Tag Archives: big

Everything you do should be strategic

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Everything you do should be strategic. Why? Because anything less is a waste of your time.

Don’t just fill up your weekly programs with stuff to do, have a point to what you are doing. Move your students forward.

Let’s take winter camp (we just finished planning ours). Identify the reason why your camp exists, be able to articulate the big picture and where you want to take your students. Without a roadmap, you’ll just drive in circles. Your students may have fun, they’ll probably grow spiritually (because God can work through anything), but the fun and growth won’t be the result of your faithfulness.

We are constantly telling students that God has a plan for their life. Don’t we believe the same thing about our lives, and by extension, for our ministries? Why wouldn’t we want to have a plan for our ministry?

It’s possible to be intentional while being open to surprises, to new shifts from the Holy Spirit. But without thinking strategically, everything is a surprise.

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How to be a team player at your church

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A few ways you can be a team player at your church:

1. Get a wider perspective. Work hard to see the needs of your whole church, not just your own ministry. Have conversations with people who aren’t in your regular circles. Ask to sit in a few meetings you normally don’t attend. Yea, I know, meetings are death, but taking an interest and learning more about the whole church will help you get a wider perspective.

2. Jump in and contribute on “all church” events and programs. If there’s a special way you can help or own something, make that happen. And if you can get students to serve, that’s double bonus.

3. Suggest ideas that help everyone, not just your own ministry. This may mean giving up resources, or switching the dates for an event. If you keep your eyes open, you’ll get ideas on how you and your ministry can help the whole church.

4. Finally, don’t loose sight of your own ministry’s goals and growth. It’s great to be a team player, but don’t take your eye off the ball, which is your ministry. Team players make sacrifices  but don’t martyr your ministry. You are still called to serve in the most effective way possible, don’t let your ministry get lost in the big picture.

 

QUESTION: what are some other ways that you’ve been a team player in your church?

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Five critical actions after a big time mistake

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I hate making mistakes.

I’m definitely not a perfectionist, but when I sacrifice a key value for our ministry, I’m far from excited. Here’s my latest ministry mistake: last weekend, we had three kids from the same family get baptized. The family was still in the main church service and missed the whole thing. The parents, grandparents, two aunts, and an uncle all missed this really cool event for their family.

What a colossal screw up.

Where’s what I did in the aftermath of a mistake:

I own up, fully, without making excuses (more about excuses in a moment). In this case, that meant seeking out the parents, looking them in the eye, and conveying my sincere regret. They didn’t come looking for me, I could have “escaped” without talking to them. Honestly, I was tempted to do so. I’ve made so many mistakes in my life that I knew denial wasn’t going to make anything better.

I identify what when wrong, without making excuses. The difference between reason and excuse is intention and conviction. When we go looking for reasons why the wheels fell off, we can have two different mind sets. The excuse mentality looks to avoid blame and create sound bytes that get you off the hook. Authentically looking for reasons is the opposite: it seeks to discover new pathways so the same mistake isn’t repeated.

I want to do my best to make it right. If his case, I found out that video was taken of the baptism, and I’m going to make sure that video gets to the family. It’s a poor substitute, but it’s the best that can be done.

I don’t take responsibility for their response. It is, of course, irrational for me to think that I can compel a positive response from others. While the family was gracious (but definitely not happy!), I know this isn’t usually the response from the person I’m apologizing to. I can’t control the reaction, I can only accept it with humility.

I do my best to move on without guilt. it doesn’t do anyone any good for me to keep punishing myself. Hanging on to the shame produces a poison that keeps us from surrendering our ministry to God. It diminishes our capacity for action. A leader who doesn’t act in fear of making mistakes isn’t much of a leader. Why? Because the mistakes will always come, maturity doesn’t stay stuck in the past.

How about you? Use the comments below to tell us about a mistake you’ve made and how you like to respond.

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What if you tried to fix more people in your life?

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I'm not a big fan of the phrase, “Stop fixing people.”

I get the meaning behind it: stop being so judgmental, stop thinking that you're so great because you can point out the flaws in others.

I believe in attacking that target! But I also think there's too much collateral damage.

  • I think it can lead to complacency, “I don't need to be concerned with who they are.”
  • I think it stops a behavior, but not the thoughts. “I think that person's a moron, but as long as I don't say anything, I'm doing my part.”

“Stop fixing people” isn't specific enough. We need to stop doing what we think will fix other people because it's not working. Have you ever grown spiritually because you felt the disapproval of someone you admire? That may work in sports, but right now we're talking about our souls.

Good parents fix their children. Good friends fix one another. Much of the spiritual health you have today came through people very close to you. God worked through those people to change your life.

Jesus said to take the plank out first, before you help the other person with their speck. He could have said to leave their spec alone. Jesus said not to throw pearls before pigs, we shouldn't say something if there's not a good chance of it being heard. The proverbs tell us that an offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city.

We can't give up on fixing one another. We need to become better at fixing one another. That means accepting one another, praying for one another, listening to one another, forgiving one another, helping one another, and when the time is right: to correct on another.

The task at hand isn't to stop fixing one another. We need to stop judging, disapproving. We need to stop pointing out all the flaws.

To fix people, we must relearn what it means to actually help one another grow closer to Christ. And if we following his example, we'll know what to day.

 

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