Well packaged autocratic leadership
I believed with everything inside of me that he cared deeply for my family and me. He was like the “father” I either always wanted or never had. The pastor of a fast-growing church, he garnered a level of respect that was impressive. I can’t deny that I was completely flattered when he pursued me and then, leaning on his spiritual authority, invited me to be the executive pastor of his church. I justified that the only “right” response was to accept his offer.
For almost three years I had a front row seat for one of the most well packaged autocratic leadership demonstrations I have ever seen. This guy was externally winsome with an uncanny sense of logic and a compelling way of communicating scripture. He had confidence, command of the English language, and enough contextualization to avoid most critics. After reading through a book my wife left “laying around”, it opened my eyes enough to see that we needed to leave that church/friends/community/job. And, so, burned out, worn out, and unsure of a future in ministry, we left! It felt like a Houdini escape of sorts, insubordinate and rebellious. After all, I was purposefully leaving my “spiritual covering” and entering unchartered spiritual territory.
Time, a steady dose of the Word, solid Bible teaching, and a few good men discipled me and restored my soul to a place of health, trust and dependence.
“I’ve written to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you. But they’re no match for what is embedded deeply within you—Christ’s anointing, no less! You don’t need any of their so-called teaching. Christ’s anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught.” 1 John 2:27
Even now, my heart breaks for so many tender-hearted people who desire strong, Godly leadership but, like me, find themselves in a co-dependent relationship holding onto a false sense of loyalty. It’s not always discernible either. Sometimes, the subtle lust for authority is cloaked in a meaningful purpose.
Many see leadership like a pyramid with the people on the bottom serving those on top. But what if that thinking is wrong? What if leadership is not about authority – but instead is about living our lives for others? What if choosing to serve others is actually the only pathway to Jesus-like leadership?
If that were the case, it would certainly change everything… wouldn’t it?
Or would we still be easily fooled?
Blessed are the eclectic…
Blessed are…
The unusual, the searching, and those who don’t want pat answers.
Those who march to the beat of their own drum.
The awkward.
The frazzled, overwhelmed, self-conscious, unemployed, or tired in their work.
The softies, whose hearts ache for those in need.
The young, the gray-haired, the no-haired, the pink-haired, and every shade in-between.
Those who loathe religion, yet long for spiritual connection.
The traditional and non-traditional families.
The lonely, the isolated, and the disenfranchised.
The doubters and questioners, those who don’t have it all figured out.
The artists, musicians, dancers, poets, creators, and brainstormers finding their way in a banking city.
Those of every skin tone. Inked and un-inked, pierced, and unpierced.
Those who live in every neighborhood, borough, and region of this queen city we call home.
We’re southern and northern; western and eastern. We are not homogenous. We are diverse, variegated & beautifully eclectic. For those who long to be part of a community that embraces the stunning contrasts of Charlotte, join us for BLESSED ARE THE ECLECTIC – a summer series at Watershed for all those who never really connected to God, or for those who long to connect more deeply but never really felt like they fit into the “box” of who the church wanted them to be.
That’s MY church!
Psst… I’ll be speaking on Sunday, July 8th.
Epoch 2013 Missions Gala
“I kept thinking about how blessed I was to be a part of something that so many people had rallied around and something that God had His hand in in such a mighty way. Then on top of that, I was surrounded in the Fox Theater by hundreds of other amazing ministries and non-profits that God was using around the world! Incredible!” – Jon
Nothing sounds more contradictory than a black-tie missions gala. But Epoch 2011 pulled it off masterfully. It was an amazing experience. Here’s what happened in a nutshell:
We asked God for 250 nominations. We received 438 nominations from 25 countries and 38 states and awarded $50,000 in grants to deserving missionaries and ministries around the world.
Our partners included organizations such as Plywood People, 316 Networks, Awana Lifeline, Men’s Warehouse, Cross and Crown, Tangerine Travel, Moody Publishers, and many others.
It was a night to remember — for the presenters, attendees, and award winners. In tuxedos and formal gowns, we celebrated the cause of missions and awarded those who have labored hard to build God’s kingdom. Winners included Shaun King of Twitchange, Brett Durbin of Trash Mountain, and Andrea Baker of Word Made Flesh, plus many others (see all the nominees and award winners here).
