Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 328

20 Leadership Quotes that Grabbed My Attention

By Chuck Lawless

Recently, Dr. Rainer included his list of “Top 25 Leadership Quotes” on this site. That list made me think about my reading on leadership over the past several years.

As I read a book, I note on the inside cover any significant statements that catch my attention – and this blog is a compilation of some of those “inside cover” quotes about leadership. My including these quotes is by no means a validation of all of these books, but I hope the quotes themselves challenge you.

“We have to recognize that however smart we are, we’re not smarter than everyone else combined. . . .  We can’t lose sight of the fact that no matter how important our own contributions are, we couldn’t have gotten anywhere without the help and hard work of lots of other people.” — Kouzes and Posner, A Leader’s Legacy
“Only make promises you intend to keep.”  —  Harvard Business Essentials, Creating Teams with an Edge
“And to spread trust and positive energy throughout the organization, we must communicate, communicate, communicate.”  —  Gordon, The No Complaining Rule
“The first rule for the concentration of executive efforts is to slough off the past that has ceased to be productive. . . . it is the executive’s specific job . . . to commit today’s resources to the future.”  —  Drucker, The Effective Executive
“The meeting starts on time, with or without you.”  —  Guttman, Great Business Teams
“What takes 10 emails to negotiate or clarify can often be communicated in a three-minute phone conversation. Pick up the phone or walk down the hall to the next cubicle occasionally.”  —  Booher, The Voice of Authority
“Don’t sacrifice your health by taking on too much.”  —  Keller, with Papasan, The ONE Thing
“Establishing priorities is not the same thing as binding yourself to them. . . . To spend more time on our core priorities (which, surely, is our goal!) necessarily means spending less time on other things.”  —  Heath and Heath, Decisive
“Leaders take words seriously because we live and die by them.” — Mohler, The Conviction to Lead
“One common behavior of late Stage 3 [in the process of a company’s decline] is when those in power blame other people or external factors— or otherwise explain away the data— rather than confront the frightening reality that the enterprise may be in serious trouble.”  —  Collins, How the Mighty Fall
“Nobody wants to follow a selfish person.”  —  Thrall, McNicol, McElrath, The Ascent of a Leader
“The best leaders are those who are filled with a fire-in-the-belly enthusiasm for what they do.”  —  Krames, Jack Welch and the 4E’s of Leadership
”There’s no point in taking a situation that’s already complicated and piling your complications on top of that. No point, no benefit, and no future.”  —  Webber, Rules of Thumb
“The leader must be a man who, while welcoming the friendship and support of all who can offer it, has sufficient inner resources to stand alone, even in the face of fierce opposition, in the discharge of his responsibilities.” — Sanders, Spiritual Leadership
“People tend to look at their businesses from the inside out – that is, they get so focused on making and selling their products that they lose awareness of the needs and buying behaviors of their customers.”  —  Bossidy and Charan, Execution
“Don’t pretend.” — Stanley, The Next Generation Leader
“Remember that everyone deserves some fun during working hours.”  —  Heller, Managing Teams
“Being generous is the hallmark of people who live successful lives and operate business with soul. If your exclusive reason for operating your business is personal gain, you will find yourself empty because you are shallow.”  —  Ramsey, EntreLeadership
“Communicating appreciation and encouragement to one’s fellow workers is a powerful tool in influencing your organization positively—regardless of your position within the system.”  —  Chapman and White, The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace
“If you’re a leader, people’s lives should be better because of the influence you’ve had along the way.”  —  Dungy, The Mentor Leader

Which of these quotes most grabs your attention? What other quotes would you add to the list?

Chuck Lawless currently serves as Professor of Evangelism and Missions and Dean of Graduate Studies at Southeastern Seminary.

You can connect with Dr. Lawless on both Twitter and Facebook.

Very Sick Churches

I like to be a bearer of good news. I like to be able to be positive about situations, especially when those situations involve churches. At the same time, I refuse to deny reality. Such denial can only lead to a worsened condition.

For the past several months, I have been researching and writing my upcoming book, Autopsy of a Deceased Church. The book actually began with a post on this blog. The responses to that post were overwhelming, so much so that I decided to expand it to a short book that will be released by B&H Publishing in May 2014.

