The dysfunction of ambiguity

Where there is not a high degree of clarity around who we are and where we are going, it is very difficult to know how to make good decisions (based on what?) or to know how to focus one's efforts. One of the main jobs, if not the most important job of a leader is to bring clarity to those he or she leads on what the organization is all about and how it will function.

Ambiguity is ubiquitous in ministry organizations. Often our mission is so broad that it cannot be quantified and our values so general that they cannot really be used to define who we are and how they impact the day-to-day activities of the ministry. Most ministries have never defined the central ministry focus that they must concentrate on day in and day out if they are going to have maximum impact. And it is rare to find a ministry that has thoughtfully and carefully defined the culture that they are committed to intentionally create for the health of the organization.

Ambiguity around these core issues makes it very difficult to achieve any kind of significant organizational alignment because one does not have anything with which to align. It also means that team members can claim to be in alignment whether or not they are because the alignment mechanism is so loose.

On the other hand, it is deeply refreshing to find organizations that are crystal clear about who they are, where they are going, the central ministry focus they must have, and the culture they are creating. Where you find this clarity, you also find highly motivated and focused team members who, because of the organizational clarity, have great personal clarity as well. Getting to clarity is hard work but it is some of the most important work that leaders will do and it has a huge impact on the organization's ability to see true results.

Lance Armstrong: A lesson in not hiding things

Lance Armstrong was once known for his amazing tenacity in fighting cancer - and it is a fitting legacy. Then he was known for being the cancer survivor who owned the Tour de France, an even more amazing legacy. Now he is faced with knowing that he will be most remembered for cheating and lying about that cheating in order to win. He will be remembered for deception.

It is easy for us to look at others and throw stones. In fact, when the sin of others more egregious than our own, by our standards it makes us feel good in comparison. After all we are not as bad as that person. Unfortunately when I look in the mirror I know that I am as able as Lance to hide, to deceive and to pretend. It is the human condition and its seeds reside in all of  us. I am that man just as he is that man.

I feel bad for Lance and his family. I don't justify what he did but I know that but for the grace of God go I. We often hide little things which can become bigger things as our conscience becomes OK with the little things. Yet, at the root of it, whether we hide small or large, it is our lower sinful nature that drives the hiding.

There is great freedom in living in the light. Being aware of our sinful tendencies and asking the Holy Spirit for help in overcoming them. There is great freedom in acknowledging our dark side when necessary for the freedom of truth rather than the deception of lies. When we do, deception gives way before truth and light and forgiveness. Deception is bondage. Repentance is freedom.

Living in the light starts with the little things and it is the habit of living truthfully in the small things that gives us the ability to do so with the big things. Lance did not start his deception with large things but with small things. We can prevent the progression of a life of deception by living in truth in even the small areas of life. Jesus came to set us free - really free! Let's allow him to do that.

Do core values or guiding principles really matter?

Do core values or guiding principles really matter? They do if we are serious about them because when we carefully craft them, know them, live them and align our ministry decisions to reflect them they form the culture or the DNA of our church or ministry.

I recently came across the core values of a new church plant in Athens, Georgia: Living Hope Church Athens. Reading them I immediately knew what kind of church they aspire to be. It is a DNA that would please Paul who wrote to the Ephesians about what it meant to be a healthy church.

Of course such values mean nothing if not lived out in the day to day life of a church. Knowing the church planter on this one I believe they will be. Does your ministry have a defined set of values that define your culture, that everyone knows, that all are committed to and that guide your decisions?

Our core values

Gospel-centered

We will seek to bring everything back to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good News of salvation in Him.

Theological Worship

Our worship will seek to combine biblical truth with the freedom of the Spirit.

Prayer Saturated

As a declaration of dependence on God, we will seek to make prayer the foundation of all we do.

Authentic Relationships

People are encouraged to be transparent about their struggles and victories.

Expository Preaching

Preaching through books of the Bible will be our normal way of teaching.

Discipleship

We will help people progressively grow in their maturity such that they can assist others in doing the same.

Word and Spirit

We want God’s Spirit to be free to move, while filtering everything through the Word of God (i.e. Bible).

Elder Governance

The plurality of godly elders will be the authoritative leaders of the church.

Welcoming

We will be proactive about welcoming people of all ethnicities, social status, church backgrounds, etc.

Church Planting

We will seek to plant many churches out of this church.

