Developing Your Discernment

Fred Smith asked the musicians of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra to name the most effective conductor. The conductor they named won hands down. They were asked why he was chosen and the answer was, “He could anticipate when you were about to make a mistake and keep you from making it.” He had discernment. Smith says that he has known many excellent leaders who were not given the gift of discernment. They could not read people. They depended on management skills and organization. Those that are blessed with some discernment could develop significant sensitivity and intuition. Smith’s thought is “If I could read my people correctly, I could make the most of their productivity and minimize their mistakes.” Smith writes, “Words are the windows to the mind.” In using discernment, first, you have to make sure you understand the meaning of words, both dictionary and colloquial. Slang is part of colloquial listening. Second, you must listen to the selection of words. Word choice discloses several things, including a person’s reasoning ability, his prejudices and desire to impress. The use of words and accents also gives a glimpse into someone’s past. People can have a public vocabulary different from their private. Sometimes they let a private word slip into the public expression, and that opens a window into the person’s thought process. Also it is important to notice the manipulation of words. You must be able to hear what they don’t say and listen for the tone, pace and rhythm. www.christianitytoday.com/global/printer.html?/le/1999/spring/912086.html

Walking in Step

In this article Ben Merold lists four elements that he feels are necessary for a leadership team to work together well. The first is prayer. This establishes with his leaders that no decision will be made until they first hold a prayer meeting. The team allows 20 to 45 minutes for prayer at the beginning of their meetings. The finding is there is a great difference between praying for God’s guidance in their decisions and making decisions and then asking God to bless them. The second element is fellowship. If elders and staff cannot be friends socially, it is a mistake to believe they can be friends in the decision-making process. It is necessary to create opportunities for fellowship among the leadership team. The third element is compassion. Overseer, one of the words translated as elder, can be defined as looking over with compassion. In developing a caring congregation, it is necessary to have a compassionate leadership. A caring congregation is concerned about evangelism and edification. More importantly, compassionate leading suggests that the leader will be one that desires to lead and not control. The fourth element is vision. Leaders must know where they are going. Too many leadership teams do not know where they are and where the church is positioned in the larger context. They may know the church’s average attendance, but not know how the attendance is distributed among age groups. It hinders them from knowing their ability to provide for future needs or take advantage of present opportunities. Ben Merold is senior minister with Harvester Christian Church in St. Charles, Missouri. www.christianitytoday.com

Surprised by Addiction These ministers faced their compulsions—and stayed in ministry. John W. Kennedy

John W. Kennedy discusses different forms of addiction and different pastors who were caught in some form of addiction but survived the process of healing to continue in ministry even when the form of ministry may have changed.

It is bold for a congregation to accept the pastor’s addiction and help them overcome it and return to vital ministry. It was refreshing that a congregation would reject the pastor’s resignation and hold him accountable taking over his role of ministry while he was in recovery. All believers should help each other in this way. As a leader Kennedy indicated that the pastor should be transparent in this situation where he had fallen and was healed, but also realizing that the strains of ministry where the pastor is isolated and held to a unrealistic standard is the real problem with pastors when they made choices which causes them to become addicted to something.

Kennedy also discussed that there needs to be a trustworthy place for pastors to go and receive help from addictions where they are not judged but helped and having people around them to walk with them through healing. We as pastors in the making need to be aware of those areas in our lives where we are susceptible to a problem in our lives where, if left in the dark, or if we become isolated, it could become an addiction which could derail our lives and ministry. We need to be aware of places to go when we realize we have a problem in our lives and get help early on rather than waiting for the addiction to gain complete control. I believe there is a point where a person knows the next step could take them on the downward spiral.

Post-Denominational?

In this short video Brian McLaren talks about denominations (short is an understatement, but regardless of the length I think he raises a good point to get many of us thinking). In the ages of the MP4, McLaren thinks denominations, right now, are in the LP record business. “They need to have a radical change in identity to say we are in the music business, and are not committed to a medium as much as we are to a mission.” This, for McLaren is the most important thing that is needed if we are going to see denominational transformation.

I think that McLaren raises a good point. For those of us who are planning on being leaders in a denominational church we must ask whether or not we are more committed to denominational distinctives or to a larger narrative. This is perhaps the single most important question people in denominations need to ask. It is my fear that if we side with the agenda of our denominations we will run the risk of become increasingly irrelevant. Regardless the position that one takes, for denominations to be transformed something must change. Whether a sort of post-denominationalism is needed or not we must ask these hard questions.

We Are Family

As Christian leaders, we often find ourselves so driven and committed to helping and serving others, that we lose sight of those to whom we are the most responsible. Brian Haynes’ wife approached him years back and told him that while he was shepherding everyone else, he was losing his family. His commitment to the church had usurped his commitment to his family. Haynes makes the interesting statement that the command in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 was not overridden or made null and void because of Matthew 28:18-20. Deuteronomy 6 is the command to instruct your children and Matthew 28 is the Great Commission. Our call to our family has not been negated due to our call to preach to the world. If was at this point that a massive shift took place within his church. They decided that they would seek to find a path of convergence for family and ministry. There had to be a common path that those who were involved with the church were being equipped as well as given the time to help nourish, shape, and instruct their families. This is part of their understanding of life and ministry. It is the two-sided coin that cannot be divided. They have decided to allow the family to be primary disciple-makers and the church comes alongside of them. This is the way that it should be. The church is to come alongside of those in need, but it was never meant to be a replacement for the family. Are they right in the family the center of disciple making?

The Leadership Plan Is Nathan McWherter

Brandon Hatmaker talks about whether we equip people to live on mission or do we just talk about it.

The church is

The church does what is

The church organizes what it does

The church is really defined by the things that we do and the organizational structure forces what we end up doing. So if the church is not structured to do something then they really aren’t that thing no matter what they say that they are. When you say you want to equip people to do the ministry you need to set up the churches structure to give time money and position to the mission. If you say you want to help the poor and you start to create a structure that reflects that, the process causes you to look at the what and the where and the how. It makes you donate resources to that mission and you become effective.

When I think about leadership in response to that it is healthy to look at what you do, what you spend your time on, and compare it to what you are supposed to be doing or what your personal mission statement is and you realize that you might need to restructure your resources. How are you going to live out your mission, when are you going to do it, and how are you going to spend resources of time energy and money to achieve that Goal.

Your Leadership Plan is

Your Leadership Plan does what it is

Your Leadership Plan organizes what it does

7 killers for Charismatic Leadership

This quarter we’ve talked a lot about charismatic leadership. There are some leaders who just seem to attract others to them. When this leader is excited about a new project, he or she is able to get those around them excited as well. In the book Laws of Charisma, Kurt Mortensen describes 7 charisma killers. These seven behaviors have a way of stealing both a leaders charisma and ability to influence others. The seven charisma killers are 1. talking too much, 2. showing how much you know, 3. getting too friendly too fast, 4. getting too comfortable too fast, 5. proxemics (not respecting personal space), 6. being one sided with you facts, and 7. arguing or trying to prove you are right. While this list certainly isn’t exhaustive, these are 7 behaviors that can definitely steal a leader’s ability to influence and receive respect from others. I really like number 6. If a leader is trying to bring correction to someone on their team, and they’re only focusing on one side, the person receiving the correction will simply not feel heard. A leader gains credibility with a team member when they are able to display that they understand what the person has been going through, or understand the situation that the team member is currently in. Steam rolling someone and not acknowledging the existing circumstances, problems, etc. of a situation will cause someone to check out fast. As we acknowledge the good things that our team members are doing, they are then more likely to receive correction well.