Consulting, Coaching & Chatter

Those who read my previous post may have been surprised that I suggested scripture reading may be the most transformative spiritual habit. I’m sure there are those who would argue that prayer offers more opportunities for the Spirit’s injection into our lives. However, so long as the average prayer is a monologue, it’s unlikely to be a means of transformation. Hence, the second foundational spiritual habit is prayer that listens more than talks.

When I introduce this spiritual habit in most churches, I regularly get questions on exactly what I mean. It turns out that the church in general hasn’t been adequately prepared for two-way communication with God. Some of the reluctance to engage in listening prayer may be related to the cultural derision toward those who “hear voices” and the skepticism toward those who claim they’ve been given a message from God. There is also a third group of churched folk who image God as a distant deity who rarely gets personally and directly involved in individual lives.

On the other hand, I’ve found that when a church gets serious about teaching and practicing prayer, amazing things begin to happen. Perhaps not surprisingly, those changes are less in the “answered prayer” department, though great things happen there too; instead the greatest changes are in the lives of those who are praying. Soren Kierkegaard wrote “Prayer doesn’t change God, it changes him who prays.” However, those who experience personal transformation are generally those who have learned how to listen.

It’s beyond the scope of this post to go into the details of how to hear the voice of God, but let me share something a spiritual director once said to me. “There are only three voices in your head. Your voice, God’s voice, and the voice of darkness.” Though the voice of darkness can be deceptive, it’s normally pretty easy to pick that voice out. That normally leaves you trying to discern between your voice and God’s voice. In my experience, God’s voice is the one calling me to the greatest good and my voice is the one rationalizing why that’s not such a good idea.

Often I’ve found that there is a much easier – and often more effective – way to help people hear God. Get them to go into prayer, visualize themselves sitting down in a room where Jesus is, and then just listen.

However it’s taught, prayer that is spent listening to what God has to say, rather than the other way around, is one of the most foundational and transformational spiritual habit. Get your leadership practicing it and the change will be palpable.

The first, and typically most transformative spiritual habit, is surprisingly scripture reading. I’m fond of saying “I’m a scientist’s son and a Mainliner at heart,” so when I tell church leaders that if they’ll just start reading scripture regularly their lives will be transformed, they sometimes look at me as if I was from a different planet. I don’t know what it is … I can’t explain it … but here’s what I’ve experienced over the years. If I can get the church leaders to start reading the Bible, the remaining steps to affecting sustainable church transformation are significantly easier.

Following a recent Congregational Coaching training event, the president of the council complained to the pastor: “Coach Bill seems to think that our church will grow if we just all start reading the Bible.” Of course his words bordered on overstatement – but only just. Three months later when I returned for their next training event I was approached by no fewer than three council members who each relayed how the council president had changed. He was more focused and patient, he listened more, and he was more open to hearing alternative view points. What brought on the transformation? According to him, it was when he started reading the Bible.

But there’s a counterpoint to my tale. I was introduced to a couple who shared they had a habit of reading from Proverbs each day. Since Proverbs has thirty-one chapters, they read the chapter corresponding to the day of the month. Now, I suspect that once upon a time their practice was transformative, but years later they were mired in Proverbs and expressed their reservations about the transformative value of scripture reading. Although Proverbs is a great book filled with witticisms and wisdom, perhaps immersion in the words of Christ and the Gospels themselves might be a wiser choice, at least for travel on the transformative road.

It’s been said that variety is the spice of life, but when it comes to transformative scripture reading, too much variety will stunt your spiritual growth and too little variety will starve you. Here are the basic guidelines I offer to the church leaders I work with.

