Before the New Year: a little more Christmas?

I'm already seeing it. Post-Christmas discounts, Valentine's candy, and superstore racks of "A New Year, A New You!" stocked with vitamins, performance socks, and granola. 

I'm not ready. I don't even want to talk about New Year's yet. I know it's coming, I can't stop time, but Christmas, all that we waited for, shopped for, prepared for--it just happened. Can't we linger here for a moment? 

When our daughter was tiny she used to love this video we would get from the library about Elmo from Sesame Street wanting Christmas to be every day and last forever. The moral was, if that was so then it would be ordinary or even tiresome, and certainly expensive. So no, Elmo, Christmas cannot last more than one day. Like me, he was disappointed but understood. But after the gifts have come, can I not just sit in the wonder of all things Christmas and enjoy it, before I pack it all away and shed the party pounds?

In the practical, there is always something spiritual. In fact the reverse is even more amazing: in the spiritual, there is always something highly practical. Christmas is about hope. The hope fulfilled in the Messiah coming is sung in Christmas carols, celebrated in the creches, and hopefully fills our hearts as we embrace this short season. But as I have shared before, it's also the hope that because Christ came and  completed the work God had for Him in living the life we could not have lived, dying the death we should have died, and rising again to bring us the life we could never obtain apart from Him, we can trust that like He promised He is coming again. And yet Christmas is just one glorious day, then it's over. Our minds turn to other things, life marches on, and Christmas gets boxed up. I believe that's the case, and has to be, because our hope in Christ coming again is not yet fulfilled. We don't get to abide or stay in Christmas or Christmas time. Christmas and all the beauty, wonder, excitement and fellowship is a glimpse of heaven. Everyday magnified, intense joy and ongoing, thrilling celebration--that would be like heaven. But, Christ has not yet come again. So, while we can have a taste of His coming, we can celebrate as a part of an expression of the Good News, we can celebrate as His people because He is in us and with us, we are still waiting, hoping, and journeying with Him towards that place and time where it is all realized. He hasn't come to take us to the place He is preparing. We haven't gone to live with Him there. I believe heaven is in a perpetual state of the feelings of Christmas Eve; last minute preparing, high joy and anticipation of the best celebration yet. When He comes and we go to be with Him, then what we experience together there will make Christmas pale in comparison. It's in that real place that we will get to abide. Until then, He calls us to abide in Him in the day to day living, beyond Christmas and into New Year's.

How do we linger here and then take a bit of the wonder of Christmas with us into the New Year?
Just a few moments to linger with you, Lord. You know I love Christmas. 

This year, as I read the Christmas story in Luke and drank in all the red, green, sparkling white, and twinkling beauty in our home, I was struck by Luke 2:19-20. "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told."

We can linger here by pausing for a moment. Sit in the few days between Christmas and New Year's and explore the real treasures. "These things"...what grace gifts did God give over the holidays? What did He reveal about Himself, His Son, your heart, His incredible presence and provision? What struck you this season? What experiences were precious, meaningful, and drew you to love and worship? Treasure up those things. Then ponder them in your heart or sit in those thoughts, words, feelings, and memories and give them the value they truly have. Consider them from different angles. Be open to a conversation with God, the Giver of every good and perfect gift, about His wonders and treasures. You get to sit in the wonder. You don't have to tell God about them, define them, or box them up neatly. Ponder them. 

Mary wasn't the only one that experienced the greatness of that first Christmas. The shepherds had a huge Christmas! After hearing and seeing the Truth, they went back to their normal life, like we all do, but they had to live differently. They came to their God, because of this Messiah, with worship that carried over beyond the wonder of the manger. Could it be that beyond Christmas is an opportunity to worship, to glorify and praise God out loud with our lives and mouths, because we hear Him and see Him during the season? All the Christmas music, ornaments, nativity scenes, and on and on that remind us of Christ, that appeal to our ears and eyes, are those the tuning of the orchestra in our souls to bring forth such spiritual music that our mouths and lives can't help but express? More plainly, does Christmas push a reset button for our worship for the rest of the year? I hope, with true expectation, that Christmas causes my life to be different. I hope that I leave this season taking with me eyes and ears so full of Jesus that I have to live differently, interact with my God differently, and share it with whoever is in ear shot. 

Treasures and worship. That's what we get to take into the New Year with us if we will stop long enough to ponder what our ears and eyes have experienced this Christmas. Treasures and worship. That's where we get to abide with Him until Christmas truly is every day with Him in that place He is still preparing. 
Then, gloriously yet not surprisingly, it will be treasures and worship for all eternity.

Just another seed of my faith,
Ginny

Advent - The NEW magic of Christmas

Advent came to life for me when my kids were small. As a child, we were the kids that lit the candles at church in the advent wreath. There were four of us. Four girls, four candles, it fit. But, not growing up in a liturgical church, advent was a bit lost on me until the year the magic was gone.