The response was staggering. Over 100 blogs and websites picked up the story and ran with it. Here’s what some of them said about Epoch:
“I was honored to attend their inaugural event in Atlanta, and while I don’t know what I was picturing, what they delivered blew away any expectations I may have had.” —Alece
“I think that an event like this is long overdue.” —Justin Miller, People’s Choice Winner
“Yes, maybe this is just a taste. A taste of whatever comes after, of what we were made for and long for. A taste of life as it should be.” —Jeff Goins
And here are a couple anonymous ones from a survey we took:
“The fact that a missions organization was setting themselves aside and recognizing other ministries…you are an example to us all.”
“The recognition of the fantastic work that so many are doing throughout the world. I learned so much about what is going on in the community and appreciate the fact that your organization has decided to give to those who give so much.”
In order to preserve the special feel of this event, we’ve decided to make Epoch something we do every other year. We’ve already booked the fabulous Fox Theater for October 2013 and I’m excited for what Epoch will look like and hope to see you there.
To get a glimpse of what the inaugural event looked like, watch this video.
Death is a catalyst
Death is a catalyst.
Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. John 12:24
Death is a catalyst.
Apple’s profit of $13.1 billion in the first quarter of 2012 was equal to their revenue in the last quarter of 2010 (via techcrunch). Jobs died in Q4 2011.
Death is a catalyst.
More people decided to follow Jesus in the 3 months after his death than in the 3 years of his public ministry (@jarrettstevens).
Death is a catalyst.
Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ… The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Gal 2:20
Death is a catalyst.
Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified. Gal 5:24
What do you need to kill?
Death is a catalyst.
If I’ve learned one thing…
“I left Tulsa many years ago now but have always cherished the relationship we had and the mentoring I received from you in the time we worked together.” That was a line taken from an email I received a few days ago from a 20-something I worked with about 10 years ago.
Maybe I shouldn’t be, but I am usually surprised and always humbled when people remind me of the teachable moments and shared stories that came about from simply doing life together.
“Valuable stories are ones that contain teachable moments.” – Jonathan Harris
The disciples came up and asked, “Why do you tell stories? He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight.” (Matt. 13:10-14 The Message)
If our life is the canvas, maybe teachable moments are the ink for some pretty valuable stories.
If I’ve learned one thing over the years, it’s that teachable moments and valuable stories come from doing life together… living in community… laughing and crying together… giving and taking… co-laboring and having fun… listening and talking… getting feedback and giving feedback… failing and succeeding… but perhaps most of all, valuable stories, of the life-giving variety, are written by relentlessly going after the full expression of the dream God has placed on the inside of you with people who want nothing more than to see you fully alive!
That’s just one of the reasons I can’t wait to tell you more about The Center for Global Action… a distinct community of radicals fully focused on helping you discover what you were made to do, resourcing you, and activating you to go do it!
Let’s nudge people towards receptive insight into God’s Kingdom through our collective stories.
More to come…
Ahhh…
We just got home… to Charlotte, that is.
It’s still light.
I’m sitting on the front porch… all by my quiet self.
Ann just walked with a neighbor and her three children to the Smelly Cat for ice cream.
Reflective music is playing in the background.
The passerby’s are many… couples, friends, parents, and dog walkers.
They each wave and say hi… like old times.
The grass is deep green… and needs to be cut.
The green tint of pollen is thick on the stone walkway.
The sky is blue with a few white clouds.
And we received a special Shutterstock “Ava Grace” picture book in the mail today.
Life is good.
Finally, I can’t help but try and express the grandness of God in an all-embracing community of friends and co-workers who care so deeply for so many and so much.
Thanks to each and every one of you!
Just 5 thoughts (not-my-own)
“You are a mashup of what you let into your life.” – Austin Kleon
“Doing less meaningless work, so that you can focus on things of greater personal importance, is NOT laziness. This is hard for most to accept, because our culture tends to reward personal sacrifice instead of personal productivity.” – Timothy Ferriss
“You can’t kill time without injuring eternity” – Brennan Manning
“If you hire people just because they can do a job, they’ll work for your money. But if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll work for you with blood and sweat and tears.” – Simon Sinek
“Make the client the focal point of your business again. Without clients you will not make money. In fact, you will not exist. Weed out the morally bankrupt people, no matter how much money they make for the firm. And get the culture right again, so people want to work here for the right reasons. People who care only about making money will not sustain this firm — or the trust of its clients — for very much longer.” – Greg Smith in his resignation letter to Goldman Sachs: Why I am leaving Goldman Sachs
Strategic doing
I come from a paradigm where 3-5 year plans and planning are a waste of time. Heck, I think one year plans are a stretch. I’m a big fan of a rolling 90-day plan. Hence, my fascination with strategic doing.
