jayhardwick.com

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?

When Good Becomes Ultimate

I got hit with a double whammy over the last few days...and I'm thankful for it.

Last Thursday, I spent the day with a network of church planters from South and North Carolina that I am a part of.  Captain Dino dropped some serious hammers, but none more effective than this one:

"What would your relationship with Jesus look like if you were not in vocational ministry?"

If I couldn't preach, would I still follow Jesus?  If I wasn't planting a church, would I still follow Jesus? If no one read this blog, would I still follow Jesus? If I never met another pastor again, would I still follow Jesus?

As the question continued to roll around in my mind over the weekend, I read the chapter entitled "The Problem of Sin" in Tim Keller's masterpiece, The Reason for God.

"...according to the Bible, the primary way to define sin is not just the doing of bad things, but the making of good things into ultimate things. It's seeking to establish a sense of self by making something else more central to your significance, purpose, and happiness than your relationship to God." - p. 162

Is preaching ultimate, or is Jesus? Is planting a successful church ultimate, or is Jesus? Is having an increasing blog audience ultimate, or is Jesus? Is being known ultimate, or is Jesus?

Keller argues that putting anything that is good in the role of ultimate and trying to draw identity, significance, happiness or purpose out of it is sin. Preach, plant, write, meet...if my identity, significance, happiness and purpose depend ultimately on those things, then I am preaching, planting, writing, and meeting in sin.

I'm diving into these questions headfirst because I know that if I am honest, I have to say that there have been and are times when those things (and others) move into the role of ultimate in my life. 

My highest calling is to remain, or abide in Jesus (John 15). That means all of life has Him as my center point and His glory as my motivation for living. The cool thing is that when I am in that place, He produces more fruit than I could ever hope for or imagine.

What good thing battles for the place of ultimate in your life? For those of you in professional ministry, what would your relationship with Jesus look like if ministry was taken away? Challenging questions, but ones we need to ask of ourselves often.

Be What You Want Them to Become

"Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ." - 1 Corinthians 11:1 (ESV)

When I first read this, I thought, "Wow...Paul was an arrogant jerk." He literally said, "You want to know what Jesus looks like? Watch me and do what I do." No one could blame Paul for being a wuss, that's for sure.

You want to know how you should give? Imitate me.
You want to know how you should talk? Imitate me.
You want to know who you should spend your time with? Imitate me.

Notice Paul didn't say, "Do what I preach to you." He said, "Do what I do."

Lara Beth and I are working through a parenting study and the statement was made that what we are is what our kids will become. I couldn't help but make the same application to leadership.

If I want people to go where God is at work, I have to model it.
If I want people to give generously, I have to model it.
If I want people to die for the sake of the gospel, I have to model it.

Am I confident enough in my own imitating of Jesus that I would say to others, "Imitate me as I imitate Jesus"?

Who we are will speak much louder than what we preach. Be what you want people to become.

We're Capable

"How could he do something like that?"

That's the question I caught myself asking twice in the last couple of weeks in response to two stories I heard about families that were ripped apart because of addiction.

One of my dad's former business associates who is retired with adult-aged kids was busted for having child porn on his computer...and lots of it. He was a fugitive for several days before turning himself in. Now he faces 800+ years in prison.

"How could he do something like that?"

Last week, a great friend of ours crippled his family when he confessed that he has still been feeding an addiction that everyone thought he had long ago overcome. The family could literally lose everything.

"How could he do something like that?"

It's not long after the words roll off my lips that the reality hits me...I am just as capable of wrecking my family.

They didn't wake up one day last week and decide to do all they did. It started years ago for both of them...and probably started quite innocently.

One extra look at the hot lady in the office. Order Sports Illustrated for the swimsuit issue and stash it in the bathroom for an extra look later on. Take a quick peak at a website.

The reality is that we are all one bad decision away from beginning a series of bad decisions that could lead us to the same place. The question is not, "How could he do something like that," but "what am I going to do today to make sure I don't do the same thing later on?"

I talked to my best friend yesterday about strengthening the boundaries that we have set in our lives. We know we're capable of anything. And that's the scary part.

Would love to hear boundaries you have set in your life and how you keep yourself accountable. If you aren't doing well at either, then check out the comments and start today!