Christmas had always been so magical. The anticipation, the wonder, the hope, the celebration. Gifts, food, family, friends. As a child, Christmas was my favorite time of year. And my parents, by God’s grace and mercy, had done a good job of focusing on Christ at Christmas. I became an adult, and I knew what was under the tree, for everyone. I burned the Advent candle at both ends between cookies, parties, church skits, crafts for the kids, a solo in the Christmas Eve service, shopping, baking, and on and on. I woke up one year and realized, “I missed Christmas.” Oh, it happened. But I missed it all the same. It was a blur and then it was over. My heart never really celebrated. My soul never really engaged wonder and hope. The sparkle was all but gone. My hands had been a part of Christmas, but the rest of me? I purposed that year to never miss Christmas again. I wanted something that would thrill my heart and bring a sense of wonder once again, and I found that in celebrating or observing Advent. 

Advent is an old church tradition starting four Sundays before Christmas and ending on Christmas Day. Advent uses scripture and usually a weekly theme that focuses our hearts back on Christ. The wonder in my heart could only be met by the greatest gift I ever received, the gift of Christ and salvation in Him. Every year, the practice of Advent brings me back to that place of worship and reveling in Him! I look forward to it so much every year!

The first year I did it, Christmas Day came as a surprise to me. I had not paid attention to our Advent guide and the scripture tied to that day. I think I assumed it would be one from the birth narratives in Matthew or Luke. But, my heart was stunned when we opened the last scripture and I read these words,

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – Jn. 14:1-6

My soul. This whole Advent thing was not necessarily a looking back with reverence, awe, and love. It was looking forward. Advent or, coming, is certainly about celebrating that He came. But Advent and Christmas Day are really about the fact that He is coming! What wonder! What awe! He will come back just as sure as He came. And He will come for me. Just like He did so long ago.

This time, the Advent will be different. He will come to take me to be where He is, not to come dwell where we are. It will be a final Advent. I will get to go be with Him and the Father because He came that first Christmas to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

We still use most of the same scriptures for Advent that we've used in the past. And every Christmas morning my heart thrills at the prospect of opening, reading and meditating on John 14:1-6. I know it will be there, just like as a child I knew the stockings would be stuffed with Lifesavers and oranges and our “Santa” gift would be in front of the tree. But the magic never fades. His coming shines with such radiance, hope, and immense joy that Christmas holds fresh promise for me. For us. Maybe this year will be the year. As the church for centuries has said, “Even so, come Lord Jesus!”

Just another seed of my faith,

Ginny

10 Leadership Lessons...so far - #6: There are no ministry rock stars

Just a few weeks ago, I fell victim again to a destructive habit. I violated my own rule. I tried to do ministry alone. By the end of that day, I was exhausted, frustrated, feeling Augustine waves of desolation and wondering why in the world I have said yes to ministry. There was a heady confusion or maybe it was feeling off-kilter. I was feeling overcome by the weight of ministry. It took me walking away and sitting with God in my car on a drive to figure out what in the world was wrong with me. He showed me quite plainly and tenderly that I had tried to do ministry by myself.

It almost took me by surprise, because I had approached that day fully understanding what needed to get done. Here's what ministry is going to require today.There was planning, visioneering, aligning, interpreting data...let me stop there. You get it. As a leader you understand the words "need" and "get done." Yet, here's a leadership lesson that I have learned along the way, even in light of "need" and "get done": The silent killer in ministry is thinking we can, or have to, do it on our own.

Grab on to this truth: There are no ministry rock stars.

Ministry is just too big. Ministry, in its very nature is God-sized, and so one person can't play every role. We try to. Time is short. The vision is huge and the strategy demands a right-now action. We have relational equity, so people will go along well enough with what we desire to achieve. While we aren't gifted in 10 critical areas that would make this truly excellent, we are gifted in 2 and those are visible enough to get the job done. We can't slow down long enough to teach or guide someone else to shape their gifting so we have a partner, but we have just enough time to do it ourselves. It may stretch us thin or neglect our soul, but we can get it done.

Ministry leaders are guilty of trying to be rock stars, but we are also guilty of perpetuating this false idea. You find talent, one person who is really gifted that has a few ministry victories, and assign them the rock star role. They handle it well because they are driven or activators or achievers. Leaders applaud the rock star, giving them praise and rewarding their solo act. "Look at what they do for the ministry!" Rock stars become the go-to people. They are valued for what they can do, but slowly lose who they are because they work at things that are not who they are at all. They can pull it off, too. While I believe there are high capacity leaders, this is unsustainable. Rock stars work harder to keep their stage--because if they fail to keep the stage, then they will be known for what they really are, and their audience with its applause and approval and maybe even their stage will go away altogether.

