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It Begins with a Broken Heart

Last week, I told you about God's call for us to leave it all behind in moving to Columbia to start Awaken. There's another reason why de-emphasizing the form of church was and still is important.

Transformation on any level doesn't begin with a new church form - it begins with a broken heart.

In this day when so many are frustrated and disenchanted with more traditional forms of church, it's pretty easy to draw a crowd by selling a new church form - especially this "missional community" idea. As we've pieced together what God has called us to do, people have responded with phrases like, "Man, that is so Acts 2," or "Yes, someone finally got it right," or "That's the way Jesus would do church." I appreciate their enthusiasm, but I have a fear as a result of some of these comments.

The point is not to sell out for a church model that's "not like the last place." To that, I say, "Why bother?" Missional communities or Mega-churches can be equally effective and equally defective. The determining factor is not the form, it's the heart. The point is to be so broken over lostness in your city that you would do ANYTHING short of sin to see that city transformed!

God can do a lot with a heart breaking over lostness. I'm not sure He can do much with the pride that comes with thinking your form is the only one that is right and that it's way better than the one down the street. If that's the only reason we employ new church forms, then something is way off.

For months, we begged God to continually break our hearts for Columbia, not a church form. He has and still is. Along the way, we've asked Him to send us people whose hearts are breaking for Columbia, not a church form. He has and still is. As we form community and catalyze movement, our prayer will always be for God to keep us broken.

Leave it Behind

Bono says it so well at the end of the U2 tune, "Walk On"...

Leave it behind
You've got to leave it behind
All that you fashion
All that you make
All that you build
All that you break
All that you measure
All that you steal
All this you can leave behind
All that you reason
All that you sense
All that you speak
All you dress up
All that you scheme...

Gotta admit that I didn't exactly jump for joy when it became clear that God was calling us to Columbia.  I sort of wondered why God would call us back to our hometown when Jesus didn't do so well when He passed through His hometown (Matthew 13:57-58). :-)

Not long after we started the journey, the unique opportunity that God was giving us became clear. Because we grew up here, there was a bit of street credibility that we could leverage.  We've paid our dues here. We know the culture. We know the people. We know the lay of the land.  We have an inside track.

As part of leveraging this, we felt like God called us to leave behind every form of church we've ever loved, hated, wondered about, worked in, dreamed about...everything.  He called us to leave it all behind, join Him in Columbia, and spend considerable time getting to know people.  Without a big vision to sell my only option was to listen.

As we got to know people...people far from God, people very near to God, and people at all parts in between...the question became "what does church look like among these people?" Instead of me asking, "How can I get people to do what I want" the question was, "How can I join what God is already doing and do what He wants."  I'm telling you, we would have never arrived where we are without this beginning point.

We'll use the same beginning point with all of our missional community leaders and anyone else who embraces the missionary call of God on their lives.  God is already at work in every man, woman, and child drawing them to Himself in and through Jesus - He's calling us all to join Him.  But joining Him often times means we have to leave it all behind.

It Might Not Work

I needed this today.  Maybe you do, too.

The object isn’t to be perfect. The goal isn’t to hold back until you’ve created something beyond reproach. I believe the opposite is true. Our birthright is to fail and to fail often, but to fail in search of something bigger than we can imagine. To do anything else is to waste it all. - Seth Godin

I often tell people that I feel like we're in the Research & Development Department with our lab coats and goggles on. Lots of "what's that button do?" kind of conversations!  What we're doing right now is nowhere near perfect.  It probably never will be.  It might not even work.  And, that's okay.

Lara Beth and I talked about this very thing last night.  A year ago, I was scared to death of failure. Last June, if God would have clued me in to all that was to come in the next 12 months, I doubt we would have ever left Greenville. Instead, what He's done is lead us little by little to a place of complete confidence and trust in Him and His call on our lives. And along the way, He destroyed my fear of failure.   But, I still have my moments and need reminders like Godin's.

What can you do today to advance the idea or vision God has given you for what could be and should be? Don't wait for it to be perfect in every way. Take your best thinking, best plans, best ideas to this point and take an irreversible step....as Godin says, anything else is a waste.

My irreversible step today...I'm buying a URL for our new website/blog. What's yours?

WiBo Big Ideas :: Underestimating God

If you're like me, you are a professional when it comes to underestimating God.  Sure, I believe God can and will do great things...greater than I could ever imagine.  But on a day by day basis, I am a professional at underestimating God.

When something catches me off guard, I act as if God was caught off guard, too.

When I let circumstances tie me down, I act as if God is tied down.

When fear paralyzes me, I act as if God is paralyzed.

When I think a dream is too big, I assume it's too big for God, too.

