Wise words from Paul Tripp from a recent blog post at the Gospel Coalition. His audience is vocational ministry leaders, but consider how this applies to marriage, parenting and friendship. I think if I took this to heart, my relationships would benefit all across the board.

There is no doubt about it: too many of us are trying to have hundred-dollar conversations in dime moments. Too many of us have left little time in our schedules for meaningful conversation, tender connection, and focused problem solving. Too many of us have little time for relational reflection and introspection in our ministries. Too many of us are doing ministry relationships on the fly. Relating to one another, too often, is what we do in between all the other things we are doing that really determine the content and pace of our schedules. But the ministry community doesn't function very well as an in-between thing, and it surely doesn't tend to thrive when we leave it alone and ask it to grow on its own. A ministry community that is going to grow, change, and become increasingly healthy needs cultivation. Like a garden, it doesn't do well when it is being neglected.

When Paul described the church as a body, he did not distinguish between the paid staff and the volunteer team. Yes, some folks are called to vocational ministry as "staff." However, their role is not to do the ministry. Rather, Paul says in Ephesians 4 that the purpose of those in formal leadership positions are on the team to "equip the saints for ministry." To translate, staff is to train and equip the volunteer team to fulfill their ministry roles in advancing the mission of the church. So, for those of you who are "volunteers" at Creekstone, please know that you are not merely volunteers helping the staff. Actually, the staff is here to help you effectively use your gifts as you serve Jesus as a member of his body—to fulfill YOUR MINISTRY. So, yes, you—YOU—are a minister, whether a minister of children's teaching, a minister of music, a minister of set up, a minister of greeting, or a minister of the word who preaches. Isn't that exciting?! We are all players on the same team. Nobody is merely a volunteer.  

I will be spending the next two days (today and tomorrow, Dec. 14/15) on a prayer and planning retreat as I look toward leading Creekstone into 2012. Pray for me if you think about it—not only that I would be given a clear vision for the ministry and receive wisdom for leadership, but also (and primarily) that I personally would come alive to the wonder of the gospel like never before. I hope to share some of the fruit from this time in the coming week.  

Perimeter Church distinguishes between three kinds of items on the agenda for a Pastoral/Elder Team meeting. I recently "re-discovered" these and found the break-down helpful.

1. Items that are FYI

2. Items that need input/discussion

3. Items that require a decision (ideally, items should have been previously discussed with all members of the team, with advance notice that a decision needs to be made at the meeting)

How does your team divide the discussion? As a pastor who appreciates collaborative leadership, your input is valued. Thanks!

Before my family moved to Dahlonega, GA, to plant a church, a friend of mine told me not to plant a church. He wasn't saying for me not to move to Dahlonega or that he didn't want a new church established there. He simply said, "Go live the gospel (teach it and preach it as the solution for my own need, not just theirs) and just maybe a church will spring to life around you." 

"The person who looks for quick results in the seed planting business... will be disappointed." These are the wise words of a seasoned pastor, Eugene Peterson, in his book, Traveling Light. This applies to church planting, parenting, friendships, and new endeavors of any kind. The truth is that we live in a "just add water" culture with five minute, quick rise recipes. But we know that muffins with real eggs and butter are much more satisfying, even if they take longer to bake. Just a reminder for all of us in the seed planting business.

Mark Driscoll has produced a number of vodcasts dealing with various issues in church leadership. One segment describes the different phases church plants go through as they grow. According to Driscoll, in order for the planter to be effective in leading the church through these transitions, he needs to know which game he is playing: golf, basketball or football. That got me thinking about how this could be fleshed out a bit and put into a grid. Here is what I've come up with (see below). It's not inerrant, but may provide some helpful context for both leaders and members as churches experience growing pains, helping planters know how to function in their changing role and helping others have appropriate expectations for the planter as the church experiences organizational change.

I don't like broken stuff. I want it either fixed or thrown out. But God loves broken stuff. King David knew this when he wrote, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." And the way we get "broken" usually hurts.

Applying this concept to leadership in Leading with a Limp, Dan Allender says,

"For most leaders, humility comes only by wounds suffered from foolish falls... We achieve brokenness by falling off of our throne. To be broken is not a choice; it is a gift."

I suppose it is only when I am conscious of my brokenness as a leader that I am genuinely equipped to lead as an ambassador of Jesus. I have some stories of epic failure in my life and ministry. Not until later could I see them as gifts. But now I am so grateful that the Father let me fall as I learned to walk as a leader.

You know, Paul led as the chief repenter in his day—as a big sinner who had an even bigger Savior. He refused to be the hero, because that role was reserved for Jesus. So that's what I want today: a consciousness of my cracks that, although I would not have chosen them, are present as gifts. Wounds through which humility and wisdom are created and through which grace can now flow.

I received Covenant Seminary's quarterly magazine yesterday, appropriately titled, Covenant. In an article on pastoral ministry, the author quoted Charles Spurgeon, who told his ministerial students in the 19th century:

That is the article I am deprecating, that dreadful ministerial starch. If you have indulged in it, I would earnestly advise you to "go and wash in the Jordan seven times," and get it out of you, every particle of it. I am persuaded that one reason why our working men so universally keep clear of ministers is because they abhor their artificial and unmanly ways. If they saw us in the pulpit and out of it, acting like real men, and speaking naturally, like honest men, they would come around us... We must have humanity along with our divinity if we would win the masses. Everybody can see through affectations, and people are not likely  to be taken in by them. Fling away your stilts, brethren, and walk on your feet; doff your ecclesiasticism, and array yourself in truth.