• Choose a version of the Bible that is (1) easy to read and understand, and (2) isn’t one you’re so familiar with that it’s become stale. If you’re unfamiliar with The Message, it offers a fresh perspective that will help you see the stories and instructions in a new light.
• Start in the Gospel of Mark. It’s the shortest of the Gospels, it’s face paced, and you’ll get better acquainted with the guy who’s name you carry. I tend to recommend reading Luke or Matthew next, followed by the book of Acts. After that, when asked, I invite folks to read pretty much whatever seems to call their name, but that they revisit the Gospels at least four times a year, the book of Acts at least twice a year, and read the rest of the scriptures at a ratio of two New Testament books to every one Old Testament book. Nothing magical about the ratios – it just seems wise to invest in getting to know the author of the faith and the practices of the first century church.
• Read whatever book you choose from the beginning to the end (not necessarily in one sitting!). Context is everything and if you read the book in the manner the author intended, it will make better sense.
• Read logically. Read logical “chunks” of a book. In other words, don’t let the chapters or verses be the master of where you start and end reading. “Versification” was added long after the Bible was compiled and many chapters and verses seem to have been placed randomly. Read chunks of scripture that include complete stories or topics.
• Read reflectively. I’ve found there are two primary Bible reading styles. First, there are those who read the scriptures so carefully and deliberately that it may take them a month to get through the four paragraph book of Jude . These folks may be missing the big picture. On the other hand, there are those who read the Bible as if it’s a novel they can’t put down. These may miss subtle nuances. If you have to err on one side or the other, read more quickly. We’re finding that those who are biblically “conversant” often fare better in conversations with non-Christians than those who can cite chapter and verse.
• Read regularly. If you or your church leaders aren’t reading at all at this point (or rather rarely), any scripture reading is better than no scripture reading. For a new reader, reading the Bible weekly is alright. Reading a couple times a week is better, but the reality is that reading a chunk or two daily (or more) is best. Remember, it’s not how much scripture you get through, it’s how much scripture that gets through you.

Finally, how do you get your leaders to start reading? Ask them the first Discipleship Development accountability question: “What did you read in scripture this week that intrigued you?” It typically takes three to four consecutive weeks of asking, but if you’re faithful in your query, you’ll generally be rewarded with a positive response. In fact, I’ve never had to ask small group members more than four weeks in row before 100 percent are reading scripture every week. And if you get your leaders reading scripture, before you know it, you’ll notice a change in your leadership culture.

I received a thoughtful note from a Church-Talk listener. He contended that the church has fallen under the spell of the culture’s understanding and practice of leadership. He went on the say that the church must follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit rather than fallen mortal man. I thought he was pretty perceptive in his observation – but that there’s more to the story. So, below is my response.

It is true that in the New Testament the word for Leader or Leadership occurs rarely – in fact, only eight times, and five of those times it has less to do with church leadership and more with leading households or leading in “good works” (see http://www.jbc.edu/college/images/churchrelations/churchlink/PDFs/Linton-Prohistemi.pdf).  On the other hand, the word “pastor” only occurs once – and that in the list of church “offices” in Eph 4:11 – though there are other words used to describe those in church “leadership” such as elders/presbyters/bishops.

And though the words “leader” and “pastor” are notably absent in the New Testament, the focus on Followership is predominant. Jesus repeatedly called one person after another to follow him. Later, Paul took up that mantle and on repeated occasions (and five quite blatantly) he says “Follow me” – including once when he instructs “Follow me as I follow Christ.”

However, that brings up an important distinction. By definition, a leader is someone who has followers, and although the New Testament focus is on “following,” followers by definition are following a leader (formally or informally).

Jesus was expressly clear that those who lead (in the church?) should not “lord it over one another as the Gentiles do” (Mat 20:25-26). Leadership in the church, when it’s finely exegeted and understood in context, is a lot more about mentoring, modeling, and serving and a lot less about barking orders.

Which is the paradigm we work from in Net Results, Church-Talk, and the 21^st Century Strategies: effective leaders lead as mentors and models of discipleship. Further, we firmly believe that poor leadership in mentoring and modeling are the primary reasons the church in North America is in serious decline. Far too many pastors and church leaders are involved in management and administration rather in disciple-making and conspicuously living the faith.

Once again, the New Testament, and especially the book of Acts, illustrates what the church “could” look like. The leaders were busy making disciples (both more and more effective) and the “congregation,” that is everyone else, was active in doing direct, hands-on ministries (practicing personal worship, one-anothering, reaching out to the unchurched, and discipleship/holding accountable). And though the leadership of the Holy Spirit is a key feature in Acts, the leading of the Spirit was through the head, heart, and hands of those who served in leadership (particularly demonstrated and seen in the leadership of Peter, Paul, and Timothy).

