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To Bore or Not to Bore

That is the question. I was talking with a former church member the other day who's in the church "shopping" mode when this person told me the following story. "After visiting [this one church] I asked [my child] what they thought of this church. [This child] said, "Well, once I get used to being bored, I'll be okay." Isn't that an amazing statement? Already, by a young age, this child had come to the conclusion that if they were going to go to church, they had better get used to the idea of church being boring. May it never be!

During the sixteen years I pastored Seneca Creek, I was passionate about church never being boring. But, here's the rub. Even if we think we've figured out a way to make church exciting, vibrant and creative, over a period of time—what was once exciting, vibrant and creative—becomes old, mundane and boring. In other words, one of the things that keeps church from being boring is to make sure that we aren't falling into predictable ruts.

Now, I know that's easier said than done. In the pressure cooker environment of church life, finding the time to be creative, innovative and fresh is difficult to do. It's so much easier to just do what you've been doing. But, no matter what you are doing, no matter how creative you may think you may be, if you keep on doing it the same way, it will become predictable. And predictable, even edgy predictable, will lead to boredom.

So, how have you changed up your services lately? Your children's programs? Your youth programs? Your small groups? Your staff meetings? Your planning processes? Your mailings? Your all-church events? Your evangelistic outreaches? Basically, anything you do. Oh, and by the way, this same principle applies to your marriage and parenting as well. If you keep doing what you're doing the way you're doing it, it will become boring. And life and church are far too important to become boring. So what are you going to do to make sure that no one ever says of your church, "Once I get used to being bored, I'll be okay"?

Are You Answering Your Phones Live?

I can't tell you how many times I've talked to pastors about this, but they rarely seem to get it.  As churches, we're in the people business.  When someone calls a church, they expect to find a caring polite voice on the other end.  But what do most churches do?  For economic reasons, they go to automatic voice mail.  Bad choice.  In fact, let me prove it to you.  This morning I received another thank you e-mail from someone who attended the church I used to pastor.  In this person's e-mail, they made the following statement.

After going to a drama called "Hells Fire, Heavens Gates" in February 1995, my husband and I went to the "Alter" and made a commitment to follow Jesus and we said the Sinners Prayer. We were told to find a church. The criteria we set was that the church be "Bible based", within 10 miles of our home, a comfortable atmosphere, and have a pastor we respected who could teach us God's will and build our knowledge of Biblical truths. Armed with telephone numbers of six area churches of various denominations, I proceeded to call each number. Five numbers resulted in a voice mail. Only SC CC was answered with a "live" person (you) and you answered all my questions and were warm, friendly and enthusiastic.

In other words, just because we answered the phones (how simple is that?), we had the privilege of ministering to a new couple of believers for years.  Trust me, I've heard that same kind of story over and over again over the years I led Seneca Creek.  As the saying goes, "In the world of high tech, people long for high touch."  So, are you answering your phones?  If not, have you ever thought about how many people you may have lost simply because you didn't answer your phones with a person, instead of an answering machine or voice mail? 

I remember talking to a pastor of a church of three thousand one time about this.  I said, "Back when you were a church of a thousand, you used to answer your phones.  Now, you're a church of three thousand but you can't answer your phones any more.  What gives?"  He said, "It costs too much to have someone sit and answer the phones all day."  To which I replied, "Let me see if I understand this  It wasn't too expensive when you were a church of a thousand.  But now that you have three times as much money, you can't afford to have a receptionist?"  Actually, it was more important for that large church to have a receptionist than for a small church because large churches are usually perceived by those outside of them to be impersonal and uncaring.  A simple customer service idea like answering the phones, just might make the difference.  And when the potential loss is a person/couple/family, all of a sudden it doesn't seem so expensive to answer the phones does it? 

In fact, if I was in the office and the phone didn't picked up by the fourth ring, I would often pick up the phone (which, of course, shocked people, "I didn't think I'd get you.  What are you doing answering the phones?" As if answering the phones is too difficult a task for a senior pastor of a large church to do).  Why?  Because it's a simple customer service item and because I never knew if it was a new person on the line who might be checking out our church—who might not yet know Christ—but who might come to our church and then come to know Christ simply because we answered the phone and let them know somebody cares.  So, are you convinced yet?  I hope so! This might seem like a little thing, but for the sake of the people in your community (both believers and non-believers), will you please answer your phones?

