In my view, one of the primary goals of the local church is to join God and help meet the needs of the broken world. Not just locally, but globally as well. We are Christ’s representatives on this planet, to help bring the kingdom of heaven to earth.  I have been hearing this for some time and I just had this thought:

our world is broken to an extent that Christians are broken and are not fully functioning Christ-followers.

Some times we can spend so much time thinking about the ills of the world that we look right past the ills of the church and the people that make up that church. In the Bible it says that “They will know we are Christians by our love.”  Certainly that includes loving each other inside the church as much as it is about loving those far from God.  I’m not talking about loving ourselves to the point of being insulated from the outside world or just having an inward focus.  I look around at the people I am with everyday, and we have a pretty huge pile of junk that requires us to love each other; to live in honest community with each other; to speak the truth in love to each other.

For the body of Christ to function properly and to have the maximum impact on this broken world, we need to be whole.  We can only be whole if we are willing to love each other; in spite of our weaknesses; in spite of our differences; in spite of conflict.  All people, everywhere, have to deal with these issues.  We are called to rise above them and to love each other.  I want to be a part of a place where we love and support each other so much that we become an unstoppable force for changing the world, letting the love of Christ naturally flow out of us.

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” – Romans 15:4-6

I have been sitting in front of my computer with tons of spare time, the thing I always wish I had more of.  I have been confined to my bed while recovering from a minor surgery and was really looking forward to getting something to this site.  Instead of being bombarded with great ideas of things to write about, I have been starring at the blank page in frustration.  Finally free time!… … …nothing.

I was explaining to someone last night, that at the baseline, production is about executing content that someone else has created.  That isn’t to say we aren’t creative or that we just push buttons, but we are about getting it done; adding to it; making it better.  I generally don’t have to come up with the original idea.

Sitting here, trying to come up with something original has been maddening.  Creativity is not easy.  Just because I have the time doesn’t mean something creative will result.  This has been a good reminder for me that the people I work with who create  services, deal with this every day, and it is relentless.  When I wonder why deadlines aren’t made, or if I find myself being overly critical of someone’s creative ideas, I want to remember how I have felt the last 3 days and remember that it isn’t as easy to have a brilliant idea as it seems from the outside looking in.

I am sitting here working on my breakout talk for the Willow Arts Conference coming up next week and doing my usual freakout.  What to say.  What not to say.  Where to start.  Where to end.  How much PowerPoint should there be?  Should there be walk in music?  If so, what should it be?

The funny part to me is that I have been reading the story of Mary and Martha and how at the end Jesus tells Martha to just abide in Him, and like Martha, I am getting caught up in all the details and not trusting in Him for the results of my breakout.  If everything isn’t perfect, the breakout will be a disaster.

The reality is that I need to do what God has called me to be about and then let Him worry about how it affects people.  There is a mysterious point at which I end and He begins.  I am hoping to reach that and that I let God take over.

I am really getting excited about the potenial for what God can do through all the teachers, all the music, all the drama, basically everything happening next week.  God is going to impact the lives of thousands of people.

Will I get out of the way enough to be one of those affected?

With my new responsibilities, I have been way busier. In my head, I complain a lot about the new amount of meetings I am in and how busy I seem and how I wish I had more time for the things that really matter.

Yesterday, I actually had an afternoon with no meetings. When the time came, I couldn’t figure out what I should be doing. I sat there thinking “I know I have a ton of things to do, but what are they?” I am used to being so busy with running around, that I have a difficult time living a different way.

I am going to try writing down the important things so I can remember them when I have time that isn’t filled up; a list of critically important tasks that I can always pull out in those moments.

I have become more and more uncomfortable just talking about what the problems are or even what the solution to the problem might be.  Unfortunately, I am also uncomfortable with the actually doing something about the problem; taking action.  That means the possibility of failure.  But if I don’t try, then how will things ever get better?  If I don’t try, than things will stay the same, which I know I don’t like.  If I do try, what is the worst that can happen?  We decide it doesn’t work, then we try something else.  I’m going for it.

I have been reading Carly Fiorina’s book, Tough Choices. She basically tells her story and makes some great leadership observations along the way. Today I read a chapter called “Adopt and Go”. She talked a bunch about the merger between HP and Compaq and the need to come up with a new identity for the new, combined company. Since I have been a values kick, I wanted to quote her perspective on the need for values in an organization.

“Values are signposts to guide people’s behavior when the rules aren’t clear and the supervisor isn’t present. Goals and metrics are what gets done; values are how those things get done.”

“Values are aspirational; not everyone in the organization lives up to them every day. Yet there’s a difference between falling short of an aspiration…and willful violation of bedrock principles.”

That’ what I’m saying.  The further away from leadership you get, the more difficult it is to know how to operate and what really matters.  Values are a way to take the guess work out; to help people further down make decisions that line up with what the organization is about.

If you are looking for a good read, Tough Choices, by Carly Fiorina gets a thumbs up from me.

I don’t love talking in large groups…OK, maybe I do like it, but I never like that feeling of not knowing exactly what to say.  Yesterday I needed to stand up in front of a group and was really not sure what to say.  I wrote myself a couple notes, I stressed about it, and even got some sweaty palms.  When it came time to open my mouth, I am not sure that anything profound came out, but words definitely came out that I hadn’t planned on.  Afterwards, I realized that I had stepped up to what I needed to be about, I had even prepared to make it the best possible (which still felt like not enough) and God had showed up to make up the difference.  After it was all over I was sitting in the services and realized that if nothing else, people get a chance to see what I think and feel instead of me being the only one who knows.

If I want the culture at Willow to be one that I am proud to be a part of I need to keep stepping up to these chances to speak into the culture, even when I don’t like the feeling of not knowing exactly what to say.  If I am obedient, God will show up.

I have resolved this year to not sit back and let things suck.  Whether it is relationships, or process, or the product or a bad decision, I am committed to doing something.  I may not have the appropriate positional authority, but I am going to try none the less.

So far this year, it has been great to see God work as I have stepped out to tackle a potentially sticky situation.  Since I have no control over the outcome, I have enjoyed the direction God chooses to move things in.  I was looking back at an older blog and noticed that a year ago I had a similar New Year’s Resolution.  As I recall, those particular situations got unpleasant, but my character has grown a ton.  I think I am going to keep it up.