Rekindling passion for the next run

I spoke recently to a long time friend in ministry who is tired. I could hear it in his voice. With the tiredness has come questions about whether he is in the right place and what his next run looks like. As the pastor of a church that has experienced significant growth over the past three years he realizes that if he is to ramp up for a new phase of ministry that he is going to need to rekindle his passion and make some strategic changes.

In conversations with colleagues in their fifties, I find this to be a very common struggle.

Many reading this blog have been in a similar position. Certainly I have, at a number of junctures of my career. While it is a frustrating place to be, these junctures represent a significant opportunity because they force us to look at ourselves, our gifting, our wiring, God's call on our lives and rethink our assignment for even greater ministry impact.

Obviously I do not know what is right for my friend. However, I do believe that there are some guiding principles that can help us evaluate how we respond to our lack of passion and the rekindling of that passion.

First, recognize that long ministry runs at high energy levels inevitably deplete us and we are naturally left tired, empty and wishing there was a different way of doing life. In many respects that personal depletion is a result of good things that God has done but our bodies and spirits cannot sustain that kind of pace for ever.

Second, there are natural junctures over our career where unless we refocus our energies so our time is more directly spent in our areas of greatest strength and get out of areas of weakness, we will increasingly become bored and unfulfilled in our work. It is natural for this to happen in our fifties because by then we are pretty aware of who God made us to be, what fills our tanks and what depletes us.

We look at the years before us and think to ourselves, I have a limited number of years left, I know how God has made me and what I am really good at, and I don't want to squander my time doing things that I am not made to do. How we respond to this inner prompting - indicated by our lack of passion may well determine whether we coast to a finish, keep on our current trajectory or figure out how to ramp up for an even more effective next run. We also know that our pace is not sustainable and ultimately not fulfilling.

Usually, significant tiredness indicates that we are moving too fast, probably doing things that are not in our sweet spot and need to refocus what we do if we are going to re-engage for the next run.

The last time I faced such a juncture, I went to those who knew me best, inside and outside of my organization and asked the question, "Knowing what you know about me and how God made me and where I am most effective, and my organization, what are the things you think I must do and what are the things you believe I ought to give up?" It was fascinating to me that the response I received was pretty uniform and I was able to refocus my personal role around four areas where I uniquely gifted - and give up some things where I am not.

Rekindling passion almost always involves letting some things go that others can and should be doing and refocusing our energies around our greatest strengths. It is doing less in order to do more and it is slowing down to do "more" better.

Third, recognize that refocusing your role may create a crisis of sorts in your organization because it often means reorganizing your leadership structure which brings advantage to you (you are better positioned in your sweet spot) and brings perceived loss to others.

The loss may be to congregations who expect their senior pastor to take care of all of the pastoral care and no longer does, to other leaders who are used to more access to you who no longer do or other scenarios depending on your situation. There is no refocusing that does not bring some loss for you as you give something up or to others who are affected by your revised focus.

One of the reasons that pastors often leave a successful ministry at this juncture is that their leaders who love them do not understand the need to refocus and rather than fight that battle a senior member of the staff may choose to move on. It is often an unnecessary loss for both the pastor and the church had they understood the dynamics involved.

This leads me to a fourth principle. You may need to bring in an outside adviser or consultant to help you refocus and to help a board or staff understand the value and importance of that refocus. You are not then left as the one trying to convince others that this is a good thing or be seen as looking out for yourself when in fact it is a matter of what will best serve the organization.

My final observation is that what is best for you in refocusing your role in order to rekindle passion for the next run is usually what is best for the ministry as well. Your ability to live in your area of greatest strength is a huge plus for the ministry. Their flexibility in allowing that repositioning is to their advantage because your renewed energy, engagement and effectiveness is the result.

The redeemer and maximizer of our biographies

Our biographies are a muddle of complicated issues: Family memories; success and failure; joy and sorrow; regrets and wishes for what could have been; illness that changed us; economies that bit us; relationships good and bad; choices we cannot retract and others that we are thankful for and the list could go on. Each of us has those parts of our biography that we are deeply thankful for and each that we wish were different. We, however, cannot change what has been!

