Tim Clark’s Blog

Often when we approach a new leadership assignment, we want to make a big splash fast. We reason that if we can quickly make some significant contributions—a few noticeable wins—we can build equity, which can be used as a resource for future challenging decisions.

But that course of action may actually backfire.

Though we may have been given a leadership post to contribute to the greater good, trying to make that impact too soon can create confusion if we don’t really know the thing to which we are contributing. We may think we have a win, but if we are not aware of the unintended consequences of our actions, what we think of as a “W” can really be an “L”.

The other challenge with creating quick wins is that you may see it that way, but the rest of the team does not. Unlike sports, where keeping score is clear and simple, knowing when you are getting ahead in organizational leadership requires that you understand how your decisions and actions are perceived in a particular culture.

In other words, if the culture is broken, and there is a lack of clarity, our contribution may not be the victory we think it is.

One of the marks of a great leader is great patience when it’s necessary. And moving towards a point where our contribution will be more than a temporary gain may require two prerequisite intentional steps.

1. Clarity: We might have a very clear picture of what it is we want to see and why we want to see it, but if our teams are not on the same page, they might think we are taking steps backwards while we think we are zooming ahead. Ultimately even if we are “right” and they are “wrong” it won’t matter, because our ability to lead and make an impact will be severely compromised by those who don’t understand what we are attempting.

Much has been written about clarity as a leadership mandate, and in my opinion there is no way to overestimate how important this is. When your whole team is genuinely on the same page (not we just think they are clear) about what they are working to do, why they are doing it, and how they are planning to get there, you have taken your first step towards making an important contribution.

2. Culture: When there is organizational clarity and everyone understands (even if they don’t necessarily agree with) what is going on, you can then start to build or repair a culture of health. Unhealthy cultures are shaped in unnecessary ambiguity (there is always necessary ambiguity, by the way) and unmet expectations. Healthy culture is built when everyone knows the score, knows how to score, and knows the strategy and values that are being agreed upon as the game is being played.

3. Contribution: Finally you are ready to contribute. It may seem like a silly progression to have to walk through, so here is a silly analogy to go along with it:

If you stepped onto a field where everyone thought they were playing soccer, but you understood that it’s an american football team you are supposed to be coaching, you couldn’t just tell people to start making touchdowns. Even if they did it, they wouldn’t feel like they were winning at all and would become discouraged.

• First there needs to be clarity regarding what is supposed to happen (as well as why and how)…

• Then there needs to be a team culture built around accomplishing the agreed upon goals…

• After that the contributions can be and will be celebrated for the good things that they are.

It may require patience, but the long term wins will be much more effective than a couple of short term ones could ever be.

Matthew 14 includes the story of the frightening storm that was intimidating seasoned sailors. These fishermen thought this was the big one. They were going down.

But here comes Jesus, walking on the water. This confused the disciples, of course, and they had to be assured He wasn’t a ghost. Peter makes an interesting decision; “if you aren’t a ghost, tell me to walk out to you”!

Well Jesus says “come”, and Peter walks out on the water in the middle of the storm.

I wonder how often I’ve encountered a storm and feel like I am done for? Never mind walking through it, I just hope to make it through alive. But here the difference between Peter and the other disciples is the level of expectation. Peter asks for a word from Jesus. In essence he’s saying “Lord, if you really have this under control, talk to me and I’ll trust you more than I trust what I am experiencing”.

Are you facing a storm? You may understand that Jesus is there, but you are not hearing him speak. He can, with a word, calm the storm, but sometimes He talks us through it before it calms down.

But we have to hear His voice.

And He is talking. If we open up the Bible to read and open up our hearts to hear, I’m convinced we can and will perceive what Jesus is saying to us. I’ve found in the midst of a difficult time a word from God gives me the strength to walk on top of the tumultuous water instead of being sucked in by it.

If you are facing a storm–if you feel like you are about to go under–can I encourage you to ask Jesus to speak to you so you can face it without fear?

January 1, 2012

2011 is over and 2012 is here; we now have a fresh 366 days ahead of us (yup, it’s a leap year). Here are a few things I’m going to be focusing on this year. These aren’t resolutions, but more like personal targets that will contribute to my health and growth. Maybe these will encourage you to come up with some of your own targets; or you might even want to try some of the following:

1. Live in the moment: Over the last few years, I’ve spent more and more time distracted from what I’m doing. Frankly, much of that has to do with technology. It used to be, when I spent time with people, I was giving them my undivided attention; when I was working I’d be giving it all I had; even when watching a movie or game, my entire focus would be on that.