What happens to people that have to sustain the rock star role? You tell me. Chances are you are reading this not because you have rock stars, but because you were one. Were. Until you realized that being a rock star is not God's plan for you or ministry. I have met a lot of has-been rock stars that were either broken in ministry or wised-up and set boundaries, or left the stage altogether.

If there are no rock stars, what's God's way? 

Every Paul needs a Barnabas...and a Timothy...and a Titus...and a Luke. Every Moses needs a Jethro (and a Joshua!). Every Elijah needs an Elisha. Nehemiah's have Ezra's. And Jesus sent the disciples out to minister in pairs. We were not designed to do ministry alone. 

God's word speaks to the fact that no one part of the Body is better than another. Each part does it's own job. Which part of the body wants to do the job of another or take the jobs of several? Which part could? An eye is an eye. A hand is a hand. We were given the full Spirit, but specific gifts. Not all the gifts, so that we can have humility and community. Together with other parts, we can be one amazing moving, ministering Body. Alone? It's like finding a finger on the sidewalk. It's somewhat shocking, repulsive, and no one has a clue who it belongs to. Moreover, it doesn't work separated from the hand, arm, body, and Head. Doing ministry alone doesn't work.

Consider it with me this way. There's a lot of construction on the way to my church. Crews of men work to build homes. They are skillful, and they work fast, each doing his part, but working together. Their work as a crew makes one beautiful home. There's this house on the same route that has been under construction for years. I'll say at least seven years for sure. One wiry man works on this house. From the looks of it, he has a big dream home planned. It's taking forever, and the older yet still unfinished parts are rotting. It's not livable, and it's an eye sore. It appears he and others may even live in a part of it, although I am not sure how it has passed any code to be occupied. There's a new set of plywood on what will or would be a roof, and all I can see is that it will rot too. Because he's alone in his work, when he's done, it will already be falling apart.

How many of us are working with others to build on the foundation Christ laid for us, functioning as a crew? And how many of us are rock stars with big dreams for a big structure, trying to pull off the building on our own? It can't be done. It wasn't meant to be done. It's not livable. It may, in the end, fall apart. If not it, then we might be the thing that falls apart.

So, I got off my self-appointed stage and called a friend. An encourager, a listener, a dreamer, a blind spot seer, a brain-stormer, and a hands on helper. I took all my tools and materials and ideas and blueprints, and laid them in front of her. Then, I, together with she, became we. We found more and became a bigger we. A team. A crew. There's still "need" and "get done," but it will happen, and I will be whole and free to minister and lead as God designed me to, because, I am not a rock star. I am a part of the Body.

Just another seed of my faith,

Ginny

My Little Lambs Among Wolves (AKA - The First Day of School)

Well, I dropped my kids off at school. My little fourth grader had steely resolve in his jaw. Walking into a new classroom with a new teacher and only three kids he knows, well...we call that "doing hard things" at our house. I kissed him in my mind (Because there is no way he'd go for an actual kiss. That's ok, I get it.) and left him to some woman I met about 32 seconds before I exited the room. I hope I had steely resolve in my jaw too, because my heart was once again at the bottom of my stomach.

And let's not talk about the beautifully secure seventh grader who kissed me in the car and then waltzed into the building with freshly mascaraed eyes (it's a big year!) as she has the proverbial middle school bull by it's horns. She makes it look easy, but I drive away wondering where my summer and my little Lambie went. It seems like yesterday she was trembling at her kindergarten desk. My little guy too.

How did I get here?

I still feel every year like I am leaving my little lambs among wolves. God's called us to public school (another blog for another day) and so this is "doing hard things." Maybe this is you too. You have dropped your kids off on another first day of school and you back out of the room slowly with fake confidence so you both don't fall apart wondering what in the world you have done. Tears and pleas or "see ya mom!" are both hard. I don't want to play on your emotions or make you even more emotional than you are, so I'll just say we all can have  strong feelings,
  wonderings,
     concerns,
       and insecurities
on a day like today.

Can I give you a couple of truths that I rest on, no--cling to--on the first day of school?

God goes with them where I cannot.
God promises in both Old and New Testaments that He will never leave us or forsake us. The God of the universe Who loves my children perfectly and infinitely more than I do is with them, right this moment. He sees them, knows them, guides them and is over them in that classroom with that teacher and those kids. Praise God that He is more than me and more than enough, and He is with my kids. 

Hear Him say: "'Never, never, never will I leave you; never, never will I forsake you.' So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?'" (Heb. 13:5-6)

Psalm 139 tells us God is intimately right there with us. He knows when we sit down, get up, think, go out, come home, words before we speak--He is familiar with all our ways. "You hem me in--behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me." (v.5) There is nowhere we can go that He is not there. If those things are true for us, they are true for our kids. Bless You Jesus that Your hand is on them. Soak in that Psalm.

