Risky Business: Part 2

Last week we started talking about how our need for “sureness” often collides with a God who can ask us to take incredible risks at times. I told you I wanted to highlight three instances I had found where this collision occurred. We started with a story about Moses that taught us that the proof we want of our success often comes after we act on God’s word and character.

Our second story actually ties in to Moses’ encounter with God. When Moses asks God who he is, one of God’s responses is, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” By saying that, he was telling Moses, “If you want to know who I am and how I work, remember the stories of these guys.” That’s exactly where the scene of our second collision takes us, to the story of Abraham and Isaac.

Abraham was far from perfect, but he’s remembered for his faith. For whatever reason, God chose to engage Abraham and promised to make him the beginning of a great nation. Of course, this was ridiculous because Abe and his wife physically could not have kids. Decades later, (and after many bad decisions on Abraham’s part) God made good on his promise and gave Abe one child: a son named Isaac. Beautiful story, right? And they lived happily ever after, a good time was had by all, so on and so forth. Not quite. One day out of nowhere, God interrupts Abe and Isaac’s game of catch. He says, “Hey Abe, like this kid I gave you? I can see how much he means to you…. Soooo, I’m gonna want you to kill him.” What?!

The Bible doesn’t tell us if Abraham says anything back, but you can imagine his jaw dropping when he hears this. It doesn’t make any sense. God had singled Abraham out of the population of the earth to be his friend. Why would a friend tell another friend to kill their child. And further, God said that he would give Abraham tons of descendants through Sarah. At this point, it had been a little over 25 years since that promise and Abraham is finally seeing that promise fulfilled. The vision God gave Abraham hinged on Isaac having children to continue Abraham’s legacy. God wanted to snuff that out before Isaac even got married?! Abe probably had questions like these swirling around in his head, but here’s what steadies him: he had gotten to know God’s character enough to know that this story had to end well. So he does what God asked him.

He sets out with Isaac, two servants, and goes to a mountain God had instructed him to go to. The entire trip, Abraham watches Isaac walk ahead and is probably trying to figure out how this is all going to go down. Not having the answer doesn’t turn him around or stop him from continuing on. When they near the mountain, Abe turns to his servants and tells them this statement of his faith, “You stay here. The rest of this journey is for me and my son. We will both come back after we have worshiped the Lord.” He gives Isaac the wood and he carries the knife: the killing instrument. Somewhere in their ascent up the mountain, Isaac makes a discovery. “We don’t have a lamb to sacrifice,” he tells his dad. Abe says, “Don’t worry, son. God will provide.”

They arrive at the top and Abraham sets up the altar. Then he ties up Isaac. At this point, the lights probably go on for Isaac, but he let’s his dad lay him down on the altar and says nothing. Both men, knowing that these are the final moments of Isaac’s life, do not complain, bargain, or seek a way out. Abe knows what God had told him to do, sets his will on it, grits his teeth, and raises the knife.

At that moment an angel appears and stops him. Abraham, both bewildered and relieved, looks around and sees that God has provided a ram to sacrifice instead of his son. This is the part that I love. The teller of this story stops right there and explains, “And that is why they say, ‘On the mountain of the Lord, it will be provided’.” That statement tells us that Abe and Isaac’s story spread, and so did a truth about walking with God. Sometimes it requires you to act out of trust in the character of God, even when you don’t have the answers to some very important questions. The thing that you need the most will often only be provided after you’ve shown your resolution to trust God even when he doesn’t make sense. God sees that Abraham loves him and believes in him this much, and his affection gushes out over Abe. He is so emotionally moved that he can’t hold back. Twice, he explains that it is because Abraham was willing to sacrifice his own son that he will make him great on the earth and a blessing to everyone. As history unfolds, we come to understand fully why God asked Abraham to do this unthinkable thing and why it meant so much to God when Abraham obeyed. Abraham couldn’t have known it, but thousands of years later God would lead his son, Jesus, up on a mountain, lay him down on an altar and sacrifice him, because it was the only way that he could make a sacrifice big enough to atone for the sins of everyone who ever lived. We can see that the thought of doing this was already breaking God’s heart and he just wanted to share that with his good friend, Abraham.