The problem with the church is that it is, and always has been, made up of fallen people (as if it could be any other way). Whether these people serve as a leader or as a disciple (a fine biblical word that once again implies followership), each is called to hold one-another accountable in the practice of the faith (see Jesus’ model of accountability throughout Matthew’s gospel, e.g., Mat 5:22-23; 18:15-17). But ultimately, a local church without those serving in a leadership capacity (whether we call that office using the New Testament terms pastor, elder, presbyter, or bishop) is a church with a rudder, but one without anyone holding on to it.

It happened again recently. I was in a large group of mainline church leaders who professed their interest in church transformation. We were all milling around the room waiting for the convener to launch the meeting and the conversation was pensive. Then the “transformational church leader” stood up, thanked us for coming, and said, “We’re gathered here to talk about church transformation … just us who are on the front lines … no church consultants.” There was a spontaneous spattering of applause, vigorous nods of heads, and a collective sigh of relief. No church consultants … you know, those men and women who have not only dedicated their lives to helping transform the church, but who have invested research, education, observation, and ongoing training to their vocation.

The conversation continued with the convener helping the members of the group get to know each other and their respective strengths. “What I want to do, is start a grass roots movement where we pool our resources to bring about church transformation. For instance, Pastor XYZ has a great worship service, so if you need help working through worship issues, you should call him.” And so it went until the room was introduced to a pool of “resources” who were decidedly not consultants but who knew a bit out one specialty or another.

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Perhaps it could be the foundation for a new economical transformational movement.

But it’s not new. Denominations, middle judicatories, and the frustrated masses have been trying this model of church transformation as long as I’ve been alive … and research says it’s been happening way longer than that. And what have been the results of these grass roots movements?

I’ve wrestled with how to put this gently, but the above story has been repeated in my life too many times to be “nice.” As nice as the people were in that room, and as well intentioned as the convener was, the fact is that pooled ignorance does not transform churches. For instance, Pastor XYZ really does do a nice job in worship. But Pastor XYZ’s church is in decline nonetheless. In fact, there didn’t appear to be a representative breakthrough church in the room.

There is more to church transformation than a great worship, awesome children’s programming, or even effective conflict resolution. Although each of these is needed for a successful church turnaround, they are not the core of a turnaround. Ask any consultant.

But wait … there’s more. Some time ago I offered a word of coaching on an open listServ on church growth. Even if I say so myself, the advice I presented was spot on, but within a few minutes of my post came a response, “Although I appreciate what you may have to say, I’m really looking for advice from someone who’s ‘done it,’ not just a consultant.” Of course, the writer had no idea whether I’d ever “done” it or not, but since I was a church consultant I was immediately suspect.

Now, let me say that there is some wisdom in the writer’s words. There are indeed consultants and coaches out there who made the move because it seemed easier than working in the church, but who have no transformation experience whatsoever. However, most church consultants have a bit more integrity than that … and significantly more experience.

But when it comes to calling a pastor who’s “done it,” let me remind you that just because someone has transformed a church doesn’t mean they can coach, consult, or indeed replicate what they’ve done. I’m reminded of the great sports players in my life. Bart Starr was my childhood football idol: quarterback for the Green Bay Packers and if memory serves me, still holds a couple of records. Later on, he was hired as Green Bay’s coach. There is really only one word to describe his work there: disaster. Then there’s Michael Jordan, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, but as coach of the Wizards? Dismal. Here’s the reality. Some players go on to become fabulous coaches, but there’s a HUGE difference between a player and a coach.

A mainline pastor who has led his/her church into transformation has done a marvelous thing – and has accomplished something that ends in failure in 80 percent of our churches (and the number appears to be closer to a 90 percent failure rate in the mainline). I want to say up front that any church leader who has led the transformation of a church is my personal hero. Period. But as much of a hero as they are, as talented and gifted as they are, in many, if not most cases, their success was built in a particular context in a particular time with a particular congregation. Put that church leader in another church – in fact, in most churches – and they’ll be battling the 80 percent average. Don’t get me wrong, there are few folks out there who have been successful at multiple transformations. Indeed, I only personally know of one – and he’s an unsung hero who hasn’t written five paragraphs of how he’s done it … yet (I’m after him for a Net Results article, but he’s pretty busy with his current “project”).

