// February 11th, 2009 // Comments Off // The Church at Spring Hill
2) We have to be who we are. Fake kills. Who needs it? Just
be you, all the time where ever you are. God & you are great
enough for any situation. (The funny thing about the play on words of…wherever 2 or more are gathered…is that for the believer there is always two or more.) People can sniff out fake in a heart beat. We all know that there is enough fake out there…enough broken hearts and promises. What we all need are people we can trust.
Some pre-rambling)…
Church Mission Statements: Not who you are…who you want to be.
If you treat your church like a business, it will become one. It will produce products or be a product. I see garage sales every weekend full of products that people are tired of.
Which leads me to quoting the prophets Jay Z & Christ Martin from Lost:
So it's tough being Bobby Brown
To be Bobby then, you have to be Bobby now
And the question is, "Is to have had and lost
Better than not having at all?"
Because I'm…
Oh and I, just waiting ‘til the shine wears off
When you get into the game of morphing to meet fads…you simply can't keep up. At some point you run out of resources or the will to keep changing. You settle and then you lose those who are "just waiting 'til the sine wears off." There will always come someone or something better. Build your core and your ministry on solid rhythms, passions, pasts and gifts of the collective God has assembled. These things will last and there will always be a need for them.
As a church…what has God called you to be? How has he gifted you uniquely? What has He placed you in your context to be/do. Just because it has always been done or someone else does it or you heard it at a conference or you read it in a book doesn't mean you have to do it. Remember the KISS philosophy > Keep It Simple Stupid! Just do the things that builds disciples in your context.
For far too long the church run as a business has seen the one man hearing from God or the few sitting in an office deciding what the masses need to do. The congregant becomes a pawn in the game of the select few or the one. At some point they figure this out and the road to hurt & burn out begins.
I am as good with a whiteboard as anyone but we have to move our model of decision making out of the office conference room and into the coffee shop. We have to have better information and dialogue. Once again we have to be with people, be who we are so they can trust us and earn the right to lead them as we discern what God is doing together and then we steward all of the resources and energy around what God is calling us to as a group.
We as leaders have to
move past our ideas that we have the grand plan & everyone needs to
fall in. We have to become better listeners, encouragers and coaches.
The world has enough dictators. They all seem to go down & a ball
of flames anyway.
How can we as leaders discern what God is doing among us (remember part 1 > you have to spend time with your sheep)? It's not difficult; like Henry Blackaby taught us years ago…"Find where God is working & join in." As God stirs our hearts, passions and talents then leadership is needed to help steward the groups collective reosurces well.
1) I think we make a big mistake when we as churches just add programs because that's what churches do. You don't have to…Find out how God has wired & gifted your church…and celebrate it. Be the best you can be at "it." Do "it" to the glory of God. Do what you must do to build disciples & nothing more.
2) As well this is why multiple church starts in an area may be a great thing. Most church starts come from a creative core up people that see a need and believe that they are stirred to meet it with the Gospel message. Each group brings a new collective passion and gifting to a community and can reach certain people that other churches may not be able to. (I can only speak from my experience here.)
3) I have made some decisions: I'm 38 and life is to short to invest in junk that doesn't matter. I believe that people matter to God so that's where I spend most of my time…with people. God has also, I believe, wired me to teach. So I give myself to that as well. This is who I am and I am trying my best to embrace that. I try to let other things fall away or delegate them to those who are willing. For those that God has entrusted to me I want to be their biggest fan, coach and resource. I can take those things to the white throne and know that I am doing what God has wired me to do…no matter how big my building or ultimately my congregation. I'm going to love those that God has put around me well.
So "you" who are you? The world needs
"you". A former pastor of mine used to tell every new member of our
church that you need us and we need you. I believe that.
How has God wired you? Who needs you to be you? How can our churches just be what God has created us to be and shed the other junk. You will only be affective and what you are passionate about and gifted and committed to do. Take who you are and meet God where He is. I guarantee it will be at the point of your communities need and you will have every opportunity to flex what God has given you & you'll see love win.
Peace ~