But I’ve noticed that I, and many around me, are mostly only half there—even when just taking a walk or watching a mindless show, we don’t fully enjoy it, because we are trying to do more, think about more, or handle a few more things at a time. I want to focus on living in the moment and fully embracing the life that is before me.

2. Stop multitasking: That is the “part 2″ of the first target. We multitask because we think we will get more done, but the truth is, at least for me, multitasking doesn’t work that well anyways. There have been studies that show our brain capacity actually diminishes when we continuously multitask. It will be challenging, but I’lll attempt to trade doing it all at once (and doing it poorly) with working on one thing at a time (but doing it as well as possible).

3. Rule my email, don’t let it rule me: This is one of my biggest multitasking culprits. I often check and respond to email all day long, even though I know better. I feel like if I don’t do this, I’ll never catch up with the constant barrage coming in. But on those rare times when I can’t access my email all day because of meetings, and I spend some time at the end of the day reading and responding to my email, I can actually get it done rather quickly.

So for me, this is going to mean setting a schedule to read and respond to email 3 or 4 times a day, and then sticking to it.

4. Enjoy a Sabbath: Enjoying the Sabbath has always been a challenge for me, but I’ve long understood that it can be a key to my health. One day a week turning off my productive mind and turning off all the tools of my work assignment (especially email and my cell phone), reminds me that I am not God, that God is God, and that if He could cease from His important work one day out of seven, I need to embrace His call for me to stop, too. My family, my friends, my work, and my health will benefit.

5. Laugh at myself: I’m going to start looking for an opportunity to laugh at myself every day; I think that keeping a sense of humor is vital to our health and while we should take our God and our faith very seriously, we should never take ourselves too seriously. I can tend to take everything too seriously, though, so I find it helps me loosen up if I can recognize my own absurdity and remind myself that it’s not all about me, and that all the great things I have are a total gift from God anyways!

Finally, my big idea for this year is hearing a word from God out of the Word of God every day. For the next 366 days, I’m looking forward to not only reading the Bible (I use the Life Journal plan) but also to hearing the voice of the Lord tell me something that I can reflect on all day, and look for opportunities to share and act on that one thing.

Those are a few of my targets. How about you? What are some things that you are looking to embrace for your health in 2012?

Christmas fell on a Sunday again this year, and there were more and more churches who decided to “close up shop”.

All of the pastors I know who decided not to gather as a Church on Sunday morning had a full complement of Christmas Eve (and even Christmas Eve-Eve) services that were well planned and executed and that saw many people get saved. Honestly, for some of these large churches, Christmas Eve was almost just as much work as Easter, and by the time they finished their 3rd (or 5th or 6th, etc.) service, there was not much left for Sunday morning.

The thought in not having an extra service was pure: Gift this important day to staff and volunteers who already hadn’t seen their families much leading up to Christmas; more importantly, it was thought, unbelievers don’t want to go to church on Christmas, they want to stay home with their families and friends, too.

I have to admit, though I’m not a fan of ever canceling Sunday morning Church (if Sunday is when you normally meet) I actually encouraged some of my pastor friends in their reasoning about this year’s Sunday services.

But now I think I was wrong.

A few days ago on Christmas Sunday morning, I woke up wanting to go to church. Since our family had attended service together the night before and there was extended family activity all over the house, I quietly slipped out of the house alone (with my wife’s permission) to make the solitary drive to a large church downtown in the city where my in-laws live.

I didn’t know what to expect. I walked into the foyer to find that the service had been moved out there. When I talked to one of the pastors later I discovered that they had figured maybe 50 or 75 people would show up, but by the time I arrived 5 minutes late they had nearly 400 people gathered to worship Jesus and celebrate Christmas.

It was a simple service. One very talented family led worship. A handful of ushers were quickly setting up extra chairs. There was a sound guy, a preacher and a greeter. That was it. Maybe 10 or 15 staff & volunteers. Everyone from 2 weeks old to 100 was together for about 40 minutes in a very simple service. I imagine (and later confirmed) it wasn’t that hard to pull off. The lead pastor wasn’t even there, because he had been heavily involved in the services the night before. It seems that some of the staff and volunteers had taken “shifts” so that either Christmas Eve or Christmas day could be spent with family.

