FUMBLING THE BALL

“Live [compassionately], friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ’s law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.”  (Galatians 6:1-3 MSG)                   

Churches that focus on compassion and love, that are rooted in the spiritual dimension, over time enhance their ability to offer creative and life-giving ministries and mission, but churches that focus solely on ministry and mission can lose their souls if they forget to love people involved in them. A major component, then, of spiritual leadership is being a compassionate leader…

There’s a comment made in many churches that I’ve always hated: “So-and-so dropped the ball on that one.” What this means is that a person agreed to do something, but then failed, for whatever reason, to accomplish it. What bothers me about the phrase is that it shows a lack of compassion. The phrase has its origins in football: a player fumbles and “drops the ball,” which messes up the offense. The reality is that in football, people fumble. They don’t fumble intentionally. It’s always a mistake. Sometimes they fumble because they are trying too hard to do too much. Sometimes they fumble because they lose sight of the ball. Sometimes they fumble because they are anxious or afraid. Nobody fumbles on purpose. But on good teams, when players fumble, it is up to the rest of the team either to get the ball back or to prevent the other team from capitalizing on the fumble. Good team leaders tell the rest, “Don’t worry about the fumble. Just focus on what we need to do, and eventually we’ll get another opportunity. And if we fumble again, we all have to get the ball back.”

Compassionate leaders recognize that people don’t fail on purpose. They fail for a variety of reasons, including not knowing how to do something, trying to do too much, losing sight of the goal, or lacking confidence. Good leaders have compassion and let people know that it is OK to make mistakes or fail, that a new opportunity will eventually present itself, and that the person is still valued and important. 

-- N. Graham Standish in “Becoming a Blessed Church: Forming a Church of Spiritual Purpose, Presence, and Power”

#6482

BACK TO BIBLICAL BASICS – Part 2 of 2

The great C. H. Spurgeon, a preacher who reached out and grabbed the guts of the people of his day, once said that the Christian bloodline ought to be a Bibline. [Spiritual leadership] entails mastery of this Bibline bloodline. Novelist Joyce Carol Oates writes of a character’s grandmother: “We are linked together by blood, and blood is memory without language.” Christians are linked together by the blood memory of the Bibline that circulates through the body of Christ.

There is nothing more exciting in life than to find your sense of direction. Why is it that when we open God’s Word we expect to be bored? It is theologically incorrect to talk of making the Word “come alive.” It already is. We’re the ones who have tried to kill it. We’ve sucked the blood right out of the Bibline. We’ve drained it dry with boredom, banality, and mediocrity.

“Breathe on Me, Breath of God” is a song the soul should sing every time one opens the Scriptures. To study and learn the Scriptures is to inhale the energies of the Spirit. We inhale the breath of God. We exhale the breath of life: biblical stories. Through modulating exhaled breath, humans fashion stories, stories to build lives upon. When the stories of Scripture become “our” stories, when biblical images and metaphors become “our” images and metaphors, when we structure “our” lives around the cornerstone Jesus story, a new architecture for our souls is constructed.

In his first letter, Peter wrote to the scattered church about this cornerstone: “As you come to Him, the living Stone -- rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to Him -- you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.’ Now to you who believe, this stone is precious.”  (1 Peter 2:4-7a NIV) 

-- Leonard Sweet in “Aqua Church: Essential Leadership Arts for Piloting Your Church in Today’s Fluid Culture”

#5995

BACK TO BIBLICAL BASICS – Part 1 of 2

Vince Lombardi, the legendary Green Bay Packers head coach, was a fanatic for fundamentals. After a game in which the Packers lost to an ill-deserving team, Lombardi called his team together and roared: “OK, we go back to the basics.” Then, holding the football high enough for all to see, he continued to yell: “Gentleman, this is a football.”

