Press on and get things done. Avoid distractions. Like blogging.

Sometimes, you just have to buckle down and get things done. (or, you know, carry on)

I’m less than two weeks away from graduation at Fuller. And all that’s keeping me from it are a paper and a final exam. That’s exciting. But between doing some research and making plans for next year at work, hanging out with friends, and spending time with my wife and our new dog, motivation on this paper is a little lacking.

But sometimes, you just have to focus in and get things done.

I mean, I actually like writing. When I pull myself away from the interweb long enough to think deep thoughts, it’s actually kind of fun. But then there’s all this other stuff that pulls my focus away. Like, you know, blogging.

But sometimes, you just have to clear your mind and get things done.

I was reading something Mark Batterson wrote recently about Parkinson’s Law. It says projects will fill the amount of time you give them. The more time you have for something, the more time it takes. It’s so true, isn’t it. Especially for the perfectionist type. It’s always on deadline. Because that’s the only way to get things done.

And then I was thinking about this awesome post by Jason Jaggard. It talks about how the future you needs the you of today to make the tough decisions you need to make to become the you you need to be. (Read the post. It makes sense. It’s good). And, you know, that “discipline” thing of getting things done when you don’t feel like getting them done and working ahead when it would be easier to procrastinate is one of those things the future me needs me to get better at now.

So yeah, it’s time to get this sucker done.

(But David and Joey – if you read this – “get it done” in this case means “make progress.” I’m turning it in on Thursday. Not Tuesday. If given the option, things take as long as they have time to take. Parkinson said so!)

(Photo from swissmiss)

Cool church?

This is so encouraging to read – especially from a church with the size and influence of Life Church:

The American Church is not lacking for “cool” pastors. Like a single guy who is trying just-a-bit-too-hard to impress a girl, some churches are simply trying too hard to be cool.

I’m very encouraged to see a shifting in direction. For years, many of us seemed focused on:

• Designing relevant church experiences.
• Producing entertaining videos.
• Creating inviting environments.
• Crafting sermon series to draw a crowd.
• Writing sermons with shock value and plenty of humor or stories.

While all of the above can be effective tools, many of my friends are intentionally moving in a stronger direction. So many great Christian leaders are seeing far better results with:

• Bathing a sermon in prayer.
• Fasting regularly.
• Practicing personal confession and repentance.
• Preaching from the overflow of time alone in God’s word.
• Caring deeply for others in biblical community.

I’m thrilled so many leaders are placing less emphasis on being cool and more emphasis on being like Christ.

Relevance matters as long as we define relevance as meeting people where they are at a point of need. But it’s so easy to spend time fighting a battle we won’t win. We can have fun and tell great, meaningful stories. That’s good and important. But if it’s about the flash and cool-factor alone, we’ll never beat Hollywood, Comedy Central, or even SNL! Creativity is great, but there’s something more to our message.

Be unsafe

Ben Arment’s a guy I’ve been following through his blog for at least four years – through his work as a church planter, to relaunching that same church with a new name and location, to packing up and moving to Georgia to work with Catalyst.

(It’s amazing the lessons you can learn from a guy you’ve never met. Thanks for sharing your life online and answering random emails Ben!)

Well, he’s off on a new adventure – moving back to Virginia Beach to start a production company. That’s all I know. I’m sure he’ll give more info soon.

But that’s not exactly what this post is about.

In the comments, he said this about his wife’s view on it all:

ainsley told me yesterday that she has been praying since the age of 18 that she would be “unsafe” as a parent and christ-follower in the eyes of her kids

Wow. I love that.

We always want safety – for ourselves and – I’m guessing here – even moreso for our kids. Trusting God in times when it’s risky sets such a powerful example of what it means to follow Christ…

On doing the impossible and listening to critics

A Chinese Proverb…

From a free download (279 Days to Overnight Success).

The attitude of leadership

People often talk about “leadership as influence.” If people are following you, you’re leading. But it’s less often that we talk about whether we’re worth following.

Brad Lomenick wrote recently about the call to leaders in Philippians 2:

Starting with verse 2: “Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interest of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus….. who emptied Himself…. the form of a bond-servant…. humbled Himself…. by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

And then, in verse 14, Paul lays the smack down again- “do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent…. children of God.”

As leaders, it is our responsibility to model this. Quit griping, grumbling, disputing, and arguing, and start leading, serving, encouraging, and uniting.

So true. Michelangelo said to “criticize by creating.” The best leaders bring change by creating a new reality.

Cadbury Eggs – a conspiracy!

Ok, so I probably eat about one of these every two to three years. But I thought this was hilarious. It’s also good to see BJ Novak is a little different than the character he plays on the Office .