Enter God! He does not change what has been but He is the only One who can and does use every aspect of our biography for His purposes. He redeems not only our heart but He can redeem our past and actually use for His purposes what we wish had never happened - or had been different.

I think of Chuck Colson, for instance, who I am sure wished that his biography had read differently prior to encountering Jesus in a life changing way. God not only took what had been bad and redeemed it but he maximized that biography through Prison Fellowship - doing through Colson what never would have been possible without his past. How many lives were touched because Jesus redeemed Colson's biography?

When I suffered deep depression after a particularly hard season in my early life, I could never have imagined that God would not only redeem the depression - as I was able to minister to others in a similar situation - but would use the circumstances of my pain to influence my ministry from that time forward and open doors I never thought imaginable. He graciously redeemed my pain and used all of my biography for His purposes. 

This is the amazing thing about God! He can take what was bad and use it for what is good. He can take years that we thought were lost and redeem them for good. He can take a sinful past and use it in a redeemed future. There is nothing in our biographies that He cannot redeem and use in some way for His purposes even if it is simply to demonstrate the power of God to utterly and completely change lives. He is the only one who will not waste any of our biographies and use them for His divine purposes. That ought to make us deeply grateful people.

Five signs you may be in the wrong job

Job satisfaction, or the lack of it says a lot about whether or not we are in the right spot - or whether it is time for a change or modification. Certainly there will be periods when we go through tough times - I am not speaking to those periods - but to a more general dissatisfaction that may tell us we need a change.

Boredom
Many of us love to build something but not maintain it over the long term. If you are wired like that, you need a fresh challenge every so many years. This is OK. It is how you are wired. The challenge is to recognize that you are bored because you need a greater or a new challenge and to either figure out how to do that by refashioning your present job or looking for a new ministry opportunity. Unaddressed, boredom impacts both you and those who work for you or with you because it brings with it an emotional detachment and a lack of happiness.

Control
This may have a different genesis than boredom. Being controlled by a manager is often a sign of an unempowering leader who cannot release people to figure things out in accordance to their wiring. The higher the control factor of a leader the higher the chances that good people will look for a new leader to work for. Empowering leaders are a whole lot more fulfilling to work for because one can use their creativity, skills and wiring to the greatest advantage. If a high control leader is keeping you from flourishing it is time to negotiate a new management style or look for a new position.

Ambiguity
This is a situation where we are never sure of the direction of the organization or the expectations of our leader. Where there is ambiguity there is a high level of frustration for good people who want to understand direction, boundaries and expectations. If we know those things we have the ability to work accordingly. If we don't know those things, if there is not clarity on the essentials we work in the dark, never sure if we are doing the right thing or not.  Lack of clarity creates craziness because one does not know what actions will pass muster or please the team or organizational leader.

Dysfunction
I spoke recently with a church COO who works for a senior leader who is deeply dysfunctional. The end result is a workplace where there is lack of trust, directional swings, lack of support and where he never knows where he stands with his leader who is easily threatened. This dysfunction has so demoralized, discouraged and disempowered him that after nearly two decades he is moving to a new ministry. Deeply dysfunctional leaders or organizations are almost impossible to work with and maintain any level of joy. They disempower rather than empower.

Sweet Spot
If one is in a job where one cannot spend a minimum of 60% of their time in areas of strength (optimal is 80%) there will be considerable dissatisfaction over the long run. This is especially true as we approach middle age (and after) because we have a pretty good idea of what we are good at and what we are poor  at. Playing to our strengths energizes and engages while playing to weaknesses saps our energy and demotivates us. If one is suffering from a lack of energy or engagement, this is an important issue to examine.