For the church, it’s now back to blocking and tackling basics. To a world that thinks it’s quoting Shakespeare when it quotes the Bible; to a world in which the Bible has become an unknown book; to a world that picks up the Bible when it goes to spoiling for a fight; to a church that gives restaurant menus and [social media] closer readings than it does Scripture: to this world and to this church it’s time to hold up the Bible and say: People, this is a Bible. People, this is a life compass. People, this is what helps you find the North Star. Off course? Lost your blessings? Drifting in a dark sea? People, this is how you find life’s bearings.

The compass, strict and sure, is what enables us to locate our lives in relation to the Star of Bethlehem. The compass is what shapes and fashions our lives into the likeness of Christ.

The Apostle Paul believed that when the Word of God becomes a part of who you are, “You are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (2 Corinthians 3:3) 

-- Leonard Sweet in “Aqua Church: Essential Leadership Arts for Piloting Your Church in Today’s Fluid Culture”

#5994

EMISSARIES OF GRACE

“We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ Himself now: Become friends with God; He’s already a friend with you.”  (2 Corinthians 5:20 MSG)

Christian character reflects our relationship with Christ. We learn and build Christian character as we grow closer to God and follow His directives. We still have our individual personalities, but they develop into a godly version – a better version of ourselves – the person God created us to be. We grow in Christian character as we walk with God, dive into His Word, and spend time with Him in prayer. Christian character should display Christ to those around us – we are His emissaries of grace!

We have to be intentional about developing Christian character. Every day we make choices that will either grow our Christian character or send it into a slump. Our life circumstances are where God builds character, but we have to cooperate with Him in the effort. We are often confronted with issues and situations that tempt us to act out in ways that are the opposite of Christian character – we might want to fight back, get even, use foul language, get angry, and so on. We have to make the conscience choice to respond in a Christlike way. 

-- Author Unknown, from biblereasons.com

#5810

LEADERS FILLED WITH ENTHUSIASM – Part 2

Effective leaders’ hearts are filled to overflowing with contagious enthusiasm, which reveals their excitement toward, and commitment to, what needs to be accomplished. Enthusiasm builds enthusiasm in others and creates positive interaction…

An effective leader knows that enthusiasm can’t be faked. Phony enthusiasm is negative and de-motivates workers. The source of real enthusiasm is Jesus Christ. A Greek word for enthusiasm is en-theos, which means being full of God. When a leader is filled with God, he or she is full of authentic enthusiasm.

A Bible verse that fuels enthusiasm is “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV) 

-- Walt Kallestad in “The Everyday, Anytime Guide to Christian Leadership”

#5674

LEADERS FILLED WITH ENTHUSIASM – Part 1

“Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men.”  (Colossians 3:23 HCSB)

The Buffalo Bills were playing the Houston Oilers in the first round of the Superbowl playoffs [in 1992] without their star quarterback, who was injured. By the end of the first half, the Bills were losing 35-3. But football history was about to be made.

In the second half, Frank Reich, the Bill’s backup quarterback, energized himself and the team with enthusiasm, and passed for four touchdowns. The Bills won in overtime 41-38. [At the time] it was called the greatest comeback in the history of the National Football League. The key to victory was Reich’s enthusiastic inspiration.

Effective leaders have learned that their own enthusiasm sets off in other people a chain of enthusiastic participation. Enthusiasm lights a fire under the soul, creates energy, relieves boredom, and helps us work with our whole heart. 

-- Walt Kallestad in “The Everyday, Anytime Guide to Christian Leadership”

#5673

GOD’S REAL PRESENCE

“The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

Forever.”  (Psalm 23 NKJV)

The task of… Christian leaders is not to make a little contribution to the solution of the pains and tribulations of their time, but to identify and announce the ways in which Jesus is leading God's people out of slavery, through the desert land to a new land of freedom. Christian leaders have the arduous task of responding to personal struggles, family conflicts, national calamities, and international tensions with an articulate faith in God's real presence.

