As followers of Jesus, we have a commission and it is about much more than we usually make it. This is a video I did for Leadership Networks online conference the NINES last Friday. It was given to church leaders, but regardless of your place in the body of Christ I hope it is challenging or encouraging to you.
SCOTT LEHR THE NINES 2012B – Computer from Southbridge Fellowship on Vimeo.
Many have had the role of leader but have failed at actually leading. We see failures in leadership from the beginning of time. In Genesis 3, Adam fails to embrace his responsibility as a leader in the home. Picture the scene; Adam and Eve are living in perfect harmony. They were married and never had a fight. Then along comes a talking snake, which apparently in a perfect world is actually normal. The snake deceives Eve into thinking that God is holding out on her. She believes the lie, she takes the fruit, she does what she thinks is best. Verse 6 is very revealing concerning Adam’s failed leadership. Genesis 3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
So he was standing right there. He never stepped in to protect her from this spiritually devastating decision. He never took “responsibility” for the family. Then when it was time for accountability guess what happens? God speaks to Adam (not Eve) Genesis 3:9. Why? Because Adam was suppose to be the leader. Adam was responsible and now would be held accountable for the role he had been given. God speaks to Adam. Adam is the one he told not to eat of the tree. When God came to call to account it was Adam who failed. If you keep reading the story it is the man who tried to shrug off his responsibility. He blames it on her (Genesis 3:12). Adam is a failure as a leader. He fails to take responsibility. Leadership means responsibility and responsibility means accountability. Do you want to be a leader?
Leaders will be criticized. There is no denying this fact. The question is how do we deal with it in a healthy way?
I remember some of the first times I faced criticism in ministry and thought things like: “I just want to reach people for Jesus” or “I want to be myself and be free to do what God has called me to do.” Then at times wondering, “Am I doing something wrong?” Over the years I have made a few observations about criticism that may be helpful to others:
1. Criticism can be constructive: Regardless of your role as a leader, you are fallen. You are sinful. You do make mistakes. Sometimes criticism can be one of the best things that has ever happened to you. If you are in a situation where no one can criticize you, let me criticize you and tell you: “You need some people who can tell you the truth. You make mistakes.” Criticism can be the very thing God uses to take you to the next level in becoming like Jesus. It is hard, it is painful, but it can be beneficial. Take some time to think about the last time you actually received criticism in a positive way. It was probably from someone you love and trust.
2. Consumers criticize: There is no doubt that we live in a consumer driven culture and it has permeated the church too. People want things done their way, right away. When it is not done that way many people actually feel like they have a right to criticize the way it has been done. Here is the problem. Consumers consume they do not contribute. Contributors offer solutions when they see things that are wrong or that could be improved. Consumers merely have criticism. Consumers may have valid criticism from time to time, but don’t spend much time on these. You will never be able to make everyone happy. Do what God has called you to do and allow consumers to move on. Who knows maybe someday they will find a place where they can contribute.
3. Criticism is often a cry for care: People are hurting. We have all heard the axiom hurting people hurt people. It is true. I have found that many times when you actually confront someone’s critique of you, of something you did or said it comes out that there is a reason behind the critique and it is not about you at all. It is about them and their pain. Criticism can be an opportunity for real ministry. It can be a time to get past the surface level critique to deal with core issues that have nothing to do with you. They have been cast upon you simply because of your role as a leader. The real issue is for the criticizer to confront in their own lives. they want to know if you care. Granted you cant take time to address every critique out there, but you should seek discernment from God to know when there are times to take the time to get to know the criticizer and get past the criticism.
4. Consistent criticism needs to be cut off quickly: Some people feel they have the spiritual gift of criticism. Others think that because they have been successful in another area of life they know everything about your leadership role. Consistent criticizers need to be cut off. They become a distraction. They become divisive and they can stop you from actually accomplishing what God has called you to do as a leader. By cut off I mean: Stop responding to them. Stop reading what they write. Stop listening to what they say. Cut off means cut off. I recently heard James MacDonald say to a group of pastors that you want your elders favorite bible verse to be Titus 3:10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. Consistent criticism becomes divisive, more than likely you are not the only person they are telling about all the things you do wrong.