Churches typically do not move from good health to dying overnight. It is usually a more subtle deterioration. I have identified five simple stages:

Health
Symptoms of sickness
Very sick
Dying
Deceased

I estimate that about 40%, or around 150,000 churches in America, are in the very sick stage. They are one stage away from being terminal.

Is it difficult for a church to move out of this stage before it becomes terminal? Absolutely. Most churches will continue to deteriorate. But I always have the hope Jesus gave us when he responded to His disciples about the rich young man: “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:24).

So what are some of the indicators that a church is very sick? Again, terminology and definitions are imprecise, but here are some of the more notable signs:

Significant numerical decline over the past ten to twenty years. Most of the time we measure worship attendance for this metric.
Prolonged times of apathy. Occasional times of intense conflict. The church seems more apathetic than anything else, but conflict can arise with surprising intensity.
The church is not known in the community. Ask a clerk at a store in the community. You may be surprised how few even know the church exists.
New members are rare. The exodus clearly exceeds the inflow.
Revolving door of pastors. Frustration and conflict limit the years of pastoral tenure.
The “good old days” are typically twenty or more years in the past. There has been a long season since anyone felt really good about the church.

Very sick churches do not have to manifest all of these symptoms, but they typically have at least three of them. Once they move to this stage, reversal of the deterioration is incredibly difficult. If the members had recognized and acknowledged the problems earlier, the help could have been more beneficial.

I do have a few examples of churches that did reverse the course of their extreme sickness to health. They are rare. I hope to share what took place in those congregations in a post in the near future.

I would love to hear from you about this brief analysis. What do you think of the stages I delineated? What are your insights on the six signs that a very sick church will manifest? Do you see any of these signs in your church? What is your church doing to reverse any negative trends?

Pray for Northwest Baptist Church

Location: Miami, Florida

Pastor: Vacant

Worship Time: 10:30 AM Eastern Time

Fast Facts: Northwest Baptist Church is currently searching for a pastor as James R. Summers retired last month following 34 years of faithful ministry at NBC. This multi-cultural, family-oriented church is in its seventh decade of ministry to the Miami, Florida area. The church also has a Christian academy onsite. Please pray for Northwest Baptist as they continue to search for a pastor to lead them into their next phase of ministry.

Website: nbc.nwbm.org/

“Pray for . . .” is the Sunday blog series at ThomRainer.com. We encourage you to pray for these churches noted every Sunday. Please feel free to comment that you are praying as well.

If you would like to have your church featured in the “Pray for…” series, download this information form and return it to the address on the form.

Thank You Pastor’s Wife

Thank you pastor’s wife.

You may have one of the most thankless roles in the world. You receive no compensation, but there are many expectations of you. At times you are expected to be omnipresent; and other times you are expected to be invisible. Rarely at any of those times does anyone express gratitude to you.

Thank you pastor’s wife.

You may have one of the most selfless roles in the world. You are expected to be at the beck and call of church members, regardless of your own schedule. You are expected to adjust your life to the life of the pastor, who just happens to be your husband. You really have no independent life of your own.

Thank you pastor’s wife.

You may have one of the most challenging roles in the world. You are the only person in whom your husband can truly confide. When he is down, you are expected to encourage and exhort him. You try to provide balance for your family and children, especially since some of the church members expect them to be perfect.

Thank you pastor’s wife.

You may have one of the most painful roles in the world. You have discovered how hurtful some church members can really be. You listen to criticisms of your husband, and you are expected to be stoic. And when you are hurt, you think you have to keep it to yourself. You internalize it and hurt even more.

Thank you pastor’s wife.

You may have one of the loneliest roles in the world. People in the church seem afraid to get to close to you. Friendships are rare, if not non-existent. There are times you want to cry out in your need and pain, but there is no one to listen to you. In your darkest moments, you wonder if it’s all really worth it.

Thank you pastor’s wife.

We who stand on the sidelines may not know your hopes, hurts, and needs. We may not realize the depth of your times of pain and loneliness. But we know Someone who does. And He is with you. He is your strength. He is your comforter. He is your confidant.

And one day you will see that Savior named Jesus face to face. One day you will get your rewards for your labor, sacrifice, and love. One day He will look at you with unstoppable love and piercing eyes. One day He will say, “Well done good and faithful servant. Well done.”

And then you will know it was all worthwhile.

