Before You Hire The Next Leader

I was reminded recently about the importance of leadership transitions in ministry. Many times a transition in leadership is performed based upon a prospective leader’s credentials, experience, and track record. While all three of these are helpful criteria to consider, there is something missing.

The missing ingredient is consideration of the prospect’s philosophy and vision as compared to the outgoing leadership. Assuming that your church or ministry wants to build on the outgoing leader’s work (I realize this isn’t always the case), a similar philosophy and vision are essential for the task!

Just think, if you hire someone based upon credentials, experience and track record, that may just mean they are the most qualified candidate to steer you away from your current direction.

Many churches have suffered from constantly changing vision over the course of multiple pastorates. While all of the visions and philosophies of the pastors may have been good, effective ministry is typically found among a consistent vision over the long run.

Most healthy churches possess multiple generations of people who have bought into the same vision. Although it may have been tweaked, revised, or improved over the years, the vision is the same.

Can you image the potential of a church whose members are all on the same page, working for the same goal utilizing the same strategy? When the youngest to the oldest all agree, things tend to progress more easily.

Of course, the alternative is a disaster: multiple generations gathering together with different values, visions, and philosophies for ministry. Sounds like a recipe for disaster, right? Actually, it sounds like many of the established churches I know.

That’s why I believe your ministry’s next leadership transition is crucial. There are many good men out there with great visions and philosophies of ministry. However, the one you need is the one who will carry on the vision already established –unless the vision needs a major course correction (that sounds like a great idea for a later blog post).

Here are some suggestions to help you make the next leadership transition a success:

1)   Define the present vision first. If nobody knows, that is a sign that you do not have a vision. If everybody knows, that is probably a sign that the vision is well communicated and powerful.

2)   Determine whether the members of the ministry agree the vision should remain the same. This is critical for churches and ministries who have been crippled by poor leadership or a faulty vision. Don’t be guilty of perpetuating a bad philosophy of ministry.

3)   If you determine the vision needs to change, spend ample time developing the new vision before requesting resumes. Candidates for the position need to know what you are looking for. Remember, they are just as vulnerable in this process as you are. Be fair to them by doing the hard work up front. Hiring an interim to help walk through this process may be wise.

4)   Choose your method for selecting a new leader only after you have solidified the vision. Don’t get the cart before the horse. Its too hard to reign in after it gains speed.

5)   Agree on questions regarding vision and philosophy that should be asked of every candidate. Further, list criteria, specific experiences, and traits that the leader will need to hold. If you don’t know what you are looking for on a resume, you will be impressed by almost anything.

Take it Home, Church!

Read the following list of Scriptural commands and ask yourself, “How well can I obey this commandment in a crowded Sunday morning worship service?”

  • Gal. 5:13 “serve one another”
  • Gal. 6:2 “carry each others’ burdens”
  • Col. 3:16 “teach and admonish one another”
  • Jam. 5:16 “confess your sins to each other and pray for each other”
  • 1 Pet. 4:9 “offer hospitality to one another”

It is true that you can serve others by passing out bulletins, keeping the nursery, or taking up the offering. But how are you going to serve the single mom who’s car is in need of repair or the man who lost his job last week?

And unless your worship gathering breaks out into a “testimony time” how are you going to carry others’ burdens? Chances are, you don’t even know about the marital struggles going on in the lives of the couple sitting next to you. People don’t normally talk about those kind of things in a large-crowd setting

Also, other than the pastor and a few teachers, who else has an opportunity to teach and admonish one another on Sunday morning?

What about “confess your sins to each other” and “pray for each other?” Isn’t it interesting that it doesn’t say “confess your sins to the pastor during the invitation?” But instead, it calls for transparency with each other.

And besides going out to eat after the service, when do you “offer hospitality to one another” on Sunday mornings?

God must intend for us to go beyond “Sunday Morning Christianity.” Don’t get me wrong, the corporate worship service is biblical and cannot be neglected. However, if Sunday Morning is all we have, it can become a way to mask the absence of true fellowship in Christ.

I think the early Church can give us some insight on addressing this issue. 
Acts 2:46-47 says, “And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

Did you notice the two meeting locations of the early Church? “Attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes.”