5. Criticism can consume: Criticism can consume you. I hope you do not scour facebook, and twitter to see what people are saying about you. That can be dangerous in multiple ways and is probably already a sign of some unhealthy characteristics in your life. These are obviously poor practices, but there even comes a time and place when you are made aware of criticism and the proper response is, “Ok” or “Thank you,” and you simply move on giving little to no thought to what was said. We are on a serious mission with eternal implications. We can’t spend all of our time responding to criticism. Criticism can consume you.
Final reflection: Dealing with criticism takes great discernment. What is legitimate? What is a waste of time? What is a ministry opportunity in the criticizer’s life? This requires time with God and in the Word. This requires humility. This requires a laser focus on the mission God has called you to so you know what to ignore as a distraction. This requires great confidence in your identity in Christ.
A couple of weeks ago in a message I talked about the difference between, vision, mission and strategy. One friend wanted me to repeat it because he said, “You spoke kind of fast for that part.” Go figure. So I figured I would put it on the blog so anyone who wanted to see what I said would have it in writing.
In the message I was talking about how we make decisions based on our mission. I referred to a talk I was having with Jimmy Carroll the pastor of Journey Church here in Raleigh. During our lunch he asked me what I thought the difference was between, vision, mission and strategy. Without really thinking about it, I replied, “Vision is what you see, mission is what you do and strategy is how you do it.” I don’t know if God just gave that to me or if I heard it somewhere else before, but it made sense to me.
Our Vision is what we see. It’s the picture we get of our ultimately desired result. At Southbridge we say we want to see the scriptures lived out in RDU and we believe it starts with us. If God is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9), then we don’t want anyone to perish in our city. We want everyone to come to a right relationship with God experiencing genuine life transformation from the inside out, experiencing genuine freedom and living the life God intended. We believe the result would be not only reconciled relationships, transformed families, broken addictions and individual changed lives, but that our city as a whole would be changed. We see RDU becoming a city on a hill (Matthew 5:14), where people want to move here (not simply because of jobs, housing costs or because we are close to the beach and mountains), but because the people are different. Where we let our lights so shine before men that they see our good deeds (our lives living out the gospel which permeates everything we do) and glorify our God who is in heaven.
Our Mission – is what we do. For us it is to connect people one at a time, but as many as possible to Jesus for life change. The mission for every church is really the same. We exist to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). We are to go, make disciples (i.e. connect people to Jesus for life change) by baptizing them (the first step of obedience after salvation) in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teach them everything Jesus has taught us (teach them everything we know about living a reconciled life reconciled to God, to other people and to the world around us). God promises us that He will be with us the entire time. The wording and expression of this will and should look different based our cultural context, but the mission is the same for every believer and every church. The expression being different leads us to strategy.
Our Strategy – is how we accomplish the mission to ultimately see the vision become a reality. For us this is everything we do starting with our website (which is often times a persons first experience at Southbridge), continuing to our parking lot team, our greeters, ushers, hospitality team, bridgekids ministry, tech team, set up team, worship team, preaching the Word to follow up team on Sunday mornings. Then our strategy continues during the week by living out or value of community through our community groups (a place where people live life on life together in authentic relationships on mission for the glory of God). Then we try to live out our value of growth through ministries like Fearless Men’s Ministry and Nourish Women’s ministry, our student ministry SYU, our Celebrate Recovery ministry and various other equipping ministries to connect people to Jesus for life change. Everything is evaluated based on life change. That is our strategy. Strategy can and should change over time. We want to do whatever it takes to be most effective in accomplishing our God given mission. That is how I believe vision, mission and strategy differ and simultaneously work together.
For an additional resource on Mission, Vision and Strategy check out one of my friends and seminary professors books entitled: Advanced Strategic Planning by Aubrey Malphurs.