Grace busters

While there is a great deal of talk about grace in the church there is often a remarkable lack of it among Christians. Amazing grace does describe the posture of Jesus toward us. It often does not describe the posture of believers toward one another. 

Think about these grace busters:

• Gossip
• unforgiveness
• Conditional acceptance
• Exclusion of certain people
• Lack of empathy
• Critical spirits
• Legalism
• Harsh words
• Judging motives
• Impatience with spiritual progress in others
• Spiritual masks that hide inner brokenness
• Judgmentalism
• Lack of acceptance

Grace is one of the most powerful magnets of people to Jesus and thus to Him through us. When it is present it is truly amazing grace. When it is absent it is a spiritual repellent. Let's be people who reflect he amazing grace of Jesus - who saved a wretch like us.

The upside of crisis situations

I don't relish dealing with crises. As an organizational leader, however, I must do so from time to time and as a ministry consultant it is not unusual to be asked to help ministries in crisis. One of the things I have learned in the process is that while all crises must be managed and many are painful, if handled well there are also positive opportunities. My advice to other leaders is never to miss the opportunities inherent in crisis. Let me explain.

When I think of crises I am thinking of a broad variety of issues with significantly impact an organization. It can be financial, the death of a key leader, the failure of a leader, a bad choice by a leader that impacts staff or partners or constituency, mass resignations over morale issues, major discontent on staff or other situations that force leaders to go into damage control to deal with a significant crisis. All of us in leadership can point to crises we have had to deal with: the list can be long.

But think about this:

Crisis situations can be a great clarifier. More than once in my long tenure with the EFCA we have faced major financial crises. Some because we overspent and had not controled budgets, other times because of the economy. Every time, however, we have been forced to ask the question, what is really important to us? What is central and core to our mission? What are we doing that is ancillary and needs to be set aside in order to focus on the core. These are not easy situations because they impact wonderful people but they are necessary conversations for ministries to have on a periodic basis.

Crisis situations can build greater trust between leaders and staff and constituencies. 
When crisis happens, the one thing staff and others often do not expect is that their leaders will be open, transparent and honest with them. There is so much spin in our world that we are not used to being trusted with the truth. Leaders who choose to tell the truth about the situation gain great trust from staff. Candid answers go a long ways in building greater trust.

Crisis situations allow you to refocus and change paradigms.
Change is often difficult when there is a perception that all is going well. In a crisis, everyone knows that this is not the case and it is often possible to make changes and to refocus with the crisis as the presenting reason. 

Crisis often flushes out other issues that need to be addressed.
Take for example, a financial crisis. The presenting issue is that there is a shortage of funds. But there may be other issues involved that you can and must now look at including: Are we focused on the right things; are there areas we could be consolidating for savings; do we have a clearly defined mission that causes our constituency to support us well; do we have staff who are under performing? Thus the presenting issue simply brings to the surface other issues that need addressing.

Crisis tests the mettle of leaders in a good way.
The test of leadership is not what happens when all is well but when it seemingly comes apart. Do they fact he issues squarely and honestly? Do they tell the truth or spin? Do they take corrective actions with courage? Do they convey hope or despair? Everyone reads their leadership carefully in crisis and watches their reactions and actions with equal care. 

Crisis builds faith and can unify.
If handled well, crisis can be a faith builder and unifier as leadership pulls the organization together to pray and to work with them to resolve hard issues. Here is a principle: healthy organizations unite in crisis while unhealthy organizations come apart. The difference is in the culture that exists and the kind of leadership the organization has. Our staff and constituency are our best help in crisis situations in a healthy organization. If disunity occurs, it is simply an indication that there are deeper underlying health issues that need to be addressed.

Never waste a crisis!

I am so very thanful

Dear Father:

I have so much to be thankful for this year. Every perfect gift comes from you. You are the source of my hope, the ever present help in trouble, the One who has walked with me through every joy and sorrow I have experienced. You are my rock, my salvation, my savior, my hope, my forgiver and everything I have. You are the great I am!

I thank you my family - all of them and how they enrich my life and challenge me.

I thank you for my Christian family who walk through life with me - fellow pilgrims on the journey.

I thank you for my friends for life who know me for who I am and still love me deeply. Examples of You and Your love.

I thank you for the friends I have seen leave this earth this year who I will one day see again with You. They are examples to me and were Jesus to me.

I thank you for meeting the needs I have. My daily bread is your gift. All that I have is from You and is Your provision.

I thank you for being with me through difficult times. The pain is often real but your presence is even more real.

I thank you for hope. Hope for tomorrow, next week, next month and next year and hope for eternity with You.

I thank you for the incarnation so that I can know you through Jesus in so real a way. Your visitation to this earth changed my life forever.

I thank you for grace and forgiveness. I need it so very much every day and You are always there and always faithful.

On this Thanksgiving day I simply thank You. You are my greatest gift on every day. 