Let’s be honest…

Conan looks like a GIANT next to Stephen Cobert.

That’s all…

Why bivocational? (You can’t do it alone)

We’re at the end of a discussion about why bivocational ministry is a needed, and positive, idea for the church. To read the beginning, go here.

6. It forces you to build teams

I mentioned it in the first post, but one of my biggest struggles with bivocational ministry has been this idea of focus. I really believe it’s powerful when someone can discover their core passions and giftings, hone in on the thing they do best, and run hard toward that goal. Seth Godin talks about the power of being the best in the world at what you do and not letting other things distract you from that focus.

Well, if you’re ministering bivocationally, you’re guaranteed to have a divided focus. How does that work? First, I think it’s important to do your job well. I would never want my employer to feel like they’re getting anything less than excellence because I’m a Christian involved in a church. So, “slacking” (giving anything less) in that arena isn’t an option.

Instead, you have to realize you can’t do it alone, focus in on your core gifts, and build good teams to do the work of supporting the church structure. I think the core leaders’ main jobs should be meeting with, encouraging, and investing in other leaders. Honestly, all churches should look like this. But in a more traditional model, it’s easier for the main pastor to believe he or she can carry the load alone. Often they’re talented people who can carry it – at least for a while. But it ends up wearing them down, hampering the growth of the church, and robbing others of the chance to use their gifts. But when you’re bivocational, you have no choice! You can’t do it alone! Your first goal has to be building a team to sustain the work of the church.

–

So there are a few of my thoughts. As we wrap it up, I think it’s important to say that “bivocational” isn’t just about having to have a “secular” job (though something outside of the Christian world is helpful). Instead, it’s about your machine for making a living coming from outside of the church. I believe pastors are perfectly within their rights to “make a living” from ministry. That’s not the issue. It’s about what is sustainable for new models of church. So whether it’s a job in a separate field in which you’ve been trained, as a manager at the local Starbucks, or as the head of a non-profit that supports and enables the church, I believe that something outside the church that keeps you in the community and engaged with society can be healthy for both the church, and the minister.

Why bivocational? (You’re not special)

We’re in the middle of a discussion about why bivocational ministry is a needed, and positive, idea for the church. To read the beginning, go here.

5. You’re just like anyone else

I know. We all want to be special. But here’s the deal. It’s always a challenge when a pastor gets up in front of a congregation and tells them they need to spend time with God daily and look to follow God and serve others. “Sure,” most of the people think, “It’s easy for you to say. That’s your job! I don’t get to have my ‘quiet time’ at work.”

When you’re bivocational, you have a job that plays by the same rules as everyone else. You have to be wise about your job, your family, your ministry. You also have an opportunity for friendships outside of the church. You get to share life with people who aren’t Christians. It can happen when people are vocational pastors as well, but it’s much more difficult. Plus, if you want to talk to someone on the plane or at a sporting event, the conversation won’t end as soon as they ask, “What do you do?”

Why bivocational? (It’s sustainable)

We’re in the middle of a discussion about why bivocational ministry is a needed, and positive, idea for the church. To read the beginning, go here.

4. It’s sustainable

The truth is, church planting (and church “long-terming”) has to look different as our culture changes. As I mentioned earlier, it takes a lot of resources to do church the way we’ve been doing church. Planting a church bivocationally means you’re not in a rush to reach a certain number of people so their tithe can support your salary. When you’re in a rush, it’s easier to gather a big crowd – mostly of Christians transferring from other churches – than it is to do the work of getting outside, meeting people, and building relationships. When you gather a big crowd, there’s less of a need to get out, listen to people’s needs, and serve the community. It’s easy to feel successful with just a Sunday show.

Sustainable planting also means you’re not in a rush to reach a certain type of person with a certain income so their tithe can support your salary. Instead, you can focus on anyone – college students, people in the margins, lower income people.

That slow growth means that more of the people who join your church/community may join because they’ve come to Christ from relationships within the community. That’s a powerful way to grow.

Leadership is influence

Was reading a post (part of a great series) by Jordan over at worshiptrench where he said this:

“If they cannot influence others, by definition they are not a leader.  The world needs facilitators, too. Just don’t put a facilitator where there needs to be a leader.”

Such a great reminder. We’re about to go through a process of choosing some leadership positions at my job (and I’m looking for some leaders to build a team at Oasis), and influence really stands out as something to look for. It’s tough to get a feel from a short interview and a little interaction, but through more relational time and a sense of past experiences it’s still something that can be seen.

I also love the difference he makes between facilitators and leaders. It’s important to get the right person for the job, and different jobs require different types of people.