But those are just logistics. What brought me to tears was sitting alone, experiencing Christmas service without any family or friends with me for the first time ever. On one side of me was an older single lady, who was very glad to be there. On my other side was an elderly couple who was there with their kids and grandkids (I gathered that the couple regularly came to church but that the rest of the family did not). As I looked around the room I saw homeless people, disabled folks, couples without kids, immigrants, college students and single parent families.

It struck me how many folks were at Church, alone, on Christmas.

And then I realized how selfish I can be. When declaring that people want to spend time with their families on Christmas day, I never fully grasped how many don’t have families or friends to spend Christmas with. For some of those people, this was the most significant experience on Christmas day that they would have. Singing praise to the Messiah; hearing the message of the gift that came from God; having the chance to receive the Lordship of the King into their lives; connecting with others who were also celebrating.

Christianity is and always has been especially concerned about the lonely, the outcast, and the disenfranchised. Repeatedly we are called on to take care of the orphan, the widow and the alien. And in our culture, Christmas still attracts those who have not yet given their lives to Jesus—one pastor friend of mine who did identical Christmas Eve and Christmas services had 60% attendance Christmas Eve (with one first-time response to Jesus) and 40% on Christmas Day (with 11 first-time responses to Jesus).

What better way to declare the message of the King who was born to temporarily homeless and outcast parents than to intentionally make time and space on this special day for those who are homeless, outcasts, or lonely, and for those who can take the opportunity to bring family members who have not yet met the King.

To host a simple service that takes a couple of hours out of our day so that someone doesn’t have to sit at home alone eating top ramen and watching old Christmas movies on TBS may be a wonderful act of grace that will brighten someone’s day, and that may just open them up to eternal life.

It’s Christmas Eve, 2011, and I’m enjoying watching my city kids play on Grandpa’s 2 acres in the country outside of Eugene.

This is the first year in a long time that we took off for Christmas vacation and didn’t have church responsibilities to distribute before we left. This year there was no Christmas Eve service to plan, no Christmas series to promote, and no Christmas sermons to preach. About four months ago, I accepted an assignment as a Supervisor over about 140 churches. Though I do a lot of preaching in those churches, Christmas, I was wisely told by a former Supervisor, is time for the pastor to preach to his congregation; it’s family time. So, as perhaps it should be, I didn’t have any Christmas preaching duties.

This was, in fact, the first time in about 23 years that I didn’t preach in front of a congregation or youth group about the incarnation.

It was always my favorite time of year; don’t get me wrong, I love Easter and I love the service and sermon that aligns with that special resurrection day! But Christmas is a whole season of celebration that accompanies weeks of anticipation (Advent) along with multiple Sunday’s of proclamation of the gospel message that started with “God in the flesh”.

Jesus came to earth! God pitched His tent among us! The darkness could not overcome it! The cradle led to a cross!

I celebrate with all the churches who are declaring this message loud and clear this weekend. I’m praying for the churches I oversee that God would touch some lost person’s heart in a fresh way at their Christmas Eve or Christmas service. I am excited to hear about the results of the Holy Spirit’s work as pastors proclaim the coming of the Prince of Peace.

But for me, this Christmas is intensely personal, and not also public. It means a lot of introspection, joy, and even some sadness and loss regrading a passionate pastoral expression I’ve manifested for over a couple of decades. Now, I get an opportunity to figure out how to manifest that passion a different way.

But if you are a pastor this year who gets to tell a group—no matter how large or small—about the coming of Jesus and His plan for humanity, I want to encourage you, and tell you that your job tonight is the best one in the world!

Merry Christmas!

“I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you…”

“On hearing it, many of His disciples said, ‘this is a hard teaching, who can accept it?’…From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.”

John 6

The designation “Christian” has become, for some Christians, a pejorative word. Because so much damage has been done in the name of false Christianity, these believers have decided to rebrand themselves simply as Christ-followers. It seems, to them, just a little more clear—because of culture and history, unbelieving folks may have confused notions about what defines a Christian, but it’s fairly simple to picture that a Christ-follower is someone who is walking after Jesus.