So when you are bewildered by something God has asked you to do or just can’t see how it’s going to work out, remember three things:

1. Your story is bigger than you. After you make it through a difficult time, you are going to have something to tell people, and they will talk about it.
2. When you don’t have the answers, act out of trust in the character of God. You will find that as you prove your resolve to trust him, he will provide what you need the most.
3. God wants you to know him as a person. The only way to know someone is to experience life with them. Life isn’t just laughter and good feelings. Heartache, anger, sorrow, rejection, and loss are a big part of life, and God knows them very well. Sometimes God doesn’t want to teach you a lesson or make everything work out okay in that circumstance. Sometimes he just wants you to know him a little bit better. Maybe the profound answer you are looking for in a difficult or confusing situation is just that God feels that way too. It’s wonderful to share in someone’s joy, but it’s an deep honor to share in their sorrow.

We’ll be leaving the country on Sunday, but I’ll try to post our last “collision” before then, so stay tuned. Here’s a hint, it also ties in with Moses. In the meantime, I’d love to hear what you think about this story. What have you learned about who God is through your painful and confusing experiences in life?

Risky Business: Part 1

I would hazard a guess that you and I approach our big decisions in the same way. We protect ourselves from failure by attaining the knowledge and resources we need before acting. We want to be sure of the outcome before we take the risk. It gives us control. Anybody with a hint of common sense would make their decisions that way. Go with that method and it’s all fine and dandy, until you factor in a God who seems to be a little reckless with the risks he asks us to take at times. Then what do you do?

My wife and I have been reading through the stories of the Old Testament recently and have stumbled across a recurring collision between this ingrained need for “sureness” and the activity of God in our lives. I want to highlight three of those collisions. One of them is actually sort of humorous. Let’s start with that one.

Most people are at least a little familiar with the story of Moses. If you’re not, check out the first chapters of the book of Exodus. We’re catching up with him after he’s fled Egypt, where the Hebrews were slaves, and is living comfortably as a shepherd in the land of Midian. At this point Moses probably thinks he’s done with Egypt and isn’t planning to visit again. Then one day, he’s out watching the sheep and sees a bush that’s on fire, but is not burning up. He gets closer, and the God that Abraham knew starts talking to him.

He tells him, “My heart is moved for my people. I haven’t forgotten them. I want to set them free and guess what, I want you to be my representative to Pharaoh.” Moses looks around and says, “Who? Me?! You’ve gotta be kidding! I don’t have the credentials or the resume for this kind of thing!” God says, “Nope, you’re the man I want.” And this is the part I love. While Moses is grabbing his inhaler, ’cause God’s probably given him an asthma attack with this idea, God says, “Look, let me give you some proof that I’m going to be with you in this.” Here’s what he says, literally.

“I will be with you. This will be the proof that I am sending you: After you lead the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship me on this mountain.”

I can just see Moses going silent for a minute trying to figure out if he’s heard it right. And then going, “Are you kidding me?! You’re telling me to march straight into a king’s palace and tell him, ‘God’s given me the authority to take your entire workforce out of the country for good’. Mind you, I killed a man the last time I was in Egypt and probably still have a warrant out for my arrest!” Moses stops to take a breath so he doesn’t start hyperventilating again. Then he continues, “…and the big proof that’s supposed to make me feel confident about all this is that after, not before, but AFTER, I put my reputation and my life on the line, I’m going to be standing here with the Israelites thanking you?!!!” And then God goes, “…Yep, that about sums it up… Whadya say?” Okay, that’s not in the Bible, but that’s how I probably would have responded. How bout you?

It seems that, to God, this reassurance should have been all that Moses needed to march right back to Egypt. Of course Moses wanted a little more convincing. He kept lobbing up excuses and God blasted each one out of the sky, patiently choosing not to let Moses miss out on the adventure.

The point here is that there are times in which we recognize a problem and know what we should do, but we just don’t know how it’s ever going to work out. We wait for a sign or for enough money or for a certificate that says we have the knowledge to undertake the task. Most times, the right choice is to be practical and line those things up first. Then there are other times, when you can sense that something bigger is at work behind the scenes. It’s at those times when, just like Moses, God is offering you the opportunity to take a risk based on his word and character alone. It’s in those times when he’s saying, “I will be with you. And here’s your proof: after you make it through this, you’ll worship me.” And it’s really no proof at all, but it’s all you need.

We’ll talk more in a few days, but I’d love to hear what you think about all this. Have you ever faced a decision that you felt totally unprepared for? How did you make your choice?