Now, I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t be getting input from a church leader who’s led a successful transformation. By all means, go have lunch with him/her. Listen to their story and seek their advice. But before you jump into a transformation effort based on what they’ve done, let me remind you that neither you nor I are a Schuler, Hybels, Kalstadt, Warren, Slaughter, Olstein, Easum, Chan, or McManus. You and I are who we are and trying to duplicate someone else’s success formula will almost certainly put a congregation in the 80 percent group.

There’s a difference between an experienced and trained coach/consultant and someone who’s “done” it: Experience and Training. Whereas the local church leader who’s accomplished the near-impossible has the experience of a success, an experienced consultant comes with a broader perspective (which is also one of the drawbacks of most judicatory staff consultants – they may have experience with multiple congregations, but they have limited experience with the broader scope of church transformation). For instance, when Bill Easum is called to work with a congregation, he comes with a span of experience that’s broader than virtually any other practicing consultant. He’s worked with scores of denominations and has personally consulted with hundreds of congregations (nearly a thousand) of all shape, sizes, locations, etc. In my own case, I’ve led transformation work as the lead pastor in three mainline denominations (UMC, PCUSA, CCDOC) and done church planting in three (SBC, CCDOC, and non-denominational). Plus I’ve worked with dozens of churches as a coach, consultant, and in transformational leadership training.

The second difference is training. Let’s be perfectly honest here. Seminary training does not prepare a church leader for transformation. PhD training does not prepare a church leader for transformation. And few DMin programs prepare a church leader for transformation. Now, I’ll agree that book-study hardly prepares someone for much, and any consultant who finishes his/her DMin in coaching or transformation and hangs out a shingle without an apprenticeship or internship with an experienced church consultation firm is, in general, ill-prepared for the job. On the other hand, I know far too many “consultants” and “coaches” who have taken a course or two and immediately began circulating proposals and fine-looking brochures to judicatory offices and started working their networks to establish themselves in the field. Give them enough time and experience they may do alright, but I know of too many congregations that have been left bereft in the name of experience of some of these “consultants.” In this economy we’re seeing a lot of these folks having to return to the parish because they just couldn’t get the experience and the traction in their new career path they’d counted on.

Consultants that match their personal experience with an apprenticeship/internship and training are virtually always better prepared to walk with churches through the transformational, church planting, and transformational leadership training mine fields. Besides a DMin in Church Planting Movements, as the Managing Editor of Net Results I’ve been in the student seat for a lot of years. Both Bill Easum and I are regular attendees at national church planting and transformational training events – often as speakers, but we also attend workshops and seminars to keep up-to-date with the broadest possible opportunities.

So, the next time you hear someone say, “I want to hear the opinion of someone who’s done it,” bear in mind that the speaker hasn’t really thought through their comment. It’s good to hear from someone who’s done it, but it’s better to hire someone who both has done it and has a breadth of knowledge and resources well beyond the reach of the 20 percenters.

George Barna recently came out with a poll reporting that the majority of Christians don’t believe in either Satan or the Holy Spirit. Since then, I have received a small mountain of emails with Christian leaders crying “Where did the church go wrong?” I suppose these questions probably deserve and answer, but I’m not going to be the one writing treatises on where the church failed – at least not with this blog post. The sad fact is, that anyone who’s suddenly astounded with reports like these are woefully out of touch with the “real” world anyway.

The real question that needs to be answered isn’t about where the church went wrong. The burning question that begs an answer is “What are we going to do about the sad state of Christianity in developed nations?” Just a reminder for those who are unaware, the world of Christianity is doing very well on a global level. Figures show that global Christianity is gaining some 90,000 converts each day. However, Christianity in the West is doing, shall we say, rather poorly. The ARIS report that came out a couple of weeks ago showed that Mainline Christianity has lost over 6 million adherents since 2001 and that Christianity itself has shrunk from 86 percent of the USAmerican  population in 1990 to 76 percent in 2008. Of course, any religion that can claim 76 percent of the population should really be making a difference in the culture, but that cannot be said of Christianity. With less than 15 percent of us showing up for organized worship and discipling on any given weekend, it’s clear that our practices don’t match our verbiage (there are lots of other examples, but that one will have to suffice).

