Seeking God's direction

 Since August of last year I have been serving as the Transitional Pastor of a wonderful church. It's been an interesting challenge trying to serve a church during a pandemic, but things have gone very well. It is a great congregation that met the various challenges presented by the pandemic and has continued serving its membership and the community. Like many churches, we are seeing things begin to open up. This past Sunday a number of members returned for the first time since the Covid hit.

Now, the church is ready to face another challenge...the calling of a new pastor. At our last business meeting a search team was created who will soon meet with a representative of our region and begin the process of seeking new pastoral leadership. This is always an exciting time in the life of a congregation and also a challenging, and even a little scary time.

One of the ways I will help the church during this period is leading them through a vision discernment process. It's a mistake for a church to wait until they get a pastor who will "give them a vision for ministry." It's far better for a church to understand God's vision for their church and then explain that to prospective candidates and ask them how they will be able to help them achieve that vision.

Our first congregation-wide session is scheduled and will focus on the Core Values of the church. The second session will identify the Bedrock Beliefs of the congregation. It's important to begin with these two as God's vision for the church will always be congruent with its Core Values and Bedrock Beliefs. Once we've identified these two elements we will be ready to spend a day attempting to discern what God has been saying to us through the process. We pray that we will identify a clear vision from God for the future ministry of the church.

Sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn't. In either case, going through the process is helpful to a church. It gives them an opportunity to examine things about their church that perhaps they've not discussed in years, if ever. It gives them some new common language. Sometimes it resurrects old issues that still simmer beneath the surface and occasionally create problems. These can then be addressed.

After working with hundreds of churches over the years as a regional leader and conference speaker I'm convinced that few churches have a clear sense of vision. They repeat what they've done for decades hoping that eventually something good will happen. They go through the motions of doing ministry without any real sense of purpose. As I often say in my conferences, a church without a clear, unifying vision is like an octopus on roller skates - you might have a lot of movement, but you're not going anywhere.

Does your church have a common vision that is understood by everyone who attends there? Does it influence the decision making in your congregation? Is it clearly reflected in your budget and ministries? When was the last time it was reviewed? How often is it communicated to the congregation? Some believe that it should be shared with the congregation about once a month to help remind everyone and to make sure the church is on track to accomplish that vision. That seems like a good idea because it's easy to forget the vision while dealing with all the daily needs. It's important to always keep the big picture in front of the congregation to ensure everyone is focused on what God wants to do in and through the life of the church.

Know thyself

 The Greek philosopher Socrates said, "Know thyself." It's good advice, and it's one of the most difficult things we will ever do. It's not easy to look deep within ourselves to really know who we are and what we believe. Most of us can provide an outward show of what we believe people want us to be, but to look within ourselves and see what's really happening down in the depths of our being isn't as easy.

To know ourselves is to look at those values that make us who we are. These values drive our behavior affecting not only our own lives but also the lives of those around us. Too often, persons in leadership positions in business, politics and even in the church have done great harm to many by proclaiming one set of values and living another. Were these people intentionally pretending to be something they were not, or were they so self-unaware that they didn't know who they really were? There's probably some of both in play. Some are frauds who have mastered the art of fooling people. Others have simply not taken the time to really examine what drives them.

What values should we be looking for. John Maxwell, in his book The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential share three key areas: ethical values, relational values and success values. Ethical values are concerned with doing the right thing for the right reason. It's possible to do the right thing for the wrong reason. For instance, one can befriend someone with the long-range plan of taking advantage of them later. Being ethical means that we always strive to do the right things for the right reasons.

Relational values are focused on building trust and respect with other people. This involves doing what you say you are going to do, treating people with respect and dignity, and going the extra mile to serve them well.

Success values ensures that you set goals that are worthy of spending your life pursuing. There's nothing worse than climbing the ladder of success and finding out at the top that it was leaning against the wrong building. How do you measure true success in your life? The answer to that question will tell you much about your values.