I’ve always felt you should look for three things when hiring: character (who you are matters more than what you’ll be doing), chemistry (within the staff), and competance (finally, it’s important to be able to do the job well – but pieces can always be taught). But maybe for those positions that need a leader, influence should be added as a fourth. Now if I could just find a “C” word for it…

Why bivocational? (A good kind of messy)

We’re in the middle of a discussion about why bivocational ministry is a needed, and positive, idea for the church. To read the beginning, go here.

3. It’s messy

This isn’t a thrilling reason. But sometimes ways that are easier are only easier because they cover over problems – not because they avoid them. Working with a more flattened system of power may mean more discussion, but that discussion (or even arguing and wrestling with different opinions) means that people are more engaged and that everyone is learning and moving forward. People are going to have opinions and thoughts. The issue is whether they have enough stake in something to voice them. If church = a show, then there’s not much reason to push back on something you don’t understand. If church = life, people are more likely to care. If a conversation/discussion/argument arises, that may be beneficial.

Why bivocational? (Money goes to ministry)

We’re in the middle of a discussion about why bivocational ministry is a needed, and positive, idea for the church. To read the beginning, go here.

2. Money goes to ministry, not overhead. And decisions are made at the ground level.

I understand it on a certain level, but it’s sad how much of the church’s God’s money has to go to maintaining infrastructure. After salaries, benefits, building maintenance, building expansion, and more, a little is left to send to a mission program or to fund a local charity. But when you move to a bivocational, decentralized model, suddenly the tithe of individuals stays within the group. A group of people who meet together, serve together, and learn together gets to sit down and have a conversation.

“Here’s our money. What needs do we see around us? How can we bless the community? How can we partner with others to serve?”

If someone has a coworker going through tough times, the group can decide to serve that person with money, time, or some combination. They see the tithe at work. It’s not some distant thing. Ministry becomes personal and real.

Now, this may complicate people’s end of year tax statements. Things like this probably aren’t tax-deductible. I’m sure there’s a way to push the money through a 501c3 and get it back to the groups, but I’m not sure that’s the point. It may be helpful, but I don’t think the purpose of a tithe was a tax deduction!

Why bivocational? (Shared responsibility)

What will church look like in the future? Culture’s changing, the world is changing. How will it affect the church?

I’m sure of a few things. One: We’ll always have something that looks like what we have now. Two: If the church is going to resist becoming a marginalized, non-influential part of society, other models must continue to take root to connect with new parts of the population.

I think one piece of that transition will be a move toward more bivocational ministry. Some people see that as disappointing – a loss of something. I see it as a good thing, and over the next few posts, I’d like to share a few (ok, about six) reasons why.

This isn’t meant to bash what “is.” There are a number of churches I really respect that are built on a more traditional model. But we need all types of churches to reach all types of people, and I’m being pulled in a different direction – one that looks more like a network of small groups or house churches that gathers together periodically. To be a part of that model, I think you have to be bivocational.

I’ll say it again. I’m on the front end of this thing. I’m thinking about it because I’m doing it now and plan to continue on this path. I don’t have all the answers. But here’s where my thoughts are right now on why bivocational ministry is important…

1. It says we’re all responsible

When you remove the idea of a “professional Christian,” it means that we’re all responsible for learning, caring, and serving. There’s no professional for the hospital visits, so we’re all responsible for sharing the care for others. There’s no professional to study the Bible, so we’re all responsible for digging in and gaining insights. There’s no professional to decide what needs to happen in the community, so we’re all responsible for opening our eyes and carrying on conversations with our neighbors. We’re all doing this with jobs and lives, so it means we have to stay tuned into people’s gifts and allow people to minister and serve each other where they best fit and have gifting, knowledge, and experience.

What are your thoughts? I’ll share more in a couple of days…

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This is the first in a multi-part series on bivocational ministry. Read the rest of the posts here:

Why bivocational? Shared responsibility

Why bivocational? Money goes to ministry

Why bivocational? A good kind of messy

Why bivocational? It’s sustainable

Why bivocational? You’re not special

Why bivocational? You can’t do it alone

Who has the power?

It’s easy for Christians to struggle with this idea of “sacred” vs. “secular.” You’ve seen it. It’s the whole idea that “Christian” music is good, while “non-Christian” music is bad. Or that a “pastor” is more holy than a postal worker. Neil Cole has been doing a series of posts about this false division. I love what he says here:

The way we try and remove ourselves from the “secular” world for fear of losing our spiritual power demonstrates that we actually believe more in the power of the darkness than we do in the light of Jesus Christ. Ouch!

I would rather have small faith in a substantive thing than have great faith in a flimsy thing. Jesus said it only takes the faith of a mustard seed to move mountains when that small faith is in the right person.

Read his whole post here.

[thanks to Aaron for the link]