  • If you want a Church where people go beyond superficial traditions and serve each other at the deepest levels,
  • If you want a Church where we are free to be transparent and receive genuine concern and help for our burdens,
  • If you want a Church where everyone is equipped to counsel each other from Scripture,
  • If you want a Church where our sins will be prayed for and not gossiped about,
  • If you want a Church where people naturally want to spend time with each other,
  • If you want a Church where every member can obey the commandments of Scripture,

then the home is the key.

  • In a home, people find caring relationships.
  • In a home, real needs are met.
  • In a home, confession can be made openly.
  • In a home, intercession is made for each other.
  • In a home, God’s Word is studied and discussed.

Maybe that’s why Jesus went to the homes of Zacheus, Peter, Mary & Martha, Jairus, and others. 
When we open our homes, we are opening up our lives to one another.

Want to “bring it home?” Talk to your pastor about hosting a Bible Study in your house each week. (Pastors love to get these kinds of requests!) You might share with him your desire to create an atmosphere where people can discuss their life issues, share each others’ burdens, study the Word together, and serve each others’ needs.

And, if your pastor seems hesitant, just tell him you’ll have food and he’s invited!

Baptisms, Breakfast, and God’s Mission

This morning I enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in Nicaragua with my friends, Tami and Oscar. Oscar directs the mission work of the Baptist Missionary Association for this beautiful Central American country.

After our meal, we reminisced about experiences we have shared in the past through mission trips and other events. Our conversation went back to a mission trip that my church had taken before I became pastor. I knew the end of the story, but had no idea about the background of the story.

One of the mission churches in Nicaragua had scheduled a baptismal service during the week of our church’s visit. Oscar was in charge of the baptism.

Throughout the entire trip, Tami had been translating for Oscar so that our church’s mission team could understand what was going on.

The baptism was to take place in the river and would require Oscar to wade far into the water. Tami suggested that since Oscar would have to yell for her to hear what he was saying, that perhaps they shouldn’t translate that part of the service. After all, she explained, the team is made up of people who have already been baptized, so they would already understand what was going on. In spite of Tami’s suggestion, Oscar insisted the service be translated.

That’s the background that I didn’t know. Now, here’s the “rest of the story” as I experienced it.

The mission team returned home the same week I began as pastor. I remember a few months later having a conversation with one of the team members. He explained how even though he had placed faith in Christ and repented of his sin, he had never followed Christ in baptism.

As the new pastor of the church, I had no idea that he wasn’t a member of our congregation. Even more, I never would have imagined that he had not been baptized. He was highly involved in our ministries and enjoyed strong fellowship with our members.

During our conversation he explained that his hesitancy had been a result of his family. They were members of another denomination that does not hold to biblical views of grace and faith. He feared they would look down on his decision to leave the “family church.”

Then, he said something that, at the time, didn’t seem that significant to me. But after this morning’s conversation, it means a lot more.

He shared that God used the baptismal service in Nicaragua to change his heart. He said that Oscar’s words during the baptismal service about choosing to follow Christ no matter what others think opened his heart to being baptized.

To his wife’s surprise (she had been praying for him) he shared his desire for baptism with our church the next Sunday!

After hearing the story’s background, here’s what struck me this morning:

1)   Never assume that you know the status of everyone’s relationship with the Lord. Keep sharing the whole truth to the whole congregation.

2)   Being a part of God’s mission requires that we go out of our way to bridge cultural, linguistic, and logistical barriers –whether its translating a service, planting a new church in a new location, or dressing in a way that does not offend a culture. If it’s for the sake of the Gospel, it is worth it.

3)   God is always at work –even when we have no idea what He is doing. Of course, it’s always a delight when He gives us tiny glimpses behind the curtain of His sovereignty –kind of like at breakfast this morning!

6 Tips for Probing Your Child’s Heart

My Brother in law and his wife recently gave my son, Bryce, a pair of cowboy boots. As he was trying them on for the first time, my mom tried to feel his toe to ensure a good fit. The leather at the toe of the boot was too tough, however, and mom couldn’t feel of Bryce’s toe. So, she asked, “Bryce, how far does your foot go in your boot.”