To know yourself is the beginning of wisdom and is essential to enjoying true success in life. It's hard work, and it's not something you can do once and then ignore. It's important to re-examine yourself from time to time to make sure you are still on the right track with your values.

Core Values

Last night the church I serve began a vision discernment process by looking at its core values. The church is seeking new pastoral leadership, and this is an important time for a church to revisit its vision. Any time I lead a church through this process I begin with core values because any vision the church discerns must be congruent with its core values.

In my book Intentional Ministry in a Not-So-Mega Church: Becoming a Missional Community I write, "The core values of a church determine its decisions. The behavior, the attitudes, and the decisions made by individuals and groups are always determined by their core values." If you've ever wondered why a church made a decision it made it is because it was operating out of its core values. Those things we value most are seen in our decisions.

The challenging thing in the exercise is that people want to write down what they think their core values should be or what they believe the community thinks about them. Every time I lead this I have to ask, "Is this truly a core value the church has today or is this something you believe the church should aspire to become?" Sometimes people admit that their response was a goal the church should have. It's critical that the church understands its current core values because God's vision is going to align with that core value.

While speaking with a pastor recently he complained that he was unable to get other churches to assist their church in a food ministry to the community. His small church was very active in ministering to people with needs in their inner city. He was trying to get suburban churches in his denomination to assist them and was constantly refused. I explained to him that his church and those churches were all operating out of their core values. One of the core values of his church was to assist people who need help. That was not a core value of the churches he was contacting. I suggested he contact other inner city churches in his community regardless of denomination because he might find out they share the same core value his church has.

As businesses, as families, as organizations, and as churches we will consistently operate out of the core values we own. Some of those core values will be negative and will lead to results we may not prefer. If we identify negative core values we can begin to correct them, but if we never examine our core values we won't likely know what they are. We will just keep functioning the way we've always done getting the same results we've always got.

Last night, as every time I lead this exercise in a church, our time generated a lot of discussion. This is not a topic a church normally talks about or even thinks about which makes these discussions very helpful and important. In some cases I've seen some of these discussions become rather heated as people disagreed on certain core values others identified. Fortunately, that did not happen last night! But, even when it does happen, it's still a good thing because it often identifies something the church has tried to sweep under the rug, and it has limited their ability to do ministry in a healthy way.

What are the core values of your church? Once you identify them you will better understand who your church is, what it stands for, the ministries you value most in your congregation, and where you are going. That's good information to have.

Are you a confident leader?

This past Sunday I visited a church whose pastor preached a message on being an authentic Christian. One of his points was that we should be confident people but not arrogant. We have all known both in our lives. While there may be a fine line between confidence and arrogance, most of us enjoy being around confident people but we try to avoid those who come across as arrogant.

Because I write and think a lot about leaders I couldn't help but think about the many pastors I've encountered in my life as I thought about the pastor's words. I've known pastors who came across as lacking confidence; I've known some who were confident in their ministries and lives, and I've known some who came across as very arrogant. Neither the arrogant nor the ones who lack confidence are people I want to spend much time with.

I could write about the qualities of those who lack confidence and those who are arrogant, but I've always heard that it's much better to spend time examining the real thing than it is to spend time studying the false. What are some of the qualities of a confident leader?

• Confident leaders understand the nature of their calling.
• Confident leaders believe in the authority of the Scriptures.
• Confident leaders preach and teach from the Scriptures and not from the latest fad or politically correct viewpoint.
• Confident leaders are not afraid to admit when they don't know the answer to questions they are asked.
• Confident leaders seek advice from spiritually mature Christians.
• Confident leaders are servant leaders, not dictators.
• Confident leaders are not afraid to make mistakes.
• Confident leaders are not afraid to make decisions.
• Confident leaders are not afraid to admit when they are wrong and will seek forgiveness from those they may have harmed.
• Confident leaders are vision casters.
• Confident leaders operate within their core values and bedrock beliefs and will not violate those for temporal gain.
• Confident leaders are not afraid of controllers and church bullies.
• Confident leaders do not seek conflict but are not afraid of it either.
• Confident leaders understand that Christ is the head of the church and they function as under shepherds.
• Confident leaders understand their spiritual gifts and strengths and seek to operate within those areas as much as possible.
• Confident leaders are not afraid to delegate to others.
• Confident leaders seek continuing education opportunities in order to become more effective leaders.
• Confident leaders do not feel they must keep seeking larger places in which to serve in order to prove their worth to the Kingdom of God.

