The Ragamuffin Blog

RHYTHMinTWENTY

Alright, so I am going to put aside the porn talk one more time because there is something I really want to tell you about before it's too late. For the past couple years, I have been a part of something that has profoundly shaped the way that I live, the way that I lead, and the way that I pastor. It is called RHYTHMinTWENTY.

Rhythm is a two year journey with twenty other world changers from around the country to together explore a life of Christ-centered passion, rhythm and influence. It involves some travel once a year and some investment financially, but gentleman, it is well worth the investment. If you don't already know, the stats for your marriage and ministry making it, aren't good. Most setout determined to make it, but very few go the distance. Rhythm will change that. 

It will change the way you lead yourself, your family and others. If you are a young Christian leader, and especially if you are in vocational ministry, you need to consider doing this. For more information, checkout the website. FYI, the cutoff to apply for the next group is a week from today.  

 

Homegrown Leadership

This past week I was made aware of a college pastor job that was recently posted by a very well known and influential church that I greatly admire. Apparently this quite large, emerging-type church is looking to hire someone from outside of their community, which quite honestly, surprises me. In fact, I have to admit that I am surprised every time a church of three, four, or even five thousand people still feels the need to look outside of their community to find leadership. A big part of this has to do with my paradigm of leadership promotion -a topic that I think deserves some attention. There are essentially two different paradigms when it comes to finding and promoting leaders. 

The old way: Hiring from the outside.

A lot of churches still operate with this paradigm. The goal is typically to hire a pastor from another church who they feel can take their church or a particular ministry to the next level. In the good scenarios, the pastor sticks around as long as the average pastor sticks around (less than 5 yrs according to most sources), and does his job well until he is “called” to a better opportunity (i.e. bigger church, higher pay). Those are the good scenarios.

In most cases, however, things don’t really work out. This can happen for a number of different reasons: as an outsider coming in, the pastor is never fully embraced by the congregation, early mistakes cause people to question his ability to lead, he just isn’t a good fit for the community and/or the church, or the aforementioned “calling” comes a whole lot sooner than anyone expected.

Sometimes an imported leader and those who hired him or her are faced with the harsh truth that effective leadership is not always transferable. Leaders that are effective in one environment will not necessarily be effective in other environments. This is a basic truth of leadership. A great example of this can be seen in Willow Creek’s hiring of Randy Frazee. Randy was a proven leader that seemed to be a sure bet as he was hired to serve in the same type of capacity he had thrived in elsewhere. But as often happens, what worked elsewhere didn’t work in South Barrington and Randy’s stay was short and his departure (along with Gene Appel’s) painful. Unfortunately, theirs are a common story. Rarely does a leader hired from the outside stick.

The new way: Empowering from the inside.

Many churches are moving away from models that look to hire leadership from the outside and are choosing instead to raise up and promote leaders from within. This is what one might call “home grown leadership.”  

Mosaic is one of many churches that have chosen to adopt this paradigm. Mars Hill (Seattle) has also gone this route. I mention these two churches because they are both highly influential and very different from one another. Both have opted to empower from within and both are reaping the rewards, a few of which include:

• Vision: homegrown leaders are more likely to get it, own it and live it
• Tested: homegrown leaders are known by those they lead and by those they answer to long before they are ever given authority
• Fit: homegrown leaders are already acclimated to and serving in your local context, meaning whether or not they "fit" is never a question
  
• Loyalty: homegrown leaders are more likely to be committed to you and the vision of your church for the long haul

Of course, occasionally situations arise that require looking for leadership outside of an organization. Some churches have simply done such a poor job of developing leaders (or such a good job of running them off) that there are few, if any, leaders ready or willing to take the reins. And as I have mentioned, sometimes promoting leaders from the outside works. But I would recommend this only as a last resort. Leaders grown and empowered from within are simply more committed, more dependable, and more likely to champion and embody the vision. So, the question then is…

Who are your home grown leaders/influencers? These are people that have come to know and follow Christ as a part of your church and/or have been a part of your faith community for some time, where they served faithfully with integrity. Are there any? If not, what does this say about your faith community? What needs to change? How can you begin investing in and raising up leaders in your church?

Secondly, who are your potentials? Who has the potential to be a homegrown leader two years from now? Three years from now? Now, what can you do to help these men and women develop into power players in God’s Kingdom work? What are their strengths, their gifts, their passions, their talents, their dreams? Where do they need encouragement and where do they need some guidance? How can you help them discover and grow into their God-given potential?!

religious right strikes again

I received a rather entertaining phone call this morning. My brother Josh called to tell me that one of the guys in his dorm at Moody had been perusing the world wide web only to find a "Christian" site with a special feature on none other than yours truly. Unfortunately, it wasn't much of a fan club - much more like a hate group...in the name of Jesus, of course. 