Bryce replied, “all the way to the floor!”

My son always knows how to make us laugh –even when he doesn’t realize it.

Just like the boot scenario, adults can’t always measure what is going on inside of a child. As much as we try, it’s impossible to completely know a child’s heart.

Asking questions often leads to confusion if careful clarification is not given. Here are a few tips on asking questions that get to the “heart of the matter” with your child:

1)   Before asking a question, make sure you know exactly what you want to know. Are you trying to determine whether a child has or has not behaved in a certain way. Or, are you attempting to determine why your child has demonstrated the behavior. Asking questions that deal with motive, attitude, and disposition require greater preparation than “did you/did you not” questions.

2)   Put yourself in your child’s shoes (or boots) to anticipate how they will receive your question. Will it make sense to them?

3)   Use child-appropriate language. Keep it simple and get to the point. Many times adults muddy the waters by giving a long preface or explanation before asking the question.

4)   Pay attention to how you ask. Remember, children are keen observers of your disposition. If you want a child to open up about a subject, make sure they feel safe to do so.

5) Remember that some children express their hearts with more ease than others. God created us all differently. Don’t hold it against them if their emotions are as difficult to probe as tough leather on a cowboy boot. That may be a special gift that will help them later in life.

Most importantly, however, remember that only God can know the heart of a human completely. As parents, we often find ourselves in the classic tension between God’s sovereignty and our responsibility. Neither diminishes the other. We must fully trust God’s knowledge of our child’s heart as we simultaneously search their hearts with all of our ability. This leads us to the final tip for asking your child questions:

6)   Seek God’s wisdom and help. He already knows your child’s issues and he honors the efforts of faithful, concerned parents.

Oh Behave!

Something really bothers me when I hear a church member scoff at a young person and say, “they just don’t know how to behave in church.” In my opinion, this statement is wrong on several levels:

1)   What in the world does “In Church” mean anyway? Remember, the church is people –not buildings and services (Acts 14:27). Maybe what they mean to say is “in the church building” –which brings up another problem:

2)   Where did they find a manual outlining such standards? The last time I checked, the Bible doesn’t deal with issues such as what to wear, whether or not to run, or what to bring when entering a building being utilized for the church gatherings –sound more like the Pharisee’s rules (Matthew 23:4)! When people say “they don’t know how to behave,” they really mean “they don’t know the traditions and norms that we have accepted in our particular culture.” Of course the irony is, most church members have no idea why they hold to those traditions and norm anyway –which means that:

3)   They are really the uneducated ones in the equation. What do you think is more ridiculous: To be an unbeliever who acts like an unbeliever because they are being true to their natural desires; or to be a believer who tries to enforce shallow rules they don’t understand upon other people? We really have a habit of letting the insignificant distract us from the significant (Matthew 23:23)!

In my opinion, when we see rowdy young people attending our church gatherings, we have a choice between two attitudes:

The wrong attitude (stated accurately) says, “Those kids just don’t fit in here. Either they need to adhere to the traditions that we adhere to blindly, or leave.”

The right attitude states, “Praise God for opportunities to minister to the hearts of sinners such as myself! These are just the kind of people we’ve been looking for!”

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not promoting a total disregard of chaos and disrespect. I’m just saying that we’ve got to take off our legalistic lenses and see what truly matters. I’m sure folks like the Samaritan woman (John 4:1-45), the Garasene demoniac (Mark 5:1-20), and Mary Magdalene (Luke 8:2) are glad Jesus looked past their discrepancies to speak to their hearts. And to be honest, I am too.

In the words of Jesus, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14) According the Christ, its not the kids who need to learn to behave in church. Instead, its those who would push them away who need to learn to behave!

Feeding the Sheep to Wolves

I’ve never stood in the midst of a large pasture-tending sheep (the kind that say “baa-baa”). However, I have served as a shepherd of a local church (the kind that say “amen,” “God bless,” and “what time is the pot-luck”).

The Bible’s word-picture of the pastor or church leader as a shepherd is powerful. A shepherd must guide, lead, protect, watch, and guard. It is a weighty responsibility not to be taken lightly.