I'm sure there are many more that could be listed, but this is enough to determine how confident we are in our leadership. How many of these listed would you say describes you and your leadership? Are you confident enough in your leadership to ask others to evaluate your leadership using the above statements?

Ministry on purpose

Last Saturday I spent the day with a small church leading them through vision discernment.  This church is in the process of seeking a new pastor which is a great time to begin discerning God's future for a church.  We had previously spent a couple of evenings helping them explore their core values and bedrock beliefs, and now it was time to bring all that work together in vision discernment.  Church members spent time alone in scripture reading and prayer to see what they heard God saying to them and then brought their thoughts back to the larger group for discussion.  It was a powerful time and a day well spent.  They did not leave that gathering with a clear vision for their future ministry, but they have began the process, they now have a common language to continue this discernment together, and they understand how critical it is to seek a fresh vision from God for ministry.  I am excited about the future of this church.

Earlier this week I met with the leadership of a larger church to discuss their need to go through such a process.  Like the smaller church, they have been drifting for the past few years without any sense of purpose or direction.  A new pastor has led them in making some organizational changes they needed, but they now sense it is time to really begin looking at what God wants to do in them and through them over the next few years.  I explained the dangers of drifting, the importance of a clear, unifying vision for a church, and the process we would use to begin that discernment.  The feedback was positive, and I am hopeful this church will decide to pursue this.

Most churches have no real vision for ministry.  Some may have a vision statement hanging in the pastor's office somewhere, but no one has really looked at it in years, and it has little if any impact on the decisions the church makes.  There is a huge difference between a vision and a vision statement.  Visions produce passion in a church because the people believe they are pursuing God's purposes for their church.  Who could not get excited about that?  With a clear vision the church is united around the church is ready to create its budget, it's ready to determine its ministry programs, and it's ready to do ministry on purpose.

Churches that just drift from Sunday to Sunday often find themselves drifting into trouble.  People in the congregation are not excited because there's nothing to excite them.  Attendance falters, giving goes down, it becomes more difficult to attract volunteers, guests seldom come and even more seldom return for a second visit, there is rapid pastor turnover, the facility becomes rundown as maintenance is ignored, and church youth leave as soon as they are able.  Even worse, the community around the church goes untouched for the Kingdom of God.

Is your church doing ministry on purpose or is it drifting along from Sunday to Sunday hoping that someday something good will happen?  If you are in a drifting church you can turn that around.  God has a vision for your church.  There are things he wants to do in and through your church, and if you will seek that vision and unite around it, great things will begin to happen.  It is not a difficult process to begin vision discernment, but it does require intentionality on the part of the church.  When we seek God is when we find him, and the same is true for his vision for our churches.

Find a fresh vision

Last night I enjoyed an evening with the leaders of a small church who want to identify a fresh God-given vision for their future ministry.    The church has just began a search for a new pastor, and I encouraged them to first seek a vision for ministry to help them better identify the gifts and passions they will need from their new pastor.  The church leaders agreed and invited me to lead that process.

The session last night focused on the core values of the church.  I explained how core values shape the decisions individuals and groups (churches) make.  Any vision they identify must be congruent with their core values so it was important to begin by identifying those values.  Another evening session will look at their bedrock beliefs, and a third session (all day on Saturday) will be spent in Bible reading, prayer, and group discussions.

Although I've led this in several churches, last night's session was very enjoyable.  The people were engaged, and when I divided them into small groups for discussion they were very focused on the task at hand.  This church has been drifting for some time, and the congregation seems determined to become much more focused on doing intentional ministry in their community.