The problem with the problem is that it’s so encompassing that it’s paralyzing our church leaders. It’s one thing to say “Think glocally,” it’s quite another to do anything differently. Since I seem to be particularly fond of lists of five, here are three steps to start turning things around in your world.

1. Build a foundation of faith beginning with you. It’s been said that Billy Graham once estimated that only about 10 percent of church goers were practicing Christians. Hearing his pronouncement, a prominent sociologist reflected that Graham was being generous. As James put it (2:17–18), it’s one thing to say you’re a person of faith – it’s something else again to put it into practice. So, let me ask you a couple of questions (that you’ve no doubt heard before). What did you read last week in the Bible that intrigued you? If you’re a pastor, add the proviso “outside of your sermon study.” Here’s another one – with whom did you personally share your faith story last week and what were the results? Again, pastor, sharing your story in the pulpit gets no credit. And one last one – who have you personally encouraged in their faith journey today? If you’re not praying, reading scripture, encouraging fellow Christians, and sharing your faith with the unconnected then, frankly, you’re contributing to the problem, not to the solution. Without a foundation, the rest of this is pointless.
2. Get excited about what’s going on in your church, or get another church. And when I say “get excited, “ I mean Prius owner excited. According to Ron Crandall, the number one issue facing smaller congregations is self-image. Let me add that it’s not just the little churches that struggle with self-worth. Any church over forty years old is faced with the temptation of looking back on the “good old days” of yesteryear. John Maxwell observed that if what you did back then looks pretty big now, then you haven’t done much today. I’m coaching a congregation that is struggling with that very issue. The reality is that they have a lot going for them, but they’re facing some tough decisions for the future. Some of these decisions are painful, and so there is a feeling of dread amongst many in the congregation. This malaise has perpetuated a sense of “we’re not worthy” or “we’re not good enough” across the congregation. And a member who feels that way isn’t going to invest much in the future of the congregation. They won’t invite their friends, acquaintances, neighbors, or co-workers to the church’s worship service. They won’t write large checks, let alone tithe checks, to support the work of the congregation. The truth is, there are a lot of churches “out there” that are going to continue to choose tradition over  faithfulness to mission. The solution for the faithful is to either instigate a change or to find a new congregation. And when I say “instigate a change” I don’t mean wait it out. I mean do something to bring about the change or leave. If there aren’t enough of the faithful in the congregation to out maneuver  the bullies and terrorists, then leave them to themselves. Get excited or get on down the road.
3. Major on the majors. The Paraeto Principle states that 20 percent of what we do brings 80 percent of the results. The corollary is that we spend 80 percent of our resources dealing with those activities that waste our time. We see this demonstrated in the church regularly. Twenty percent of the leaders do 80 percent of the work. Twenty percent of our programs and activities bring 80 percent of the results. But in a church, what are the majors? I’d tell you that it depends on what your mission is, but if you’ve read almost anything I’ve written you know that I’m a real believer in the “there’s only one mission” of the church school of thought: make disciples. Making disciples includes both making new disciples and making more effective disciples – but you can’t have one without the other. What we’ve found is that most churches do neither effectively. Why? Because they don’t major on the majors.

Emphasizing the majors means putting the church’s resources into those activities that net real results. Although that sounds easy, there’s really little that’s more difficult. It begins by being honest – ruthlessly honest – with your programming and activities. Ask the question of each activity on the calendar, “Will this activity facilitate making more disciples?” If it’s a choir tour of Anglican churches, the answer is obviously no. If the answer to the first question is no, then you ask the second question, “Will this activity help the participants become more effective disciples?” That’s a trickier question. First, you’ll need to determine what an effective disciple looks like. In many churches, an effective disciple is obviously defined as someone who’s heavily involved in the church’s activities. If they show up for committee meetings, Sunday school, board meetings, all church clean-up days, bake sales, choir practice, worship, and Bible study, then they’re deemed “faithful.” They may not have shared their faith with an unconnected person in over twenty years, but they’re “active” in  church, thus they must be a faithful disciple.