But changing words impacts more than branding, it can also shift definitions. When we consider that a disciple is one who follows after Jesus, we have to recognize that it’s just as easy to stop following as it is to follow. Human nature stirs in us the desire to jump on the latest bandwagon, to pick up the latest craze, and to celebrate the team that is in the lead; we follow a strong leader until that leader does or says something we don’t like (at best) or does or says something stupid or abusive (at worst).

Self-determination can be a powerful and a good thing. I’m glad that I can teach my kids to refuse to go along with the crowd when the crowd is heading the wrong way or to say “no” to an authority figure if that person is asking them to do something that isn’t right.

But following Jesus is different. Following Jesus is all or nothing. We can’t decide to follow Jesus when it suits us, and then, like a fickle Facebook friend, unfollow Him when He says or does something we’re not so sure about.

That’s why the term “Christ-follower” has certain implications to me that I’m not ready to embrace. Anyone can decide to follow Jesus—to follow his words, or try to reflect his positive actions towards the poor and broken—but turning back can happen at the drop of a dime, too. When we tell people they don’t have to become Christians to follow Jesus, I wonder if folks get the impression that they can jump on Jesus’ bandwagon like they would get excited about a band, or a politician, or the Green Bay Packers (well, until this week)?

Because copying Jesus (the perfect man) is a pretty decent humanistic idea, but hitching your wagon to Jesus (the perfect God) is impossible to do in the flesh. In fact, the whole story of the Gospel—the good news—hinges on the idea that since people couldn’t just decide to follow God, God became human to die on a cross and raise from the dead so that we could die to ourselves and He could live in and through us in resurrection life and power.

Following Jesus without being regenerated is impossible! I’m convinced that had the Holy Spirit not come, that even Jesus’ disciples, who spent 3 intimate years watching Him, would have fallen apart and Christianity would have only been a footnote in history.

So whether you call yourself a Christian or have adopted the term Christ-follower know that nobody can simply decide to follow Jesus, but they must come to the cross of Christ, die to themselves, and be made alive through the regenerating and life-sustaining power of the Holy Spirit.

In other words, being a Jesus-fan is one thing; being a sold-out, all in, no turning back believer is something altogether different!

My wife and I have a Starbucks mug collection that’s very special to us. We built the collection over years as we have moved and traveled and ministered all over the country and the world. In each place we’ve lived, in many places we’ve served, and in select locations where we have been impacted, we have picked up a coffee mug that bears the name of the city that has so touched our lives. Some mornings I feel like remembering Portland. Other times I want to reminisce about New York. Los Angeles, of course, is a favorite. And if anyone knows if there is a Fresno mug, we’d sure like to get our hands on one.

This morning Deborah poured her coffee into our Seattle mug! The pictures of the Pink Elephant Car Wash, the Space Needle, and Pike Place Market brought back fond memories of our first church plant (and our bi-vocation as Starbucks partners). More than the organization we started in Seattle, our thoughts turned to the people we partnered with.

It was a crazy time. It’s not a good idea to plant a church without a team, and I’d never suggest anyone try to do it the way we did. Deborah and our friend Amy Goosen and I moved from Fresno to Seattle—not knowing anybody, and not knowing the city—and we “hung our shingle” and started a church! Through some very generous Foursquare pastors and some sovereign encounters, we ended up with a core team of about 15 to 20 people in the next few months.

And none of us knew what we were dong. We just wanted to glorify Jesus and reach lost people.

After 2 years, we were meeting in a nightclub on Sunday mornings with no kids ministry space, no parking, and we had to clean up cigarette butts and hypodermic needles before service.

You’ve heard this story before: it’s the stuff of sermons and seminars and best-selling books. A small group of clueless but committed people start to meet in a challenging place and before they know it, God does a work and the church grows to thousands of people.

Except in our case that explosive growth never happened.

We did everything we could think of to minister Jesus’ life in our context, but after 2 years, our biggest service was about 40 folks in their late teens and 20′s. Despite all our best efforts and a wonderful and deeply committed core leadership team, we could never get the plane off the ground.

When the Lord called Deborah and I to Newberg Oregon to pastor the Forusquare Church there, it felt a little bit like a rescue operation. We loved the vision and the team in Seattle, but we just couldn’t give another ounce of spiritual, emotional or physical effort.