Strategic planning got legs 50+ years ago in hierarchical-type organizations. It made sense, especially across the growing number of multi-divisional companies.
The market is saturated with sameness, while the ethos in todays working environments is transforming. There’s a new-way-of-thinking workforce and taxing economic drivers that require us to ship fast, which should motivate us to more expeditiously get things done, right?
A little strategic doing can go a long way. Strategic doing looks like this…
Yep, it’s a pretty simple discipline that takes practice. Perhaps the most challenging part is the fact strategic doing is a collective discipline that works best in high-trust environments… and that takes time.
How do you measure strategic doing? The function of metrics and the process of accountability are different between strategic planning and strategic doing. In strategic planning, metrics are typically set by the people who develop the strategic plan (hierarchical). The metrics provide a dashboard to make sure that people in the hierarchy – the people charged with the responsibility of executing – are following the plan. Accountability comes from reporting against these metrics: command and control at work.
In strategic doing, metrics play a different role. Metrics facilitate learning. Whereas strategic planning is a deductive process of thought and action, Strategic doing uses inductive reasoning. We learn as we do. Metrics provide a convenient tool to accelerate our learning. With them, we figure out what works. Without them, we would be lost. Accountability in strategic doing comes through transparency and the mutual interdependence embedded in the relationships of the team or organization. Forget command and control. It does not work in open environments. Mutual trust becomes the fuel for economic transformation.
FYI, I’m not averse to planning, but sometimes I think planning slows down doing which has various consequences on the desired outcomes.
What are your thoughts?
This night…
There are a couple of times when you can just about count on me getting teary eyed.
It doesn’t really matter where I am or what I’m doing, but when I am deeply moved by the splendor of brilliance and excellence I get choked up… every time. The other is anytime I feel the tangible, albeit unexplainable presence of God in a person, place or environment.
In January, I traveled with Seth Barnes to Fort Lauderdale as we launched about 150 World Racers into their 11 month 11 country journey from a plain and messy Romanian church.
Now, I have been right smack in the middle of many enormous, extravagant and unexplainable moves of God over the past 25 years – both in my family and ministry… way too many to mention here.
But not much could have prepared me for what happened on that final night as we gathered in that Romanian church. I’ve never seen such a rag-tag group of diverse 20-somethings vacate themselves, their presuppositions, fears, and pride as they went all-in with God worship and prophetic declarations.
The very next day they were headed for the different nations and continents – for 11 months. But this night, God breathed into their lungs. This night, God’s love, the kind we only read or hear about, was palpable, liberated and abundant. This night, freedom was expressed and experienced. This night, the Great Commissioner absorbed us. This night, I wept, almost uncontrollably, on behalf of every parent who could not be there to share this Divine moment with his or her adult-child. Rest assured, as a father of six children, I hugged and prayed for them, just like they were my own.
While they were praying, the place where they were meeting trembled and shook. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak God’s Word with fearless confidence. Acts 4:31 The Message
This will make you smile…
Landon Gabriel Abare, born at 3:48 am PST, 8lbs 4oz, 19¼ long,
To be honest I never thought I’d live to see this day… our babies having babies.
Two weeks ago I had breakfast with the Honorary Consul of Uganda, Bob Goff. Other than the oatmeal, I totally digested the idea of littering the lives of people who matter most with the stuff in my life.
- 10 days ago I hit 55 (as in years old)
- Last week, Paul, our youngest son hit 88 (as in MPH) on his drive to the ATL to hang out with me for the weekend
- Today our only daughter Joy turns 22
- Today our second grand child was born
- Today my wife is in Seattle – she loves a good delivery
- Today I’m on a plane to NYC to be with Joy (and Craig & Kara)
- Tomorrow I have an unbelievable opportunity in NYC with Talia Bunting and a ministry leader… can’t wait
- Sunday night Ann and I will meet up at the ATL airport
- Every week I get to give my life away to people who are doing the heavy lifting and mobilizing people inter-generationally for missions.
- I’m a small part of a God-sized venture to help others come fully alive with their dreams and passions.
- Next week a fresh group of married couples will engage the One Bloc (our small group for married couples)
Life is good. “He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.” 2 Cor. 9:11 The Message
PS – Please pass this along to others who may not usually read this blog so they can see the news about Landon. Thanks.