This church has been like a majority of the churches in North America.  They have been content to drift along Sunday to Sunday hoping that one day something good would happen.  Hope is a very powerful component in anything we want to do, but it makes a terrible strategy.  It is much better to identify God's vision for your church and develop ministries around that vision.  This latter approach provides the church with a much more focused ministry and allows it to move forward with a purpose and passion that often leads to a more effective ministry.

Without vision a church can do nothing but drift along with the currents.  Even worse, if a church does not have a common vision around which the church is committed it will have competing visions.  This often leads to conflict as these competing visions will eventually bump heads.

Let me ask a simple question: does your church have a unifying vision that directs the ministries of your church?  If I was to visit your church this Sunday could anyone in your congregation be able to tell me that vision without having to look at a piece of paper?  If the answer to these questions is no then your church is not functioning according to a God-given vision.  Chances are your church is drifting along with few results to show for its efforts.

The good news is that God has a unique vision for your church, and the even better news is that he wants you to know what that vision is.  It will require some effort on your part to identify that vision, and you will have to be willing to live into that vision once you know what it is.  As you think ahead to 2015 perhaps the best thing you could do is to begin a discernment process that will you know what God wants to do in and through your church in the coming year.

Investing in yourself

One of my core values is to be a life-long learner.  That is the reason I pursued a master's and doctoral degree at an age when many people are thinking about retirement.  It is also the reason I try to read so many books and blogs.  I cannot understand why so many high school and college graduates never read a book once they graduate from school and why so many people are not interested in personal growth.  We have been told for years that the average person uses only about 10 percent of his or her abilities.  What could change in a person's life if he or she decided to tap into some of that remaining 90 percent?  Most of us will go to great lengths to plan a one-week vacation and yet many will spend virtually no time developing a plan for personal growth.

Investing in ourselves is the one investment that can not be taken from us.  Financial investments can be lost overnight if the market changes or if someone cheats us through some fraudulent act.  We can spend years at a job only to see it moved to another country or eliminated because of technology or a takeover from another company.  Virtually everything that people try to accumulate can be gone in moments, but the one thing that can never be taken from us is any investment we've made in ourselves.

If you are a minister reading this post there are so many things that one can learn about ministry.  I would love to have the opportunity to relive the twenty years I spent as the pastor at Hebron Baptist Church with the knowledge I have now about ministry that I did not have back when I was the pastor there.  My ministry would look so much different, and I know it would have a positive impact on the life and ministry of the church.  If you are a leader in any organization, there is so much new information on leadership that if you are not growing personally your organization is operating far short of its capacity.  Even if you are not currently a leader, an investment in yourself is the way that you can create and enjoy a better life for yourself and your family.

In my opinion, one of the most important books John Maxwell has written recently is The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth: Live Them and Reach Your Potential.  Again, this is only my opinion, but I believe out of all the books he has written (and I have most of them) this is his second most important book only behind The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You (10th Anniversary Edition).  The reason I feel so strongly about his book on the 15 laws of growth is because he describes so clearly what one must do in order to grow as an individual.

One of the laws he discusses is the Law of the Rubber Band.  He notes that rubber bands are useful only when they are stretched.  Pursuing personal growth will always stretch us, but it is only when we are stretched that we become useful.  Too many of us are satisfied with the status quo.  We are satisfied with being average.  In the chapter Maxwell provides a description of average, and one of the items in that description says, ""Average is the top of the bottom, the best of the worst, the bottom of the top, the worst of the best.  Which of these are you?"  Looking at it this way, average doesn't seem so great after all, does it?

Yet, we shy away from being stretched.  Our churches claim they want to grow, but they don't want to be stretched.  Businesses talk about wanting to grow, but they are often averse to doing anything that might stretch them and take them away from their comfort zone.  As leaders, we should want to be growing if we want to lead growing organizations, but many of us avoid anything that would stretch us.  We won't take a class or read a book or meet with a mentor or do anything that might be uncomfortable even if it would promote personal growth.