God knows they are lambs.
This truth and the verse that brings life to it are more precious to me than I will ever be able to express. Lamb is a word for little children that we have used for years. I think Chip's mom started it. Our daughter even had a Lambie, this little blanket with a lamb head that went with her everywhere. Lamb is precious in our home. And we have a saying in our world about being lambs or sheep among wolves. Those wolves can take the shape of everything from questionable preschoolers to bigger threats in our culture. I have already seen it used today on facebook in association with dropping little kindergartners off at school. Oh sister, I feel you! Did You know that phrase came from Jesus? He said He was sending His disciples--those precious to Him, the ones He loved, the ones that He was raising as He led them and taught them--as sheep or lambs among wolves. He knew the world was a hard place. He knows the world is a hard place. He knows how we feel!

If the truth is we are all doing hard things and Jesus knows they are hard things, if they are lambs among wolves and Jesus has said so and He has done the same thing with His own "kids," we are going to need some comfort. 

Find our Good Shepherd with me in Isaiah 40. Hear Him say: "He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young." (v. 11) Will you allow me to turn this into a prayer? My heart beats this verse and explaining it won't do when my own prayer is flowing even as I type it.

Thank you Jesus. You tend to us--that's not a contractual agreement for keeping us alive, but a personal, intimate, loving care and affection for us so that we are thriving. You protect us. You move us to places You desire us to go. That's being a shepherd. But You say more. You say You shepherd by gathering my children, my lambs into Your arms. But more, more than that, You carry them close to your heart. Praise You Jesus. They are precious to You too! And I can't thank You enough that not only do You treasure my lambs, but You gently lead me as a mother as well O, Shepherd, lead me gently through another first day. And a second day, and a third day. You have moved us to this place that You've desired us to go -- to school. I trust You by Your Word. How You love my kids and me. Thank You for Your promise and Your comfort.

So, cling to truth with me. Hanging on to a God Who never leaves or forsakes us or our kids, and trusting our Shepherd to carry our little lambs close to His heart, we may find that we all can have
strong feelings,
  belief,
    confidence, 
      hope,
        and security
on a day like today.
 
Being led gently alongside you...

Just another seed of my faith,

Ginny

Close Disciple or Fearful Follower? Taking a New Path in Ministry

I really love the spiritual concept of calling. I have experienced a variety of callings: marrying Chip, staying at home, working, being a part of our church, and more. I am so thankful that God beckons me and you into and out of seasons. Some seasons longer than others. I recently experienced God calling me to a change in seasons, and then within the new season He called me to a new path. I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am meant for The Body--I am meant for ministry. Ministry is a path I am on with Jesus. It’s one of serving and one of following Him. I heard Him so clearly say, "You will find Me in abiding, and you will follow Me in ministry."

The Gospel of Mark is such an interesting one for those of us in ministry because it’s all about serving. I think someday I will write a Bible Study on Mark geared towards people who serve in ministry (which really is all of us as believers). It's been amazing to see Jesus in this light. In Mark, God reveals Jesus as The Servant. To see Christ as Servant shows us how to be a servant of God. It also shows us how free Christ was as He was bound to God and the rescue mission of the Gospel. 

 

In regards to following Him on a new path in ministry, here is something I have learned. By the tenth chapter of Mark, the disciples had had an epic experience with Christ. They had followed Him on a ministry path and He had stretched them as men, as faithful Jews, as disciples, as those seeking for the Messiah. He had offered them truth, and miracles, and a relationship. Remember, they too had been called. And the Story takes a turn at Mark 10:32. They stood at a crossroads.

"They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid." (Mark 10:32)

This small verse packs a powerful truth for you and me in ministry. Jesus was leading the way. It was a new path, but the path still had the same mission: love, speaking truth, service, obedience, and sacrifice. The new path was not an easy path. It was a path to Jerusalem, a path with Jesus to His cross. The disciples would find themselves, like Christ would, asking for another way, tired, praying a ton, trying to go to places of comfort with people of comfort so that they could sort things out and find or know God in the midst of it.

Have you felt this way? You’ve been following Christ, and now you are called to ministry. Or you have been in ministry, but God has a fresh path in front of you within your ministry or calling. There's a new level of what’s being asked of you as you are serving. You have the same mission as Christ and the disciples: it's a gospel mission to love, speak truth, serve, obey God in relationships and authentic living, and sacrifice. And like them you find yourself at times asking for another way, feeling tired, praying a ton, and going to places/people of comfort in the discomfort or unfamiliarity of this new path.

Look at Mark 10:32, the followers of Christ had two reactions to this change in course.

The disciples, those who followed Him so closely, saw only Him and His wonder. They were astonished. They looked at Him.

Those that followed less intimately or from a distance took steps, but stopped at the crossroads and stood in fear. They looked at the place and the unknown.

God has called us to ministry. We are invited to journey with Jesus to places He leads. We have two choices: abide and exalt or fear.

