Complainers and thankers, optimists and pessimists

If there are two attitudes that ought to be banished from a believers life they are those of complaining and pessimism. In their place the attitudes of thankfulness and optimism ought to become what characterizes our lives.

Think about this: When we live with complaints and pessimism we deny the amazing gifts and promises of God whose power, love, mercy and concern is far greater than any possible negative issue we could face. Effectively we say to God - "You are not sufficient for my situation." Paul makes that case in Romans 8 where he makes the case that there is no situation in life that can separate us from the "love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39).

No matter what our situation, how dark our medical prognosis, how seemingly unfair the blows that life has dealt us we live with an amazing reality in Christ. "I pray also that your eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead" (Ephesians 1:18-20). 


If all that is mine through Jesus, what do I have to complain about? How can I live with pessimism for the future? In fact, there is no future I face that is not overwhelmed by my ultimate destiny with Christ which will make everything we face today look small and insignificant: overwhelmed by Him, His presence, and the joy of eternity with Him.


The antidote to complaint and pessimism is thankfulness every day for all that God has done for us along with faith that His power is greater than any challenge we face. This is why the New Testament continually talks about being people of thanksgiving to God. The more we focus on thanksgiving the less we can live with our pessimism and complaints. 


Pessimism and complaining are nothing less than the residual of our lower nature whose focus is on me. Thanksgiving and optimism are indicators of the transforming power of God and a focus on Him. When I focus on me I have plenty to be unhappy about. When I focus on Him, I am overwhelmed by His goodness to me. It really comes down to the focus of our lives.

Leaders in the raw

As an organizational leader I am constantly on the lookout for other potential leaders because I know that good leadership is the key to releasing a great staff. Poor leaders disempower staff while good leaders release them and make their work a joy. Sometimes, these potential leaders are young and raw (we all were at one time) but there are still some powerful markers that indicate they have the stuff to make a good leader if mentored and coached.

The challenge is that "leaders in the raw," are just that - raw! They can look arrogant to others, impetuous at times, don't finesse their language or analysis, challenge the status quo, ask a lot of questions and can be somewhat obnoxious. That is when I perk up and think, "Maybe I have a young raw leader here." Here are some of the things I look for.

• Self starters who figure out where they need to go and simply do it. 
• Those who go and find resources and people who can help them get a task done. 
• Individuals who don't complain about barriers but simply find a way to go around, over or under those barriers to achieve their goal. Rather than ask permission, they will often ask forgiveness if they run into trouble. 
• Individuals who others seem to listen to and instinctively follow. 
• Those who ask good and probing questions and display a high level of inquisitiveness. 
• Individuals who regularly challenge the status quo and ask the irritating why questions.

Young, raw, inexperienced individuals who have leadership potential or wiring can often be brash, irritating and come off as arrogant. Rather than write them off as such, realize that what you may well have is a leader in the raw who is not content with the status quo. The very things that irritate you about them may well be that leadership wiring stirring in them that if channeled and mentored could result in future leadership.

It is not unusual for leaders in the raw to even clash with those who lead them precipitating some necessary "come to Jesus meetings." It is, frankly, the very fact that they are flexing their leadership wiring (even if in an undisciplined way) that causes some disruption. I did that plenty of times as a young, raw leader. Rather than simply writing them off - start a dialogue to see if what you have is a leader in the raw rather than simply an obnoxious individual. They may be future leaders in your organization! If they have that potential, start meeting with them to help them hone their skills, temper their words and impatience and coach them toward productive leadership roles.

Creating dialogue through questions

Good leaders learn to ask questions of those they lead in order to solicit feedback, create meaningful dialogue and help people think through issues. This is an important part of coaching and mentoring because good questions provoke thinking and the opportunity to dialogue more deeply on the issues that surface through the answers.

Often the natural inclination of leaders is to  tell rather than dialogue. The art of asking probing questions is one that is often not natural to us but can be learned. The more we do it, the better we become. Here are the kinds of questions that can provoke meaningful discussion with those we lead or supervise.

If there were one thing you could change about your job, what would it be?

How do you think our team is doing? What would make it stronger?

Where do you want to be three years from now personally and professionally?

Is there something you wish I would do differently as your supervisor?

Are there ways that I could make your job easier?

What is your greatest challenge and your greatest joy in your role?

Do you feel you are being used to your highest capacity? If not, what would you like to add to your responsibilities?

Is there anything you need from me that you are not getting?

As you think about our mission as an organization, where do you think we are doing well and where do you think we could do better?

Where do you need to push yourself for better results?

What percentage of your time are you working in your sweet spot and what percentage in your weaknesses?

Are you doing things that someone else on your team could be doing that would allow you to focus on more important issues?

Is there something you know you really need to focus on but have not found the time to do so? If yes, how can you reconfigure your time so that you can focus on that priority?

What leadership lessons have you learned in the past year?

How are you measuring results for your ministry?

What changes have you made in the past three years in how you live and work? What prompted those changes?

Do you have a mentor who speaks into your life outside of your supervisor? Who are you mentoring?

Talk to me about how you empower your team.

If you have favorite questions that generate dialogue I would love to know what they are.

Thinking spiritual influence rather than personal recognition

Our world is driven by success, personal recognition and financial accumulation. For Christ followers there is a far more important goal, no matter what our job or role: it is that of maximizing our spiritual influence - the most important result our lives could have.

This recognizes that life is not about me but about God. Rather than personal recognition or fame, our goal ought to be to lift up the reputation of God and make His Son look great! When we meet Jesus face to face as we all will sooner than later our own personal status will mean nothing but what we did to lift up the reputation of Jesus and make His name well known will mean everything. This focus on God rather than self is counter culture and radical but it is the mark of a true Christ follower. 