Bless Back

I spent a significant amount of time yesterday with a leader that has way more important things to do than talk with me. But, he invested over 3 hours of encouragement, challenge, vision, and accountability into my life and ministry yesterday. Words do not do justice in expressing my gratitude.

As part of our conversation, we talked about the seemingly small things that one does that seem to unlock the favor of God. This leader shared a statement that stuck as we talked:

"Nobody sows into my life without me blessing them back."

That's not just a statement or a leadership nugget...it's been a lifelong practice for this leader. And as we talked, we identified that as one of those small things that he does that has been a common thread leading to God's blessing on his life now.

Don't miss the challenge that I walked away with: how well do I bless back those that invest in my life? Honest answer: not very well. At least not as well as I should.

I've been on the receiving end of bless backs: I told you that a church planter in another state sent me two books off my amazon wish list. I've had conference trips paid for, meals paid for, iTunes gift cards, speaking opportunities, etc. as a blessing for investment I have made in others.

But, how well do I bless back?

Here's what I did last night: I made a list of people that I need to bless back who have invested in me or my family over the last week and then determined the most appropriate means of blessing them. It's different for each one. And that's okay. The goal is not to impress, but to honor them and the work God did in me as a result of their investment.

Who do you need to bless back? Make your list and do it! It's quite possible that blessing those who have invested in you will be one of those small things that unlocks the favor of God in your life.

An 8 Pack of Warren Nuggets

From Rick Warren on Monday in D.C....

"Pastors are the most powerful change agents in the world."

"150 million people attend church every weekend - that's more than attend any sporting in a year combined."

"Don't confuse prominence with significance. You may not be prominent, but you are significant."

"Courage is not the absence of fear - it's doing what you are supposed to do in spite of the fear."

"Church is people, not a steeple."

"There are 2.1 million pastors in third world countries and 1.9 million of them have had no training. Who's willing to help me train them?"

"A growing church of growing people requires a growing pastor."

"The purpose of influence is to speak up for those who have no voice."

God Anoints People

Still buzzing from my day in D.C. on Monday. Wanted to share some things Rick Warren said about how to be a leader that makes it over the long haul.

"God doesn't anoint churches, programs, strategies, and buildings to accomplish His purposes. He anoints people to accomplish His purposes."

He then shared three antidotes every leader needs to fend off the three temptations every leader will face. They just so happen to be the same three temptations Jesus faced. Possessing these antidotes will pave the way for God's anointing.

Integrity is the antidote to the lust of the flesh. The lust of the flesh wants to feel good. When Satan tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread, it was a temptation for Jesus to use His gifts for self-gratification, not for the purposes of God. Integrity calls leaders to a non-compartmentalized life. If you act, think, and talk differently depending on who's around, you do not have integrity.

Humility is the anitidote for the pride of life. The pride of life says, "it's all about me." The pride of life causes leaders to think honor comes from the spectacular and superficial. Satan tried to lure Jesus into the spectacular and superficial when he issued the challenge for Jesus to jump off the roof of the temple. It was a shortcut to the glory that would be His later on...only after He sacrificed His life. Honor comes from sacrifice, not the spectacular.

Generosity is the antidote for the lust of the eyes. The lust of the eyes wants to have. Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the earth if He would worship him instead of His Heavenly Father. Satan makes similar offers to leaders today. Ultimately, it's a shortcut to accumulate things and the greatest things in life are not things. Every time you give, you are more like Jesus.

On this generosity note, you need to know some things about Rick...

he lives in the same house he has lived in for the last 14 years
he drives an old Ford truck
he doesn't have a second house, an airplane, or a boat
he pays for all of his trips to speak, train, teach, etc.
has not taken a salary from Saddleback in years...and paid back every dime the church paid him from its inception
he and Kay "reverse tithe"...they live off 10% and give away 90%

In other words, he's smoking what he's selling!

The strongest statement Rick made all day was at the end of this discussion:

"I'd rather die than embarrass Jesus Christ."

When we lack integrity, humility, and generosity, that's exactly what we do. What a challenge!

What an Opportunity

So, I flew to D.C. yesterday. Random, I know. But I had a really, really good reason...