The Two Most Powerful Words – Part 3

In our last post, I wrote down a couple of symptoms of someone who doesn’t use the word “no” enough. I hope you took the time to take an honest assessment of your current situation, because the power of “no” is largely misused. Use it right and you can bring focus and control to your life. How do you use it right? Here are three ways:

Prioritize: Focus and progress begin with priority. You’ve got to know what matters most to you when given a choice between two or more ways to spend your resources. I asked you to create a list when we were talking about the word “yes”. Go through that list and prioritize your goals and your gifts. Which ones matter the most to you? Now carve out some time for those “number ones” on your calendar and don’t let anything get in the way of your plan.
Eliminate “Maybe”: A lot of us live our lives in the Bermuda Triangle of “Maybe”. Dreams get lost in “Maybe”. Relationships atrophy in “Maybe”. You don’t go to “Maybe” on vacation. You go to “Maybe” to disappear in confusion, insignificance, and apathy. If someone asks you if you can take on another project, don’t say “alright”, “I’ll see what I can do”, or “I guess so”. If you don’t think you’ll be able to do it well, just tell them “no”. Phrase it nicer, of course, but don’t hurt them by committing to something and then not following through. If your child is in the school play, don’t say “I’m gonna try”. Tell them “no”, if you are not going to be there. If you are dating and you know your relationship is not healthy, don’t keep telling yourself “maybe he’ll change” or “I’ll sleep with her, but I won’t have sex with her.” Say “no”. Once you begin to eliminate “maybe” and use the words “yes” and “no”, you’ll notice the sense of power and focus that you regain in your life.

Become a Person of One Mind: A lot of our stress in life comes from being in one place physically, but being in another place mentally. You are a finite being, you can only truly exist in one place at one time. This tip is about multitasking. I know, I know, you’re different. You can type an email, watch American Idol, and have a conversation with your friend about what’s going on in their life right now. Of course you can. The issue isn’t whether you can pull it off, the issue is whether you can be proud of the effort that you put into any of those things. Did that person you were talking to really get the best of your attention? Turn off the TV. Put down the cellphone. Shut the laptop. That’s not quality time. Try it. Do one thing at a time. You’ll find that focused time and attention will actually increase your results and your efficiency. Just choose one thing and attack it. Then move on to the next. As you do, fully immerse yourself in what you are doing and enjoy it.

The words “yes” and “no” have the power to create a life that matters; a life that is rich with memories, deep relationships, and fulfilling work. We just have to learn to use them rightly. “Yes” can open up possibilities when you are stuck in a rut. “No” can help you focus your resources and make progress in a consistent direction. The two most powerful words in existence are in your vocabulary and completely at your disposal. What are you going to do with them?

Missed your connection?

 This story is all too familiar: Pastor takes church; pastor fails to motivate congregation; pastor gets frustrated; congregation becomes ambivalent; pastor moves on; the story repeats until one day a new pastor takes over and then WOW! something wonderful happens.  The congregation gets excited, the church seems to come alive, grows and one good thing after another happens.

There is, perhaps, a very spiritual explanation for all these mini-failures.  The previous pastors were not called, maybe they weren’t listening to God, maybe they were called but not too that church. Of course there may be at least a little truth to these broad brush strokes, but as with all generalizations, getting to “reality” requires peeling back the layers and digging a little deeper.

In previous blogs we  have examined the dual components of vision:

• paint a picture of a new future
• leave some room for followers to add their part to the masterpiece

What we are talking about here are the pure mechanics of leadership. Casting of Vision being one of the 4 foundations to true leadership, however it is important to understand that the Character/Credibility combination  is so closely connected to the power of Vision Casting that they cannot be separated. 

There is an old adage that when you first take over an organization you should be careful not to make any changes in the early going.  When you do decide to act, any changes made should be incremental. The generally accepted wisdom is that “people resist change,” but that is only partly true.  Allow me to explain the adage and offer small  insight into why so many “called” people fail to make an impact after assuming the leadership role.  

 Most called people are energized by what they believe God has given them as a mission.  They arrive at their first pastoral assignment (or other organizational assignment) full of excitement and enthusiasm. The natural next step is to begin to frame the new group according to the leader’s vision, right?  Insisting on this approach will ultimately be seen as foisting that vision upon the established group, and will create natural resistance.  English novelist, Arnold Bennett commented, “Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.” Even if the established group believes the vision may be the correct one; awareness of the difficulty of change produces natural cautiousness.  Often, this subtle, or sometimes overt, resistance to a new vision is viewed by the fledgling leader, as resistance to God’s Himself.

