Ministry is a funny thing. By definition it is about serving Christ. But, just as the world has many false gods so do those in professional ministry. These gods often take the place of or get in the way of the God we are here to serve. They can creep up on us slowly but once entrenched they become agents of deceit that turn our eyes from the One we serve to ourselves because each of these false ministry gods are ultimately about us. They are not about Jesus.
The false god of success. We want ministry results but those very results when they become our obsession turn our eyes from Jesus to whatever definition of success we are measured by. The church becomes about numbers and programs and not about Jesus. We start to measure our dollars and budgets and not life transformation. Our buildings, facilities, programs, budgets, staff, technology, cutting edge strategies become our gods and lost in our drive for success is the one we serve, Jesus.
The false god of recognition. Lets be honest. Most of us like recognition and some of us crave it. And ministry is a perfect platform for it because in addition to being somebody, we have the extra benefit of being able to say we do it for Jesus which is considered noble and self sacrificing. Actually, when recognition is our god, it is self aggrandizement and selfishness hiding behind the guise of ministry. The need for recognition from others rather than the smile of Jesus is a false god and one that is dangerously seductive. Whenever our ministry begins to feed our ego we are on dangerous ground.
The false god of power. This is a common false god of those in ministry leadership. It starts innocently enough perhaps - we need to lead. That leadership, however, brings with it power and the ability to control events and people. That power can become an instrument to fuel our false god of recognition and success and it is a great platform to exercise control over others. We can easily enough hide behind our mandate to lead and all the while feed a desire to exercise power over others. Ironically, the one we lead on the behalf of, Jesus, served those He led rather than controlling them.
The false god of money. Ministry needs a certain amount of funding but that resource can easily become a god that drives us. When we start to pursue ministry funding more than we do Jesus, we substitute our resources for His power and provision. We become proud of our budgets and ability to raise funds and start to rely on our funding more than the One who is the ultimate source of all that we need. If only I had more funds we think, I could do more ministry when in reality if we had more of Jesus and His power we would see more true ministry fruit.
False gods are substitutes for Jesus whether we pursue them in the guise of ministry or in the secular arena. Those in ministry are no less susceptible to the lure of false gods than the rest of society. We simply have a different platform from which to pursue them. More importantly, however, since we do it under the guise of serving Jesus, they are perhaps even more devious and dangerous and harder for us to spot in our own lives.
The issue of our deepest motivations is one that only we and Jesus can truly know but if we fool ourselves we are chasing something other than the Jesus we think we are serving. The only antidote is staying close to Jesus, constantly staying in tune with the motivations that drive us and surrounding ourselves with people who can speak truth into our lives. And, we need to be constantly aware that we are always in danger of pursuing false gods rather than Jesus.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Saturday, March 31, 2012
No Neutral Ground
In every relationship we have we either contribute positively to the other or negatively. There is never any neutral ground. We either build the other up or diminish them in some way.
Recently we had a long stay in a hotel in Hong Kong. The day before we checked out the maid who did the nightly turn down asked Mary Ann for her email address. Mary Ann had given her dignity and developed a relationship with her during our stay. I wonder how often that happens to a hotel maid? And how easy it would have been to allow her to fade into background of our stay!
We meet people every day who because of their position or lack of status fade into the background. They are all around us but invisible to us. For Christ followers, there is no neutral ground. These are potential sons and daughters of the king, no small matter and our response to them either brings them dignity or diminishes them as the world often does.
Jesus was the master at finding those that the world diminished and giving them attention and dignity. If he were a greeter in one of our churches he would be looking for the loner, the poor, the one burdened by sin and in need of grace and be there talking to them, extending friendship. Jesus would go out of his way to give dignity to the "undignified," and honor to the "dishonored." Do we?
Try this experiment for one week: Look for all the invisible people that surround you. They serve you fast food, make your coffee, clean your office, do your lawn, or check you out of the grocery store. Go out of your way to engage them, thank, them and give them dignity. Taking them for granted is to diminish them. Remember, there is no neutral ground. We either build people up or diminish them.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Best practices for training overseas
Many are engaged in training nationals overseas, something that is a high value in a world where a good theological education is out of the reach of most church leaders. How it is done, however, can make a significant difference in its long term impact.
In many cases, national pastors from the majority world will attend any training that comes their way. Because that training is often paid for or subsidized and they are hungry for information. The end result, however, is often a grocery list of seminars and training that has no coherence to it and has far less value than we might think it does. And since we train and leave we do not know how effective our time was.
Here are some best practices to consider when involved in overseas training.
1. Before you go, take a class in contextualization so that you understand how to train in a culture that is not your own. Without an understanding of cross-cultural training we often train people to do things our way which is not appropriate in their culture and simply describes a western church model which is not appropriate to them.
