When does faithful excuse competent?

admin —  February 19, 2013 — Leave a comment

image

When it comes to ministry you can apparently use “we’re just trying to be faithful.” As an excuse for failure all the time.

So your church isn’t doing too well….”we’re just trying to be faithful.”

Or your ministry area keeps on flopping….”we’re just trying to be faithful.”

This phrase is gold for any moment when you don’t want to face self-assessment and deal with the potential that it might be a competence issue or a leadership issue. There are plenty of seasons in ministry when we have to deal with failure, sometimes we deal with seasons when the soil is hard and there is barely a rain-shower to make anything grow. Other times you just can’t find enough labourers to help harvest the crop.

Yet in the pursuit of avoiding using the “successful” phrase in ministry we have opted for a cop-out to use the “faithful” phrase. With this we can mask any of our short-comings under the blanket of God and assume it is acceptable. Perhaps God is teaching you that growth is in order, that learning is necessary. Or you need to surround yourself with folks you can plug your short-comings. Or maybe you are terrible and need to train a LOT more.

I wonder if the purple-patch of ministry comes when we are right in the middle of the three circles. Faithful, competent and as a result we see fruit in our ministry. Are there moments when you are faithful and competent and see no fruit? Sure. Are there times when you can be competent and fruitful and lack faith? Most definitely. Can you be faithful and fruitful and completely incompetent? Absolutely.

There does need to be an evaluation from time to time if your ministry bares no fruit that perhaps there is a competency issue. For all the chest pounding, zealous, soul-searching, fist waving dedication to God’s word are you actually producing any fruit. It isn’t a knowledge competition, it is a wisdom event. In that relentless drive to make a point have you missed the window to make a different. All of us need to be more faithful. The lack of fruit in ministry though might be a competence issue. The Gospel message is magnificently simple and infinitely complex.

Failure is only bad if you don’t learn from your mistakes. Just try harder isn’t the solution. We need to keep doing what we’re doing, isn’t the answer. Just tweak it, doesn’t work. At some point, scrap it, burn it and go back to the drawing board. At what point, after seasons of unfruitful ministry do you say, “This isn’t working. We have a competency issue and need to change.” The horse is dead and on the way to the glue factory.

We all need faith, but that doesn’t excuse incompetence.

 

In Previous Posts , ,
permalink

The Gentle Art and the Gospel.

admin —  February 15, 2013 — Leave a comment

484569_10151130494577650_84361446_nI remembered the first time I went to train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I was a nervous wreck, I watched the UFC and thought it was cool for a long time and then someone told me I could train in the sport. “You mean that I’ve waited all this time and someone in this country teaches what BJ Penn does?!” So I sheepishly arrived at a small little boy scout hall to start my training. Shorts and a Tee ready to give BJJ a go. The honest truth is I was horrible at wrestling, rumbles, fighting or anything MMA related at school but I was more concerned about getting a little tougher.

The opposite happened, BJJ humbled me.

In 2006 I started training at VT1, Professor Liam was a Purple belt at the time. We had to lay the mats down every class and if the room wasn’t left perfect the Boy Scouts got pissed, and they could tie a mean knot. Two years of training I moved to the USA. I found myself on a Sambo hiatus and trained for 1 year while looking for the right gym. Sure I love Sambo but not nearly as much as my first love Jiu Jitsu. Finally I connected with Jay Pages and have been training there the last 3 years.

In the short time I’ve been doing this sport, here is what I know. I don’t know much….

Day 1: Puke after class, the body wasn’t ready for that training.

Day 3: No more puking after class, but walking the next day should be optional.

Month 1: I believe I have mad skills because I know 2 submissions and a scissor sweep. Blue belt taps me in 20 seconds. Back to the drawing board.

Month 3: First Stripe. Now Legit, start thinking about a DVD series….tapping from every position.

Month 6: Second Stripe. Now walking into pubs sizing people up. Pretty sure I can beat the 300 pound Samoan but don’t want to chance his friends stepping in.

Year 1: Three Stripes and a sea of new friends. Realising the size of the undertaking. Everyone in the gym still owning me.

Year 2: Four Stripes, everyone still owning me. Concerned and longing for new 150 pounders to sign up. Why is everyone new 250+ pounds?!

Year 3: Sambo is fun, learning takedowns is cool. What?! I can’t use any of this at a Jiu Jitsu tournament.

Year 3: First Tournament, remember not to poop yourself on the Mat. They may not invite you back. Pretty sure if I pee, I can sell it as sweat. 0-1, 0-2

Year 3: 0-4, 0-5, 0-6 BLUE BELT! Woohoo! There are people in the gym I can actually tap!

Year 4: Shattered Shoulder, Snowboarding is way worse for injuries this is going to set back training. Perhaps watching DVD’s will improve my game.

Year 5: 0-7 DVD’s didn’t help, stop watching Ryan Hall you aren’t flexible. Feeling good because I now compete in Masters division. Finally people who are married with Kids who can’t train 24/7!

Year 6: Starting to appreciate the gravity of the decision to train this sport. Purple Belt isn’t Half Way….It isn’t Quarter Way…still keep Purple as a Goal. 0-8 perhaps competitions aren’t for me. Watched the Felipe Costa story, feeling more confident now…still could be world champion…logic seems sound.

