Now and not yet (4)

Meeting with my mentor each month is always a delight and a blessing. Along with his great insights and knowledged he also still shows a desire to work out what it means to be a follow of Jesus and a leader in his church. This week's meeting was no different. As we chatted, the issue of how a emerging leader responds in these difficult and troublings days cropped up. I made a comment that the church is likely to remain in a place of flux for a while yet as we seek to work out how we respond to the culture we find ourselves in. Two things have stuck with me during this week and deserves a blog. He stated that "the church should always be in a state of flux."

Firstly, I am encouraged that I don't have to have things sorted. There has been a trend in the church for leaders to make sure we are in order and under control; that our programmes, provisions and administration is faultless and professional. The danger of being in control or having things under control is that we (leaders) forget to leave space for the unexpected, the miraclus and graceful acts of God. This is not to say that we just let our admin pile up, not take care of the day to day issue that will allow smooth running of our church and centres. But, control can lead to a over reliance on process rather than keeping focus on our purpose. For example: you can over plan times of worship, over illustrate, use video clips because you feel you have to etc By the time you have planned you then forget to make/leave space for God's spirit to promt and speak to those in attendance.

Secondly and closely related, I was reminded that I will never get everything sorted. This is such a relief to someone who is not naturally organised. It is great to feel freed by the never ending nature of God's kingdom and released to know that time is on our side. How often do you hear a church leader (or anyone for that matter) say that they are not busy and have lots of time on their hands. We need to make sure we are not doing to many things. This is not an excuse for slapdash leadership and leaving everthing until tomorrow (that never comes). Yet we need to use the time God gives us each day to place those things that are of priority to God at the top of our todo list.

Things are in flux but God knows what he is doing.

Matt

What is my value?

Last week I received an email that ended, from a person that doesn't know me, saying; "thanks for all you do." All of us like to be thanked for what we do. But I was interested as to what he meant as he is unfamiliar with my role, personality and character. I am sure he was being encouraging but in a conversation with a friend we chatted about what signals this sends out. Are me more excited or interested in what people do rather than who they are? For example: What is the first question we ask when we meet someone new? The thing is, I realised that I do the same. I have ended many an email to my leadership team " thanks for all you do" in an genuine attempt to encourage them for the way they lead the church. I wonder if I have missed something or even worse sent the wrong signals to them. Do I care more about what they do or who they are?

It is easy to value people for what they do because we can see the results of their labour and efforts. It is also important that people are encouraged for what they do and the quality of their work (whatever the level of profession ). It is free and only takes a moment but can yield results and increase performance. People want to be thanked and encouraged but we (the church) could simply become an organisation reward good deeds, success and effort rather than celebrating diversity, character and even failure. In leadership, it's easy to slip into an attitude of "what can I get from others" rather than seeking to support and resource them in their own unique ministry.

In the past few weeks I have begun to put various other things at the end to encourage people for who they are rather than what they do. I need to keep working on this and develop both my attitude and skill in valuing people for the depth and diversity of their character rather than simply what they can do for me, the church or even God.

Surely, God is more interested in who we are. I pray I will be too.

Matt