The disciples were the close ones. They walked so closely that they could only see Him. Walking closely is what’s called abiding. Disciples abide. Their circumstances, the bold truth, the deeper serving, the authentic living with it's challenges to their pride and past, the toughness of the road, and even the future of the cost of following Him paled in comparison to Him and His wonder.

I think we, like the followers, often live the other. We have seen His miracles, heard His teaching, watched Him be all of Who He is right where we live. We have seen Him be powerful in the lives of those around us. We follow, we believe. But at the crossroads, we slow our pace a bit. Why? Fear. We say in our hearts, "What about…?" (this, that, them, me, the cost, the distance, the direction, the time, the sacrifice, the risk in relationship, the level of service, if it/I fail) We let fear become our focus and the vision of Jesus is blurred. We follow, but at a distance. Christ beckons us for more. He wants to give us a vision of Himself and His glory! That requires faith as He leads and closeness in abiding as we follow.

It feels so vulnerable to go on a new path with only faith and abiding, to only go with the promise of Jesus. Yet it feels so faithful of God, when we will do just that, that He still calls us to love, speak truth, serve and sacrifice, and obey Him. It's in that abiding and love, truth, service, sacrifice, and obedience where we see Him.

When we experience the wonder of our God, and have faith experiences that are rooted in Who He Is, those are meant to be shared. We get to lift Him up for all to see, or exalt Him. Isn't that what ministry is all about? Following our Savior to the new places with the same mission He had, and sharing it? Just like Christ and the disciples our journey in ministry always takes us to the place outside Jerusalem where the Lamb was slain for the sin of the world. A place of cost and sacrifice. A place of utter dependence on the Gospel. Oh, but He didn't stay dead! He lives, to intercede for you and me in this journey with Him. He is near and glorious right where we are. He desires to reveal Himself in the midst of whatever we are experiencing in this new path so we can have a faith experience with Him and know His nearness right now. Then we can share and exalt Him not just in our hearts but in front of others.

I have been called to be a disciple. To walk closely to Jesus. Look at Him. Spend time with Him. Exalt Him--find ways to praise Him right now in this circumstance. Find freedom in being bound to God and His Gospel mission. When I am a disciple, the rest of it will fade away, including fear and concern and the toughness of the road, and I will see and know HIM. The cost will be met in the awe and wonder of Christ and then I can make Him known.

I was afraid. Now I am quickening my pace.

Just another seed of my faith,

Ginny

10 Leadership Lessons...so far - #5: Shepherding vs. Sheep dogging

In my last leadership lesson I shared a story at the end. I told you that story to help you see the principle of washing feet, but I want you to know that it wasn't always like that for me. Knowing how to wash feet or how to lead people effectively did not come easily for me. For every one story like that there were several that were very unlike that, full of mess and mistakes, re-conversations and bumpy roads to hopefully better ministry. Such is leadership, right? We fail as humans and press into the One Who never fails as He teaches us His way. Washing feet and leading others in ministry are things I still have to work at and areas where God is still faithfully teaching me.

 

About ten years ago someone finally named a part of my gifting: shepherding. I had a very limited understanding of spiritual gifts and thought, that of the ones I knew about, I just didn't fit well. Along came shepherding and so much about how God had made my new creation made a lot more sense! I was given a chance to explore shepherding more fully when God gave me a growing responsibility within an organization of people, about people, for people. Here's what I learned.

 

As a leader, you are a shepherd. Remember, we don't get to disengage and just lead. I recently saw multiple posts on facebook with a picture that showed the difference between a boss and a leader. It looked Egyptian, and in the first picture the boss is sitting at a desk pointing ahead. The desk is on top of a flat being pulled by the minions that work for the boss. In the picture below it, the boss is titled leader and is at the head of the group pulling the weight of the flat with his people pulling behind him. He is still pointing ahead, but you clearly see the difference. Just like our Good Shepherd in John 10, we are leading and should be calling our people to follow, pointing the way.

 

Through simple logic, if you are a shepherd, God has given you sheep. You have a job to lead and care for your sheep, and by the design of this relationship, they should follow your lead. You are leading them to new places, better places, greener places; you desire good for them and for the people they are impacting or for the mission and vision they are realizing. They have their faces in the fields of your ministry and could tell you a ton about the feasting and the dirt associated with ministry. They know you and you know them. You are on a journey together. There are several facets of shepherding, but one stands out to me here.

As a shepherd, often you are giving the call to your people to move. I know as leaders, we don't stop long. Ministry is always moving. I am so thankful Christ showed us that in His own ministry. He stopped and stayed to complete the work the Father had given Him to do (Jn. 17:4, Mk. 1:38-39), and then He moved. When it’s time to go to better, greener places, how are you issuing that call to them? How are you communicating the better, greener place and what it’s going to take to get there? If "people speak" isn't you (I have been known to speak that fast and fluent), then how are you presenting your goals?  How are you getting your people to see your vision, invest in the mission, and move with you? Sheep are known for wanting to stay put until they have ravaged a field and pulled the grass up by the roots. Then they stand there bleating with a belly full of gross stuff, wondering who will feed them here. Here is no longer the answer to their hunger. We all have to move, shepherd and sheep, so how do we go together?

