Transformation of hearts: Is it the kind you really desire?

The secular culture of the developed world - including the United States is increasingly moving toward a secular evangelicalism. By that I mean an evangelical lifestyle that embraces the secular culture in which we live because it has been deeply influenced by its culture far more than it has and is being influenced by its Lord and His word.

Rather than God being the transformer of hearts it is often our culture that is the transformer of hearts. What we must remember is that heart transformation is always taking place. The question is what the source of that transformation is: the culture in which we live or the God we claim to follow.

Think with me about the marks of a secular world view compared to the marks of a Christian world view and as you do so, think about the Christ followers in your congregation.

Money: The secular world view sees our resources as ours to do with as we please while the Christian world view sees ourselves as stewards of God's resources to use for His purposes.

Time: The secular world view sees time as mine to do with as I please. The Christian world view sees time as God's and puts His interests before my interests.

Options: The secular world view sees life as picking and choosing between any number of almost unlimited options that will bring one happiness. The Christian world view asks the question: What did God place me on earth for and what priorities does God have for my life? And then focuses on those things that God has called us to do.

Truth: The secular world view sees truth as relative. This is convenient because it allow me to determine what is truly true or not. The Christian world view sees God as the arbiter of truth, believes His word is actually true and does not negotiate truth to fit my convenience.

Sufficiency: The secular world view believes we are self sufficient, able to determine our own destiny and therefore does not need a God to guide our lives. A Christian world view sees God as the only sufficient One and that faith and followership are the only way to live life.

Now stop for a moment and consider just those five marks of secular culture as apposed to a Christian world view. As I look at the western church today, I would argue that we are far closer to a secular world view than we are to a Christian world view. Hearts are being transformed but by the wrong source.

The sad thing is that most Christ followers in the west don't even understand that they have a world view or that there is a Christian world view. They are not being challenged to see life from God's perspective rather from culture's perspective. They would be amazed if they understood how closely their life views reflected their secular culture rather than God's world view and His culture.

Culture is a powerful force. It is only as Christian leaders - and pastors - challenge people to understand God's culture and then live that culture out by swimming against the tide of secular culture that we will see any change.

There is much talk today about transformation. What we need to understand is that transformation is taking place, but not the transformation want to see take place. But until we help people understand what a Christian world view looks like and live out a radically different lifestyle based on that worldview we will continue to drift further into a secular evangelicalism. Soon it is no longer evangelical but why mix facts with reality.

12 questions to measure the engagement of your staff from the Gallup organization

In my work with organizations, a common theme is that staff often don't feel that their organization or supervisors genuinely care about them, their work or their development. Yet the happiness of our staff is critical to the success of an organization. The Gallup organization has identified twelve critical questions that measure the engagement of staff. They also give supervisors an outline of things they need to be paying attention to. Here they are:

• Do you know what is expected of you at work?
• Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your work right?
• At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
• In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?
• Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?
• Is there someone at work who encourages your development?
• At work, do your opinions seem to count?
• Does the purpose of your organisation make you feel your job is important?
• Are your colleagues committed to doing quality work?
• Do you have a best friend at work?
• In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?
• In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

Source: Gallup's 12 questions taken from 'Elements of great managing' by Rodd Wagner and James Harter (Gallup 2006)

Controlling our reactions, thinking grey and quiet resolve

Do you have anyone who really pushes your buttons? Someone who you don't really understand and who manages to irritate you mightily at times?

It is a common situation. It is also common to respond by being "reactive," that is, with emotion, either to them, often to others and to make assumptions about their intentions and motives. It is also easy to shoot off emails that we might want to take back when we find out that our assumptions were not accurate.

Some people will actually seek to cause reaction on your part by their actions.

While all of us are "reactive" from time to time, generally it is not a good sign of emotional intelligence and we should learn how to not react, not allow our blood pressure to go up and not to become angry because when we do we usually respond in ways that are not helpful or healthy.

When I hear about someones actions or words or attitudes that might have caused me to react in years past, my goal now is to "think grey." Thinking grey is listening to the information, soliciting other information without drawing any conclusions as to whether the conclusion others may be drawing is accurate. This is actually one of the secrets of good leaders. They do listen, they do want to know and if something sounds problematic they do want to find out the truth. But in the process, they think grey and refuse to draw hard and fast conclusions until they have enough context and information.

It is a wise thing to do. Sometimes the information is not accurate. Sometimes the information is accurate but the conclusions those around you have drawn are not accurate. Often, motives are misjudged as bad when they are not. The behavior may have been problematic and harmful but rarely are the motives truly destructive. As someone has wisely put it, "Never attribute to poor motives what can easily be attributed to stupidity."