This is the second time I've read this book, and I found new insights that I had missed in my first reading.  I made several new highlights in the book during my second reading.  For any leader serious about wanting to grow I think this is a must read.  At the very least it will give you some specific areas in which each of us should grow and some direction for how growth can occur in those areas.  As leaders, we must invest in ourselves if we want to effectively lead our churches and other organizations.

The disconnect in many churches

Not once in my twelve years as a Resource Minister in our denomination have I had a church tell me they did not want to grow.  When I work with a pastor search committee they tell me every time they want a pastor who will grow their church.  Any time I assist a church in vision discernment they say they want to reach new people with the gospel.  Yet, in many of these churches their core values do not reflect that.  In the vast majority of cases, the core values of these churches focus on their own well-being.  They may say they want a pastor who will grow their church, but that is only if he or she doesn't neglect any of their needs and as long as it doesn't involve change or pain.

That is the disconnect in many of these churches.  What they say they want to see happen and what they value are two totally opposite things.  Recently, as I helped a church identify some of their bedrock beliefs, we got into a discussion about the purpose of the church.  They rightfully stated that the purpose of the church is to reach non-Christians in order to help lead them into a personal relationship with Christ.  I then pointed to the list of bedrock beliefs I had just written on a sheet of paper and asked which of those bedrock beliefs they had given me reflected what they said was the purpose of their church.  They were stunned as they realized that none of those beliefs connected with their stated purpose.  For years they have been saying the right things, but their practices were much different, and that was one reason the church has been divided and why it has been so difficult for them to attract and keep new people.

As I tell attendees to my workshops, your structure is perfectly designed for the results you are getting.  I continue that line of thought by stating that their church is exactly the size they had determined is best, and their church structure is designed to keep it there.  Churches often insist that they want to grow at which time I ask if they want to grow why are they not growing.  It is not for a lack of a mission field.  Some reports claim that 50-80 percent of the population in any county in the US  is unchurched so there is a great mission field available in every community.  The lack of growth in most churches is directly attributable to the way the church is structured and what they truly value as reflected by how the church relates to others.

If you want your church to grow or to develop new ministries or to change in the way it functions, you must first look at how your church is structured.  Many churches are structured to be maintenance-minded, not missional.  They are set up to care for the existing members and to perpetuate the traditions those members believe to be important.  While these may be important, they often do not allow room for ministry to those outside the church family.  When the vast majority of a church's resources (finances, time, and energy) are focused on maintaining what you already have there is precious little left for other ministry focuses.

A church that is committed to new ministries and reaching out to new people will have to determine what they are willing to give up.  Are there programs that need to go so new ministry opportunities can occur?  Do changes in service times or formats need to happen?  Should some roles or positions in the church be eliminated and new ones formed to better reflect a different ministry focus of the church?  Does exisiting ministry responsibilities need to be divided differently?  These, and similar, questions may not be easy to answer, but until they are answered the church will not be able to address potential structure changeds.  And, until the structure is changed it really doesn't matter what the church says is important.  The structure will determine what gets done, and that is what reflects what is truly important in the church.

Discerning a fresh vision for ministry

Yesterday I spoke at a church and offered to assist them in discerning a fresh vision for ministry.  Like many churches, this church has been in decline for a number of years.  They have the location and the facilities to enjoy a good ministry.  What they have not had is a common, unifying vision that would get everyone pulling in the same direction.  As I shared with them, this will reduce the amount of conflict and give the church a focused approach to ministry.  It will also give them a more outward focus as God's vision for a church is never an inward one.  Following my message the church held a special called business meeting and voted to begin the vision discernment process with me.  I am excited to be working with this congregation in such an important process.

Few of the churches I see on a regular basis have such a vision.  Most open their doors each week and hope something good will happen.  As important as hope is, hope is not a strategy.  While God can do anything He wants when He wants, I find that He often does His best work when we are working alongside Him.  The exciting thing is that God has a unique vision for each church, and if we are willing to strive to discern that vision it will be shown to us.  At that point, we are ready to move forward with a singleness of mind and purpose to advance the Kingdom of God.