2. Think Biblical principles, not specific programs or strategy. Principles are timeless and cross cultures, strategies and programs often do not. Most of us are equipped to teach principles for ministry but we are not equipped to know how they apply those principles in their context.
3. Don't simply teach, create dialogue. The majority world is used to simply taking in whatever is taught to them - it is the school model they grew up in. What we need to do is to help people think, evaluate, plan and apply for their context. This only comes in dialogue.
4. Rather than one off training sessions, consider a plan to train specific groups over a period of years so that you build into a group with intentionality and can see the progress they make. Allow them to make the plan with your input.
5. Always spend a good period of time in group exercises where they are thinking through the application of your teaching to their context together. For instance, if the topic is that of making disciples, have them think about an intentional process that works in their context.
6. Find out what their concerns are. We often have an agenda for what we want to teach but don't ask the group about their concerns and challenges. We are there to serve them so it is important that we understand the issues that are critical for them.
7. Have someone with you from the local culture who can coach you on where you are communicating well and where you are losing them.
8. Watch your illustrations, metaphors and examples. Many do not translate into another culture and will not help.
9. Ensure that everything you teach is transferable to others. If it is to complex for your students to pass on it has limited effectiveness even in the group you are teaching.
10. Keep it simple. Complexity is confusing. Simplify complexity so that you communicate what is truly important.
In many cases, national pastors from the majority world will attend any training that comes their way. Because that training is often paid for or subsidized and they are hungry for information. The end result, however, is often a grocery list of seminars and training that has no coherence to it and has far less value than we might think it does. And since we train and leave we do not know how effective our time was.
Here are some best practices to consider when involved in overseas training.
1. Before you go, take a class in contextualization so that you understand how to train in a culture that is not your own. Without an understanding of cross-cultural training we often train people to do things our way which is not appropriate in their culture and simply describes a western church model which is not appropriate to them.
2. Think Biblical principles, not specific programs or strategy. Principles are timeless and cross cultures, strategies and programs often do not. Most of us are equipped to teach principles for ministry but we are not equipped to know how they apply those principles in their context.
3. Don't simply teach, create dialogue. The majority world is used to simply taking in whatever is taught to them - it is the school model they grew up in. What we need to do is to help people think, evaluate, plan and apply for their context. This only comes in dialogue.
4. Rather than one off training sessions, consider a plan to train specific groups over a period of years so that you build into a group with intentionality and can see the progress they make. Allow them to make the plan with your input.
5. Always spend a good period of time in group exercises where they are thinking through the application of your teaching to their context together. For instance, if the topic is that of making disciples, have them think about an intentional process that works in their context.
6. Find out what their concerns are. We often have an agenda for what we want to teach but don't ask the group about their concerns and challenges. We are there to serve them so it is important that we understand the issues that are critical for them.
7. Have someone with you from the local culture who can coach you on where you are communicating well and where you are losing them.
8. Watch your illustrations, metaphors and examples. Many do not translate into another culture and will not help.
9. Ensure that everything you teach is transferable to others. If it is to complex for your students to pass on it has limited effectiveness even in the group you are teaching.
10. Keep it simple. Complexity is confusing. Simplify complexity so that you communicate what is truly important.
Ministry promises
Organizations make promises. We make them when we hire. We make them when we talk about our organization. We make them when we communicate to our donors. We make them when we talk to our staff. We make them in our policies. If we preach, we make them in our messages.
Staff members hear those promises whether they are implicit or explicit and they respect us when we keep them and grow cynical when we don't. Above all they expect us to be serious about the promises we make. As they should.
When we say "People are our most valuable asset" but don't develop them, empower them or treat them with dignity and respect our actions do not live up to our promises. If we talk about integrity but leaders do not display it in decisions they make we don't live up to our promises.
One of my deepest fears when we bring new staff into our organization is that they will find themselves in a situation where what we promise in our "sandbox" will not be what they find. In fact, at our recent bi annual leadership team meeting we spent the whole week discussing where we were in living out the promises and commitments of our sandbox (mission, guiding principles, central ministry focus and culture). It was a "check/adjust" to ensure that we deliver on our promises.
Staff do not expect perfection but they do expect that we are consistent in keeping our promises to the best of our ability and where there are gaps working to close them. They need to know that we are serious about becoming who we say we aspire to be.
A simple way to know how well we are doing is to have honest dialogue with staff about how they perceive we are doing. Of course this means that we are able to receive that feedback with appreciation rather than defensiveness. Staff can give a perspective that leaders often do not see.
Think about the promises you or your organization makes implicitly or explicitly and evaluate how you are doing. The good thing is that there is always room for improvement.