In Ezekiel 34, God entrust a message to Ezekiel for the purpose of prophesying against the bad shepherds (people leaders) of Israel. In a stunning rebuke, he declares “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?” (v. 2)

Next, the LORD proceeds to name these leaders’ laundry list of sins:

  • Demanding the choice animals for wool and food while neglecting the people.
  • Not strengthening the weak, healing the sick, or binding up the injured.
  • Not rescuing the strays or searching for the lost.
  • Ruling over the people harshly with brutality.

The result, God declares, is that the sheep were scattered and became prey to the wild animals and outside nations. Can you imagine being the shepherd who let the sheep wander astray and become ravaged by wolves? According to the LORD, the situation was so bad that it was as if the people had “no shepherd” (v. 5).

If I owned the sheep, I think I would find new shepherds.

I don’t think God was angry that the leaders ate fine meat or clothed their families well. Instead, his concern was the fact that the sheep were being neglected while these leaders were living lavishly.

If you are a pastor, I’m sure you see the correlation.

  • How many weak and hurting members of your flock are neglected while you sit in an office, isolated, to “tend to the business of the church”?
  • When was the last time you pursued a wayward member in danger of leaving the faith?
  • Who are the sheep you have avoided having a hard conversation with because you are more worried about their opinion of you than their relationship with Christ?
  • What passage of Scripture have you “lightened up” in a sermon to avoid introducing a touchy subject for fear that it would offend?
  • Which family’s sin do you look over because of their influence in the church?

Have you forgotten that Shepherding is a calling, not a career? This ministry we have been entrusted with is a stewardship for which we will give an account (Hebrews 13:17).

While that may seem overwhelming (and it is), don’t forget that as a steward, you are an “under-shepherd.” That means you are not alone in church leadership. The church’s “chief shepherd” is Christ (I Peter 5:4). He will equip you, strengthen you, and give you the wisdom necessary for the task. He even ministers to the hurting and wayward sheep whom you have neglected.

That’s the final word that God give Ezekiel in this prophesy. “I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David” (a phrase frequently referring to the Messiah who would come from David’s line).

I don’t know about you, but I want to make sure I am looking to the Chief Shepherd for my direction and guidance. That way, we are working together –not in opposition.

So ask yourself, as a shepherded, are you leading your sheep toward Christ or feeding your sheep to the wolves?

The Most Cherished Moments are the Most Difficult

First baseball practice of the season. Bryce has moved up from tee ball to pitching machine league. As I watched him take infield with the team, I was struck by the absence of Jill. She should have been there with me to cheer him on. It should have been a moment where together we enjoyed watching our son hit another milestone in life.

For those who have experienced the loss of a loved one, these sudden reminders occur periodically –but that doesn’t make them any less difficult.

Sometimes hearing a song over the loudspeakers at the grocery store is all it takes to prompt a memory. Other times, seeing other couples enjoy time together triggers emotions.

On the one hand, every one of these moments reminds me that there are more to come. It is hard to imagine the emotions awaiting me when Bryce graduates college, marries his bride, and becomes a dad.

On the other hand, each of these moments also reminds me that Bryce is closer than ever before to being reunited with his mom forever.

In this way, losing a loved one means that the most cherished moments in life are also the most difficult. Of course, that’s not surprising is it? All Scripture points to this reality when, at the cross, God the Father turned His face from God the Son. Crying, “Why have you forsaken me?,” Christ expressed the most excruciating pain.  And then, proclaiming, “It is finished,” He declared the most worthy victory!

Church Leadership Requires Two Hands

A friend of mine tried desperately to make his son left-handed. His reasoning was simple: Left-handed pitchers are a treasured commodity in the baseball world. By training his son to be left-handed, he automatically would increase his odds of one day becoming a major league pitcher.

As you can imagine, his efforts failed. No matter how hard the father tried, his son was born right-handed. The child naturally used his right hand for throwing, writing, and waving. To the son, every situation –picking up a hammer, turning a doorknob, raising a fork- was addressed with a right-handed solution.

There is a divide in church leadership circles between a “practical” approach to ministry and a “theological” approach to ministry. Imagine for a moment that leaders who lean toward a practical approach are like lefties while leaders who lean toward theology are like righties.