 

As a new leader, I was passionate about our goals, all of them. In every area I desired for all of us to have excellence so we could make one outstanding Christ-centered ministry. I felt the reality and pressure of our goals, and I was hungry to move people to a place where they would feel heart and soul engaged in meeting those goals. Surely that would result in our mission and vision exploding! Yes…but there was one problem. Not all my people were interested in those goals or even in following me there. I recall an email I wrote to my people when I had finished reviewing our results for the month. The picture was not pretty, and action was needed on the part of everyone, but mostly them. (I kid!) In my mind I affectionately termed it the “Get it done” email. I think the subject line was “A hard email to write—response required.” I covered everything from their original offer letters, their current commitment to their roles, the heart of our mission, the numbers achieved and a trend report for visual clarity, how they submitted their detailed "TPS reports", and maybe I addressed someone's kitchen sink. You can imagine after reading that how everyone wanted to run into the arms of Jesus, confess all their issues that had deeply contributed to these lackluster results, and rush forward into ministry with a freshly painted banner that read, “‘A Hard Email to Write’ – Ginny Changed My Ministry!” That’s what I imagined. Looking back, I imagine they ran into the arms of Jesus for an entirely different reason. I'll bet they were ready to paint a different banner of ministry that would have been very easy for them to write and difficult for me to look at. No, my email did little to move my people to heart and soul engagement in our goals. And they were good goals.

That's when I learned the dark, flesh-side of shepherding: sheep dogging. I came across this concept in Dallas Willard's book Hearing God. According to Willard, sheep dogs know exactly where they want the sheep to go and they will bark, bite, chase, and corral them to get them there. "Sheep dogging" is manipulating people to a pre-determined outcome, only speaking half-truths with niceness but not being transparent or clear, emotionally standing back, allowing only the circumstances and facts to speak without listening or prior real investment in real people, neglecting details to soften a truth, and/or using authority to force an outcome without tending to the relationship. It can even be biting with anger, tone, and attitude. Sheep dogging sees a goal and tends only to the sheep so far as they will cooperate in moving towards the goal. The movement and goal are the point, not the people. What's hard to admit is when you love people and are for people, and yet you have sheep dogged people. Oh but the pressure of ministry! I have felt it. I have been the nicest sheep dog ever...with titanium tipped teeth and the swiftest moves in the tri-state area. Oh the pressure of ministry!! Can I counter that? Oh the Presence of The Shepherd.

Shepherding is different. It is leading people in a right path to take them to a right place in their best interest. Sounds like sheep dogging except shepherds lead and guide with tools and vision, always looking to their Good Shepherd to guide them; they don't manipulate or bite. We see this nestled in Psalm 23. (If you want an excellent book on this, I highly recommend A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller.) Shepherds take responsibility to nurture, model, and establish trust and confidence through relationships. With sheep in ministry who are called by Jesus to serve Him and others, it is your job as a shepherd to show them how movement or goals are the greener pasture, why it’s a better place, and how Jesus and people are on the path as well as in the results. Your sheep want you to tell them why they are making the move or working towards this new facet of mission and how it reflects the heart of their calling and Savior.

Are you feeling a big "ughhh" inside? That sounds like a lot of work and time away from important meetings/email and emotional connecting and spiritually investing and blah, blah, blah to get to where we need to go now. You feel a sense of urgency and want to create an action plan. I get it. Remember, I know the pressures of ministry. Urgency and action - that’s good. Before you map your new team action items, remember that while you see a need to act, you are shepherding sheep. You may need to balance your own fresh energy to move or meet a goal with the fact that you are going to have to bring your people up to speed and engage them in a Christ-led journey to meeting that goal. If you press and don’t fully consider people, you may be in for a much longer journey. Sheep are quite an unruly, obstinate bunch. That's why we're referred to as sheep by God. Recall in your life who has invested in you as a sheep and shepherded you. Now consider who has sheep dogged you. What's the difference in those experiences?

My point and heart with shepherding vs. sheep dogging ultimately comes down to this: We don’t move people. People don’t move people. Jesus moves people. All our efforts in the world may inspire or even scare people into temporarily moving, but it’s not lasting change with internal transformation that expresses itself with greater faith, love and action on the outside. Only Jesus can do that. As a shepherd, you will never move your sheep. You must look to the One Who called them, follow Him and use His words to call His sheep. Think again about John 10. Jesus says that His sheep know His voice, know Him, and follow Him. As their anointed, appointed shepherd for this season, you must use His words so that His sheep will hear His voice and you can all follow Him to better, greener places together.

