Is your church producing volunteers or leaders?

In many churches I have been involved in, leaders have already upped and left. They’re not there anymore.

Not that they all physically drift.

Many are still sitting there, week after week. But in their heads they’re gone.

They were looking for challenge, for something worth giving their lives to. But they've concluded that they won’t find it in the church. 

So they settle into being a volunteer, giving their creativity, passion and drive to something else – like their job, or football team, or hobbies.

Volunteers or leaders?

Why is this happening? Is it because deep down as church leaders what we REALLY want is volunteers who execute our own vision and keep the church machine running? To lead home-groups? To head up a new project that the elders have decided would be a good idea?

When people stop behaving like volunteers it gets risky. ‘They might try something and fail’ we can say. Or, 'They have too many ideas'. Or, 'They're too difficult to manage'. We may even feel threatened by their potential.

Grow and release leaders

In a recent article Mike Breen said this: ‘A volunteer is someone who executes someone else’s vision. A leader is someone with a vision of his or her own’

So the challenge is: are we raising volunteers, or leaders? Do we squash creativity and vision from our congregations, or do we identify, equip and release them as leaders to their missional frontline?

Of course, a centralized vision is powerful, and is by no means wrong. My church's vision is big, exciting, faith-stretching. We are seeking to:

GROW so that we can effectively
EQUIP and release disciple leaders to lead in the cracks of society that God has placed them in order to
IMPACT our culture for the sake of Christ

We are in this together. We are committed to pray, give and serve in order to see this vision come to fruition. And yet it allows the freedom and permission for leaders to grow and be released. We can do this by being…

…a leader who is first and foremost a disciple …

Real leaders don’t demand that volunteers follow them. They don’t have to. Leadership isn’t taught but caught. Instead they live as disciples and through their integrity demonstrate a life worthy of imitating. Just like Jesus did.

…who releases ‘un-lead’ leaders…

Real leaders teach people to stop looking to them to tell them what to do. Of course, we teach submission to authority, an essential part of being a leader. This is not a call for loose cannons. But the overall vision of the church needs to be able to accommodate people who have passion and vision which is tested and agreed on being from God.

…equipping them for their frontlines…

Real leaders equip people for works of service where they spend their time. The city will be impacted when ordinary Christians in the cracks of society live out their faith rather than tying them up in the church building with a vision they are not passionate about in the first place.

…giving them permission to try (and maybe fail)

Real leaders believe we’re not doing something worthwhile if it doesn’t involve risk.  And yet risk-aversion (or being overly British) means that we prevent people from getting anywhere near failure.

I am convinced that the church should be at the forefront of releasing creative, gospel-obsessed, passionate leaders who are given permission to try - and even better - to try and fail and then go again.

My failures

This year my family has been given space to ‘risk’ starting a missional community. We’ve gone for it. By many standards we have ‘failed’. Am I glad we went for it? You bet I am. It’s now no longer theory. I have grown. My pride has been punctured (because when we started this was the RIGHT way to do things!). Now I’m tasting it, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to risk time, reputation and finance to see the Kingdom advance.

So will we be leaders who manage risk, constrain people to be part of OUR vision and develop obedient volunteers? And in so doing, find leaders are long gone?

Or will they be gone because they have been commissioned to risk outside the church’s four walls?

Will we ask leaders questions to see them become society-impacting, disciple-multiplying leaders?

Questions like these:

What is God saying to you?

What are you going to do about it?

How can we pray for you, resource you and encourage you in your God-given vision?

What do you think? Is this something you can relate to?

3 things rugby has taught me about leadership

The 6 Nations kicks off tomorrow and I can’t wait. This year the tournament is wide open – Wales may be favourites, but have tough trips away to England and Ireland to overcome, whilst England are hoping to build on a promising Autumn Series.

Whoever you support, many of us who have grown up playing rugby have found that it is the best game in the world. Apart from being good for fitness and great fun to play, here’s 3 things rugby has taught me about leadership:

1)      Take your mates with you

You see it all the time. It starts so well. The players go through the phases. The prop takes the ball up, takes the tackle, goes to ground and two of his mates behind him come straight through and remove the opposition, protecting the ball and their teammate.

