What has amazed me about the oil spill has been church leaders’ criticism of BP’s leadership through a crisis – particularly on Twitter. Honestly, the churches response to the culture seems a lot like BP’s response to the oil spill. Think about this:

• BP has been seen as slow to react. The church has been much slower to react, holding on to out of date methods while forsaking it’s incredible Message of Christ.
  
• BP knew there were problems and failed to respond. The church has known they have problems for years and has done nothing about it.
• BP’s president said he was “out of the loop on decisions.” Church leaders have continued to “be out of the loop” and blamed it on the unwillingness of people to change or the control of denominations.
  

The major difference between the church and BP – BP’s president apologized, saying, “I am so devastated with this accident…deeply sorry…so distraught” while the church continues to prove their lack of care for the culture by modeling a lack of unity and no desire to reach people in new ways.

Did BP make mistakes? Probably more than we will ever know. Has their response been slow? Maybe so.

But what about the church? Why are we as church leaders so quick to point fingers instead of focusing on our own problems?

Most people believe they are good listeners because of the words they hear. But, listening goes way beyond the words people say.

Honestly, at that moment I picked up my pen and began writing. It was just a great reminder that other nonverbal cues give us great insight into people.

So, when you are talking, you should not only listen with your ears to their words, but…

• Body Language
• Voice Inflections
• Tone of voice

Most of the time, words say less than the other things being communicated. One way to realize nonverbal behaviors is to recognize your own. For instance, if we disagree, my heart will race, my foot will tap and my voice will get louder and higher. You cannot see people’s words, but you can see and experience their nonverbal cues.

Have you just listened to people’s words? If so, you are probably only “hearing” about 25% of what is being said.

Listen beyond the words.

These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom…. (Colossians 2:23)

The world is more about doing than being. So, as we walk with Him, the wisdom of the world continually pushes us to focus on what we “do or do not do” over who we are becoming.

So, in the current direction of your life, who are you becoming?

If you are becoming the person God desires you to be, your doing will align with His Word and Will.

Be inefficient and out of your comfort zone.

If there are two things that I would put on a list to accomplish, those would not make it into the top 100. However, his point was well taken. For those of you who are Type A’s, inefficiency is not in our vocabulary. However, sometimes to learn new things or to break bad habits, it requires us to lean towards inefficiency or just be inefficient. Here’s what that looks like for me:

• Not always giving an answer
• Learning to ask questions
• Allowing a decision to be made that is not “my” decision

I’m certain that there are other things that I need to consider. What are some areas you need to be inefficient in?

So, here are some thoughts on how you can know if you have a great team.

• No one calls or emails you while you are away. Everyone is clear of their role on the team, and they do not need your input on every decision they are making. Are your team roles clear or is the team dependent on you?

• Greater things happen when are gone. Last weekend (Mother’s Day), we baptized 110 adults, more than any other weekend in Faith Promise’s history. Do greater things happen when you are away, or does everything hinge on you being there?

• Your office keeps running. My assistant, Marti, never misses a beat when I am out. She follows up with anything that comes in and makes the needed decisions or passes things on to others for decisions to be made. Does your assistant work while you are away, or wait for you to return for instruction?

• Big decisions are made or furthered. While I was away, major progress was made on our Blount County Campus. Our Campus Pastor, Wayne Burress was moving it forward each day. He gave me an update today. Can your staff make decisions or further them while you are out of the office?

• You’re not worried & rest while you are away. Honestly, I never worry while I am away. We have the best people in the right places able to make great decisions.

Seriously consider this: Are you building a great team, or are you building a team dependent upon you? That will make you feel very important and needed, but it will hinder all that God can do through you for His Kingdom in the future.

Do you have a great team?

• First Coach, male or female, to win 1000 games
• 100% graduation rate of athletes who have played for her
• 13 SEC Tournament Titles
• 8 NCAA Titles
• 36th Seasons Coaching with the University of Tennessee

There is no greater leader in college athletics.

At 10:35 on Thursday, she will be sharing some leadership principles at the LIT Conference. During the time I host her, I want you to be a part. So,

If you could ask Coach Summitt one leadership question, what would it be?

Leave a comment and if I ask her your question on Thursday, I will get you a copy of one of her books.

Our staff spent the last 3 days retreating at The Cove, the Billy Graham Training Center in Asheville, NC. Outside of the fact that it is an amazing facility with some of the best food you will ever eat, I’ve been thinking a lot about staff retreats. Why should your staff take a retreat?

• Because ministry has high emotional & spiritual demands. The nature of ministry requires a deep emotional & spiritual commitment. We juggle our own life issues as well as a lot of issues that others carry. Even though we all quote “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:7),” we struggle to actually do that at times. Retreats allow time for staff members to rest, rejuvenate and grow.
• Because staff members neglect their own spiritual growth. Although I hate this, many times church staff members neglect their own growth for the growth of others. They need a time to get away and be challenged in their own spiritual growth in a more concentrated format. On Tuesday of our retreat, God’s spirit moved through our Pastor and people were truly revived. It was awesome!
• Because we need to focus on development. Even though we have staff meetings regularly, it helps to get away from email, phone calls and the pressures of a growing church to focus on our development. We spent a whole day talking about the leadership differences between men and women – it was very cool!

If your team does not retreat together, consider doing it soon. Retreats are a significant investment into your team!

Where we see people as distractions, Jesus saw them as opportunities.

That’s right. Jesus saw them as the opportunity to serve, heal and give witness to His Father. However, we get so focused on the tasks that we forget about the balance of relationships.

So, I shared 3 prayers that I am praying for our teams out of Matthew 9:36-38.

1. I’m praying they’ll have Jesus’ eyes.

• Jesus focused on the people, not the processes. Processes are important, but ministry is about the people.

2. I’m praying they’ll have Jesus’ heart.

• Jesus had compassion – he got so sick at their state that he was moved to do something about their need.

3. I’m praying they’ll trust Jesus answer.

• Jesus said he would provide the workers to reach His people.
• We get overwhelmed in the harvest because we put our faith in fixes instead of the Father.

People become a distraction because we need them to do what we need instead of listening to their needs and doing ministry together.

I’m praying you will keep from getting distracted.

He made a great statement that got my attention:

Always do tasks with a relational component.

His explanation – in ministry you should almost never do anything alone or without a relational perspective. So, any time that you can mentor someone or do a task while building a relationship, DO IT. There are so many other thoughts for those who put tasks over relationships and those who put relationships over tasks. There needs to be a definite balance between the two if you will do your job effectively.

Which do you struggle with – focusing to much on tasks or to much on relationships?

What wins championships – a good coach or good players?

Before I give you the answer, let me give you some background. Chuck has the greatest winning percentage in the history of Oak Ridge High School (or something like that – bottom line: he won a bunch of games). He has some amazing insight from the years that he spent as a coach, athletic director, school administrator and ultimately, principal.

His answer: BOTH. To win championships, it takes both a good coach and good players.

So then I asked:

What wins games – a good coach or good players?

His answer: GOOD PLAYERS. An average coach with good players can win games.

Why does it matter? As a church staff, you are either looking at winning games or championships when it comes to reaching people in the Kingdom. Our goal at Faith Promise is to win championships for Him – to reach as many people as possible and grow them in Him to reach more people before His return. So, I used to believe that we could do that with “good players” or staff.

But the reality: to be most effective we need good players and good coaches. Hire the best staff you can find and you will win games. But, if you hire the best staff that you can and then develop some good coaches, you will win championships.

What has been your focus?