 

So, consider the following questions as a shepherd with sheep:

• What gifts do I see in these people, just as they are? Ask God to reveal to you why these people in this place for this season. He is at work in these sheep. What's He doing in them and through them right now individually? As a team? If you don't know that answer, this is your starting point. Know your sheep and how He is shepherding them with His voice, leading, and nearness.
• Where is Christ in this? What does He say?
• How have I led in this so far? Would my people agree with my assessment of my leadership here?
• How have I prayed for my sheep in this? For myself?
• Where do I need to build into relationships (serve and wash feet) so that I can lead?
• Consider what you know about the character of God and His Word. Where do I see my desired movement or goal reflected in scripture and/or in Him?
• What’s eternal in what I want to do or in the journey to get to where I want to go?
• How does moving or meeting these goals reflect Jesus and people? What’s glorious about Jesus in this goal and the path to meeting it? What about this journey and the goal embrace people?
• How can I skillfully and rightly take the word of God (which really is The Word, Jesus) and use it to call my people to go with Him and me?
• What will my sheep need with this? How will I serve them and keep pointing them to Christ while I pull the weight of this ministry with them? 

 

I learned some really hard lessons along the way from sheep dogging to shepherding. And movement is just one facet of shepherding! When I chose His way of shepherding, He never failed to care for His sheep, including me. And we never failed to reach His new place for us, even if the road felt like the valley of death at times. He is indeed the Good Shepherd. Will you follow Him?

 

Just another seed of my faith,

 

Ginny

 

10 Leadership Lessons...so far - #4: Great leaders wash feet

I have a conviction that I believe is shared amongst most leaders. Great leaders serve. I think we have all seen leaders that don't serve.  They often expect to be served or feel the need to be free of serving so they can lead. In an extreme, they are at the top, and it seems that people must speak their language, cater to their whims, and absorb the shock wave of their misaligned decisions. They may forget the real vision, mission, and the people God has given them to care for and carry all this out, and the consequences are costly.

Jesus says real leaders, great leaders, serve. It's in line with His other teachings of the first are last, the greatest are least -- leaders are servants.  How do we serve as leaders? What difference can this make in our mission and in our people?

I recall a time when I realized that ministry was going to be messy. You may laugh, but I must have missed most of the Gospels and Jesus’ interaction with His disciples, or Paul’s leadership in the churches. There is nothing but ups and downs, messes and rescues, lessons on lessons. But, I’m not much for messy. I have always loved a good clean home, smelling of Pledge and bleach and Yankee Candles, with a faint scent of clean laundry, because it’s all been put away. Surely if you led really well, ministry could be a “clean house” that everyone enjoyed. Jesus in John 13 shows us that ministry and leading well is about ultimate service and getting really dirty.

I invite you to read Jn. 13:1-7 and then consider the following.

Jesus shows us that ministry means you love deeply. God had chosen those twelve men to be Jesus’ disciples. He loved them and He felt that they belonged to Him. They were His own. And He showed them the full extent of His love. The same is true for us. Who has God given you to lead this season? How are you loving them? What would it look like to show them the full extent of your love?

Jesus shows us that leaders in ministry that are compelled by love wash feet. They serve those that God has given to them. It takes love and puts it into action. True leaders serve.  

 

Jesus shows us that leaders, knowing the place God has given them, anointed for this season for these people, in Christ as He was in the Father, are comfortable taking on the lowest, basest form of service: washing feet. The servants who washed feet in Jesus’ day were the lowest slaves. They had the dirtiest, lowest job touching people’s feet and cleaning them. It was a messy work with taking road-worn shoes off and caring for all kinds of feet. They splashed water on them, making the dirt of that day’s life and journey into a splishing mud that got all over them as it was cleaned from the one they were serving. The newly cleaned feet were dried and cared for, clean and ready for those next steps that person would take. The slave was left covered in someone else’s dirt and mud.

For us when we wash feet, we serve those we love with humility, sincerity, intimacy, and vulnerability. Just like Christ did in wrapping a towel around His waist (v.4), we are told in 1 Pet. 5:5 to clothe ourselves with humility towards one another. The Greek word picture is like a slave’s apron wrapped around us, closest to our most intimate selves where no one else can see it. No glory, no recognition from the world or even from those we serve. Are we such servants that our service reaches to the innermost parts of who we are as leaders? Are we ok if we never get recognized for our humble service? Is there a situation, decision, or relationship that you are not approaching with full humility?

Like Christ, you serve those you love with sincerity, because who can fake a slave’s apron, or posture, or attitude? And you have to be sincere to serve those you love with intimacy as you uncover their feet and your hands address the dirt of someone else’s journey. You are the one who approaches their ministry worn shoes and takes time to take them off. You will do this with a variety of feet that have traveled a variety of ministry places. And as you pour Jesus-as-the-center, scripture, love, listening, truth, encouragement, help, comfort, and better vision on their feet, their ministry mud will get all over you. Are you being sincere in your care of your people and your mission, or are you expecting people to shape up and get with the program? Have you taken time to touch others, examine the dirt of your ministry that they have trod, and pour something refreshing, healing, and needed over their journey?

