towards leadership and culture

Have you ever stopped working on a project because you didn’t have the right tool? My drill died the other day and I found myself canceling a weekend project to build some shelves. The truth? I could have used a hammer. What I lack for tools Gianni Luminati lacks for proper instruments. The difference is that Gianni made it happen with the materials he already had. You have got to check this out.

Take a look around. I bet you have all that you need to get started. I bet that you have all you need to hit a home run! Our vision for ministry cannot begin with the proper tools. This is a backwards way to lead the church. Good ideas come long before the resources needed to pull them off.  A little creativity goes a long ways. What projects have you been waiting to start?

Helping other people succeed can make me feel like a loser. I am competitive by nature and have plans to take over the world some day. It can be difficult for me to put others first. It is important for me to understand that helping other people succeed is far more powerful than my own success.

You and I are a limited resource. I hate to admit it but I can only accomplish so many things in a given day. When we enlist the help of others we can increase the potential output exponentially. The scary part is that it no longer becomes our output and is the output of others. I think this is why so many of us have a hard time empowering others to succeed: we lose control. The success is no longer accomplished how we would have done it. The end result may be different than we imagined it and the worst part: we may not get any credit!

How is this process more powerful? It sounds like a losing proposition.  Those of us who serve the church cannot make decisions based on our own egos. It is not about you. You and I must realize that we are serving a purpose that is far greater than ourselves.

If your church is going to make a difference then you need to help other people win. You propagate the life changing story of Jesus in this way: by teaching and training up others. Remind yourself that serving in the church should never bring glory to your own name. Serving the church means serving others. This service is where we can find value being the first loser.

Think Orange discusses the disconnect that exists between the church and the family. The premise of the book is simple: red and yellow make orange, therefore think orange. OK, it is not exactly that simple. Reggie Joiner paints the church yellow and the family red; something about halos and hearts (or something like that). The important part is how he challenges families and ministry leaders to consider each other when raising up children. He does a good job at highlighting strengths of orange thinking citing Biblical, historical and social studies.

This is not Joiner’s doctoral thesis on family ministry. It is, however, a useful guide to help you start thinking about family ministry. The second half of the book offers some helpful images of family ministry that would be useful for any church. If any of us could begin to implement some of the concepts that Joiner and his team have captured we would be in a better place.  I have brought some of Joiners ideas to my team already. This book is well worth your time… but dont read it alone. Make sure that everyone in your church who works with babies to eighteen year olds gets their hands on this book. It is really that good.

What about your church? Does your church think orange? Is the family regarded as one unit or do you ministries take a narrow view of children and students?