Thanks to an incredibly cheap plane ticket, a friend who paid for it, the encouragement of some blogging pastor friends, and most of all, the encouragement and excitement of my wife, I got to meet Rick Warren yesterday!

Mark Batterson and the crew at Ebenezer's Coffeehouse/NCC hosted a small gathering of pastors for conversation with Rick...he was in town to speak at the National Prayer Breakfast and at Georgetown University. One of Rick's greatest passions is encouraging and loving pastors, which was abundantly clear yesterday.

Rick said so many great things...I filled up about 6 pages in my Moleskine during the conversation and I've written about 2 more in reflection since. And, I thought of all of you and asked him what I hope would be a question a lot of you would have...and he gave a great answer! I'll share it later this week.

Loved hanging out with my blogging friend Darren Plummer, more widely known as D-Plum. D-Plum picked me up at the airport, put me on the right trains all day, introduced me to some other D.C. area pastors/planters, and he even paid for my lunch at Union Station! My new friend Jumaine Jones joined us for lunch. Loved hearing what both of these guys are doing in the D.C. area while tearing up some bourbon chicken and fried rice.

Let me tell you, if I lived in D.C., I would be an Ebenezer's evangelist. That place is absolutely awesome! Great vibe, great location, GREAT coffee and FREE WiFi...can't beat that with a stick. I feel sorry for Mark that his office is on top of it...

A few pics from the day courtesy of D-Plum because lame brain here forgot his camera...

Pastor Rick Warren

My host...the Legend himself...D-Plum!

Conversation host and the Lion Chaser himself...Mark Batterson

I'm in a fog after a day that started at 4:30 yesterday morning and ended at midnight. I'll share some of Rick's wisdom and insight over the next couple of days...so get ready! So thankful to have had this opportunity!

Their Love is Loud

Can't say enough how excited I am for everyone at Catalyst Church. They went all out 10 days ago, put it all on the line, and look/look what God has done!

I admire Casey's courage as the Lead Pastor to sit in front of a video camera and to stand in front of their Sunday morning crowd and say what he said the way he said it. Talk about a real life example of transparency, honesty, humility, and surrender.

I admire the vision that they so profoundly attached to the needs. It wasn't just about money and it was never just about the short-term...itsUPtoUS.org is about owning lostness in Greenville and about a community of Jesus followers saying with one voice, "162,000 lost people...not in our city!"

I admire the way so many CCers went to bat with their own relational networks. While I was at the Catalyst office yesterday, a guy came in to drop off a check...no one on staff knew him! He heard about the need and the opportunity and got involved. Unbelievable!

Clearly, God wants Catalyst Church to be a part of His Kingdom agenda in Greenville, SC. And clearly, Catalyst Church wants to be a part of God's Kingdom agenda in Greenville!

Casey, Jake, Sarah, Ryan, and the rest of the crew...my chest is sticking out a little more today because of you. I am so proud of all of you...not just because this was successful, but because you were faithful and courageous!

CCers...God has spoken CLEARLY...you are a needed movement and a movement He is using and wants to use even more! Do not hold back...do not shy away...leverage every day for His glory and His Kingdom! Praise God for what He has done and will do!

Clarity, Please

Learning a lot these days about being clear. I'm a very external person...if I'm thinking it, I'm likely going to say it. That little quirk has gotten me in trouble more times than I care to recount. :-) The times when it seems to get me in the most trouble are when I am sharing an idea, a vision, or a dream. I'll vomit out every thought I have ever had about the idea, vision, or dream and the person or people I am with glaze over and disconnect.

In Next Generation Leader, Andy Stanley says:

You don't have to be certain, but you must be clear.

God has given us some ideas of what He is up to in Columbia and what He has called us here to do to be a part of it. But I am by no means certain that we've got it figured out and I am not even close to being certain that it will work. But that does not excuse me from being clear.

Yesterday, I had 6 meetings where my responsibility was to be clear...not about all the nitty gritty details, but about the big idea, the bottom line, the compelling dream God has birthed. Here's something I learned:

Clarity - Certainty = Conversation

I learned more yesterday than I have in a long time. Because I wasn't certain, people felt freedom to engage in the idea. They gave advice, asked questions, came up with ideas, pressed my thinking further...and I listened and wrote down as much as I could.

I guess that Stanley guy was right! :-)