There is a saying in sports that when you give your best effort—regardless of the outcome—you have “left it all out on the field”. There is no holding back, there is not second-guessing, you don’t go home thinking you could have tried harder. You may not have had a perfect game; you may have made some boneheaded mistakes, but you know you couldn’t have done any more.

And that’s a great feeling.

We had gone to Seattle to plant a church that would bring Jesus glory, and we left it all out on the field. I know we were young and did some things that were counterproductive and worked with some wrong assumptions and philosophy and even made decisions that I would not let a young church planter get away with in my district today. But never in my life have I ever wondered if we could have tried harder. Never have I wondered what could have happened had our team been more committed. I will go to my grave satisfied that we obeyed Jesus to go and we and our team gave our whole hearts and our total effort.

And it’s been a great feeling!

I can still point to the scars that were created in that season, but I’ve never had an ounce of regret over any of it.

I want to encourage you today, whatever it is that God has called you to, give it all you’ve got. Don’t hesitate or equivocate; don’t pull your punches or hedge your bets; pull out all the stops (look that last phrase up…it’s got a great music reference).

Because at the end of the day—in the dusk of your life—you want to look back at both your successes and your failures without regrets, and the only way I know how to do that is to throw yourself fully into whatever you are doing with as much integrity and passion and energy that you can.

And then when you drink from the mug that reminds you of that season, you can enjoy your coffee, remember your life, remember your friends, smile about the life that you shared, and look with joy on both the triumphant successes and the glorious failures that came as a result of obedience to the Lord.

“…it’s easy to get a laugh making fun of somebody, but the Muppets never make jokes at other people’s expenses. It makes the writing a little bit harder, but it’s so much better.” Jason Segel, on co-writing The Muppets.

In the original draft of the Muppets, apparently there were a couple of scenes where Kermit insulted some folks, but the original muppet puppeteers read the script and told Segel that, “Kermit is never, ever mean, no matter what.”

I’d like to write an article or book called, “The Leadership Secrets of Kermit the Frog”. I like the character—a lot. One of the reasons I’m attracted to him is that though he can get frustrated, and even lose his cool occasionally, he always seems to be able to rally the troops and make a decision that saves the day…and he’s never cynical, and never mean.

But of course, Kermit is just a puppet.

Today I finally watched the Davis Guggenheim documentary “From the Sky Down” about the conditions leading up to the seminal work by U2, Achtung Baby. This was a moment at which the band was on the verge of breaking up, and getting through the challenge of recording this album established their trajectory for the next 20 years.  In the course of the movie, the filmmaker revealed that one thing that set the members of this band apart from others was that they were always kind to one another, and even when they disagreed they worked hard to move ahead together.

Whether it’s muppets or rock stars, spouses or churches, I’m attracted to teams that can maintain a humble attitude towards one another and who aren’t out for themselves: backbiting, cutting, and “throwing people under the bus” has no place on a team that is going to impact the world. And the attitude has to be set by the leader. If either Bono or Kermit decided that he was the star of the show and could do without the others, I’m convinced that there wouldn’t be the same kind of magic on those “teams”.

If you are a leader in your church or organization and you are mean to people, or feel like you are entitled to lead out of pride, you may continue to be the leader, but your team will never have that something special that sets you above the others. Decisions have to be made, disagreements will happen, and discussions might need to be blunt, but the person in the lead can set a culture of kindness and respect. It may be a little harder to “write that story” (sometimes cynicism and being mean can just come naturally) but it’s so much better, and it makes a team much more effective and enduring.

Last week my family celebrated an epic day: 11.11.11 was my son’s birthday…his ELEVENTH birthday! On the day of his birth, we discovered this would be the case because the doctor told us we had a big birthday approaching in 11 short years. At the time it seemed like forever away. Do I sound like an old guy when I ask “just where did the time go?”

As part of the event, we had a private tour of Disney Studios, a shopping spree at the Disney Store, and a personal visit with Swampy Marsh at the studio where he and his friends create Phineas and Ferb (My son’s favorite show). You see, my kid wants to be an animator, a story writer, and a director when he grows up, and we think he may have the talent to get there (said, of course, in my best “proud parent” voice). His mom and I aren’t really artistic, and we don’t know many artists, so exposing him to this kind of opportunity isn’t something we can just pull off.

