Making the Culture the Solution to the Gospel

David wells raises some important questions in his new book, “The Courage to Be Protestant.”  I was seized by his description of the church leader who lives in fear that he is not giving the consumer what he wants and imminent fear that members will take their “business” elsewhere.

I will have to admit, I live in these fears.  Is is a constant battle to be guided by truth and conviction and not by the cultural tsnami that has a tendency to sweep the church up in its wake.  Leaders, lets challenge our people to unite around the gospel, not styles, personas, that are all defined by the popular culture.  Let us sound the call that THE GOSPEL IS THE SOLUTION TO CULTURE. 

The issue is that many in evangelicalism have made the culture the solution to the gospel.  The gospel is just too plain boring, offensive, and dogon exclusive for the culture to take…so we must put make-up on it, remove the fat and replace it with some hyydrongentaed version of the truth so that it is has a longer shelf-life.  What you are left with is a stale, fat free version that has lost its unique flavor because it looks, feels, and sounds like everything you saw last night on Jay Leno sprinkled with a little Dr. Phil and Oprah.

Leaders, lets sound the call to unite once again around the authority of Scripture and Penal Substitution.  Let us commit to preach the gospel evey chance we get….making a bee-line for the gospel in every message we preach or lesson we teach.  Let us make sure that we charge the gates of hell with the only weapon that works…THE GOSPEL.

Route 66 Sermon Series: A Practical Biblical Theology

I have been preaching a series of sermons on each book of the Bible, called Route 66. In each message, I have attempted to show how each book fits into the redemptive theme of Scripture of God preparing a people for himself, in his place and under his rule. Check out some the messages!

Route 66 Messages

Interview with Leadership 501

Below is an interview I did over at Leadership501

What do you feel is the biggest mistake new leaders make?

The biggest mistake new leaders make is viewing leadership as positional.  New leaders must develop credibility across the many layers of the organization. Leadership rises on falls on credibility and trust, these are both earned over time.

What is the most important skill for a new leader to acquire?

This is a tough question.  There are so many important skills to be developed simultaneously and that development is continual.  If I have to choose one I would say communication.  If a leader is a poor communicator, he will never be able to create the cultural climate necessary to bring about positive change.  Leadership is about taking people from point A to point B and this rarely happens in a straight line.  It’s more like leading people through an obstacle course while blindfolded.  The leader has to stay ahead of the team, pointing out the obstacles and communicating where to go next.

In the ancient middle east, shepherds would share large, walled, areas for their sheep to sleep in at night.  These areas were meant for the protection of the sheep from predators such as wolves.  The sheep would intermingle in the fold and there was no way to distinguish on shepherds sheep from the other by looking at them.  Interestingly, when a particular shepherd was ready to take their sheep to pasture, he would simply walk into the fold and make a unique sound with his voice.  His sheep knew his voice and his special command.  They would get up and follow him out of the fold. 

Leaders must develop their unique voice.

 

What is the best way for someone to develop their leadership potential early in their career?

1)      Build credibility by always doing what you say you will do.  Never ask someone to do something that you are not willing to do yourself.

2)      Learn the Art of Listening.  People want to be heard and many people have great ideas and solutions.  Always take the time to listen and look for opportunities to get feedback from others. 

3)      Learn How to Conduct Meetings!  Effective meetings are crucial to effective leadership. 

If you were hiring someone you hoped to groom for a leadership position, what key things would you look for?

1)      Passion – Good leaders are in it for more than a paycheck.

2)      Humility – Good leaders treat the janitor the same as the CEO

3)      Emotional Intelligence - This relatively new field of study provides a wealth of insight into how leadership works.  A great starting point is the book Primal Leadership by Goleman and Boyatzis.

If you could point a new leader to read one thing you’ve written, what would it be and why is it important?