If any of these five signs apply to you, you may want to examine whether you are in the right spot, in the right organization, working for the right leader or how you can modify your role so that the energy, enthusiasm and satisfaction quotients go up again. Where you can, be proactive to get into a place where your work is a joy and not a burden.

If you are a team or organizational leader, watch for signs of restlessness on the part of your staff which may well be indicators of a need for a change. Explore the reasons for their restlessness and work to position them in a place where they will have the greatest job satisfaction and ministry impact. It is a matter of stewardship for them and for the organization.

Does your church have a vision that extends beyond yourself?

Churches, like individuals, can be either selfish or generous. Selfish congregations have a vision for themselves while generous congregations have a vision that extends beyond themselves and is Kingdom focused. 

What is a vision that extends beyond you? Here are some indicators to consider:

When we are willing to actively cooperate with other like minded evangelical congregations regardless of their brand to bring the Gospel to our community we are thinking beyond ourselves. 

When we have a vision to multiply ourselves through church planting we have a vision that is larger than our own congregation.

When we actively bless other ministries in the community we have a vision beyond ourselves.

When we minister to the marginalized, forgotten, people with disabilities or the poor we have a vision beyond ourselves. Any time we minister to those who are not like us we have a vision beyond ourselves.

When we are intentionally generous with our finances and energies for local, regional and global ministries, our vision extends beyond ourselves.

Generous congregations are Kingdom focused. They love to bless others for the sake of Jesus. They love to bless those who cannot bless them back. They are not brand centric but Kingdom minded and their efforts are therefore not simply focused on what will help them grow numerically or financially but what will contribute to the spread of the Gospel and lift up the name and reputation of Jesus.

I work with many generous congregations. They possess vision, faith and a spiritual vibrancy that selfish congregations don't. For them, ministry is about Jesus rather than themselves. How would you rate your congregation?

Legacy: thoughts on my dad

This photo of my parents captures the autumn season of their lives. Especially my father who suffers from dementia and no longer knows who I am - or his other ten children, spouses, 46 grand-kids and 16 great grand kids. His mind is dim but his spirit is kind.

It is hard to watch brilliant minds fade. A civil engineer, Divinity school graduate, Medical Doctor, surgeon, Doctor of Ministry degree, author, father, missionary, hospital founder (Hong Kong), great grandfather and mentor to many who found Jesus through home Bible studies, Sunday School teacher, church planter, Chief of Staff at United Hospital, theologian and the list could go on. All of that is today forgotten by him but not by the many people he touched over the years. Many will be in heaven because of my parents ministry.

It is a reminder that legacy is not about money, name or fame. It is about lives touched. I was once going through the security line at the Minneapolis airport and the TSA agent looked at my licence and name and asked if I was related to Gordon Addington, the surgeon. I said yes. He told me that my dad had invited him over for Christmas one year when he was a janitor at United Hospital. He never forgot that act of kindness for one in the hospital hierarchy who was very low on the scale. But not to dad.

As a youngster I helped him do surgery when trained assistants were hard to find in Hong Kong. We camped and took trips to Macau and explored the hills of Hong Kong. Above all he was consumed by knowing and serving Jesus.

The grandchildren had a wonderful relationship with Dad. He loved them and they loved him.

I look at this photo taken by one of the grand kids and I see a frail, tired, unsteady man. Not long, perhaps for this world. But most of all I see a picture of legacy. A legacy that will last through family and through those he ministered to. I hope that when my feet are unsteady and my mind fading that I too leave behind a lasting legacy.

Less is often more

Perhaps the greatest challenge leaders and teams face is coping with the multiple demands for our time, attention and energy. We have expectations for ourselves that are high. But there are many others who also have expectations for us that leave us with little margin.

There are several principles that if lived out can help us to be highly effective without being overly busy.

First, be clear about what God has called you to do! God did not design us too live with out of control schedules that leave little margin. The truth is that God has called us to do certain things, not a lot of things. In my current role as the leader of ReachGlobal I know that God has called me to four key things: develop strategy and vision; mentor ReachGlobal and national leaders; write for the worldwide church and raise the necessary resources to get done what we need done. Knowing that these are my true priorities allows me to know that most everything else is not a priority for me.