The History is only short, and I’m still a while off the next promotion, but I have realised this about Jiu Jitsu. You never stop growing. Early on I was eager to learn because I didn’t want to be weak and wussy, which only made me arrogant. Competitions fixed that. Loss grows character.

Then I started to realise that I was a long way from Black Belt so I better find a groove. I had months where I didn’t get a single submission. I was being tapped relentlessly. It is easy to call it quits in those moments. Perseverance produces character.

Even now I think my skills are at a plateau. Blue Belts own me and some of the white belts destroy me. The difference is I’ve walked this road before, I know this is a Marathon and not a Sprint. Also Tapping is the greatest escape for every position (perhaps that DVD will sell). What helps is the friendship and encouragement that you get on the Mat from your team. This is a team sport.

It reminds me a little of my walk with Jesus, the road isn’t always easy, you might be sitting 0-8 but you’ve walked it before and you know Christ keeps his promises. Heck the little victories remind you of the bigger picture.

People throw in the towel with Jiu Jitsu for a variety of reasons. This was never a sprint though, Jiu Jitsu is a marathon and the Gentle Art is designed for a life time of training. Easy victories are just that. They don’t make great stories and no one remembers them.

Big victories, take time. There is always a story and the effort is worth the wait. In Jiu Jitsu and Jesus people give up way to soon, the path gets rocky and you get whipped, everyone does. Failure helps you grow, loss breeds humility and suffering promotes perseverance. Romans says something similar. “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

This was never a sprint. The road is long and hard. The best stories are made on it. Life without Suffering means no perseverance, character or hope. Nobody wants that.

Jesus is worth it, shut up and train.

 

In Previous Posts , ,
permalink

Double Book Review! ‘Follow Me – David Platt’ & ‘Multiply – Francis Chan’

admin —  February 12, 2013 — 3 Comments

It only makes sense to review these book together seeing that they both deal with two sides to the same coin.

How do we effectively make disciples for Christ?

Follow Christ and Lose our Life.

multiplyEssentially Multiply is the companion book for the series that is available free online. This 24-week series is one of the staple studies of our small group curriculum. In fact it will be my priority to use this study series as the first study with my new church plant. Francis tackles the audacious task of developing a system for disciples making disciples. The book follows the 24 studies online and serves as an expanded commentary to be done in conjunction with the videos. If you have already been using the multiply movement materials then you are almost certainly aware of much of the content of this book. Where I found it helpful was to have written down much of what Francis talks about in that video. This book is flooded with scriptural content and is a challenging read for what Evangelical Christians should be doing to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Multiply is comprehensive and will take you the best part of 6 months to work through. Once you’ve finished you’ll find yourself constantly working through the materials and referring back to it time and time again. Plus assuming you successfully grasp the concept you’ll find yourself using it with others to help them on their walk with Christ. Multiply is a brilliantly challenging self-assessment on both the church and our task as followers of Christ.

I would highly recommend this book and the accompanying materials online for a solid foundation for a discipleship program at your church. Expect to be challenged and confronted with what the expectation of a follower of Christ is seeking to do. Francis casts an audacious challenge that stands in the face of much of our notions of what Church is and makes sharing the gospel and growing Christ a fundamental priority. What should be noted is the injection of Mark Beuving into this conversation. Mark provides a brilliant systematic framework for Chan’s model for multiplication. Where Francis might be the visionary artist, Mark is clearly the enlightened engineer that makes a clear map for change. You might lose some of the scatterbrain-genius of Francis Chan but you gain a systematic elegance to transformation.

Clearly David Platt and Francis Chan are on the same page about this strategy. They both wrote the forwards to each others books and their encounter together in 2011 at a conference led 9781414373287them to start this discipleship endeavour. Where Multiply focuses on the practicalities of the individual to make disciples. Follow Me focuses on the commandment of Christ to follow Him and the depth of what that entails. David’s focus therefore is on what we should do as followers of Jesus, how the church should reflect that model that Christ sets out. It also picks up on the imperative claim from Radical to live different and reach the nations. This harrowing read has a slamming indictment against many modern churches and David re-imagines the command to Follow Christ. Essentially leading us to a place where we must die to ourselves and live completely and radically different. David Platt provides the argument for living differently, Francis Chan provides the tools to do this. Follow Me leaves you with the particular uncomfortability that leads us to a place of change.

What should we focus on?

Is the Believer Prayer Biblical?

What does it me to Follow Christ?

Where does the grand narrative of scripture lead us?

What is our gospel mission?

Both these writers leave us with an ascetic tension to question the lavishness of our lives. If we are given wealth what are we to use it for? With Billions of people who have no access to the gospel should we be flipping 5c out of ever $100 to world mission or do we need to re-imagine that model?

You really shouldn’t read one of these books without reading the other. Honestly you should read David Platt’s first and then get moving on Multiply Movement. David’s argument is the perfect platform for multiplication and change. They are both excellent and challenging books that are going to be a priority in my next church plant.

 

 

In Previous Posts , , , , ,
permalink