Staff members hear those promises whether they are implicit or explicit and they respect us when we keep them and grow cynical when we don't. Above all they expect us to be serious about the promises we make. As they should.
When we say "People are our most valuable asset" but don't develop them, empower them or treat them with dignity and respect our actions do not live up to our promises. If we talk about integrity but leaders do not display it in decisions they make we don't live up to our promises.
One of my deepest fears when we bring new staff into our organization is that they will find themselves in a situation where what we promise in our "sandbox" will not be what they find. In fact, at our recent bi annual leadership team meeting we spent the whole week discussing where we were in living out the promises and commitments of our sandbox (mission, guiding principles, central ministry focus and culture). It was a "check/adjust" to ensure that we deliver on our promises.
Staff do not expect perfection but they do expect that we are consistent in keeping our promises to the best of our ability and where there are gaps working to close them. They need to know that we are serious about becoming who we say we aspire to be.
A simple way to know how well we are doing is to have honest dialogue with staff about how they perceive we are doing. Of course this means that we are able to receive that feedback with appreciation rather than defensiveness. Staff can give a perspective that leaders often do not see.
Think about the promises you or your organization makes implicitly or explicitly and evaluate how you are doing. The good thing is that there is always room for improvement.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Your greatest ministry advantage
It is probably not what you think. It is not strategy, leadership skill, opportunity or execution - and I believe in all of these. It is the power of a prayer team behind you, lifting you and your ministry before the throne of God on a regular basis.
I don't meet many believers who have a prayer team and that makes me sad. I am convinced that it is those who pray regularly for Mary Ann and me who are responsible for whatever ministry success is seen or advances that are made.
If we truly believe what Paul says in Ephesians six that there are spiritual forces at work behind the scenes to thwart God's work, then it is spiritual weapons we need and prayer is one of the most powerful.
It is my conviction that every believer needs others who regularly pray for them. It is also my conviction that those of us who are in Christian leadership are foolish to do what we do without a strategic prayer covering for protection against the evil one. And, the greater the press into Satan's territory, the more concerted prayer we need.
As I travel the globe in ministry leadership, I usually bring a prayer partner with me as part of my team. It is a significant annual expense but that expense is small compared to the benefits.
In our organization we encourage each staff member to develop a small prayer team of trusted and trustworthy friends to pray for personal needs (a group you can share anything with) and a larger team who desire to pray regularly.
I usually send a monthly prayer update with me calendar so that the teams can pray specifically for the activities that I am engaged in. It is these teams that have prayed me through some very significant times including two life threatening illnesses.
So convinced am I of the spiritual battle that rages around us, I will not enter into any major ministry initiative, trip or engagement without my prayer teams going there with me. If you don't have one, don't wait long to develop your team.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Helping people learn: Don't tell, ask
Questions are powerful tools in helping others grow. And often underutilized. We are prone to tell others something rather than ask them something. In telling them something we give them valuable information. In asking them questions so that they come to a conclusion themselves we help them to think for themselves, the skill that will help them make good decisions themselves.
We used to do this with our kids at the dinner table. The questions would result in free flow discussions on many topics and both our sons are today deeply inquisitive of life and good thinkers. Sometimes they turned the table on us and asked why we had certain rules, making us think about the why behind the what.
I was talking to a young leader recently about question asking and he made the comment that no one has taught him how to use that skill. I encouraged him that everyone can learn the skill with practice. I also told him that one had to be OK with a bit of silence after asking a question. Be patient and eventually the other party will answer.
Questions are particularly important in helping others understand their own wiring, motivations, strengths and weaknesses. We may not even have the option of telling them these things but through questions and dialogue we can help them uncover their own makeup.
One reason that more leaders do not ask more questions and default to telling is that questions and dialogue take time. Telling is fast and easy. However, while telling is more efficient in the short run is is less effective in the long run since telling rarely helps the other party actually grow. It gives them information but does not build the skill of critical analysis - necessary for growth.
I just finished a week of dialogue with some bright leaders from around the world. Many shared the power of the week because it was based on questions and group dialogue rather than information imparting which they were used to. Several said they would be using the same method with those they oversaw or mentored.
Questions rather than telling also sends a powerful message that you care about the other party. You are implicitly saying to them that you value their perspective, that they have something to contribute to the question at hand and that it is worth exploring the issue together rather than you as the supervisor or leader simply telling them the answer. Telling communicates that you have the answer. Dialogue indicates that we can come up with the answer. There is a big difference.
We used to do this with our kids at the dinner table. The questions would result in free flow discussions on many topics and both our sons are today deeply inquisitive of life and good thinkers. Sometimes they turned the table on us and asked why we had certain rules, making us think about the why behind the what.
