into the eyes of the one who created them. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). And He fills our lives with His grace and invites us to be generous in every way with others as he has been with us. 

In his encouragement to the Corinthians to be generous, Paul writes this. "Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but it is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" (2 Corinthians 9:10).

Our generosity to others reflects God's amazing generosity to us. And our generosity on behalf of Him brings praise back to God as we bless those who need it. It is a virtuous cycle and is rooted in the incarnation. 

And here is the thing. We don't need to be wealthy to be generous. Cleo's friends were not. They were poor and gave out of their poverty and it left a lasting impression on her. Here is my challenge today. Who can you be generous with this Christmas season? Who can you bless as you have been richly blessed? Today we received a video of one of her friends receiving two 25-pound bags of rice. The joy on their faces and memories of Cleo was priceless. 

Father, give me your heart of generosity. Give to me an incarnational heart that wants to bless others as You have blessed me. Amen

Advent Series #10. What we can learn about Humility from the Advent

 

What we can learn about Humility from the Advent

Ego is one of our intractable enemies. Ego causes us to elevate ourselves at the expense of others. It keeps us from seeing our own issues even as it specializes in seeing the issues of others. It keeps us from apologizing when wrong, seeking reconciliation when estranged, and allows us to justify our sinful side and resist the correction of God and of others. Ego causes us to deal with others harshly rather than gently, to choose "truth" over "grace" in our interactions, and is at the root of all kinds of destructive behavior. Ego is truly the enemy.

What does ego have to do with Advent and what can we learn about humility from the incarnation? Think about this. Many of us will not walk across the street or make a phone call to apologize to someone we have wronged but the God of the universe left heaven and became a creature to bring reconciliation between God and man even though we were the ones who had created the chasm. 

To be humble, says Paul, is to be like God and to imitate what God did in the incarnation.

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:1-8).

Now that puts humility and ego in perspective. In fact, it is our ego that keeps us from humility, and yet it is humility that mirrors God. Jesus himself says, "I am gentle and humble of heart." Wow. How often do I realize that I am neither! 

Here is the fundamental issue with pride and ego. They are about us and they cause us to disregard others and their issues or their humanity. It puts "me" before others. The incarnation is all about God choosing to put aside the prerogatives of the creator to rescue the created. Thus He came to live with us and teaches us to enter into the lives of those around us in His name. Ego and pride remove me from others while humility causes me to engage with others.

To think of Advent is to think deeply about the posture of my own heart and my willingness to live with humility. It is humility that allows me to minister as Jesus did and to enter into the humanity of others. Ego kills that. Humility nurtures a Jesus attitude.

Father. I confess that I am prone to pride and resist humility. Help me to be like you so that I value others above myself and look not just to my interests but to the interests of others. Amen.