What then is the answer to this dilemma?  First, remember that even a new vision is not without context.  The context is provided by the established group, and therefore the new leader must make a connection with that group for vision casting to be effective.   The only way to establish that connection is to tap into the deeply held beliefs of the established group.  Richard Daft, noted organizational researcher, points out that the beliefs of an organization will be reflected everywhere in their language, artifacts and rituals of the established culture.  While there are a broader set of beliefs that all Christians might hold, the social, cultural and intellectual beliefs are very group specific. Those beliefs are also deeply influenced by the combination of corporate history and current events

This means that the leader must learn more about the group, what they care about?; what community do they live in?; what cultural and social structures that have shaped their beliefs?    It is almost impossible for a new leader to cast effective vision for a group without that information.  The leader may hit upon it by accident, but is more likely to miss, offend and appear to be disconnected. Knowing the group is like knowing your travel itinerary. Imagine for second the futility of attempting to influence a plane that has already taken off.  You may have a ticket to Denver, but if you are in the New York terminal and the plane has left, your ticket (vision) doesn’t mean much.  You might be able to get on another plane, but that connection is lost.

When we say someone “connects” with us, we are literally saying, “they know me, they understand what makes me tick.”   If the new leader understands this, he/she finds a way to connect their personal calling with the deeply held beliefs of the group,  and is able to cast an effective vision for the future.  That vision is molded by the leader and given life and energy by the followers.  Leaders create followers, and they do so by connecting with them at a deep, almost subconscious level.  They understand their lives, what is important to them and how the new vision might play out in the role they play within the organization.

A great example of this happened in the corporate world about nine years ago.  Two executive scandals rocked CMS Energy, one of the largest energy companies in the world.  One was a round-trip trading scandal where energy futures were being bought and sold between two companies with the sole goal of inflating sales and transaction numbers.  Another, was blatant misstatements in the company’s prospectus that were overlooked by the cozy relationship with the auditing firm.  When the scandals broke almost simultaneously the resulting aftermath sent stock prices plummeting, and employee 401k’s lost half their value overnight.  The executives responsible were released with golden parachutes numbering in the millions, and the employees took the brunt of the damage.  These employees were not disloyal, but the  situation seemed to reward unethical behavior and caused serious distrust of executive staff.  The new interim CEO had a daunting task. He had been appointed by the board to take the reins of a company with disengaged employees, low stock values and wary investors.  Essentially, this was a company poised for disaster.

After taking the time to understand the situation, he held a series of town-hall style employee meetings.  There he announced the creation of ethics based policy changes.  He cast a vision for a new direction of the company based on honesty and integrity: with the market, with employees and with customers.  Employees responded to this effort with  agreement and intense effort, and the company began a turnaround which resulted in a restoration of most of its former value.  He managed to create a vision that was not based on profit or growth, because he believed by following the right path both of those things would result.  It was the deep distrust of the executive staff he addressed, and was building a vision of the future that was based on integrity. By doing so he reached out to the general populace and made the right connection.

The Two Most Powerful Words – Part 2

Well, I hope my last post had you turning the question over in your head, “what are the two most powerful words?”

The truth is, you are already in possession of the two most powerful words in existence (under the name of Jesus, of course). They are words that shape history, if used right. The funny thing is they are probably within the first 10 words that you ever learned. The first word I’m talking about is…. “yes“.

If you’ve watched the movies, “the Yes Man” or “Bucket List”, then you can understand the power in the word “yes”. “Yes” opens up possibilities. It seizes opportunity. Use “yes” when you want to throw yourself into an experience and come away with a story. Use the power of “yes” when you want to engage a new friend or meet a hurting person’s need.

I’m familiar with the word “yes”, because I’ve grown up in a “yes” family. My dad’s motto for us was always, “They’ve got to live before they die.” The word “yes” is the perfect solution for fear. Afraid of heights? Find a high dive and jump. Say “yes” to doing it and follow through. Afraid of living poor? Turn off cable for a month and give that money to a poor person. Want to learn how to dance? Enroll in a dance class today. Want to add a little more excitement to your marriage or family life? Don’t let it just remain a desire. Take the opportunity you have and say yes to doing something about it.

• Make a home movie
• Go hiking
• Go out for karaoke night

Want to be a part of God’s great commission? Invite someone who’s lost over for dinner just to spend time with them and hear their story.

The point is “yes” turns possibility and desire into reality.

So, before I tell you about the second word, why don’t we both start putting this into practice.

Let’s make a list of:

1. Fears
2. Gifts
3. Personal Goals
4. Family Goals
5. Occupational Goals
6. Ministry Goals

I’ll be posting my list up in the next few days. I’d love to share in your list as well.

Wanna take it a step further? Take this list and work out simple practical actions that you can do starting this week.

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