Thank you pastor’s wife.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Simple Church with Eric Geiger – Rainer on Leadership #030

Podcast Episode #030

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This week, Eric Geiger joins me to tell the story behind Simple Church. While the genesis of the book came from academic research for Eric’s doctoral work, the findings were so significant that a book was needed for those in practical ministry. What resulted was a shift in the way churches in America and around the world operated and communicated. In this episode we cover the research found in the book, what made Simple Church so relevant to the church, how it still applies to churches today, and some of our favorite stories that came from writing the book.

Episode Sponsor

This week’s podcast is brought to you by B&H Publishers and the book Simple Church. Now in paperback, multi-awarded #1 national bestseller Simple Church guides Christians back to the simple gospel-sharing methods of Jesus. The updated trade paper edition includes a new chapter with further insights the authors have gained through hundreds of conversations with church leaders since this landmark book’s original release. For more information, visit LifeWay.com/simplechurch.

Feedback

If you have a question you would like answered on the show, fill out the form on the podcast page here at ThomRainer.com. If we use your question, you’ll receive a free autographed copy of I Am a Church Member.

Resources

Simple Church by Thom S. Rainer and Eric Geiger

Friday Is for Freebies: The Anabaptists and Contemporary Baptists

This week’s giveaway includes a pair of ministry resources. First is The Anabaptists and Contemporary Baptists, edited by Malcolm Yarnell. According to the scholarly and pastoral authors of The Anabaptists and Contemporary Baptists, an essay collection, sixteenth-century Anabaptists have much to teach Baptists and other Free Church evangelicals. Scholars and pastors (Paige Patterson, Rick Warren, etc.) offer essays on sixteenth-century Anabaptists (Balthasar Hubmaier, Leonhard Schiemer, Hans Denck, etc.) proposing to recover the Anabaptist vision among Baptists as a means of restoring New Testament Christianity.

Also included is a black, genuine leather version of the HCSB Minister’s Bible. This newly designed edition is ideal for pulpit use with its large type, wide margins, and extensive ancillary notes from many of today’s top preachers and church leadership voices.

Some features of the Bible include:

Where to Turn When . . .
Plan of Salvation
Four-color presentation page
Various wedding and funeral outlines by Jim Henry
“8 Traits of Effective Church Leaders” by Thom S. Rainer
“21 Essentials of Authentic Ministry” by James T. Draper
“Four Kinds of Expositional Preaching” by Ed Stetzer
“30 Keys to Giving an Invitation” by O. S. Hawkins
“Leading a Child to Christ” by Bill Emeott
“Reaching Students with the Gospel” by Lynn H. Pryor
“The Importance of Baptism and Communion” by Rick White
Commitment Counseling
The Christian Year and Church Calendar
The Apostles and Their History

To be eligible to win, answer the following question:

Who will win this week’s LSU-Alabama football game, and what will be the final score?

The deadline to enter is Noon CST this Saturday. The winner will be the person who picks the correct team and is closest to the final score.

By entering, you acknowledge and accept the terms of the promotion.

Notable Voices – November 7, 2013

7 Steps To Knowing You Need A Raise & How To Ask For It — William Vanderbloemen

This past week’s podcast episode dealt with pastors’ salaries. This post from William is helpful in covering a topic we discussed on the podcast: addressing the need for a raise as a pastor.

 

4 Benefits of Eye Contact in Preaching — Brandon Hilgemann

It seems obvious, but eye contact is just as important when preaching as it is when you are speaking with just one person.

 

10 Reasons Why Leaders Need a Confidant — Brad Lomenick

All leaders need someone trustworthy to which they can turn for advice and accountability. There are many reasons for this, and here, Brad shares his top ten.

 

7 High Costs of Good Leadership — Ron Edmondson

As Ron states, leadership is expensive. Costly. Cheap leadership is never good leadership.

 

Dealing With Inappropriate Criticism — Mike Leake

In a recent post, I shared how pastors needed to develop thicker skin to handle the criticism that inevitably will come their way. In this article, Mike expounds on that as it relates to undue criticism.

Five Reasons Churches Benefit by Seeking External Help

The pattern is conspicuous. Churches that are insular are not as healthy as churches that are regularly seeking outside perspectives. Of course, there will be exceptions. But, as a rule, those churches whose leaders and members are involved only in their own church ministries tend to be less healthy in evangelism, retention, discipleship, and community ministries.