Church vision must go beyond the Senior Pastor

I met recently with the leaders of a church who have just lost their senior pastor. They had three questions for me they wanted to discuss with the group. "Who are we?; "What do we do?" and "Where are we going?" in light of their Senior Pastor's leaving.

I told them that two of the three questions were easy because they as a leadership group along with their former pastor has clearly identified who they were and where they were headed with a sandbox! In other words, they had done the hard work of getting to clarity about God's call on their congregation and the fact that their senior pastor had left had not changed the equation. In fact, they had what any potential senior pastor would want to know - who are you and where are you headed? The question of what do we do now (in the interim) was the only issue they needed to discuss.

The direction of a church should not be dependent on who the senior leader is. They certainly have huge influence in charting it but every church has a DNA and a unique call from God which it must figure out and pursue. Leaders who do the hard work of identifying what God's call is on their congregation are not left directionless when a senior leadership transition takes place. It is the lack of such clarity that causes congregations to take huge swings in direction when leadership transitions take place.

Something to think about if you are a church leader!

This story will rock your world! From India

This is a wonderful story of God's grace and power from one of my dearest friends who ministers in India. Take a couple of minutes and be encouraged today. If God can do this, He can do anything!

https://vimeo.com/53877165 

How people respond to organizational change

Many are familiar with the bell curve that describes how people respond to change: innovators; early adapters; middle adapters; late adapters and laggards. In my experience in the change process I have another set of suggested categories to watch for. Where individuals are on this continuum from change resistors to evangelists for change makes a great difference when you are considering them for leadership positions either on staff or a board.

Resisters. Like the laggards on the bell curve, these are people who will actively resist change because they are simply wired that way. This is the individual who told me, "T.J., you can bring whatever change you want to the organization but don't expect me to do anything different." No rationale is going to change the mind of a resister.

Protectors. The protector is also highly resistant to change but for another reason. They believe in the status quo, the way things have been done in the past and they will actively try to protect "what is," rather than embrace "what could be." This was the individual who told me and many others that the changes I was bringing to ReachGlobal would destroy the mission. 

Cynics. This group is simply cynical about change unless the proposed change is their idea. They tend to view change as "the flavor of the month" and are often vocal about their opinion. Cynics generally don't trust leaders so proposals brought by leaders are quickly discounted.

Loyal followers. These individuals have a deep commitment to the organization and team. They accept change if there is a good rationale for it. These are staff who say, "Just tell me which direction we are going and I will go with you." 

Idealists. This is an interesting group with an upside and a downside when it comes to change. When creating change one inevitably creates a gap between what is and what should be. Idealists are highly impatient to get to what should be and believe that we should be there now. On the up side, they want the change. On the down side they can become highly critical that we have not arrived. Thus on any day they can be either an ally or a critic.

Realists. This group is supportive of change, realizes that it will take time and process and is generally comfortable with that process. They are helpful in realistically figuring out how to get there and can live with the tension of what is and what should be.

Change agents. These individuals not only support proposed changes but will be active agents in helping the organization get there. They are your front lines in speaking a new language, setting a new course and helping redesign philosophy and strategy.

Evangelists. These are the champions of change who publicly and privately live the change out, help others understand and get there and advocate for the new direction.

In my experience it is the realists, change agents and evangelists who will help drive change while the resisters, protectors and cynics will actively undermine change. Loyal followers and idealists will go with you but will not drive change. 

Think about the implications of these eight ways that people respond to change in terms of who you hire, who you put into leadership and who you ask to serve on a board. One church leader, after hearing these descriptions aptly commented, "no wonder so many boards are stuck." He is right. Resisters, protectors and cynics must be managed but beware of allowing them into positions of leadership and influence! 

A goal worth pursuing

Regular readers of this blog are aware that my father passed away a week ago. It fell to my elder brother Thomas to lead the memorial service on behalf of mom, the ten children and numerous offspring. It was not an easy assignment but he did a masterful job of capturing the person, legacy and most importantly the faith of my dad. 

No one is perfect, not even remotely - something that is often not evident listening to eulogies. I have been to memorial services where the person being described bears no resemblance to the individual I knew. We live in a fallen world where no one escapes the curse of sin and its effects. 

But Thomas caught the essence of Dad and a goal of my life when he said "Dad was not perfect but he kept getting better." To the end, into his mid eighties, he kept getting better as he continued to allow Jesus to renovate his life and as he pursued Him and obedience to Him. That is a goal worth pursuing!

The heart of followership of Jesus is allowing Him to re-image us into the us He created us to be. It starts with our decision to follow Him where He justifies us and forgives our sin. It continues with the ongoing process of spiritual renovation - sanctification - as we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. 

The commitment to continue to follow Jesus more closely as we walk through life makes all the difference. It is so easy to settle with what is rather than to pursue what could be. I hope that those who know me best will be able to say, "he was not perfect but he kept getting better." It is a lesson from my father's life and a goal worth pursuing.