When asked, “How should the church approach lost people in the community,” the left-handed practical pastor’s first reaction might be to host a community event that would attract the lost, start a bus-ministry for un-churched children, or begin canvassing the community with flyers for an evangelistic crusade.

The right-handed theology-driven leader might naturally suggest increasing the church’s understanding of the Christ’s atonement, the relationship between faith, grace, and works, and the depraved man’s need for redemption.

By reading those last two paragraphs, you probably figured out which way you lean. May I suggest that just as God created you physically as a lefty or a righty, God also created you mentally to lean more toward practicality or theology? I imagine that last sentence made some of our theological right-handers a little uncomfortable. But that’s ok (as long as you don’t label me a heretic).

Of course there are a few leaders who fall into both camps –sort of like switch hitters (to alter the analogy slightly).

For most of us, we see every decision, challenge, opportunity, and responsibility through the lens of either practicality or theology. This may work in a few situations. For instance, the broken air conditioner needs a practical approach while the broken sinner asking how to be made right with God needs a theological approach.

The problem is that rarely is an issue so explicitly practical or theological. To go back to the baseball analogy, even the left-handed pitcher has to catch with the right hand and the right-handed hitter has to grip the bat with both hands.

Likewise, the majority of ministry leadership requires using both hands. For instance:

  • Evangelism requires theological understanding of redemption and a practical effort to engage the lost.
  • Worship services require theological accuracy in preaching and practical planning in facility preparation.
  • Discipleship requires theological communication and practical scheduling.
  • Service projects require a theological purpose and a practical strategy.

Can you imagine how things would have changed if Jesus polarized his ministry? The feeding of the 5,000 could have ended in a disaster!

Like a batter who tries to swing with one arm or a pitcher convinced he doesn’t need to wear a glove on his non-dominant hand, a desire to polarize ministry into either theological exclusivity or practical exclusivity can quickly put the leader and congregation in a painful position.

Refusing to polarize, however, allows for a third approach: biblical. As far as I can tell, the Bible doesn’t pit the two approaches against each other.

We’ve all heard that “orthodoxy shapes orthopraxy.” I certainly agree. But that does not create a dichotomy between the two. Rather, it affirms the powerful relationship that the approaches share. If we separate the two completely, and in effect take practice out of the influence of belief, we have an even bigger problem. All the more reason for leaders to use both hands!

Here’s the takeaway:

  • Become aware of the way God made you and believe that your unique gifting is equipping you for your role in leadership.
  • Deliberately “use both hands” when making decisions, approaching opportunities, and facing challenges.
  • Quit trying to make every leader in your ministry left-handed or right-handed. Instead, work together for a more biblical approach.

Hope for Families Touched by Suicide

Yesterday I listened to callers on a local radio talk show discuss whether or not suicide was an unpardonable sin. (Whether or not a person can commit suicide and still go to heaven) Its always interesting to me how a subject like this can spark heated discussion among people who ordinarily wouldn’t discuss spiritual things.  Its also interesting to discover how diverse the range of opinions is on the subject.

The discussion left me feeling sad for families who have been touched by suicide. I can only imagine (as displayed by the call-in discussion) how many unresolved questions must linger in their minds.

Here are a few thoughts that will hopefully bring encouragement and add clarity to the conversation:

1)   The test of eternal life is not whether or not a person takes their life, but whether or not they have received Christ’s life. No person will enter Heaven because of a good life or great deeds. Rather, eternal life comes by grace through faith in Jesus (Eph. 2:8-9).

2)   The issue of suicide is serious because it deals with the sanctity of life (Genesis 1:26). Life is a precious gift of God created for a worship-purpose.

3)   At the same time, ALL SIN is a serious offense to a holy God –no sin can be taken lightly (Psalm 51:4).

4)   Yet, there is NO SIN that is more powerful than Christ’s atonement (I Cor. 15:57).

Having said all of that, I think the issue comes down to two more items. First, the issue of confession: If a person has taken their life, and cannot confess their sin, how can they be forgiven?