God used Mark Batterson to smack me in the face last Thursday at Whiteboard.  I've heard him make this point before, but that doesn't matter.  It never gets old and it's worth repeating everyday of my life.

In Isaiah 55:8-9, God says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways...For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

The farthest known galaxy is 13.2 billion light years away...that's a LONG way...and only Mark Batterson can talk about this stuff with church leaders and get away with it!

Which means that my best thought on my best day is at least 13.2 billion light years smaller than God's thoughts on that day.  As Mark said, "Every one of us came in here underestimating God by about 13.2 billion light years."

There is no circumstance that ties Him down. There is no fear that paralyzes Him. There is nothing that catches Him off guard.  There is no dream that He scoffs at as too big. If these things are true, then why do I sometimes live and lead as if they are?

What would it look like if you and I lived today believing that God's thoughts for us and the work He has called us all to are far bigger than our own? Would you dream bigger? Would be more willing to take an irreversible step of obedience? Would you trust Him more?

Just thinking about this is freeing to me! Can't wait to see what happens when I act on it.

Wait For It

The last few weeks have been the most frustrating weeks of our journey in Columbia. Lots of second-guessing, questions, confusion, impatience, and sleepless nights. When you sign up for leading in new directions, seasons like this are inevitable - Seth Godin calls it the dip.

But, it still stinks when you hit one.

I've never done or been a part of a work similar to what God has called us to do here. Most decisions that I make are, at best, educated guesses. Consequently, my prayer life has never been more important or stronger, I think! I'm learning more everyday what Paul meant when challenged the church at Thessalonica to "pray without ceasing."

If I'm honest, I have to say that my patience has been stretched to the max throughout this journey. Sometimes, it gets stretched so far that I wonder if God is even there or if we've just completely screwed something up.

Then, last Wednesday, we gathered with the people that God is assembling together to launch this movement. We shared our hearts, we wrestled openly with what God is up to in and around us, and we prayed. One person shared this passage of Scripture and it rocked my world:

And the LORD answered me: "Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. "Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith. - Habakkuk 2:2-4 (ESV)

Too often, I am the guy who's soul is puffed up and not upright within me. When that happens, I question God's timing, work, calling, and presence in and around me. I live like everything is up to me.

But, God knows exactly what He's doing (surprise, surprise). He calls me to wait. He's not dragging His feet. He's preparing me for what He's going to drop. He's preparing our people for what He is going to drop.

The vision is coming. It will not delay. It will not be late. It will be right on time. When it comes, it will be clear. When it comes, I have to make sure it's clear to those who will work it. It needs to be clear so they can run unhindered in the right direction.

My call is to live by faith. My faith is not in what I can see, it's in what I cannot see. My faith is not in what I know, it's in Who I know.

I went to bed Tuesday night frustrated. I went to bed Wednesday night encouraged. I woke up Thursday morning and felt like a pastor again, not just a dreamer/visionary. The vision is coming...we're living by faith and waiting.

Living Illustrations

Yesterday, I spoke to the student at my home church. Talk about deja vu all over again...man, it was weird thinking that just a few years earlier, I was sitting in the seats listening to the speaker wondering when he would ever finish...:-)

We went to the worship service after the student gathering and I saw one of my big takeaways from Exponential in action: the power of giving people living illustrations.

Instead of having a full-blown sermon, about 6 people shared stories of how God has been at work in their lives. Some shared how they began to trust Jesus with their lives. Some shared about unique provision. One lady shared a powerful lesson of how she learned what it meant to be adopted into God's family by being adopted into her earthly family. Each story pulled you in more and more.

The pastor, who is also my father in-law didn't have to preach anything. All he had to do was say, "This is how God is at work in these people - He's at work in you, too." From there he gave people the opportunity to take steps similar to those taken by the people who shared their stories.

Powerful stuff! As Andy said last week, "Stories do more to communicate the vision of your church than anything else?"

I'm curious...how do you tell stories in your church? Leave a comment and let us know...

Hey Jay...What Are You Doing?

I get that question all the time these days.  And I wish I had a "knock your socks off" answer.  But to most, my answer is largely underwhelming.

If you would have told me last spring that we would be where we are, doing what we are doing today, in Columbia, SC, I would have laughed you out the door and wondered what you were smoking.  There are still plenty of mornings when I wake up, look at the ceiling, and wonder, "Where am I?"  It's still that bizarre.

As we have made this transition and fully embraced our calling to Columbia and our new lives that come with the calling, we have had one prevailing thought the entire time:

Do the next right thing.

That's it.  I seriously wake up everyday and ask God for wisdom to see and courage to do the next right thing.  That takes on a lot of different forms.