Thinking grey does not mean that we intend to ignore the issue or not confront the individual. It means that we will do so when our information is such that it is reasonable and when circumstances are right.

This brings me to another trait of great leaders. They have quiet resolve. Rarely will they react with anger and often they will think grey. But once they are aware of a problem they display a quiet resolve to deal with it, even if it is an uncomfortable situation to deal with.

I often tell those around me, "do not underestimate my resolve." Anyone who does is in for a surprise because I am committed to a healthy work environment, committed to the guiding principles and core commitments and practices and culture of our organization. Waiting for clarity, or for the right time to address problematic situations or people is not weakness. It is simply wisdom - and quiet resolve.

One other thought. With passive aggressive individuals who cause problems to you or the organization it is often not wise to immediately confront them. They will deny the allegation and play to what you want to hear (passive behavior) while behind your back they display contempt or attempt to undermine you. They will also play the victim to others when confronted. Holding passive aggressive individuals accountable is like trying to get your arms around smoke.

Again, quiet resolve comes into play. You don't ignore but you do wait because passive aggressive people will usually hang themselves if you give them enough rope. You wait and eventually they will do something public enough and egregious enough that those around them see them for what they are and you have the support you need to confront, hold them accountable and be so defining of what behavior is and is not acceptable that they will either conform or leave or you have the ammunition to take action should it happen again.

The ironic thing is that passive aggressive individuals often think they have the upper hand when dealing with leaders with good EQ. The truth is that those leaders are simply waiting for them to show their true stripes at which time they will take decisive action.

Good Emotional Intelligence and wisdom will almost always win out over poor Emotional Intelligence and stupidity. Control your reactions, think grey and commit to a quiet resolve.

For more reading on Emotional Intelligence see Emotional Intelligence Revisited

The life of faith

The one common denominator of all great followers of God throughout history is that of faith. As Paul says in Romans 1:17, “The righteous will live by faith.” What really is faith? First it is believing that Jesus is the hope of the world as he claimed in the passages in John quoted in chapter one. He is the way to the Father. When we say yes to God, acknowledging that Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins and choose to invite him into our lives we are putting our faith in Him.

At that moment we become children of God, our hearts are cleaned up, the guilt of our past is lifted and we have an eternal destiny of life with Christ, forever. The decision to give God the steering wheel of our lives is the most important decision that we ever make.

In some ways, that is the easy part of faith. The other part of the faith equation is learning to trust God for every day, every situation and every issue that we face. Way back in the dusty pages of history, God appeared to Abraham with a radical message. “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and to the land I will show you’ (Genesis 12:1).”

Now Abraham could not Google the new location to see what it looked like, he had no map to follow, no knowledge of what God had in store for him. What he had was faith in God as God so he chose to take his family and start a life journey based on faith. That is why Abraham is the great example and hero of faith for Jesus and Paul in the New Testament.

Take a moment and put yourself in Abraham’s shoes. I doubt that he was initially overjoyed at God’s message. You want me to do what? You want me to go where? Why? Why me? I’ll bet that Abraham spent months sitting in his tent asking himself a set of questions:

Do I really trust God?
Do I believe that God has my best interests in mind?
Am I willing to trust Him with my future? Really trust him?
Am I willing to take the risk of really following God?

Faith is scary and risky! Faith means that I am saying to God “I am all in.” I trust you, I believe you have my very best interests in mind, I am willing to trust you with my future and I am willing to take the risk to follow you.

This is why life undone is an unlikely gift. It invites us to take a step of faith that we have never taken before to a depth we have never gone before because we have come to the end of ourselves and have no other good choices. Life undone invites us to answer the question, “Are we all in with God and can we trust Him with our future?”

Faith is easy when life is good. Faith is tested and hard when life is undone because now we must grapple with the goodness of God in addition to the plan of God. We may even face moments of doubt (is my faith well founded?) or anger (why would God allow this?) or resignation (is God really in my corner?).

Contrary to what some may think, these are legitimate and good questions because they force us back to God in prayer, force us back to His word and again confront us with the reality of our followership of Him. Every time we again answer in the affirmative our faith is strengthened, based now on a higher level of conviction than before because our faith has been forged in pain and difficulty.

Faith is the decision that we will trust and follow Jesus, no matter what our circumstances, believing that he is good and righteous and holy and has a plan for our lives that is beyond our understanding.

The writer to the Hebrews wrote “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1) and further, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him (Hebrews 11:6).”

And then referencing Abraham, the writer says, “By faith Abraham, was called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going (Hebrews 11:8).”