Interestingly, you only hear this question when it comes to suicide. You never hear someone say, “John told a lie right before he died, so I’m worried he’s not going to heaven.” The fact of the matter is that if a person is IN CHRIST, his salvation is not dependent upon continuing to confess each sin after his conversion. That would make salvation dependent upon something other than Christ alone.  Confession is, however, important for the person’s fellowship with God –but it doesn’t change the person’s standing before God –which leads to the second issue: Righteousness.

When a person comes to Christ, not only are their sins forgiven, but also they simultaneously receive the righteousness of Christ (Romans 5:18).

When we think of salvation as merely the forgiveness of sin, it can give us the false impression that a “clean slate” is what gets us into Heaven –as if Christ did us a great favor and now its up to us to “keep it up.” But that totally defeats the biblical concept of grace.

But when we couple the idea of forgiveness with the truth of righteousness, it is difficult to fall into that false assumption. Jesus said, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). That truth ought to shock us –after all, the Pharisees and scribes kept the letter of the law! But even their grandest efforts didn’t please God.

The good news is that in salvation, Christ not only forgives our sin, but He gives us His righteousness! It is Christ’s righteousness that makes us pleasing to God –without which we cannot enter heaven.

Christ’s righteousness is a gift that we didn’t earn. And if we never did anything to deserve it in the first place, we certainly can’t do anything to lose it. Instead, it is a covering over our sin that allows God to see us the way He sees His Son –even when we commit sin -including suicide.

Behind the Scenes

In large cities, traffic is often monitored and controlled from a central office. Behind the “Authorized Personnel Only” door, controllers watch screens displaying current images and data from traffic cameras and sensors. When they notice congestion building up, they can change the traffic flow in several ways. They may alter how long certain traffic lights stay red or green. Or they may dictate a warning to flash on a roadside message board, instructing drivers to take a detour. When accidents occur, the traffic controllers help direct emergency personnel in responding to the scene.

When these things happen, the controllers don’t take time to explain why the red light you’re stopped at on Main Street is suddenly longer, or why there’s a detour around Third and Washington, or where they’re sending those emergency vehicles that just zipped by you. Taking time to explain all that to everyone would only cause more delays.

Can you imagine what would happen if people stopped trusting this system? Just think of the chaos if everyone started pulling into intersections whenever they had a “hunch” the light should change. Or what if everyone, out of curiosity, started racing behind the emergency vehicles they see speeding to an accident scene?

As drivers, we aren’t promised to be kept informed of everything that’s happening throughout the traffic grid—instead, we’re simply instructed to follow the rules and directions laid out in our state driver’s manual. That manual tells us to go on green and stop on red. It explains who goes first at a four-way stop. It gives directions on how closely to follow other vehicles and how to determine when it’s safe to pass. Meanwhile, as we follow the manual, the controllers work behind the scenes to help us get where we’re going. Our obedience to the manual ensures that we react correctly in any scenario the controllers use to direct us.

That’s what God’s will is like. We aren’t privy to everything happening behind the scenes. Instead, we acknowledge God’s control of it all, and as long as we obey His written Word (our manual), we can trust Him to “work all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). Our duty, then, is to obey the revelation we’ve been given.

Although helpful, this illustration has its limits as a picture of God’s will. While a traffic controller works with a team of people to monitor events, God already knows everything about everything everywhere at all times—without any help. And while a controller reacts to events, God is proactive, already guiding the future before it happens. Further, whereas traffic controllers are limited to merely placing information in front of people to guide them, God has power to change our hearts and minds.

Most importantly, unlike traffic controllers who are imperfect, God is perfect and sovereignly works all things at the same time perfectly (though we rarely notice His divine intervention). He never has to “redirect traffic” because of any decisions of ours that He wasn’t expecting. Somehow, in His unfathomable wisdom, He has already made our decisions a part of His perfect plan. In fact, in His perfect knowledge, God never needs any kind of “control room” to monitor any situation here on earth.

God has instructed us to obey His manual, the Bible. That’s our assignment in pursuing His will. While He uses various other means (circumstances, events, our desires, etc.) to direct us, He doesn’t let us see everything from His “behind the scenes” perspective. God has chosen to keep certain matters to himself—which is why it’s never profitable for you or me to spend time trying to figure out those things.