Healthier churches have leaders and members who thrive on good conferences, meetings, consultations, and other external perspectives. In my own denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, churches have the opportunity for their members and leaders to get training, learn trends, and develop best practices from their own state conventions. Each state convention has excellent resources and conferences for groups, Sunday school, and discipleship, to name a few.

So why are healthier churches more likely to have representatives at these events than other churches? Here are five reasons:

Healthy churches understand that God’s Kingdom is larger than just their particular church. They grasp that they can and will learn valuable insights they would not have gotten otherwise.
Healthy churches understand that leadership development is key to their ongoing health. They are thus more likely to send church members to external events for that development.
Healthy churches desire to take the benefit of skilled experts in a very specific area that might not otherwise be available in their own churches.
Healthy churches avoid “ruts.” Training and conferences offer fresh ideas and approaches. They are no longer bound by “the way they’ve always done it.”
Healthy churches have members who are more open-minded to new ideas and approaches without compromising theological and biblical beliefs. One of the main reasons they are open to change is that they have heard that it has worked at other churches. And they often get this information by external help such as meetings and conferences beyond their own churches.

If your church is denominational, learn about the good opportunities that your denomination might offer. If your church is part of the Southern Baptist Convention, your state convention will be one of the best resources to contact. If your church is non-denominational, ask some friends from other churches to recommend good conferences and meetings to have your members attend.

In 1966 Simon and Garfunkel released a hit called “I Am a Rock.” Some of the more memorable words were: “I am a rock. I am an island. And a rock feels no pain. And an island never cries.” The thesis of the song was that loners who have no need of people or love are some of the more unhealthy people alive.

Churches whose members never seek perspectives beyond their own churches tend to be unhealthy churches. They are islands that think they need no one and no perspective beyond themselves.

Healthy churches, to the contrary, have members who are lifelong learners. They relish new and outside perspectives.

They are thus part of churches that are willing to make changes when needed. These churches are constantly seeking to improve, constantly seeking to grow, and constantly seeking to do things better for the glory of God.

Twelve Ways to Be a Godly Leader

By Chuck Lawless

This blogpost was not easy to compose. Writing about godliness is never easy, for to do so is to imply you’ve figured out how to walk in holiness. I make no such claim here. I struggle like everyone else to be pleasing to God in all I do. So I write these words to myself as much as to anyone else.

Charles Spurgeon is one of my favorite writers, even though his writings often challenge me deep in my heart. These words (first directed to preachers, though applicable to all Christian leaders) are especially gripping:

It is a shocking state of things when good people say, “Our minister undoes in the parlor what he has done in the pulpit; he preaches very well, but his life does not agree with his sermons.” . . . God help us so to live that we may be safe examples to our flocks! [1]

If you’re a Christian leader, think about these ways to be a “safe example” to the flock:

Prioritize the Word in your personal life. The Bible is God’s inspired Word, written by men carried along by the Holy Spirit as they wrote  (2 Tim. 3:16-17, 2 Pet. 1:20-21). Through His Word, God equips you to do His work. You simply cannot live a godly life apart from knowing and following the Bible.
Make prayer a part of your DNA. Prayerlessness is idolatry of the self—a decided danger for leaders. Pray in the morning over your calendared events for the day. Never lead a meeting without praying. Pray quickly when you hear about needs of people you lead. Pray without ceasing throughout the day.
Never outgrow accountability. We never reach the point to no longer need accountability to holy living. Godly leaders open their lives to somebody, realizing that how we live privately is just as important—if not more so—than what we do publicly. Find someone today who can spur you on toward godliness.
Genuinely believe the Kingdom is larger than you. I know no leaders who state otherwise, but sometimes we live that way. God’s work becomes “my church, my ministry, my glory.” When we think the kingdom is about us, we set ourselves up for the fall that comes with pride. Ask God to show you when ego takes control in your life.
Live in urgency. More than 1.7 billion people have little or no access to the gospel. Thousands die without Christ every day. Jesus is still the only answer for sin. Spreading the gospel to the nations remains God’s only plan. Understanding this urgency makes the temporary pleasure of sin pale. Live as if today really is all God gives you.
Guard your speech. Avoid crude jokes. Determine not to talk poorly of others. Use your words to build others up, not to tear them down. Talk more about God than about yourself. Speak the truth in love. Trust that Someone is always listening.
Mentor someone. When you invest yourself in another, you make yourself vulnerable to someone else’s eyes. A mentee watches you, seeking a guide and example of Christian faith. Knowing he will be disappointed if you fall should encourage you to fight for godliness.
Share the gospel with non-believers. Doing evangelism is not only basic Christian obedience, but it is also a call to holiness. Faithfully and consistently share the gospel with others, and you will want to model genuine Christian faith before them.
Keep learning. Godliness is characterized by humility, and humble leaders never stop learning. Read the Word. Study biographies of godly leaders. Take classes with professors who walk with God. Admitting you don’t know everything is a step toward godliness.
Be a person of integrity in all matters. Do not exaggerate statistics. Pay your bills. Take necessary steps to avoid pornography. Be honest with your spouse in all matters. Confess your sin. Stand before God’s people with no hidden areas of disobedience.
Take care of yourself physically. Our evangelical trust in the promise of resurrection gives us no permission to abuse the body God has given us. The Spirit of God dwells in you, and your godliness cannot be separated from your commitment to take care of your physical body.
Meditate on your conversion experience. Think about your lostness apart from God’s intervention. Consider deeply God’s mercy grace toward you. Remember those who shared the gospel with you. Let your gratitude for yesterday’s grace compel you toward today’s obedience.