1. Relationships :: I spend a lot of my days and we spend a lot of our nights meeting people, talking about what God is up to in Columbia, hearing people's stories, etc.  We've met some really great people and many are catching on to the initial ideas God is giving us.
2. Reading/Learning :: I'm reading more than ever and trying to ask more questions than ever.  The result is a bunch of new ideas, a stretched imagination, and legal pads filled with notes of how it all might come together to create a movement in Columbia.
3. Fund-raising :: Gotta be honest and say that there are few things I hate more than fund-raising.  Not so much the talking about what God is doing part...more the "can you give $______" part.  But, I am learning and God is providing...we're still eating and living indoors! :-)
4. Traveling :: One of the ways we have income is through me speaking...so I am...a lot!  It's fun because I get to meet some really great people, experience other church environments, and I love speaking.  Also, I am checking out other leaders in other places...and that is a blast!

More important than any of that is my time with God.  He is doing so much inside of me right now...it hurts sometimes...it's blow my mind encouraging sometimes.  Either way, I'm thankful.

I feel like the scrappy underdog most days.  We're flying under the radar.  No strategic plan...no staff...no logo...shoot, we don't even have an official name :-)...but I love it.  God is doing so much...I'm just trying to stay out of the way and keep my ear to the ground for the next right thing.

So, there you have it.  Probably didn't help much...probably created more questions.  That's okay, ask away.  I'll be happy to answer.  In the meantime, pray...for us...for Columbia...for what God is doing here.  He's up to a lot...

One Sentence

A friend/entrepreneur/advisor gave me a valuable reminder that I needed big time. He asked me a simple question:

Can you summarize your life mission in one sentence?

It's funny how much time we spend playing around with words and phrasing to get the perfect, one sentence mission statement for our churches, organizations, etc. Then, if we're serious about actually doing it, we go to work aligning strategy and systems to focus on advancing that one sentence mission.

Meanwhile, our personal lives are all over the place.

I am so guilty of this...especially when I don't have a "real job" and a "real office" to go to everyday. That conversation came at the perfect time and I have taken that challenge to heart. My friend is convinced that one of the biggest keys to his success is that he learned who he is and who he's not early on and ordered his life accordingly. While God has given me loads of lessons on leadership, mission, church, the gospel, etc. over the last 4 months, the most challenging lessons learned have been about me.

So, can I boil it all down to one clear and simple sentence that will be my controlling mission everyday God gives me? I'm still working on it...:-)

Stretched

God = Big; Me = Small. God's Dream for Columbia = HUGE; Me = Stretched

Prayers please! I've spent the last 2 days dreaming, praying, writing, praying, pinching myself, praying, talking, praying...WOW! Can't believe I get to do this...hope I don't screw it up. :-)

Empowering Encouragers

Had breakfast this morning with a person whom I did not know three months ago, but now consider a close ally, mentor, and friend. And it's such a God thing that we connected when we connected.

This guy has learned and forgotten more than I ever will learn about leadership, starting something from scratch, fund-raising, success/failure, and following Jesus through it all. His only mode is "dream big" and he stretches me every time we talk.

In 1 Samuel 14, Jonathan had a bizarre idea: rather than sitting around waiting on the numbers to make sense, maybe my teenaged armor bearer and I can take on an entire Philistine outpost by ourselves. Oh, and we'll have to scale two cliffs and the valley inbetween to get there, but no worries, God is able to work mightily on our behalf.

I love the armor bearer's response:

"Do all that you have in mind," his armor-bearer said. "Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul."

With that, they go and God does in fact show up mightily on their behalf. Not only do they take out the entire outpost, but God sends an earthquake that sends the entire Philistine army into total confusion. The story ends in verse 23:

"So the LORD rescued Israel that day..."

God used one guy who had an audacious vision to rescue a nation. But what if the armor bearer said, "No." What if the armor bearer questioned his sanity and told him to go back to bed? What if the armor bearer told him, "You can't do that - it's not in the rules."

So much of what God wants to do in and through us hinges on who we surround ourselves with. We don't need "yes" men and women as much as we need encouragers. Encouragers don't just pat you on the back, tell you you're perfect, and confirm all your ideas as God's ideas. True encouragers push, pull, poke, challenge, ask questions, give advice, offer suggestions...all with the end of EMPOWERING you to go do what God has put on your heart to do.

I don't know what I would do without the empowering encouragers God has brought into my life. When I approach them with questions, dreams, ideas, etc. and say, "I need your help," the avalanche of wisdom, experience, and encouragement most definitely empowers me. I came out with of my time today with a napkin full of notes and a heart full of encouragement!

Look around you and decide if you have at least one empowering encourager. If you don't, go find one...NOW!