But there were a whole bunch of people who bent over backwards to make his day. From the really cool little gifts like one of Caleb’s drawings of Flynn Rider (the movie Tangled) being signed by Zachary Levi (the voice of Flynn) to the big moments like an hour and a half drawing lesson with Swampy, there were over a dozen people who had to sacrifice to make the day of an 11 year old kid…and most of those people didn’t even know him.

Far from being put out by the effort, I noticed that most of these folks were having a lot of fun. It brought them joy to help create a really special day for a family. They knew that this kid would remember that day for the rest of his life.

Sometimes making someone else’s day is what makes your day.

Next time you are having a bad day, or week, or month, take a few minutes or a couple of hours from your schedule and find someone you don’t know well and bend over backwards to make their day. Do something to make it epic! Shock them with your generosity of time, or money, or effort. I almost guarantee it will radically impact your attitude.

Oh yeah. One more person got in on the act. My son’s biggest hero is John Lasseter, the genius behind Pixar; this was the company who brought us Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., Up, and all those other great films. And after Pixar was purchased by Disney, he became the Chief Creative Officer over all of Disney Animation Studios. My friend and relative who plays a big part in The Disney Store set up our studio tour. He also got to meet with Lasseter about a product, and when they met he asked for a big favor; his cousin’s kid was turning 11 on 11.11.11, could they do a picture? John Lasseter not only gave us a picture, but also passed on some great advice for an aspiring animator. Epic.

One more thought: Sometimes one of the coolest things you can do is go to bat for another person, or ask a favor that won’t benefit you, but will thrill someone else. Do good to others, even when (especially when) they can’t return the favor, and you will have great reward!

When I was a teenager and twenty-something, I sang and played bass in a number of post-punk/rock bands. Triumphs of Faith, Dino’s Lucky Eggs, The New Resistance, Enclave, 45 North, and Average Joe are all names you probably haven’t heard, but they took up a whole lot of my creative energy and time (and probably largely kept me out of trouble).

In most of these bands, I partnered with Drake, my best friend from Junior High. Usually I sang lead, but often he did, too. Depended on the band, the song, or even the verse. When writing scores of songs together, we fell into a rhythm of figuring out who would sound better singing melody or harmony at any given time. It usually wasn’t intentional; whatever felt right and sounded better is just what we would go with. We both felt comfortable either way.

In leadership you are either singing the melody or supporting with the harmony. Some people can only do one or the other, but I contend that the best leaders are those who are comfortable with either. Even if you are the “lead singer”, there have to be times when you can effortlessly shift into harmony to support someone else who is taking the lead, and then shift back to melody again when it is appropriate.

Though the shift seemed effortless in the middle of a show, we didn’t just “wing it” while preforming; by then we knew very well who would be taking each part. Every once in a while, if we were working out a tune on stage “in the moment”, that would cause an awkward situation where we would feel like we were stepping over one another’s parts. The concert went better when we were each clear on where we would be heading, and how, by the time we got on stage.

In the same way, when you are working with your team regarding who will take the lead and who will support, it’s often best to decide how it’s going to roll out ahead of time. Give a team member the responsibility for leading a meeting, and then really let them lead. Maybe you can allow an associate to run point on a project, but you need to allow them to truly take it while you provide the support. Then when it’s time for you to step back in, you can clearly do it without an awkward leadership moment.

The great thing about leading like this is that it trains other people to be the “lead singer”, and allows the primary leader to come under and serve and support. Someone once said that real discipleship happens in four stages:

1. I do it, you watch.

2. We do it together.

3. You do it, I watch.

4. You do it without me.

As a leader, knowing how to switch between singing both melody and harmony, and being comfortable doing either, is an important part of fully developing the leaders on your team!

When I was in my late teens I worked on a couple of different janitorial crews. Those who worked these jobs had some things in common: We wore the same color shirts, we knew how to change a belt on a vacuum, we carried walkie-talkies (yes, before cell phones) and we had a HUGE quadruple ring of keys.

The keys were a dead give away. Every different door had a different key, and in order to access the whole campus, you needed, like, 45 keys of all shapes, sizes and colors. Our belts had to be in good working condition, or the weight of this mass of metal would literally assist gravity in making us guys on the janitorial crew look more like “plumbers” (if you know what I mean).