Creating a "Stop Doing" List

Do you ever get frustrated with feeling like there's too much to do and not enough time to do it?  Well, if you have,  Jim Collins just might have a possible prescription for you.  As i mentioned last week, Amazon had a number of their favorite authors record something as a "bonus" for their 10 year anniversary.  In the case of Collins, he chose to expand on an article he had written back on December 30, 2003.  Note: If you're an audio learner, click here for the Amazon audio or if you're a visual learner (like me), click here for the original article that the audio version was based on (and scroll down to December 30, 2003).

The basic storyline is that early on in his twenties, Jim took a course in creativity with Rochelle Myers at Standford.  Afterward he stayed in touch with her.  As a young, energetic and driven individual, Jim regularly planned out his life.  He had his fifteen year BHAGs, then his five year goals, and then his top three one year goals that he used to guide his daily life.  Yet in the midst of all that organized planning, Rochelle said to him, "Jim, I notice that you are a rather undisciplined person."  Obviously, that shocked Jim.  However, she continued,  "Your genetic energy level enables your lack of discipline.  Instead of leading a disciplined life, you lead a busy life."

She then challenged him to what Jim now calls the 20-10 assignment. "It goes like this: Suppose you woke up tomorrow and received two phone calls. The first phone call tells you that you have inherited $20 million, no strings attached. The second tells you that you have an incurable and terminal disease, and you have no more than 10 years to live. What would you do differently, and, in particular, what would you stop doing?"

That assignment was the turning point in Jim's life.  In fact, it's what led him to make a right corner turn in his life and leave HP and take a job as a teacher/professor/researcher (since he is, as he says, "constitutionally unemployable"—I love that phrase)—and we are all the better for that choice.  Since that time, the most important question Jim asks of himself each year is, "What do I need to stop doing?" 

I love that question.  It has a very Pauline ring to it, doesn't it?  For Paul regularly argues that for change to occur, you first need to "take off" the old and "put on" the new.  Or, to put it in more mathematical terminology, "You need to subtract, before you can add."  Anyway you put it, the question that Collins asks is a question all of us, as leaders, need to regularly ask, "What do I need to stop doing, that I'm currently doing, so that I can focus more of my time and energy on the things that matter most and will create the greatest impact over the course of my life and time?"

So how are you doing?  If you were to do an inventory of your time, what percentage of your day or time, would you say, is spent on doing those things that matter most?  That have the greatest impact?  That you're passionate about? That fit your genetic encoding?  If, according to Collins, you're spending less than 50% of your time in those areas, then your "Stop Doing" list, may be the most important list you could make this year—or today!  In fact, don't go to bed tonight without making one up.

Leadership Capacity: The Biggest Hindrance to the Advancement of the Kingdom

Yesterday I mentioned that I was pursuing my Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership because I believe that the greatest hindrance to the advancement of the kingdom of God (apart from spiritual factors like prayer, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, spiritual warfare, etc.) is the lack of leadership capacity in those who currently lead our churches.  That's a rather bold claim so let me explain what I mean.

In Exodus 22:27-31, Moses quotes God saying.

“I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. “I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the River. I will hand over to you the people who live in the land and you will drive them out before you."

In other words, God promised the Hebrew people that He was going to give them an incredible gift, a promised land, but He could not do that all at once.  Why?  Because they didn't have the capacity at that point in time to be able to handle all that God wanted to give them.  Instead, he said, "Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land."  They could have had all night prayer meetings, organized mass media campaigns, fasted for 40 days, had a weekend worship fest, etc. and still God would not have given them all of the promised land.  It had nothing to do with spiritual issues.  They simply lacked the capacity to handle that much land.  It is this passage that has led me to what I call "Capacity Theory", which simply stated goes like this:

"God blesses us in direct relationship to our capacity to handle whatever it is that we seek to be blessed with."

This theory handles just about every area of life: from relationships to finances and from career options to athletics.  God cannot give us more than we can handle or it will be wasted and cause even greater problems.

Likewise, in the church today, God cannot bless us with more people than we can handle.  If a pastor can only handle 120 people, God will not entrust him with 300 people.  If a pastor cannot handle 300 people, then God will not entrust him with 500 people.  And if a pastor cannot handle 3000 people, God will not entrust him with 5000.  God always blesses us (and our organizations) just a little beyond our capacity to handle whatever he blesses us with so that we'll trust Him.  But He does not entrust us (normally) with an amount far beyond our capacity because to do so would be foolish (which is something God does not do).