-- Henri J. M. Nouwen

#4823  

TRULY ENCOURAGING

“What can we say about all this? If God is on our side, can anyone be against us?... In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us.”  (Romans 8:31,37 CEV)

Good leaders know how to get the best out of people by continually encouraging them to take steps of faith in their service to God in the church and elsewhere…

What does it mean to be truly encouraging? The answer may seem obvious, but many leaders don’t get it. They have great expectations for their followers, but they offer little positive support. An encouraging leader helps people to believe in themselves, and instills in them a sense of confidence -- for confidence literally means to have faith (fidelis) with (con) another person. When we encourage people, we not only have faith in them, but at deeper levels we instill in them a faith that God is with them. And when God is with us, who can be against us? Our faith in people engenders the confidence that can lead them to achievements of which they didn’t think themselves capable.

-- N. Graham Standish in “Becoming a Blessed Church: Forming a Church of Spiritual Purpose, Presence, and Power”


#4667

SACRIFICIAL LEADERSHIP

“From the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year -- twelve years -- neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor... Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for the work; we did not acquire any land... I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people. Remember me with favor, my God, for all I have done for these people.”  (Nehemiah 5:14-19 NIV)

One of the downsides of leadership is the sacrifice often required of leaders. Being a leader means sacrificing time, money, and possessions that are dear to our hearts…

When our sacrifices as spiritual leaders are rooted as much as possible in unselfishness (of course most still have mixed motivations), they lead others to sacrifice. But more important, they lead others to selflessness -- and that is the ultimate goal of true sacrifice. True sacrifice, even in small ways, leads people to become less selfish and self-focused, and more selfless in their love for others. The sacrifice of leaders becomes the ground that allows other leaders and the church to become increasingly focused on outreach to others through ministry and mission. Sacrifice for God in our leadership leads others to experience God’s purpose, presence, and power in our lives. It leads them to serve God the Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit.

-- N. Graham Standish in “Becoming a Blessed Church: Forming a Church of Spiritual Purpose, Presence. And Power”


#4648

SERVANT LEADERS

"The first responsibility of a leader is to define responsibility. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant." (Max DePree)

Do we fully understand what it means to be a leader? Look at the then-obscure young carpenter from Galilee, one Jesus Christ. He led the world from darkness and condemnation to eternal life for those of us who know Him as Lord and Savior.

How did He do it? By washing feet, by touching the "unclean," by giving hope to the blind and lame, and by dying a horrible death on a cross. He was God, yet assumed a lowly position to serve the world -- a world that hated Him.

If we are Christian leaders -- whether pastors, employers, politicians, or parents -- how are we to lead those entrusted to us?

Flaunt our authority over them in an effort to "be in control"? Try to get every last ounce of effort out of them to enhance our position or bank account? Ask them to do things we would never do, as in "Do as I say, not as I do"? No!

Jesus said, "But among you it should be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must become your slave." (Matthew 20:26-27)

-- Mike LeMay, from an article in the Green Bay Press-Gazette, 4/24/09

#4144

IN PROXIMITY TO JESUS

“Four out of five ministers surveyed”…  OK, the correct number is more like “110 of 110 spiritual leaders interviewed,” but ever since the series of classic commercials aired featuring the ubiquitous “four out of five dentists,” I’ve had the image stuck in my head. The phrase “four out of five surveyed” has assumed a cache of gravitas I simply can’t pass up.

I may not know a lot of dentists, but over the past three years I have interviewed well over one hundred Christian ministers and published almost as many news stories about their work. Without exception these spiritual leaders have always defined the process of spiritual formation directly in terms of our relationship with Christ.

One United Methodist leader said it well: “My growth as a Christian happens in direct proportion to my willingness to place myself in proximity to Jesus.”

Yet at the same time the clerics were unequivocal regarding our need to be saturated with the Word of God. “Actually, that’s one of the primary ways I get to know God,” one Lutheran pastor told me. “God reveals His character specifically through the inspired words of the Bible. Sometimes when I read the Gospels it’s like having Jesus Himself sitting in an easy chair and sharing His heart with me one-on-one.”

-- Derek Maul in “Get Real: A Spiritual Journey for Men”

#4140