Our vision is to be a Word-rooted, Spirit-empowered, and culturally-engaged church that seeks to bring:

·         salvation to the lost,

·         healing to the hurting, and the

·         training of leaders

to help reach the world for Jesus Christ.

Berlin - a city of destiny

I am convinced that God has His hand on Berlin even though it may be the most post-Christian, post-modern and liberal city on the continent of Europe. A city that has been known for much evil is destined, I believe to become known for much good.

Why do I believe this? Because of a group of individuals who have been praying for the city for over ten years and who now make up a coalition called Together for Berlin. Not only are they praying but they are doing. They are networking with all evangelical and missional groups in Berlin: German; ethnic; ministries and mission organizations. 

Members of the coalition are planting churches, networking their ministries, developing ministries to the least of these, migrants and immigrants, and partnering with the social services in the city. Driven by a passion to see the name of Jesus lifted high, become the love of Jesus to those who are needy and see the church expand in this metropolis, they are doing together what none of them could do by themselves.

They want nothing less than to see Jesus transform Berlin. They pray and believe what we recite in the Lord's prayer, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," and they have the audacity to believe that Jesus can and will do this. They are men and women of faith who have a heart much larger than their own ministries and their own neighborhoods. They are praying that a city can be transformed. They have a heart like Jesus.

ReachGlobal is privileged to be a part of this effort. We believe that Jesus can and does transform cities as He did in Ephesus in Acts 19 and 20. The church there impacted the whole of Asia minor, not just a neighborhood. We are together with Together with Berlin. We want to see the reputation of Jesus lifted high and his name become well known in that city.

What about your city? Are there Christian leaders who have a heart that is larger than their ministry? Larger than their neighborhood? Large enough to reach across denominational lines and focus on what unites us (the Gospel) rather than on what separates us? I await the day when there is a Together for every major city in our world. A coalition of the willing who will pray and unite and work for the transformation of their city.

It is catching on in other cities in Germany. Let's pray that it catches on in thousands of cities around the world.

Understanding your congregation's genetic code

Every congregation has a unique genetic code. It is a complex combination of how the church began, its history, philosophy of ministry, pastors and leaders who have served and are serving, make-up of the congregation ethnically, socially and economically, its record of conflict and results, and a host of other factors.


All of these factors combine to explain why a congregation is what it is and why it operates the way it does. Churches are immensely complex organisms and organizations. The better that leaders understand the genetic code of their church, the better they are able to capitalize on its strengths and deal with its weaknesses.

Here are a number of important questions to explore as you try to understand your congregation's genetic code:

-What do you know about the founding of your church? How do you think the motives and attitudes in the church's founding - positive or negative - affect the church today?

-What was the philosophy of those who started your congregation? Is it the same philosophy the church has today, or has there been a significant shift in mission, vision or ministry philosophy? How did this shift happen?

-When there is conflict between people in the church, how do they handle their disagreements? Would you give your congregation high marks or low marks in the handling of conflict? Do you see patterns here?

-Are you aware of any significant unresolved issues within your congregation that lie beneath the surface? What are these issues, and why do you think they have not been resolved?

-How would you evaluate the unity of your board? Does your leadership board have a history of unity and love, even when faced with differences, or is there a history of conflict and broken relationships?

-If your congregation has faced significant periods of conflict in its past, what do you know about these periods? Is it possible to see trends in either the causes of these conflicts or how the conflict was handled?

-When you consider leadership, now or historically, who in your congregation has the major influence? Does the church board allow any individual (elected leaders or non-elected persons of influence) veto power over decisions of the board or the congregation? How has the power and influence structure of the church changed over the years?

-Think about major changes the congregation has made, whether related to ministry philosophy, location, ministries or staff members. Does the congregation respond to suggested changes easily, with great resistance or somewhere in between?

-Are there any subjects, people or situations related to the ministry of your church that are "off limits" for discussion? If so, why do you think these "elephants in the room" cannot be named.

Healthy characteristics of your congregation should be celebrated and affirmed regularly. We cannot do enough to affirm God's people, as He would, where they are living in His will.

Leaders should specialize in understanding the strengths of their congregations, both so they can affirm them and so they can leverage areas of strength into even greater ministry strength.