I'll follow up on this concept in the days to some, but for now, may I encourage you to just change the question you've been asking yourself,  Instead of asking, "How can we grow?", maybe a better question would be, "How can we increase our capacity to handle the blessing God already desire to give us?"  God already wanted to give the Hebrew people the promised land, but He knew he couldn't because they didn't possess the capacity to handle it.  Likewise, God already wants to bless your church with more people (remember, He wants none to perish), but He cannot do so until you possess the capacity to handle the people he wants to bless you with.  Hence, my claim that the greatest hindrance to the advancement of the kingdom is the lack of leadership capacity.  The better we as church leaders become at this thing called the leadership, the more God can bless us with the people He already wants to entrust to our care.  How about that for a life-changing belief?

There is No Success Without Discipline

Have you ever been disappointed because you had a great dream, but it just never seemed to materialize?  Well, if you have, then you know the reality of the statement above, "There is No Success Without Discipline." It doesn't really matter what area of life you're talking about.  If you're trying to lose weight and get in shape or you're trying to get a good grade in a class, there is no success without discipline.  If you're trying to overcome a continual sin problem or trying to get out of debt, there is no success without discipline.  If you're trying to master a new language or trying to learn how to juggle, there is no success without discipline.  Any way you add it up, there is no success without discipline.

So, why do we keep thinking we can grow great churches without learning to develop incredible discipline?  I don't know if you took my challenge to rate yourself on my post about ranking success factors [link], but Terry Storch did—and was even so bold as to list his ranking on his blog [link].  Now, if you're not familiar with Terry, he's the COO/CTO at Fellowship Church in Dallas.  In fifteen years, FC has grown to at least 19,000 (give or take a few thousand).  So, when Terry gives a ranking, he's speaking from a vantage point few of us have.  So look at how he ranks FC on Tom Peter's four success factors.

        Strategy    Systems    Passion    Execution
FC       5%           20%        35%        40%

Notice what he gives the highest rating to.  You got it!  Discipline/Execution.  Like I said, there is no success without discipline.  FC has done an incredible job because they have a bias toward action.  They decide quickly on a course of action and then fastidiously stay focused on it.  Far too many of us spend lots of times coming up with lots of ideas, but never fully implementing them.  Great churches think differently.  They execute with precision.  Why?  Because they know, there is no success without discipline.

So, where are you falling short on the discipline side?  How much further along do you think you would be if you fully implemented what you already have on the drawing board?  Note: I'm not against new ideas (I'm a dreamer by nature), but the principle is worth wresting with. Why?  Because there is no success without discipline.  So, where do you need to exercise more discipline in leading your church?  As Larry Bossidy might say to us, it's execute, execute, execute.

P.S.  And don't forget to apply this to the other areas of your life as well!!

There is No Growth Without Loss

Every now and then, if you're at all like me, you'll hear a quote where you just think, "I wish I had said that."  In other words, you'll hear a statement that so clearly captures what you've thought or experienced that you just want to stand up and cheer it.  "Yes!!!"  "Yes!!!"  "Exactly!!"  Well, that happened to me yesterday.

I was on my way to BWI to catch a flight to Minneapolis for the quarterly Board of Directors meeting of the EFCA, when I heard an old Rick Warren line that so captured the essence of what we, as change agents, have to deal with all of the time that I just had to pass it along to you.  So, here it is.

"There is no growth without change.  No change without loss.  And no loss without grief."

It doesn't matter what the change is that you want to make.  Regardless of whether you want to change the structure of your church or the color of the bathroom walls.  Whether you want to change up your staff team or a ministry.  Whether you want to change the name of your church or the way you do church.  Whether you want to change the order of service or the style of preaching.  Whether you want to change the way you do pastoral care or the way you run your small groups.  Whether you want to change the name of your "bulletin" or you want to change the database your church is using.  Whether you want to change the way people get their announcements into your bulletin or the times when you actually have your meetings.  Whether the change is big or small, if you are going to make a change, you had better be prepared—there will be some loss and there will be some grief.  It is only natural (and it probably doesn't have anything to do with you).  Every church (in fact, every organization) has the same thing happen to them.  To create growth, you will need to make some changes and those changes Will lead to some loss and grief.