Second, we need to understand that doing less actually allows us to do more. In our busyness we miss out on the most important practice that would allow us to both be less busy and more effective. That is time to think, reflect, and pray. The more time we take to think deeply, pray and reflect, the better handle we develop on our priorities, schedules and strategy. In fact, the higher the level of leadership, the more critical this discipline is. How much time do you have in your weekly and monthly schedule to think, reflect and pray.

Third, whenever we take something new on it is critical that we leave something behind. We cannot continue to accumulate activity and responsibilities without ending up with an out of control life, fatigue and the leakage of necessary energy. Every year I ask myself the question, what are the things I am doing that I can give up - that someone else can do 70% as well as me.

Finally, we need to realize that the success of our work does not simply depend on us but on the team that we put together. The better the team you develop, the more possibility there is that there are others on the team who are gifted to do what you are not gifted to do - and probably better.

The best leaders I know are not living on fumes because they are running too fast. Rather they look relaxed rather than harried, schedule into their weeks think time as a priority, say no to opportunities more than yes so they can say yes to the key areas that they are called to.

Remember, less is almost always more.

Not ready, proceed slow, lets go: When leaders resist change!

I was in a fascinating meeting recently. I would guess that there were at least sixty people present and the topic was organizational change (very much needed). The outside facilitator asked everyone present to put a post it note on one of three large sticky pages. The first was labeled "Not Ready for change," the second, "proceed slow with change" and the third, "lets go with change." 

Not one post it note was put on the "Not ready" sheet. Yet, when the discussion turned to change there was very significant resistance in the room to doing anything by a good number. What some did not want to admit is that they didn't want change at all, even though all the evidence pointed toward a deep need for change.

I often face this resistance when working with church boards or ministry organizations who call me in to help them solve problems. They know problems exist and they know that what they have in place is less than adequate if not out of date and inadequate but there is still resistance to change. Some will not admit it but they are just resistant to change no matter why it is needed.

What really fascinates me in Christian organizations is the ability of change resistors to spiritualize their reasons for not changing structure as if structure is a spiritual issue. It is not. Structure is simply a way of organizing to serve the mission of the ministry. The mission may be spiritual but the structure is not. Good structure is simply good structure. Inefficient structures are simply structures that no longer serve the mission well and therefore need to change. It is not a spiritual issue.

When I hear soliloquies about how God led our forefathers to organize in a certain way so we cannot change, I immediately know that we are no longer talking about the purpose of organizational structures but about resistance to change, for whatever reason. Someone uses this line of reasoning almost ever time church bylaws are revised. What people forget (often conveniently) is that what got us to here got us to here but it won't get us to there. In many cases those forefathers are not even living anymore. They led in a different generation with different issues and in different times. 

Organizations do not simply grow. They change. No organization is the same organization that it was ten years ago and the structures that serve the mission must be adjusted at regular intervals to ensure that they are serving well. I am always amused that church bylaws are so hard to change. We will violate scripture on any number of issues but don't touch the (sacred) bylaws. Really?

When we resist changing our structures, they often end up actually hurting and hindering the mission whether in churches, denominations or other ministries. Organizational structures that served the mission in one era can hinder the mission in a different era. That is why antiquated governance structures in local churches must be dealt with or the congregation is likely to plateau or move into decline. The same is true for other organizations as well.

Here is my challenge to leaders. When it comes to change, "not ready" is not acceptable. Yes we may need to "proceed slow" or be ready to go but not ready or to be more blunt, not willing is not a sign of leadership but of non-leadership. Our world is changing at a rapid pace. Those who are in leadership positions must be ready and willing to change practices and old ways in order to meet the challenges of a new day. And the proof is not what we put on the sticky paper but whether we are willing to seriously engage in change discussion, not matter how uncomfortable that might be to us personally.