Once you’ve defined what a disciple is like, then you can take a stab at measuring your activities. If your activities aren’t helping Bob and Sheila to become more effective disciples in their “real” lives, then it’s probably something that should either be “tweaked” so that it does or else it should be abandoned completely.

I get a good bit of pushback on this, generally because someone has a pet project that fails both tests, but they want to do it anyway. I’m not suggesting that everything that fails the two tests should come to an end, but I am saying that these activities must expend a minority of the church’s resources. But in most churches, that means that there are a bunch of pet projects that are going to end up on the cutting-room floor. Save the annual all church picnic, if the doors would close without it, but do away with the other resource wasters. Simply put, if an activity isn’t making more or better disciples, then it shouldn’t be on the church’s calendar and the church shouldn’t be investing any staff, facilities, or financial resources on it.
So, there you are. Three concrete and practical tasks to start turning around the church. Will it change the minds of those who don’t believe in Satan or the Holy Spirit? Probably no time soon. But in the meantime, it will change the face of your congregation.

It’s said that the average leader spends 80 percent of their time doing little that will further their mission. That means that the important stuff gets short shrift by a bunch. What would happen if the average leader spent 80 percent of their time on the real important stuff … on those tasks that would further their mission the most? Well, they wouldn’t be average leaders anymore. They’d be excellent, high powered leaders.

Before I reveal the five things every church leader must do every day, let me remind you of the one thing every leader must have before they can even be as good as an average leader. This is Curley’s “one thing” that you have to figure out. The One Thing is your personal mission … your purpose … the reason you get up each morning. The sad reality is that most leaders I work with fumble around, mutter a bit, and get flustered when I ask them what their mission is. How can a leader know when they’re on task or not if they don’t know what their mission is? How can you know what tasks are important and which tasks are not if purpose is a mystery? It’s been said that without a mission, we live in a fog and simply respond to whichever foghorn is loudest at any given moment. So, what’s your mission? If you can’t spit it out immediately with conviction and commitment, stop reading now and go get it figured out. (BTW, my mission is to be a source for spiritual transformation … it’s not only what I do, it’s who I try to be).

So, with mission in hand and heart, here are the five things every church leader must put on their to-do list every day.

1. Spend an Hour in Prayer. Though this should be obvious, according to scads of research the average Christian leader prays less than three minutes each day. Jesus asked Peter if he couldn’t pray “just one hour.” That should be our daily minimum requirement.
2. Project Your Day. Take a few minutes before your feet hit the floor in the morning to look ahead in your day and project how you would like each of your upcoming interpersonal interactions to manifest. How do you want to interact with your spouse? Your children? The barista? Your secretary? Those in the committee meeting? Your networking lunch with the newest church member? And so on. Play the interactions though your mind and commit the time and your interactions to the Spirit.
3. Meet/Introduce Yourself to at Least One Stranger. The point here is to have a conversation with someone you don’t know. Get to know people in your community that you’ve never met. I know in some small towns this can be a challenge, but take the challenge. Go find someone and get to know them. And if you’re “bad with names” make sure to get a business card and to jot down a few of the important details you learned about this new acquaintance.
4. Take Care of that One Thing On Your To-Do List that You Don’t Want to Do … and do it now. Great leaders take care of business no matter what. It doesn’t make any difference if they don’t want to. They do whatever it takes to accomplish their mission. So, whatever it is you’re putting off, get it done.
5. Reflect On Your Day. The final thing to do each evening before you close your eyes is to take the time to reflect on your day. Did you accomplish the important stuff or were you caught up by the “urgent”? Did all your interpersonal interactions play out like you’d hoped? Are there relationships you need to repair tomorrow? Undone tasks you need to deal with tomorrow? Socrates wrote that the unexamined life isn’t worth living … so take the time to examine your day so you can “do better” tomorrow.

There are at least another five must-do’s for your to-do list, but do these things and I can promise that you’ll begin to rise above the average leader mark.