However, that does not mean that you and I should surrender to them.  As leaders, our job is to lead our people  somewhere.  If we only do what we've already been doing, we can only get what we've already got.  We are where we are because of what we've done in the past.  If we could get to the next level by continuing to do what we've already done, we would be there.  But we're not.  Because the only way to grow is to change—and all growth involves change.  However, with that change will come loss and grief.  So don't be surprised by it.  When it arises, just remember,

"There is no growth without change.  No change without loss.  And no loss without grief."

What you're experiencing as a change agent is only natural.  So, don't give up. Hang in there.  Because what you're fighting for is worth the fight!  The advancement of God's kingdom is always worth a few scars!

Are You a Leader Who Teaches or a Teacher Who Leads?

I just had an article published on this critical issue in the recent edition of the EFCA Today magazine.  You can read the whole magazine [link] or just download the pdf Are You a Leader Who Teaches or a Teacher Who Leads?  If you are a teacher first and foremost, you can't afford to not read this article.  This observation came from observing what I call"Hyper-Growth" churches versus "Growing" churches versus "Stagnant" churches.  It's a critical distinction that can radically affect your church.  So go ahead.  Download the article and then wrestle with it.  I haven't heard anyone else talk about this distinction, but it sure explains a lot of things.  Hope you enjoy it! 

Ranking Success Factors

Everyone has their favorite "gurus" (or people they like to listen to or take advice from).  One of my favorites is Tom Peters.  I know.  I know.  He's a "business guy" (but remember, a lot of church life is business).  Yes, he's arrogant at times (but then again, most leaders are—at times).  And yes, he's a little off the wall (but then again, so are most creative/innovative/insightful/change agents).  But, what I appreciate the most about Tom is that he's brilliant.  He makes me think new thoughts and challenges me to see things differently.  Plus, he also happens to keep one of my favorite blogs, tompeters.com, where he just happens to make all of his Power Point slides available for free.  Not bad.

Well, this evening, I was running through his slides from a presentation he just did in Kiev, when I came across a slide that had the following information (the slide didn't import well).

Importance of Success Factors by Various "Gurus"/Estimates by Tom Peters

                     Strategy        Systems        Passion        Execution

Porter            50%                20%                 15%            15%

Drucker         35%                 30%                15%            20%

Bennis            25%                20%                30%             25%

Peters            15%                20%                35%              30%

Now, I don't know if those numbers mean a whole lot to you, but they do to me.  Let me explain.  If you've been following my blog lately, you know that I've been talking a lot about systems.  But, what Tom has pointed out, quite convincingly, is that just having great people and great systems is not enough.  There are two other categories that ought to be added into the mix, "Passion" and "Execution".  In other words, if we have great people and great systems in place, but those people don't have a passion for what they're doing (i.e. a compelling vision that moves them) or they're not executing well (i.e. not following through well), then we still end up falling short.  That's brilliant.  Great people and great systems are not enough. In fact, in Tom's book, they're less important than passion or execution.  Now, there's a thought!

So why don't you try this.  Give yourself and your church a grade on each of those four criteria.  How would you score your organization/church/business on its people? Its systems? The passion of your people?  And  their execution?  Where are you strong?  Where are you weak?  And what needs to change to make sure all four of these issues are cranking for you and your church/organization/business.  Two out of four is not enough.  But even more importantly, how are you and your people doing on the passion and execution side of things.  Tom's challenge to you and to me is to make sure they get their rightful place in our planning discussions.  So let me ask you one last question, "When was the last time you and your staff talked about your passion grade (and the passion grade for your people)?"

Focus on What You're For, More than What You're Against

Last week, someone sent me a blog post against Rick Warren because he was writing an article for Ladies Home Journal.  I couldn't believe it. Once again I thought, "There we go again. Shooting our own."  Personally, I thought it was incredible that a Christ-follower was invited to write a regular column for a "secular" magazine.  The next day, I got an e-mail about someone who has a website against our denomination, the Evangelical Free Church of America.  Once again I thought, "Don't Christians have something better to do than criticize one another?"  And, as some of you know, last week I had all kinds of people reading way too much into an innocent post on "Don't Keep Your Staff Guessing."  Which, once again left me asking, "Why are so many Christians so prone to find the negative in anything they read or hear?"