Church leadership and trust

Inherent in the American system of government is a basic mistrust of people who hold authority or responsibility. This mistrust runs deep through our psyche as a people. Once, I did a consultation for a church of 2,000 in Madison, Wisconsin that was changing its bylaws. The senior pastor offered some perspective on the culture surrounding his church: "What you have to understand is that in this community, there is huge mistrust of anyone in authority. Everyone here wants to be in on decisions because they don't trust leaders."

Unfortunately, those attitudes often carry over into our churches. But the church is not the local government, and healthy leaders in the church are to be trustworthy and followed. The writer of Hebrews goes so far as to say, "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you (Hebrews 13:17)."

The New Testament clearly vests the senior leadership of the church with authority and responsibility in the context of a leadership for which they are ultimately accountable to God.

Ironically, when church governance is established as a checks-and-balances system, mistrust is not only built-in but is also actively fostered. The very basis of the governance system of checks and balances implies that we should question and limit one another. When authority is meted out to different groups, in the best-case scenario there is the opportunity for misunderstanding; in the worst-case scenario there is outright conflict. Here, you not only have tollbooths that decisions must pass through, but you also have the added frustration of dealing with mistrusting tollkeepers!

The church needs to see a new renaissance of trust among its people. Trust between paid staff members and boards, between boards and congregations, and between congregations and staff teams. We need to teach our people that trust is a biblical concept unless it has been violated. When violated, we need to work hard to restore it.

A mistrust of each other may reflect our society, but it does not reflect our theology.

Leadership Default

There is a principle about teams and leadership that is often overlooked and frequently violated. Simply stated, the senior team that we serve on is our most important team and is the team of our first allegiance.

For those of us who serve on a team and lead a team this is an important distinction. The senior team I currently serve on is the senior team of a denomination. The team I lead is the senior team of the global ministries of the denomination. Which of these teams demands my highest loyalty? The senior team I serve on or the team I lead?

It is always the senior team that I serve on, which in this case, is the senior denominational team.

Why? Because the global ministry team I lead is under the organizational authority of the senior team I serve on. Thus the senior team requires my highest loyalty. That means that while I lead a team, everything I do with 'my' team is always in alignment with the senior team. I am first a spokesman for the senior team rather than first being an advocate for the team I lead.

Understanding and living out this principle prevents conflicts between the two teams and ensures organizational alignment because my loyalty to the senior team ensures that I lead 'my' team from the perspective of the senior team. In my leadership of the global team, I am first and foremost a spokesperson for the senior denominational team. As such I will never allow the team I lead to develop an 'us/them' mentality with the senior team, nor will I ever criticize the decisions or direction of the senior denominational team (I helped make them).  Remember, I am first and foremost a spokesperson for the senior team on which I serve.

Some leaders push back on this position thinking that it limits their ability to have robust discussion on their team or to deal with issues that affect their team. Not so. The issue is where I deal with the issues. On the senior team, I have all the opportunity in the world to deal with issues that potentially impact my team. But that is the correct place for me to air them. Once I leave that room, I am a spokesperson for any decisions made there. With the team I lead, I have an obligation to explain, support, defend and finesse those decisions so that those I lead can understand and work within the parameters of decisions made above our team. Not do to so is to create deadly divisions within the organization that hurt the organization and its ministry, and negatively impacts its missional effectiveness. If we cannot follow well, we cannot lead well.

Lets apply this to the church. In most churches, the senior pastor is on the leadership board of the church. This would be his or her senior team which would demand their highest loyalty. They would typically then lead a staff team. If they understand this principle, they would never take a position with their staff against direction or policies of the board. To do so is to engage in 'leadership default' with a resulting us/them mentality and to have violated their fist loyalty and responsibility.

At the same time, those staff members who serve on the senior pastor's team must realize that this is their senior team and they cannot allow the teams they lead to be at odds with the senior staff team. As leaders they are always first and foremost spokespersons for that senior staff team rather than being 'advocates' for the team they lead. Not only is this good leadership but it prevents an us/them mentality which is all to common in the church and ministry organizations.

The neglect of this principle causes no end of conflict between boards and senior staff or between senior staff teams and lower level ministry teams in a church or organization. It is an authority issue, an alignment issue and a leadership issue. This does not mean that there is not healthy, robust discussion on any team. What it does mean is that the team leader will not default in his or her leadership by allowing their team to be out of alignment with the senior team they are on (the team above).