I was talking to a young leader recently about question asking and he made the comment that no one has taught him how to use that skill. I encouraged him that everyone can learn the skill with practice. I also told him that one had to be OK with a bit of silence after asking a question. Be patient and eventually the other party will answer.
Questions are particularly important in helping others understand their own wiring, motivations, strengths and weaknesses. We may not even have the option of telling them these things but through questions and dialogue we can help them uncover their own makeup.
One reason that more leaders do not ask more questions and default to telling is that questions and dialogue take time. Telling is fast and easy. However, while telling is more efficient in the short run is is less effective in the long run since telling rarely helps the other party actually grow. It gives them information but does not build the skill of critical analysis - necessary for growth.
I just finished a week of dialogue with some bright leaders from around the world. Many shared the power of the week because it was based on questions and group dialogue rather than information imparting which they were used to. Several said they would be using the same method with those they oversaw or mentored.
Questions rather than telling also sends a powerful message that you care about the other party. You are implicitly saying to them that you value their perspective, that they have something to contribute to the question at hand and that it is worth exploring the issue together rather than you as the supervisor or leader simply telling them the answer. Telling communicates that you have the answer. Dialogue indicates that we can come up with the answer. There is a big difference.
Monday, March 26, 2012
Insecure Leaders and their impact on others
One of the greatest gifts staff can receive is a secure leader. Unfortunately, in the ministry world there are a great number of insecure leaders. This results in behaviors that can seriously impact those who work for them.
Here are some of the signs of an insecure leader:
-Defensiveness when someone disagrees with them
-A need to be right
-A need to assert their "authority"
-Inability to empower others
-A need to control others
-A need to manage their reputation
-Inability to engage in candid dialogue
-Lack of personal transparency
-An unhealthy need to be liked
-A tendency to marginalize those who they perceive to be threats to them
-Often threatened by those around them who are more competent than they are
-An inability to chart a consistent course
All of these descriptors have a negative impact on those who work for insecure leaders. Ironically, insecurity is often hidden by an exaggerated sense of authority and leadership - a facade that hides an insecurity in both areas.
Personal security starts with being OK with who God made me to be - both my strengths and weaknesses. It results in an attitude that says, "I have nothing to prove and nothing to lose." If that is true, I don't have to pretend I am something I am not, I don't need to be right and I value the contributions of others as much as I do mine. It also means that I don't need to compete with others and don't compare myself with others.
Security is rooted in an understanding that God fashioned me as He chose, is happy with how He made me. Insecurity is rooted in trying to prove to God and others that we have value. Thus insecurity is a theological issue in our lives. It comes out of an incomplete understanding of God and His view of us. Until we resolve this incomplete understanding we will suffer from the pain of insecurity and the need to prove ourselves to God and others.
For those leaders who struggle from insecurity, and there are many, it is critical that they embark on a journey of personal growth. Most can overcome this deficit and lead from a healthier place. For those who do not, the implications for their leadership are many, and negative. Their behaviors create disempowerment and dishealth for their staff and those around them. If you work for an insecure leader you know exactly what I mean.
Here are some of the signs of an insecure leader:
-Defensiveness when someone disagrees with them
-A need to be right
-A need to assert their "authority"
-Inability to empower others
-A need to control others
-A need to manage their reputation
-Inability to engage in candid dialogue
-Lack of personal transparency
-An unhealthy need to be liked
-A tendency to marginalize those who they perceive to be threats to them
-Often threatened by those around them who are more competent than they are
-An inability to chart a consistent course
All of these descriptors have a negative impact on those who work for insecure leaders. Ironically, insecurity is often hidden by an exaggerated sense of authority and leadership - a facade that hides an insecurity in both areas.
Personal security starts with being OK with who God made me to be - both my strengths and weaknesses. It results in an attitude that says, "I have nothing to prove and nothing to lose." If that is true, I don't have to pretend I am something I am not, I don't need to be right and I value the contributions of others as much as I do mine. It also means that I don't need to compete with others and don't compare myself with others.
Security is rooted in an understanding that God fashioned me as He chose, is happy with how He made me. Insecurity is rooted in trying to prove to God and others that we have value. Thus insecurity is a theological issue in our lives. It comes out of an incomplete understanding of God and His view of us. Until we resolve this incomplete understanding we will suffer from the pain of insecurity and the need to prove ourselves to God and others.
For those leaders who struggle from insecurity, and there are many, it is critical that they embark on a journey of personal growth. Most can overcome this deficit and lead from a healthier place. For those who do not, the implications for their leadership are many, and negative. Their behaviors create disempowerment and dishealth for their staff and those around them. If you work for an insecure leader you know exactly what I mean.
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