This always amazes me.  For a group of people who claim to follow Christ, I am regularly shocked at how Christians treat one another, especially in public.  The command to love one another seems to be a missing command in American Evangelicalism.  I remember talking with Doug Murren about this several years ago and Doug told me that when he was at Eastside Foursquare, he would regularly try to dissuade Christians from other churches from joining Eastside.  Why?  Because he said, "Almost all of my problems at Eastside came from Christians.  People who came to Christ at Eastside, loved our church.  But people from other churches were always trying to change Eastside or
complaining about how we weren't meeting their needs or doing things the way they wanted them to be done."  In other words, they were the quickest to be negative.  But why?

Well, while there are lots of reasons why, one of them may be because there are so many preachers who preach in a negative way.  In other words, they argue more for what they are against, than what they are for.  Over time then, an unintended consequence is that they end up creating a negative environment which invariably leads to creating
negative people.

A much better option is to focus more of our time and energy on what we are for.  A positive preaching environment creates more positive people.  However, it does take more work to be a positive preacher.  It's a whole lot easier to say, "Homosexuality is wrong!",  than it is to explain why a deeply committed marriage between a man and a woman is so much better.  It's a whole lot easier to say, "Rick Warren is wrong!", than it is to suggest why someone thinks their concept of the Christian life is what people should be shooting for.  It's a whole lot easier to say,"They're wrong!", than it is to say, "There is a better way and this is that way."  You see, it's a whole lot easier to be against something, than it is to be for something.  But, in the end, we end up producing what we focus on.  Positive preachers produce positive people.  Negative preachers produce negative people.  So, which do you prefer?  If you want to produce people who are more likely to follow Jesus' command to love one another, then you may want to focus your preaching on the positive side of the equation.  It will take more work.  But I think you'll like the difference!

P.S.  This principle ought to also be reflected in our marketing.  Personally, I dislike it when a church says, "Come experience the difference!"  Or, "We have the best _________."  Or "Tired of lame music and pathetic preaching? Come to [our church] where the music rocks and the preaching excites."  Why do we have to be negative towards one another?  Couldn't we say the same thing by saying, "Looking for Music that Rocks and Preaching that Excites? Come visit [our church]" Just a thought.  Okay,another thought.

Don't Tie Your Organizational Structure to Scripture

Larry Osborne, from North Coast Church, best known for creating the video venue movement, is a brilliant thinker and church leader.  I have the privilege of meeting with him and some of the other large church leaders in the Evangelical Free Church of America every March in southern CA.  Year after year, as I review my notes, I find that I have more of Larry's quotes than anyone else's (of course, it may be that he talks more than any of the rest of us.  Ha! Ha!).  But one of the things he said this year, that resonated with my intuitive thoughts on the following subject, was this.

"Never tie your church's organizational structure to Scripture."

That's brilliant.  Why?  Because if you tie your organizational structure to Scripture and then have to change your organizational structure (which all growing churches have to do), then you have a problem.  Did Scripture change?  Or did your interpretation of Scripture change? 

Let's be honest.  There are all kinds of organizational structures out there for churches.  Whole denominations have radically different organizational structures.  Individual churches have differing organizational structures.  Even the writers of the New Testament have differing views on organizational structures.  Some churches have overseers.  Some have elders.  Some have elders and deacons.  Some have deacons.  Some have a single leader.  Others have multiple leaders.  And the list goes on and on.  Are the Baptists right?  Or the Lutherans?  Or the Presbyterians?  Or what about Willow Creek in Chicago vs. Fellowship Church in Dallas vs. North Coast Church in San Diego vs. Southeast Christian in Louisville?  Or what about a church of 200 vs. a church of 400 vs. a church of 800 vs. a church of 1200 vs. a church of 2000 vs. a church of 5000 vs. a church of 10,000 vs. a church of 20,000.  I think you get the point.

What we can agree on is that churches need to have godly leadership and accountability.  How that is parceled out in each church at each stage of its development is up for grabs.  There is no perfect organizational structure that is good for every church in every place for every stage of its life.  So, don't make the mistake of tying your organizational structure to Scripture.  Tie the need for godly leadership to Scripture.  Tie the need for structure to Scripture.  Tie the need for accountability to Scripture.  But, do not, in Larry's words, "Tie your organizational structure to Scripture."  If you'll avoid that trap, you'll end up agreeing with me—Larry Osborne is one brilliant guy! IMHO