You serve those you love with vulnerability. Like Christ, you will be vulnerable as you get on your hands and knees, willing to touch the messiness of life and ministry. It’s a posture of bowing, getting near and close to a part of them not many people become acquainted with. They will feel vulnerable, like Peter did, as you wash the feet of those that have never been loved that way, who were not ready for the fullness of that service today, and whose feet are unprepared—feeling just a little too messy or dirty or unkempt. Yet you touch, wash, serve, love. Who couldn’t use the touch of the Savior in the midst of the journey in ministry?! Are you being vulnerable or distant and running ahead? Are you here, present in the moment, knowing those who serve under your leadership and really getting in o ministry with them? Are you ready for everyone to get a bit uncomfortable? (My friend Lindsay says that ministry is getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.)

And one more thought; you realize He washed Judas’ feet too? Even though He knew the outcome of that relationship, He still showed Judas the full extent of His love with humility, sincerity, intimacy, and vulnerability. We may not have Judas’ among those we are serving, but there are people that are hard to serve. I mean hard. to. serve. Look to Christ. He understands and He calls you to His way, even with the Judas’ of life.

When you have finished, you will dry their ministry feet that you have loved and cared for so that they can be ready for the next steps they will take in ministry, with you. You may look down and notice your ministry apron is very dirty. You can rejoice and take it to Christ, the consummate Clean One Who took on our dirt too. For leaders, here's the gospel: we can take on their dirt of ministry, even awful dirt, knowing that Christ, Who was spotless, took on our sin. And He took it on when we were not with Him or for Him, but against Him. Surely, then, we can wash the feet of our own brothers and sisters who are with us and for us and in Christ too. As we follow His example in love and feet washing, we will find deep resonance with our own Savior and true joy as we are fellowshipping with Him in the very things He did.

Christ shared a blessing with those men who were then ready for next steps in ministry. He said, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you should also wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you…Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (v. 14-15, 17) Who doesn’t want the ultimate blessing promised by Christ Himself that if we know these things and do them, we will be blessed? What’s the blessing? Jesus invites us to grab a towel and some water and find out.

It doesn’t feel like the world’s brand of leadership with accolades, glory, and being served. Good thing, because it’s not. It’s the better way. And it blesses and changes those you serve. After washing their feet, that’s when Jesus gives them the new command: Love one another because this will show you belong to Me and this will reflect Me to the world. What’s interesting is that whenever we as leaders are compelled by love to serve and wash feet, those we touch go and do likewise. We follow Christ’s example and in turn, they do as He and we have done. If we want to reflect Christ to the world it will be by being leaders that show the full extent of our love by washing feet.

Want to hear a story? Ok, a quick story. I remember once there was someone I was leading, and it happened that I was inserted as a leader right into the midst of their chaos. When I listened and began to uncover what was going on, I realized that while they were experiencing some trials of their own, they were definitely adding fuel to the fire. They were being demanding, suspicious, unwilling to make peace, unwilling to go the second mile, harsh, non-communicative, and arrogant. The other side of the chaos was just as faulty and messy. Having learned along the way that leaders are servants, by God's grace movement in my own soul, I tied on my apron, expecting to get very dirty. Dirty I got. I took time to untie those ministry sandals by listening and asking questions I was pretty sure I knew the answer to, but he needed to be heard. He needed to communicate. Washing his feet meant I listened to some pretty ridiculous and irrational things, but I responded with "I hear you. I see. I can understand that feeling. I get that more clearly now. I receive that from you." Water, water, water. I invited him to settle in and share. I asked about the ministry that was still happening to God's glory, and he shared the story. We rejoiced! I asked where Christ had been at work in his life, and he shared. We affirmed and praised Christ's good work. Then I asked, as I handled those weary feet, what Christ's humility in him would look like in this situation. The vulnerability required in that response caused him to almost "take his feet out of the water." But, he responded, and in sincerity and vulnerability of my own, I helped shape his response. An hour and forty minutes later, he walked away, with clean feet, ready for new steps in ministry. I was covered in ministry mud, and totally overwhelmed at how Christ showed up. I stood there filthy, rejoicing in Christ, and reveling in peace. Blessing abounded. I did this because Christ loved me, washed me clean, gave the example, and I had had other leaders wash my own feet. 

 

As you consider your own leadership and the people God has given you to love, you might pray for them. 

Some you will need to ask God what their dirt is or how to serve them.

Some you will need to ask God what the water looks like. How do you wash away the ministry dirt?

Some you will need to ask God for His heart, for they are your Judas'.

Some you will need to praise God for, because His blessing is apparent after you have served and served them.

Some you will need to praise God for because they are washing others feet and Christ is being reflected to the world.

Just another seed of my faith,

Ginny