Read my series of articles on my three dimensional leadership model at www.totalleader.wordpress.com

Part 1:  http://totalleader.wordpress.com/2006/07/05/three-dimensional-leadership-part-1-the-design-phase-of-leadership/

Part 2:  http://totalleader.wordpress.com/2006/07/06/three-dimensional-leadership-part-two-the-development-phase-of-leadership/

Part 3:  http://totalleader.wordpress.com/2006/07/13/three-dimensional-leadership-the-discipline-phase/

Leadership and the Omniscience of God

“For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. (2 Chronicles 16:9)

As we think about developing a theology of leadership we have to address the Omniscience of God.  God knows and sees all things.  The great thing about this truth is that God’s seeing and his knowing is not arbitrary seeing and knowing.  God does not simply know facts and see events.  His seeing and knowing is tied to his secret and holy will that He is bringing about by his soverign power and divine nature.  So, his seeing and knowing of us is tied directly to his purposes and our purpose for existence.

In the context of this passage, King Asa of Judah went to cut a deal with the king of Syria in a counter move against the king of Israel.  Asa did not put his trust in the Lord to support him, he pust his trust in the Syrian king.  Although Asa had experienced the strong support of God in the past, he chose to walk in his own wisdom.  The issue here is a matter of the heart.  Asa failed to trust in the omnipotence and the omniscience of God.  In failing to trust God, Asa demonstrated a heart that was filled with pride and this was reflective of the rest of rule as king.

As leaders, God knows our heart.  This knowing is intimate, if we are believers then we know that God has set his affections on us.  He knows our very heart.  When our heart trusts God completely, then we have the power of all of his attributes working for us.  When we trust ourselves, we deny God’s ability and trust in our own strength to accomplish our own purposes.  This is disasterous.  Let us trust in God’s perfect knowing and seeing as we lead.

Leadership and the Omnipotence of God

The last several posts have been geared toward developing a theology of leadership.  I would like to continue in that vein today and discuss leadership and the omnipotence of God.  God’s omnipotence is simply that He is all-powerful.  There are no bounds to his sovereign ability.  No only does God have the ability to accomplish all His holy will.  He is actively moving all of history towards the accomplishment of that end.  God’s omnipotence is not static, still, and waiting to respond to human action.  His all encompassing power is moving all of history towards a desired end.  What is that desired end?  The white-hot worship of himself!

“9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,

12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”

13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

14 And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.” (Rev. 5)

God is not hoping that this day will take place.  God is powerfully moving us towards this day by the power of divine omnipotence.  I love the words from the Lewis’ the Lion the With and the Wardrobe, “Aslan is on the move.”  God is on the move and he is an unstoppable force working his sovereign will in the world.

What does this have to do with leadership?   This is one of the mysterious aspects of the Scripture.  God uses people to accomplish His purposes in the world.  We can move with God, allowing His omnipotent power to envelop our lives and make us most useful for His kingdom.  Or, we can strive in our strength to manufacture religious structures that make us feel significant. 

As a leader, our influence either points people to God and focuses their energies on knowing Him or, we use people to build up for us our own kingdoms.  These kingdoms that we build for ourselves point people to us, not to God.  When this happens, a leader begins to strip God of His omnipotence, while attributing power and glory to his-self. This is the root of the fall and the very reason that Satan rebelled in heaven. So we must be on guard, lest we fall to pride and assail the very nature of God in leadership.

God is moving all of his creation towards His desired end!  Are we moving with Him, or are we building our own kingdom for our own glory? 

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.”

14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

15 Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”

16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.

17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (James 4:13-17)

Must Read: Just Like Me by Frank Turk

I want to link to Frank Turk’s post which is a theological reflection on the Virginia Tech shooting.  This is very insightful and I really hope everyone will take the time to read this.  Here’s the link:  www.centuri0n.blogspot.com    

Blogging to Multiply Influence

Blogging is a unique and powerful way to multiply influence.  Now, how does this coincide with a proper theology of leadership?  If one is following the core convictions of a leader that we have discussed, then one can say as Paul did, “follow my example.”  Now, I am not suggesting that all of us bloggers are great leaders, I am simply suggesting that if God has given us something to say, we should say it.  Not only should we say it, we should try to say it to as many people as possible. 