According to the site, the emerging church and neo-evangelicals, like myself, are contributing to "the severe dumbing down effect currently affecting the American Christian Church" - namely through engaging in acts unbefitting that of a Christian; (and in my case, even worse, a pastor!) As if my taste for dark beer and a good cigar were not enough, I further en-heathen myself by reading books by guys like Rob Bell - "who denies Sola Scriptora", Brennan Manning - who is "into contemplative spirituality", and Mike Yaconelli - "of the Emergent group Youth Specialties." I mean, honestly, who do I think I am?

But worry not, the good-hearted, helpful, unifying edification doesn't stop there.

Another article targets my dad, his "uber cool Christian" son (in case you didn't get the memo, that's bad, real bad), and rivertree - which between their visit to the church's website and my blog, they surmise to be "just another man-centered emerging church," concluding with "sad to see the further drift left of the EFCA." (hahahaha I have to wonder just how far right you gotta be to call the EFCA 'left'!)

There is a part of me that would really enjoy dissecting their critique and exposing how utterly ridiculous it is, let alone the "mission" of their organization, but alas I have learned that trying to reason with people so thoroughly convinced of their own rightness and everyone else's wrongness is only a waste of time.

Question: Is it bad that I feel like I have somehow arrived somewhere significant when members of the extreme religious right start throwing rocks at me and my ministry?

1 Venti Cafe Latte w/ a Shot of Driscoll to go, Please...

This past week a good friend shared with me that her and her family are now members of a satellite site of Andy Stanley's very popular and increasingly influential North Point Community Church. They consider Andy Stanley to be their teaching pastor and then they have a couple local staff guys who are responsible for "pastoring the flock." Here's the kicker though: Andy Stanley and North Point are in Atlanta. Our friends and their church are in Colorado Springs. They are separated by nearly 1500 miles! I have to admit that when she told me that, my heart sunk. I mean, I understand the reasoning behind it. And I don't think that I could give a strong biblical case for not doing it. But I have to agree with Paul on this one, as he points out in 1 Corinthians, just because something is permissible does not necessarily mean it is beneficial.

Don't get me wrong, I think Andy Stanley is a great teacher, a great leader, with a great vision, and a man of great character to boot. There have been seasons of ministry where I have found myself listening in on his NPCC and leadership podcasts quite regularly, and Next Generation Leader is a quality leadership read. But broadcasting our favorite teaching personality onto a screen half way across the country and calling him "our Teaching Pastor," seems to be much more than just inauthentic (although it is certainly that). It robs young leaders of the opportunity to grow and develop. It eliminates the opportunity for local leaders to teach about things specifically relevant to what is happening in their local body. It completely separates the Teaching Pastor from the local leadership. By broadcasting in the finished product, you get your money's worth in quality teaching at the cost of creative collaboration. Even worse, it further exacerbates the serious problem of "Consumer Christianity."

Think about it: When it comes to the things we really care about, like bible teaching and gourmet coffee, we want the best. So, we choose our favorite product. Don't like the burnt flavor of Starbucks? Try the milder roasts of Caribou or Scooters. Looking for a little more spice to reach your city's untapped twenty somethings? You'll find a dash of Craig Groeschel will go a long way. Or if that doesn't work, a Mark Driscoll franchise could be the new craze you're looking for. Now if only Rob Bell would start distributing...

You see what I'm talking about? It sounds ridiculous to put it that way, but in many ways, isn't that exactly what we're doing? Whether its the style, scholarly study, entertainment value, or the vision itself that draws us to a particular teacher or church, I just don't think that franchising is a good move for the church. Even if you don't agree, you can at least see where some of my hesitations lie. If you're interested in further study on the subject or reading what others are saying, I highly suggest bouncing over to the ongoing discussion on Bob.blog.

Celebrity Church

Welp, I have now officially begun working overnights at the People's City Mission. This means that I will now have many late and lonely hours to peruse the great blogosphere (and hopefully revive this little blog of my own).

In looking around this morning, I came across yet another sad story for Christendom.

In case you haven't heard, Randy and Paula White, the founders and co-pastors of what has been one of the nation's biggest and fastest-growing churches, plan to divorce. Bob Hyatt has a great post on the Celebrity Church, what it does, and where Rob Bell fits into the scheme of things. It's definitely worth a read.

I particularly appreciate the distinction he makes between "celebrity churches" and "mega-churches." It seems sometimes that I know too many fellow 'emergings' who seem to subconsciously assume all things big to be inherently inauthentic, production heavy, and programatically driven. This rather pretentious opinion usually works for these progressives (whose churches are typically smaller) until one day they wake up to find their trendy little community has become a bona fide "mega church."

I would never make the argument that numerical growth is necessarily evidence of God's work, but as we seek to make disciples of all nations, shouldn't we all have the goal of seeing our churches grow as a result of life change? And if that is the goal, how can we harbor any kind of bitterness towards churches for being...well...big? Personally, I think the negative reaction is probably 1/2 knee jerk towards a nostalgic Christian subculture, and 1/2 good 'ol fashioned penis envy. In either case, we need to acknowledge that we need all kinds of churches to minister to all kinds of people. And, as 'emergings,' commit to be agents of unity to a world that sees our faith as terribly divisive.