I thought this was a necessary part of the job. In fact, I believed that having every key that would get me into almost every door in the building was a mark of trust, authority, and power!

I thought that until I discovered something called the “Master Key”.

Little did I know that a secret existed that only the top leaders in our organization had access to. There was one single key that would open every door that I needed 45 different keys for. Those who had this didn’t need to spend a lot of time searching for just the right key when they came to a door, they knew exactly what would give them access quickly. One key to rule them all…. 

Having 10 pounds of keys wasn’t a mark of trust after all; it was a designation that there were some places I couldn’t go. Only those who could go EVERY PLACE could carry the master key.

As I matured in life and ministry, I started appreciating having a master key to the places I worked, and, in some type of regressive recompense, I made it a life goal to carry as few keys as possible; 3 or 4 keys max. Optimally, one for work; one for my home, and one for my car would be perfect—but now my car has an electronic key, so 2 keys is optimal.

But as I grew in ministry and paired down the number of physical keys I had to use, I started ramping up the theoretical keys I needed to keep available. Little by little, people would tell me “THIS is the key to your ministry” or “THIS is the key to your marriage”. Most of these really were great keys, but after a while I started to feel like my heart and my spirit were sagging under the weight of the effective keys I had been provided by others.

What I needed was 3 or 4 master keys.

So I started leading that way. I started looking for simplicity in the midst of complexity. I started to figure out which one thing could serve me instead of needing perfect recall to figure out what key might work. I began to look for the answer that would tie a whole lot of questions together. And I’m continually looking for those answers.

Lately I’ve been given a trust to lead 140 churches in Southern California, and as I engage my new assignment everyone has keys for me. “If you just embrace this ministry, it will transform your pastors”; “My idea is what your district really needs to make it to the next level”, and so on.

Many of these ideas are truly brilliant on their own, but I can’t (and shouldn’t) possibly carry all the keys I’m being offered. I need to look for a couple of master keys and work from there. Then, whatever door I may need opened (including all the ones that others are offering me individual keys for) can be accessed by one of these grand keys. It may take me a while, but I’m prayerfully looking for a few really effective keys that will help us to open all we need to open and that will make my job a joy and not a burden.

Have you discovered the principle of the master key? What are the few keys that you use to streamline your life and ministry and make it effective?

While in Rome on a “footsteps of Paul” trip a few weeks ago, I had the privilege to tour the Coliseum. It was an amazing man-made structure that has stood for thousands of years. In the middle of the modern city stood something that is centuries older than anything that exists in our country. I was impressed.

Here is the story of why it was built: As the Roman Empire was reaching it’s zenith, those in leadership realized they had to keep the people happy; and keep them from rioting. They decided that they needed to give people free entertainment—a spectacle! So they built big buildings (the Coliseum being the biggest), provided a regular spectacle, and gave the citizens free bread. This would keep the people happy for a long time, and would keep them coming back for more.

A big building.

Free bread.

A spectacle.

This remind you of anything? It did me!

I think our churches today are taking a cue from the pages of Roman appeasement. We also build big buildings (church structures), provide free weekly bread (sermons), and put on the best spectacle in town (the entertaining service). It keeps people happy.

I’m not saying that a big building, a great weekly sermon, or a well thought-through service is a bad thing. But when we present those as a way to simply keep people appeased, we are acting like the “powers that be” and are missing something huge!

In Acts 17, the people in Thessalonica accused the Christians of turning the world upside down. Our goal should not be to simply satisfy and appease our congregants, like the Romans did for their citizens. Our goal ought to be to inspire our brothers and sisters to radically shake up the world for Christ—to turn the world upside down!

We have a choice: To work to keep people sedated and happy or to actually encourage insurrection. Let’s always remember that our goal is not to sedate the masses but is the salvation of humanity!

I’ve had a number of people ask me when I’m going to start blogging again. Here’s the answer: Now.

Tomorrow I’ll start to post a series of blogs that were conceived while I was following the footsteps of Paul in Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, and Rome. Then, I’ll soon start posting discipleship thoughts  once a week that I will also send out to my district.

I’m really looking forward to returning to a season of writing.

See you tomorrow!