I suspect that nothing here is revolutionary—but that’s the point. Godliness is simply living daily for God. Take time to examine your life today. And as you do, say a prayer that I, too, will be a godly leader.

[1] Charles Spurgeon (2009-08-19). An All Around Ministry (Kindle Locations 2586-2590). BookAndSuchNW. Kindle Edition.

Chuck Lawless currently serves as Professor of Evangelism and Missions and Dean of Graduate Studies at Southeastern Seminary.

You can connect with Dr. Lawless on both Twitter and Facebook.

Three Signs Worship Wars May Be Ending

If you are in a church that is in the midst of worship wars, this article may seem to be built on an unlikely premise. If your church has experienced worship wars in the recent past, you too may question my sanity at even suggesting such a thesis.

For decades church members have been fighting, splitting, and lamenting the state of music in our worship services. But when it’s all said and done, it’s largely about preferences. And no issue seems to bring out the worst in us as our preferred music style.

Many worship leaders should get hazard pay.

While I’m not crazy enough to predict the total cessation of worship wars, I am willing to say that they will be ending in many churches. Here are three reasons why.

Fewer Churches with Different Services with Different Styles

Though this observation is anecdotal, my travels to churches across the United States the past several years bear out this factor. Some worship wars were put on a tenuous hold by offering different styles at different times. In some churches the approach was successful. In other churches, it created a culture of us versus them.

I have heard from many church leaders that they have successfully brought the factions together with one style of worship. I think you will be seeing less of two styles in one church in the years ahead.

Resurgence of Hymnody

Led by the gifted Keith and Kristyn Getty, churches are awakening to a renewed delight of hymns, particularly modern hymns such as “In Christ Alone,” “The Power of the Cross,” and “Speak O Lord.” This hymnody is bringing together multiple generations and those who prefer diverse music styles.

Modern hymnody has become a great unifier in many churches. Its influence will continue to grow.

Unifying of the Boomers and the Millennials

These two generations really seem to get along. The research that Jess Rainer and I did on the Millennials confirmed our speculation. There is a mutual trust and respect between these two large groups. They just seem to like each other.

Keep in mind the age differences here. The Boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. The Millennials were born between 1980 and 2000. On the average, there is a 30-year difference in the ages of individual members of the two generations.

But they desire to be together and spend time together. The Christians of these generations desire to worship together. It’s already fascinating to see worship styles meld as Boomers and Millennials come together. Admittedly, it’s still a strong contemporary style, but the Boomers introduced secular culture to rock. Boomer Christians were among the first to embrace a more contemporary style of Christian music.

Hopeful Signs

So much time and energy have been wasted by Christians fighting over something that is a matter of style and preference. Anger, bitterness, and church splits are the results of these worship wars.

I am hopeful, for the three reasons noted, that we will have fewer and fewer worship wars. I am hopeful we can worry less about our own preferences, and more about the unity of the body of Christ. Jesus Himself said in John 13:35: “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

“Love for one another” means we will put others before ourselves—even in music and worship preferences.

Maybe, just maybe, the worship wars will fade away.