The process I use is simple but not easy.  I will spend one evening with the church identifying their core values.  The challenge with this is getting people to identify the church's true core values and not the ones they believe they should have.  A second evening will examine the church's bedrock beliefs, those biblical beliefs that are at the foundation of everything they do.  We will then spend a Saturday in a discernment process trying to identify God's vision for the church.  That vision must be congruent with the core values and bedrock beliefs we've already identified plus it must be in line with the gifts and ministry passion of the people.  This entire process must be bathed in much prayer if we want to hear God speak to us throughout the process.  I explained to the congregation that this will take much time on their part and will cost them in numerous ways, but it is a process that is much needed to help this church move forward.

What is the vision of your church?  I'm not necessarily interested in a vision statement that was developed a few years ago by a committee and voted upon by the congregation and now sits gathering dust on a shelf somewhere.  What single purpose drives the ministry of your church?  What is your church budget and calendar built around?  Without such a vision your church is probably wandering around in the wilderness wondering why good things seldom happen in your church.  It's time for your church to identify the vision God has for your church and focus all your resources to make that happen.

Awakening

This past Saturday our Region again hosted Awakening, a ministry designed to help our smaller churches learn new ways of doing effective ministry.  We offer Awakening at three different sites throughout the Region.  This was the third of seven sessions, and it focused on helping our churches learn their core values, bedrock beliefs, and begin a visioning process.  We worked through each of these with the pastors and lay leaders who are part of the Awakening team for each church and encouraged them to return to their churches and repeat the process with the entire congregation.

If you've read my books you know how passionate I am about a church having a clear, unifying vision.  With such a vision a church is better able to minister with a sense of purpose, it can make decisions easier, it reduces conflict, it helps identify what should be included in the church budget and calendar and what things do not need to be included, it guides the pastor in his or her duties, and it encourages lay people to become more involved in ministry because the vision will have been shaped by their gifts and passions for ministry.  Despite all these, and more, advantages of having a vision most smaller churches still cannot articulate any sense of vision for their ministries.  No matter what they may claim, these churches are content to drift along with no sense of purpose and complain about the lack of anything happening in their ministries.

Any church, regardless of size, that is serious about wanting to enjoy a more effective ministry must have a God-given vision for that ministry and be willing to pursue that vision.  Vision is not something that is determined by a 51 percent majority vote nor is it something that comes about as a result of consensus.  A God-given vision must be discerned, a process that can take some time but one that is well worth it.  An important part of that discernment process is identifying the core values and bedrock beliefs of the congregation.

Why is this so important?  The core values and bedrock beliefs of any organization or individual shapes every decision they make.  This is who the organization or individual is at their very core, and to deny their core values and bedrock beliefs would be to deny their identity.  Jesus said that out of the abundance of our hearts our mouths speak.  What is on the inside will eventually appear on the outside.  The same is true of a congregation.  Any vision that a church may have must be congruent with its core values and bedrock beliefs or it will be of little value becasue it will not be a true vision for that church.

The difficulty churches often have in determining its core values and bedrock beliefs is that they often want to list what they think those values and beliefs should be.  I once had a church list "youth" as one of their core values until someone in the group challenged that by asking, "If youth is a core value in our church, why am I the only one here willing to work with the youth?  Why do you all turn me down every time I ask you to help me with a youth project?"  That led to some interesting conversations that the church needed to have but had avoided to that point.  On the other hand I had another church include "cliques" as a core value.  They recognized that it was a negative, but they also recognized it was true of their church.  I appreciated their honesty and the discussion it created.  Most of the churches I've worked with would not have been that honest.

Church pastors can lead this self-evaluation, but it is often better for someone from the outside to lead it.  There is a process I use for this evaluation that I think is very effective.  If you think this could be helpful to your church, please let me know.