Focusing on maximizing our spiritual influence means that we are always asking looking for ways to invest our time in ways that will have eternal value. When I spend time with my neighbors who don't know Jesus, it is all about spiritual influence. When I mentor other leaders to help them become better leaders, it is all about spiritual influence. When my wife Mary Ann uses her mercy gifts with those in deep need it is all about spiritual influence. When I write blogs, it is about spiritual influence. My point is that every one of us has ways that we can uniquely have spiritual influence with others in our neighborhood, workplace, among our friends, through our mentoring or giving or hospitality. In giving ourselves away rather than selfishly living for ourselves we expand our eternal influence for Jesus. 


We all have bank accounts. Our financial bank accounts will not mean anything on the day we meet Jesus. Our spiritual influence bank account will last for all eternity and is an investment in the Kingdom of God and the eternal destinies of others. I want to be rich when I die in my spiritual influence account. Not much else will matter. And all of us can be wealthy in spiritual influence. 

Those of us in full time ministry need to ask ourselves regularly whether what we do is about us or Him. It is easy to fool ourselves that we are about spiritual influence rather than personal recognition simply because we are in full time ministry. Not so: we face the same temptation as others to make it about us rather than about him. In fact, it may be easier for us to fool ourselves because of our ministry vocation. Each day is a choice. Am I investing for spiritual influence or for something else?

Persecution: How God turns the tables

Whenever and wherever the gospel pushes boldly into new territory, the evil one pushes back resulting in hardship for believers and the church. Jesus warned His disciples that they would face opposition just as He had. And the stories of Paul's missionary journeys are filled with accounts of satanic "push back" in the form of persecution.

Satan's goal in persecuting believers is of course to halt the spread of the gospel. But in a great divine reversal, God turns the tables on Satan by using that evil push back to actually broadcast His name and turn the spotlight on the Gospel.

Take the state of Orissa, in India, for example. For some time, radical Hindu's have been killing and maiming believers, driving them from their homes and burning churches. Unfortunately for those persecuting, the world turned their spotlight on the plight of believers in Orissa and shamed the Indian government into intervening. Because of the publicity generated by persecution, the gospel and believers in that state have become more well known than ever before. And, the reputation of Jesus is held high by many who have seen how believers handled the persecution and became even more resolved in their faith.

In our own organization the evil one was certainly pleased when the Russian authorities withdrew visas for our staff working at a Bible school in Russia. It looked like the dream was going to die. Instead, the school went virtual, using DVDs. Because "copyright" in Russia means "the right to copy," for every DVD of a Bible course purchased it is estimated that their are 100 copies made and shared across the entire former Soviet Union. What looked like failure was actually the beginning of spectacular success for Bible training with thousands being reached who would never have come to the residential school.

There is nothing more powerful than the gospel of Christ and persecution, rather than hurting the church, actually propels the gospel forward in unexpected ways. It cannot be stopped and what looks like defeat is often the prelude to significant expansion. When you hear of persecution, pray for the believers involved, and pray that God will turn the tables on Satan and use that very persecution to propel His church forward.

Common vocabulary and common culture

One of the questions I enjoy asking staff or leaders of organizations is this: "What is the common vocabulary in your organization that everyone would know." I ask for two reasons. First I want to find out if there is a common vocabulary, and second, if there is, I am curious as to what it is because it tells me a lot about the organization.

In ReachGlobal, such common vocabulary would include: "Whatever it takes," "We measure results," "KRAs and AMPs," "personal retreat day," "autopsy without blame," "develop, empower and release," "intentional living," "the RG Sandbox," "teams," "empowerment," and "leading from the sandbox."

These and other common words and phrases define a common culture that is our unique culture. Because they are well known, they shape the ethos of the organization including its leadership philosophy.

Organizations that do not have a common vocabulary usually do not have a shared culture. This is why good leaders work to communicate key values or commitments with carefully chosen and continuously repeated words or phrases. When we say, "We practice autopsy without blame," we are sending a strong message that when problems happen we will focus on the problem and not the people. That is an organizational value that I will live out but that I also want lived out at all levels of the organization. As it is modeled and communicated the phrase becomes our practice. 


It is an instructive exercise to ask a group of people in an organization what they think the common vocabulary is and what they think it means. In unhealthy organizations that vocabulary will reflect the dysfunctions. In healthy organizations it will reflect the healthy practices. If there is simply a lack of common vocabulary, it is reflective of leaders who have not yet been intentional in creating a common culture. Think about this for your organization.

Applications and Invitations

Want a job? Fill out an application! Want to fill a key spot in your ministry? Consider making an invitation rather than an application. Here is the principle: while most jobs in middle management and below are filled by taking applications, the best people in upper management or leadership positions are invited into a conversation to see if there is a potential fit between the needs of the organization and themselves. 

The higher the position you are trying to fill (in a church or ministry organization) the less likely that the individual you want is going to fill out your application and apply for a job. This is where a high touch and personal approach is the most powerful. One identifies potential candidates and then invites them into a dialogue to see if there is interest, fit and synergy.

This is true in many pastoral searches. Search committees are overwhelmed with resumes when spots open up. Often, however, the chosen candidate never applied but was invited to a conversation that resulted in their coming. If you are looking for staff, who are you inviting into a conversation?

Because I lead a mission organization where key leaders are always needed, I initiate conversations on a regular basis with other leaders to ascertain their current satisfaction in their job. Often I find that they are looking for a larger platter with more responsibility. I file that information away and when an opportunity arises in ReachGlobal, I initiate another conversation. I see myself as recruiting all the time through the development of relationships and looking for common passions. But it all starts with an invitation to talk.