 One mistake people make is to measure sucess on a blog numerically.  But here is the catch, if I did not write any of my leadership research on this blog, ZERO, people would read the research.  I don’t have 100’s of hits a day on this blog, but over time hundreds of people of read some of the things I have to say.  There is a big difference between ZERO and a THOUSAND.  The point is this, if you have something that you think is worthwhile to say than blog it.  You may be an encouragement to someone across the nation or across the globe.

I recently began a sermon series called the The Core.  This series covers 15 essential doctrines of the faith.  I decided to create a blog that goes along with the series.  You can read it at www.thecoreconvictions.wordpress.com .  Now people can interact with the material all week and discuss the topic.  Do I have most people discussing, no, but they are reading.  Another plus is that people can stumble across the page and read the material and the blog points them to the sermons online.  The key is multiplication.  Multiply your ministry and you will multiply influence for the glory of God.

The Core Convictions of a Leader: The Bible is God’s Word, Therefore I Will Treasure and Obey the Word of God.

This is a non-negotiable conviction of a true leader.  God’s word must stand over and under our leadership.  This series on Core Convictions is inspired by King Josiah.  If you remember, Josiah was undergoing a temple remodeling project when the high priest discovered the “scrolls”, probably Dueteronomy, in the back of a dusty closet somewhere.  They had never read the law!  Listen to what the passage says, “

“Go, inquire of the LORD for me and for those who are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book which has been found; for great is the wrath of the LORD which is poured out on us because our fathers have not observed the word of the LORD, to do according to all that is written in this book.”            (2 Chron. 34:21)

Notice the vivid and devasting consequences of ignoring the word of God.  The consequences are not only immedieate they are passed to the next generation.  The negative influence of ignoring and disobeying God’s word is monumetal.

Great leaders treasure God’ word more than silver or gold.  They listen to what God has said and obey it more than the latest and greatest management theories and paradigms.  The Word of God had been lost in the temple for over 70 years.  Is the Word of God lost somewhere in your leadership?  Is it lost in your home?  Is it lost in your church study, only to be dragged off the shelf when its sermon prep time?  If it is, find it!  and inquire of the Lord, that he may stay his hand on your home and ministry. 

The Core Convictions of a Leader: The Corporate Worship of God Must Not Be Ignored

Now this one may sound easy for a pastor or even a lay leader.  But for me, it is possible to preach and not worship corporately.  See the temptation is in viewing the preaching as my job and not as worship.  Ministry can become a job and not worship.  In the days of Josiah, the temple was no longer the place of worship and the book of law had been lost somewhere in a dark, dusty corner.  The temple was in disary because corporate worship had been ignored.

A true leader worships God with God’s people.  This is a non-negotiable.  Today worship has become negotiable because it is seen as entertainment.  It is not seen as a means for the protection of our very soul.  Hebrews 10 gives the much quoted admonishiment to not forsake the assemby.  But the verse 31 is the key…”it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

When leaders worship corporately they exert corporate inflence in the sense that they humble themselves before the living God.  As a pastor or lay leader there is much that can be accomplished simply by the humble and sincere participation and faithfullness in corporate worship.  Not to mention all the other benefits.  One may hold a spiritual office or title, but if one fails to commit themselves to the body in this way, their leadership is only by title.

May we all commit ourselves to worship on the Lord’s day.  I must commit myself to worship, even while standing in the pulpit, lest my preaching become a means to pay the bills, rather than an instrument of the grace of God in the midst of the holy assembly.

I Stand with Dr. Rainer Part II

I have had the priveledge to be in class with Dr. Rainer at Southern Seminary.  He is a gifted man, who is perfect for the job at Lifeway.  But after reading the article he wrote on Building Bridges, I respect him more than ever.  What he says is truth.  His commitment statements have caused me to rethink how I have approached certain issues in my blogs and in ministry. 

I ask that you join me is praying for Dr. Rainer and for our leadership in the SBC.  Pray that God will usher us into a new era of unity and coopertion that focuses on the Gospel.  Pray that we may actually see the benefits of the resurgance realized in our every increasing commitment to God’s word and its theme of redemption.