On Leading Well

Category: Leadership

  • God Works When We Don’t

    Sabbath, noun, a period of rest.

    For the past 15 years I have enjoyed what I call “distance leadership” roles. Ministering over geographic and cultural distance taps into my gifts and passions. It also demands a lot of travel and emotional energy.

    In 2002 a number of challenges led to me to begin taking a regular weekly Sabbath. My goal was simple: no email, no phone, and no wristwatch for 24 hours each week. Since that time I’d say I’ve averaged about 35-40 good Sabbaths each year. Not perfect, but definitely profitable. I’ve also managed to squeeze in one or two “mini-sabbatical” weeks each year which have been devoted to reading, reflection and prayer.

    Last August the Lord showed me that my soul needs to take an extended rest from ministry. There’s a subtle temptation, almost unnoticeable, that creeps in when one is constantly positioned to help others enjoy Jesus: we can stop enjoying Jesus for ourselves. When this happens we can be in danger of drying up as a branch, or worse, losing our First Love. To combat this condition, most missions organizations provide for regular sabbaticals to refresh one’s soul. It might help to think of this period as an athlete looks at off-season. In off-season, athletes continue to work out and to cross-train, but their bodies enjoy a break from intense competition. It’s a chance for the body to recover and for the mind to gain new perspectives on its craft.

    Campus Crusade offers senior staff members one month of sabbatical for every four years served. Stunningly, very few people take this gift. We talk about how we long for rest, but we’re too busy to take it.

    In his eternal wisdom, God has provided for us regular periods of rest. It began with creation (“on the seventh day, God rested from his work.”) It continues throughout Scripture. Here are a few passages of the many that highlight our need for regular celebration and rest:

    • See! The Lord has given you the Sabbath. (Exodus 16:29)
    • Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Exodus 20:8)
    • Be still, and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)
    • And Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27)
    • So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. (Hebrews 4:9)
    • Draw near to God, he will draw near to you. (James 4:8)

    In March I will be taking a one-month Sabbatical. My goal is simple: To draw near to Jesus in fresh, unhindered ways so I can experience fresh power and fruitfulness in the next season of ministry.

    This is a HUGE step of faith for me at this time. For the next 31 days I will not be answering any work-related email or phone calls. No ministry-related travel. No meetings. No trips to the office. Nothing. Nada. Everything has been placed in the capable hands of my Lord and my team. I am fairly confident the world will continue to spin without my help.

    It requires faith to believe God works even when we don’t. I’ve learned that in Scripture, and in life, Sabbath is not so much a day off, but a day with. It’s a time to be with the Lord and with special people who restore our passion for living and loving well.

    As the Lord prompts you, would you pray for me during March? Pray those verses above for me. Ask that Jesus would give me the discipline to wean myself from work, from Facebook and Twitter, and from other cultural white noise that clutters my soul. Pray that my Father the Vinedresser would prune me so that I could bear much more fruit. Ask that I would return on April 1 like Moses, whose face shone after he had been with God.

    Thanks, and feel free to take the rest of the day off.

    Suggested resources: The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan and Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership by Ruth Haley Barton.

  • 4 Great Links to Leading Relevant Change

    Howdy from Austin, Texas. This is God’s country. Last night I enjoyed some fantastic enchiladas at Trudy’s Texas Star Cafe with my old friend John Hand. Hard to believe we pledged a fraternity here 28 years ago. So much has changed as this classic college town has grown, no, exploded, from about 300,000 residents in 1980 to nearly 2 million today.

    Local t-shirts on sale everywhere capture the emotion of people locked in constant change: Keep Austin Weird.

    Each of us is living, loving and leading through constant change today. Here are four great links I came across in the past week that ignited my imagination and courage.

    1. Stand up (or sit down) for what’s right. Fifty years ago today four black college students changed their world by sitting down for lunch at an all-white lunch counter. Their action stoked a movement that still lives on today. USA Today story here.

    2. Relevant ministry is about meeting people’s real needs. Usually it begins by giving people what they are asking for now, not by continuing to offer them what worked for the last generation. The half-life of today’s student generation is about 9 months. Are we connecting? Read Russ Martin’s excellent blog post Student: I Want Video Clips.

    3. Thots on Change, the Sense of Urgency and the Long Haul of Cultural Transformation. Jay Lorenzen’s recent post distills wisdom from John Kotter (Harvard professor) and Michael Hyatt (CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers).

    The big idea: Urgency is an essential asset that must be created and re-created in the organization…. More often than not, small companies have a sense of urgency. Why? Because their very survival is at stake. If they don’t move quickly, they get squashed by larger, more established competitors.

    On the other hand, it is rare to find large companies that truly have a sense of urgency. Their circumstances rarely demand it. They can continue with business-as-usual and do pretty well. Nothing has to be done today or even this week. Nothing is really at stake—or so they think. Often, by the time they wake up, it’s too late.

    4. Are you a Linchpin for your organization? You don’t have to be the president or CEO to initiate, create opportunities for others and solve problems that aren’t necessarily in your job description. Here’ s a great interview with Seth Godin talking about his new book, Linchpin. I highly recommend listening to Part 1 of the interview (about 9 minutes). Big idea: Linchpins are the essential building blocks of great organizations. And in today’s world, they get the best jobs and the most freedom.

    Go for it!

  • Humility Stinks

    Humility stinks.

    Humility is one of those core virtues that we hate to learn but love to possess. That’s because learning humility is too often, well, humiliating.

    Last year provided many opportunities for me to grow in humility. A pointed quote from Mark Driscoll helped kick start the process: “When we preach the gospel, we must call sinners to repent of their sin and religious people to repent of their righteousness.”

    Here’s one way this plays out in my life. I’ve noticed that once I’ve been leading something for a while I develop a certain intuition or instinct about how things should be done and how people will respond in certain situations. That’s good. The bad part is that I can begin to look down on others who don’t possess that same sense of intuition, or don’t see the same problems I see, or those who aren’t moving at a fast enough pace, or… you get the idea.

    The Dead Giveaway

    When I begin looking down on others for whatever reason, I cluck. This cluck is something my mouth does involuntarily. It’s probably imperceptible to most people. But I know I’m doing it. It’s a disdainful smack that reeks of contempt. I hate to admit it. It’s not like I do it everyday, but it happens often enough that I realize it’s an issue of the heart. I’m telling you because this is a growth area for me. And it’s a bit humiliating.

    In the gospels Jesus spent a lot of time talking about people who clucked and looked down on others. He did not view them kindly. They were the Pharisees, the best leaders that organized religion had to offer. Jesus called them to repent of thinking their way was better than others. He called them to humility.

    The apostle Paul, a Pharisee of Pharisees who experienced God’s amazing grace, offered this cure for clucking:

    “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” (Romans 12:3)

    Where are you growing in humility (or humiliation)?