When life comes undone we face Abraham moments. Will we believe, will we trust, will we follow? You may be facing one of those moments right now. Your choice will make all the difference in the world as to how you walk out the difficulties you face. Faith is always a choice. What is your choice?

Countless times in Hebrews 11 we read the two words “By faith” about an individual who chose to follow God when all the chips were down. They include Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jepphthah, David and numerous others. The common trait in each of these men and women of God was their choice of faith not only in the good times but in the hard and difficult times. Because of their faith they show up on God’s hall of fame in the great chapter of faith in Hebrews 11.

That hall of fame continues to grow. Every time we choose faith over doubt, despair or anger we join those whose names are listed above. Remember, God “earnestly rewards those who seek him.” Those who choose Him, those who trust him!

Faith is directly connected to the peace that Jesus promised in John 16:33: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Where does that peace come from that Jesus talks about? He says “In me” you may have peace. In Me. Our peace is not in our circumstances (they can be very bad). It is not in our conviction that everything will go back to the way it was before (It may well not). It is not in our ability to solve our problem (we may not be able to). No, our peace comes from our trust in the person of Jesus Christ. We can have peace “in Him,” in His presence, in His goodness, in His love, in His promise to be with us, and in His power to “overcome the world.”

When it is all stripped away, when all of our resources are exhausted as eventually they are, there is the one answer we have had all along, God is there, He is with us, we can trust Him. Do you…today? Are you willing to give to God your situation in faith with a simple child like trust and say, “Jesus I am all in. I trust you with my pain and like Abraham I will follow not knowing where I am going?

Manipulative "God talk"

It is amazing how individuals can use spiritual language to manipulate others in the church with the implication that to disregard or defy their demands is to defy God himself. 

Phrases like "I've prayed about this and God is clearly telling us to do such and such." "If we continue to pursue such and such, the curses of .... will fall on us. We need to repent and move toward a new way."

As my friend Quintin Steiff remarks, "These prayer bullies assume extraordinary authority and view themselves as virtual pipelines of the direct revelation of God. Their pride is staggering, they are deadly serious and they are usually unteachable. They are not speaking about the divinity of Christ or the substitutionary atonement of which the Scriptures speak clearly. Rather, it's about some secondary matter or personal preference like a ministry program or policy decision or building program or style of worship. And they are promoting or rejecting some viewpoint."

This is not about being sensitivity to God's leading but rather about outright manipulation. Often such individuals see themselves as prophets whose job is to correct the wrong ways of a congregation or organization but essentially what they want is their own way. They fight for it unfairly with God talk which automatically shuts down dialogue. After all, how do you argue with God?

If someone's God talk sounds manipulative it probably is. Don't allow it. I have run up against a few of these who were essentially narcissists cloaked in spirituality - a deadly combination.

Organizational pride and its impact on ministry

The problem of pride does not just impact individuals. It infects churches and Christian organizations as well. And it's impact is just as insidious.

The root of organizational pride is usually found in a period of "success" sometime in the ministry's history - the glory days if you will. For churches this is usually when they had the largest attendance and they were a big deal in the community. Years later, even with new circumstances and different numbers, those years are remembered and in the corporate memory they are still "a big deal." Even when in decline, years later, many churches believe they are still back in the glory days.

Like individual pride, organizational pride has its consequences. Pride keeps us from seeing our current reality. Pride keeps us from getting help. Pride keeps us from understanding that times have changed and so must we. Pride keeps us from learning from others - after all we are the experts. At all levels, organizational pride is a cancer that erodes our effectiveness and holds us back.

It is also a foolish posture because no organization stays at the top of the list forever. Ironically many ministries have the greatest pride long after the big time is over. And it keeps them from moving into a new future of productive ministry. 

Humility is not only the posture of a mature ministry but it is the key to moving from one period of ministry to another. A humble ministry does not get stuck in a past period of productivity since it has nothing to prove in the present. Humble ministries learn, grow, re-invent and focus on the present and future while prideful ministries focus on that period of success in their past: a crucial difference. 

I have worked with ministries who were immensely successful in a period of their ministry. That success made them resistant to the very changes that were needed to move to a new level of ministry effectiveness. They didn't want to hear that what got you to here will not get you to there. Their pride got in the way of seeing what they needed to see to move forward.

A period of success can fuel pride and in an ironic twist, that pride keeps us from moving forward in the present. Resist it if you are a leader. Humble ministries are far more nimble and change friendly than prideful ministries. Humble ministries have nothing to prove and nothing to lose. 

The churches frightful kodak moment

A very insightful article for those who are involved in ministry or are disillusioned with much of what happens in the American church.