But then it happens.

At some point, someone picks up the ball, runs away from his teammates and into trouble. He is inevitably tackled (unless he’s Jonah Lomu) and there is no one behind him to protect him. The ball is taken, the player is left with a bruised ego and a bruised head and the opposition have a platform to attack.

Rugby rewards the team. And good leaders know that they need right hand men, men who are there when the going gets tough. Men who are there when the opposition is swarming around them. Men who are there when you drop the ball and risk losing all that you have built.

When a man gets isolated this happens all too often. He stops being accountable and there’s no one to warn him away from the flirtatious new work colleague. He forgets to have fun with his mates and work consumes him. He neglects to get advice on the new car and yes, a month later the clutch has gone.

In short, leaders should only ever go into battle with faithful men one step behind them.

 

Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:12-13)

 

2)      Respect the referee. And each other

Rugby taught me from a young age that people have something to give, even when their appearance makes me doubt (the fat kid in my class giving me a welcome when I tried to run through him is one instance I remember - I think).

Whether you have power, pace, jumping prowess, a Jason Robinsonesque side-step, handling or technical skills you can have an impact in a rugby team. Tall or short, stocky or lanky there is a place for everyone.

In today’s world this is often not so. We are taught to demean others who do not fit the social mould. We fight our corner at work – even colleagues become the enemy and we gossip and smear them to elevate ourselves. We are taught to disrespect others in order to build up both ourselves and our team. But real leaders, leaders with integrity, value their team and look to bring out their gifts and talents, letting them loose on the opposition.

And as we know, as well as respecting each other, rugby players respect the referee. Ok, you may get a bad decision. It may even cost you the match. But players don’t hound referees, the crowd doesn’t sing about the referees private habits and coaches don’t come out spitting blood, blaming their defeat on anyone but themselves.

Leaders must respect people over and above whether they think they have been wronged, over and above a win or a loss, and over and above their own pride. It is as they treat people with dignity that we they will be credible, self-controlled leaders with a sense of perspective on what’s really important in life.

 

3)      Clean you own kit

Leaving your dirty kit to mum to wash may be ok when you are a kid and you’re nursing 10 broken bones when you get home. But when you’re in your 20s or 30s it is not cool. You may have been the big man, scored the winning try, made a heroic try-saving tackle. But you can wash your kit. You should never think you’re too good for that.

Real leaders do the dirty work. They may get attention and adulation out there, but real leaders don’t then go home and abuse their wife or refusing to help her with the kids. They don’t go to church and refuse to clean the toilets when no-one else is willing.

No. Real leaders set an example whether they are being watched or not. Whether they are being rewarded or not. Whether the work is glamorous or not. Because real leaders know that they are submitting to their real leader, Jesus Christ, who rewards for the small acts of obedience, both seen and unseen.

 

So, I look forward to a great tournament and may the best team (England obviously) win.

 

 

 

The MOST IMPORTANT Resolution for 2014

There are lots of things I want to resolve to do this year:

I want to go swimming more often.

I want to spend more time with my kids each week.
I want to read a book every 2 weeks.
I want to see my friends more regularly.
I want to read my Bible more often and pray more each day.

I think these are good goals.

I guess overall I want to be a better person – kinder and more generous. I want to be better at my job. I want to be fitter. And I want to learn more about God and my faith.

The Apostle Paul reflects on resolutions in the book of Philippians chapter 3. He is concerned for those who ‘put confidence in the flesh’. In other words, those who feel good about themselves by setting goals, and feeling that if they attain them that they are better people and more acceptable to God. He says that if anyone has reason for confidence it is him –

“…circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless…” (5-6)

 

He had it all. In modern day’s terms he would be most pleasing to any god – he looked the best, he was the happiest, he knew the most and he had the most success. In other words, he had what many of us want, and what many of our resolutions subtly point to.

Many of our resolutions can be selfish and driven by pride.

Perhaps we want to know more so we can blog more intelligently, or speak more fluently.

Perhaps we feel we need to change because our spouse is putting pressure on us.

Perhaps we want to be like someone else at church who seems to be such a great teacher and leader.