Tim

“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” Max De Pree

Yesterday I said “thank you” to a great congregation I have been leading for a little over 5 years. As a leader and visionary I still have lots of thoughts for this church, but someone else will be responsible to lead it now, and I am no longer their pastor. The most appropriate thing to do yesterday was not to share vision, but to simply say “thank you…Thank you for loving Deborah and the kids and me. Thank you for caring for one another. Thank you for keeping your eyes on Jesus. Thank you for your heart for the lost.” I didn’t get to say all the thank-you’s I was thinking about, but thank-you has been the posture I’ve tried to take as I’ve been leaving.

Last week I started to define reality in a new assignment I just accepted as the District Supervisor of the Greater Los Angeles District. There is a wonderful staff working in the office and a fantastic community of pastors. In the middle of all of those great people, however, are some practices, procedures  and processes that do not produce health. My primary job right now is to recognize what is so that we can have a clear starting point. You can’t get to point “B” if you are unsure of where point “A” is. Reality is sometimes daunting, but ignoring reality will undercut your ability to ever get to where you want to go and fulfill the vision God is giving you.

“In between, the leader is a servant.” I’ve said thank you, and I’m defining reality. In some ways, those are the easy parts. It’s the day-to-day work of supporting and serving others that in the end defines good leadership. I’m looking forward to developing better systems so we can better serve the pastors and churches in our District. I’m looking forward to meeting pastors and leaders, and serving them by dreaming with them about how we can partner together to reach and disciple the lost. I’m looking forward to helping leaders find their ways out of ruts and back to a passionate pursuit of Jesus. These are a few of the ways I’m excited to serve; there are many more.

Finally I wanted to say thank-you to you! Imagine my surprise when I went to my blog this morning and saw almost 30 replies to my previous post about continuing the discipline of writing. Your response was very touching. One reader said that I should consider writing a part of my new assignment, because it is a great way to connect with and equip people. The encouragement to integrate writing and work was just one of many comments that will keep me “lashed to the mast” when the siren song of responsibility pulls me away from what brings you—and me–life.

Will you help me?

I’ve started a new job, and it’s overwhelming! I don’t feel like i have time to breathe, much less to write. Tonight I went in to pray with my boys, and I just laid with them and talked and laughed with them for about an hour past what should have been their bed-time. That time was so rich!

But my days are now filled with shoveling…a lot of…excrement. I LOVE my new job; some because there is so much to fix, and I love fixing things. But fixing things is a lot of work, and everything else in life seems to get crowded out.

So will you help me? Todd Wangsgard tells the story of Odysseus:

In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus is told of a magnificent song sung by the sirens of the sea, but one that would lure unsuspecting sailors dangerously close to the rocky shore. Lacking the discipline to stay safely away from the rocks but close enough to hear the sirens’ tantalizing tune, previous sailors had sailed closer and closer to the sweet sound until their ships were dashed into the depths.

Odysseus found a solution.

Odysseus would have his seamen fill their ears with beeswax, so they could not hear the sultry song and therefore be tempted to sail too closely to shore. All the while they would keep their ship on an exacting and safe course. Meanwhile, having been securely lashed to the mast by his men, Odysseus would be able to bask in the mirthful melody of the sirens, but unable to escape and force the sailors to steer even closer. And while he might shout at his men, insisting that they change course, they would not be able to hear him.

I need to be lashed to the mast!

I’m being attracted to a location that will bring destruction if I’m not careful. I find all the details and challenges to deal with, and I’m intractably pulled into a life of fixing problems, but then I forget to hang out with my kids, spend extended time with my Lord, and separate myself from my daily duties to write.

Right now I need friends who will remind me to do what brings me life, and what brings others a touch of grace. I need to keep writing. But it’s difficult.

So will YOU help me? Will you lash me to the mast? I know there are a lot of people who read my blog regularly, but if I don’t keep writing regularly, I won’t be serving them…or you. But the comments that are written on this blog do get auto-sent to my email. And if you post a reply here asking me to keep writing, it will end up in my in-box, reminding me that there are people I am serving and loving as I take the time to sit down and write.

So, if you would, please help me out and lash me to the mast. The Siren song of giving my life to my work may pull me to the rocky shore, but in the end, I don’t want to let my work keep me from the things that keep me alive; like hanging out with my kids—like reading—like dreaming with my wife—like regular writing.

Thanks for your help in lashing me to the mast!