But Paul goes on to say:

“But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ… …I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (7-8, 13-14)

He counts all these other resolutions as worthless compared to one thing, one resolution – to know Christ.

Know Christ.

What a challenge this is to me. Will I press on towards that goal this year?

Will I do anything and everything to win that prize?

Will this be my one resolution? Will it be yours?

Paul says he strains and presses on for this. It doesn’t just happen. So in the next of this mini-series I’ll take a look at a few ways we might use this thing called the ‘Quiet Time’ to achieve our one resolution, to know Jesus better.

Image: http://allfacebook.com/files/2011/11/Do1Thing.jpg

Wiggins or Cavendish? Sprinter or team leader? Which team role best derscribes you?

 

Thought cycling was boring? Yes, I did too, but read on

 

Cycling is all about the team, and within each cycling team are a number of different roles. In fact, all teams depend on each person fulfilling their role. Knowing our strengths can help us  function at our very best in whatever team we are in.

 

So, which role on the cycling team describes you best?

 

Team leader

The one best placed to win the overall race. They are in for the long haul, the ones the other riders support and work for, the figureheads. They have all round ability at the sprints, climbs and time trials. Very few are made for this role, but in the right hands it can mean the difference to team success or failure. Leadership ability, people skills and communication are key.

 

In teams these are often the people everyone wants to be.  The lead pastor. The CEO. Everyone knows their name. They are seen as the ‘gifted’ one. But it is not an easy job. You are exposed. The expectations and scrutiny are often very intense. Without your team around you, you are lost. 

 

Sprinter

The glory boys, going for stage victories. Mark Cavendish is the best among them at the moment. Sprinters are often nowhere to be seen for the whole race and then come out at the end and bang, it’s in the bag. They are the ultimate finishers.

 

 

 

In teams these are the guys there to the end. They are happy to stick with it even when others drop out because they sense the chance to finish first, and when they do it brings glory to the whole team and their cause.

 

Lead out man

The one who leads his sprinter to victory. He stays close to the front of the pack, piloting the sprinter through the smallest of gaps. In the last few hundred metres, he unleashes his own drive before launching his man toward the finish. 

 

In teams lead out men are the starters, the visionaries, the initiators. They see things and start them off, but are often too impatient (or too tired!) to stick around to see them finished. Whilst often not around at the end their ability to start projects and release others is invaluable.

 

Domestique

The ultimate team-worker. Domestiques bring water and food from team cars and shield teammates from opponents. They help teammates with mechanical disasters and may even sacrifice their bike. They keep the team fed and watered. Their role is the least glamorous yet one of the most important.

 

In teams they are the workers, those who get on with the job while the strategists and ‘leaders’, well, strategise and lead I guess. They are the unsung heroes of any team.

 

Lieutenant

An accomplished teamworker, the lieutenant is called upon during critical times. Her job is to stay with the team leader as long as possible, providing support ranging from the very bike she’s riding to a subtle psychological boost. On a hard climb she might lift the pace to shed others and keep her leader in front. At the 2012 Tour de France Chris Froome was famously Sir Bradley Wiggins’ right hand man, encouraging his man to push for victory.

 

 

In teams, lieutenants are absolutely key for the team leader. They often have a very different personality to the leader and are the one the leader can and should listen to, especially in a crisis.

 

Road captain

Often the most experienced rider, the ‘wise head’ of the team. He is the strategist. He’s been there and done it all and now passes advice on to the other riders. This might be tactical tips such as when to anticipate crosswinds.

 

In teams road captains are essential. They are the source of knowledge you won’t find in books. Listening to them may be the difference between success and failure. Without their wise advice even the best leaders can struggle.

 

Rouleur

This rider’s value is in her ability to set pace for hours with little help. For example, she is the one who controls breakaways by holding them in check, or keeping the pace high enough that no one can get away in the first place. 

 

In teams the rouleur is often the enthusiastic one who drives the team on. When the team are behind schedule, she will ensure they know what they need to do to catch up. Her eye is on the goal, the prize of finishing the race as well as possible.

 

 

So which role(s) best describes you? How can you maximise the impact you have in the team(s) you serve in?